No dispute initiated, no problem?

[Dave134]

So, I sold something overseas and it went missing in the USPS system months ago. Me and the buyer have been trying to track it down. He has mentioned he wants a refund, and I have directed him to initiate a buyer protection claim/dispute/resolution with PayPal so we can close this officially. However, he has yet to do so. I might be able to find his package and I might not, but I suspect it is stuck in customs in his country and he needs to go looking for it. So, without the dispute am I obligated to worry about this? Personally, I could almost do the refund myself, but the uncertainty about the package holds me back. 

Moral of the story: don't ship to countries that can't track to their door...I wouldn't have shipped it that way had I realized the postal situation. 

[kernowlass]

@Dave134

If a buyer bought an item from you months ago and it has not arrived then 'personally' i would refund the buyer, your call though.

[Dave134]

If it was in the US and USPS truly lost it, it would be an easier decision, as PayPal would hold me to it anyway. But then again, is it better that he initiate a request through the PayPal system first, so as "to make it official?" PayPal would still probably be after me for the money, but am I misunderstanding the process, i.e. is it better (safer) for me as a seller that he go through that channel to get a refund?

As it stands, it is suspected to be stuck in Morocco, but the recipient has yet to confirm that he has inquired of his postal service, e.g. any customs due, nor has he followed directions to claim a refund via buyer protection.

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@kernowlass wrote:

@Dave134

If a buyer bought an item from you months ago and it has not arrived then 'personally' i would refund the buyer, your call though.

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[Dave134]

Just to close the loop on this item. A friend of a friend of a friend (yes, that far) determined that the package was sitting in a post office in Casablanca not far from the intended recipient. That was all the postal people there would tell him since it wasn't his package. As for why the buyer hadn't picked it up, well, we may never know. No refund granted, of course. (He never did file a formal complaint through PayPal.)