ebay question - delivered to Argos and returned

[saddowizca]

Hi there,
I can't get the ebay help function to work, and need some advice if any of you are free?
I bought a vintage vase, and asked for it to be delivered to my local Argos as it's in the Sainsburys we go to for our weekly shop. It arrived during the petrol shortage, so we bought our groceries locally that weekend. I didn't realise Argos only held items for seven days, and I got there to be told that the Argos lady had bagged it up to return it that morning.
I mentioned it to the seller, and he said that when it was returned to him he would send it to my home address - I'll pay the extra.
This was a while ago, and the parcel has never arrived with him. He sent it to Argos via Hermes, but Argos said they just gave the parcels to the postman. The lady seemed a bit vague about it, but then so am I most of the time.
It seems that this parcel has dropped into a black hole, and no-one can track it. Any thoughts about where it could be?
It wasn't hugely expensive, so I have told the seller I'm happy to wait for it to get back to him, but I feel helpless. Is there anything I can do? Had this happened to you, and if it did, how did you get your item?
Thanks in advance :)

It hasn't happened to me buy I don't believe they would just give it to the postman (do they mean Royal Mail?). I would complain to Argos and ask exactly how it was returned. Any click and collect type service I've ever used always keep track of any collections and returns and I would have thought it would go back via Hermes. Try Argos customer services?

I'd contact ebay and argos separately, sounds like the lady has messed up.

I once had a similar problem, but from the perspective of a seller. I sold an item which went to an argos via royal mail. The woman didn't collect it within the allotted time, and actually didn't want it any more, but did want a refund.

I went around the houses for a few days trying to establish where it was. Argos were spectacularly unhelpful. Tracking info showed delivery to the argos and nothing. No tracking info for the return - they appear to just be given to the postman.

In the end I refunded her, as I didn't see as I had any other choice. If it happened again I might stand my ground a bit more, as this seems to be a massive hole within the click and collect model. I dont actually have anything sensible to suggest that yiu do, but you're not alone in having experienced this.

I had a problem once where an eBay item was delivered to Argos, but it wasn't checked in from their end. This meant that a collection code wasn't generated so I couldn't collect the item. On EBay, it was showing as having been delivered to the store

The store itself were really unhelpful and refused to look for the parcel. In the end, I got a refund from eBay as it was too much of a faff to try and resolve.

Crikey, so it’s definitely not a one off! I will try Argos again, maybe calling Head Office and will see what they suggest. The seller has assured me that his return address is clearly on the parcel but he sent it via Hermes so he is trying to track via them. I really don’t mind being patient but just want to know it is in a system somewhere.

@Lunariagal did you get your parcel returned to you on the end?

@LuckyLucyLoot

It hasn't happened to me buy I don't believe they would just give it to the postman (do they mean Royal Mail?). I would complain to Argos and ask exactly how it was returned. Any click and collect type service I've ever used always keep track of any collections and returns and I would have thought it would go back via Hermes. Try Argos customer services?

Yes I will do that. Good idea.

No, op, it never turned up.

It just strikes me as a Massive flaw in the system. It was tracked to the store but for its return journey it was just lobbed in a bag and given to the postie.

I got sense out of nobody. Got through to ebay Indian call centre and the woman just kept saying it had been delivered (yes, to the store) and she couldn't grasp the concept of click and collect. Spoke to argos and apparently all they could tell me was it had been given to the postie.

£15 out of pocket.

@Lunariagal

No, op, it never turned up.

It just strikes me as a Massive flaw in the system. It was tracked to the store but for its return journey it was just lobbed in a bag and given to the postie.

I got sense out of nobody. Got through to ebay Indian call centre and the woman just kept saying it had been delivered (yes, to the store) and she couldn't grasp the concept of click and collect. Spoke to argos and apparently all they could tell me was it had been given to the postie.

£15 out of pocket.

That’s my prediction for what will happen too seems a really daft system.