Ebay advice

[PanannyPanoo]

I wondered if anyone had any useful advice, I bought 3 new dresses for my daughter just before Christmas, they were about £13 each.
The day before Christmas eve I recieved one in a sealed plastic packing envelope. I assumed the others would arrive in the next few days, but they didn't. I contacted the seller who said she had tracking information to say they had arrived, Ebay have closed the case as they have seen the tracking info, but I haven't got them.

The seller says she posted them together, I dont know if she means in 1 or 3 packets. If it was 3 packets then Royal mail will only deal with her. If it was one packet then ebay have proof that a packet arrived but not that it didn't have all the dresses in.

She isn't responding to my emails and Ebay have said they will only take it further if I get a police incident number, which seems bonkers.

So I have spent 39 on a dress for a 7 year old with sensory issues, who will only wear certain colours and can not tolerate seams at the chest or waist - hence me buying 3, as it can be tricky finding things that fit her criteria.

Am I really going to have to contact the police in order to track them down, or has anyone else got a bright idea?

Hermes by any chance?

You need to ascertain whether she meant she’d packed them as one package or 3 individuals as she’ll have 3 dispatch reference numbers if individual but obviously you know she only sent one dress not 3 in the package you received.

Negative feedback needs leaving though for only part of the order being received and also for no ignoring your messages.

Is there other feedback to suggest similar has happened to other customers?

That's awful. I'm not sure what to suggest. Have you left feedback for the items yet?

Did you pay for the three items in one transaction, so pay one postage and packing fee? Did you notice if the seller uploaded the tracking number(s) to eBay? I assume you had to sign for the parcel? I would think that if the seller was genuine they'd happily answer questions, e.g. whether they posted them together or individually.

Did she combine the postage for the three separate items? If you paid for three parcels, she should show 3 separate receipts/tracking.
If she combined postage then all three should be in one parcel. Is it possible to show by weight, eg it will say on her receipt the weight of the parcel, show a photo of the dress being weighed on the scales and prove that only one could have been sent in the package?

Thank you so much for your replies,

I havent left feedback yet as I assumed it would be resolved. She has excellent feedback and seems to be genuine. I also have excellent feedback so hope she can see I am too.

It was sent by Royal Mail. I paid in one transaction and it was free p+p anyway.

I signed for one parcel - but do you have to sign 3 times if you get 3 parcels that are all signed for?

The postage was prepaid so I asked if she could check to see the weight that she paid for so she could see there is only one dress in the envelope. Or if she could contact Royal Mail for more info as they won't discuss with me, just the sender.

I inadvertently upset her when I initially told her they were missing as all 3 were grouped on the same order so it looked like I was complaining about the one which arrived. Though my message was clear that one arrived but not the others.

I then upset her again when trying to explain the issue, as I said that ebay have said they would only look into it further if I got a police incident number, which I thought was ridiculous, but meant I could do no more my end to find out where they were.

She thought I was threatening her with the police - which I wasn't just explaining that that is what Ebay advise as a next step.

She is sure she has sent them, I know I haven't recieved them.

I dont want her to be out of pocket, I just want to track down the dresses!

So has she clarified whether the dresses were sent in 3 separate parcels or all in the same parcel? Surely that's the first step. If she's saying separate then either she's lying & only sent one dress or RM have lost the other 2 & AFAIK it's up to her to badger RM to find them or to fill out a claim form so she can claim compensation & reimburse you. Would also seem a bit strange to send them separately rather than as one bundle.

Surely she can't claim she's posted them as one parcel but has deliberately only sent one dress rather than 3?

We sell stuff on eBay & occasionally it does go missing but I've never heard of a police report being required (think the police will laugh in your face if you try to waste their time with that) & also eBay are usually very helpful particularly towards the buyer, so I'm really surprised they've closed the case when it's unresolved. Can you call eBay & try to rectify it or find out what you're now meant to do?

Instead of explaining things, just ask her some simple questions :

Please confirm whether you posted the dresses individually, or together.
Please provide a photo of the postage receipt.

No explanations, no "I'm sorry"! 😂

If you paid by PayPal you can try to claim your money back from them if Ebay have closed your case.

She has just said they were posted together, hasn't told me if in one or 3.

I'll call ebay. Did the online messages before so I had it in writing.

That's a good idea ontheedge, I have a tendency to use far too many words!

Postage label says Postage on account GB.

I dont know how that works, it has a customer reference number on.

Oh, I didn't know that about Paypal, thank you will look into that.

Were the dresses 3 separate sales, or one sale of 3 dresses? This will be clear in your emails from ebay.

If it was one sale of 3 dresses, you need to claim that the item is 'signficantly not as described' ie you ordered 3 dresses and only received 1.

If it was 3 separate sales then really there should be 3 separate tracking numbers. If a seller can't supply ebay with a tracking number, you should automatically win an 'item not received' claim, as ebay almost always favour the buyer in disputes like this.

Should the seller have genuinely packed 3 dresses into one parcel and two of them have somehow disappeared, she will have to claim from her courier and whether or not she gets a refund is not your concern as you should receive your refund from paypal.