How to respond to buyer on eBay? Item lost in post

[SalIy]

Hi,

I sold an item over 3 weeks ago. The tracking shows the delivery company attempted to deliver it three times before sending it back to me.

It now seems to have gotten lost in the post on its way back to me. I had no idea and just assumed it had been delivered. The buyer has messaged me to let me know it’s not arrived.

How do I respond? On the one hand I feel I kept my side of the deal. The tracking clearly showed when they were going to attempt to deliver, giving a timeframe of 2 hours each time.

On the other hand I guess I should just refund her and try and claim compensation through the courier. I don’t want negative feedback.

WWYD?

What courier was it?
It's very possible that there was no attempt to deliver it three times and the courier is just useless.
I'd probably refund and claim compensation from the courier.

I would send her a screenshot of the attempted deliveries and say you’re currently waiting for it to be returned to you before you can do any more. Also check that the delivery address was correct and not going to an old property or something.

When was the last attempted delivery? It might just be going slowly though the system to be returned to you rather than being lost.

she didn't receive it. you have to refund her -if you don't do it then ebay will force you.

you need to take it up with the delivery company. royal mail are v good at giving prompt refunds and compensation IME - good luck if its hermes...

Refund the buyer, and take it up with the courier. You shouldn't have much of a problem as they haven't delivered it and have know they haven't returned it to you.

I agree the buyer hasn't helped, but them being available wasn't a condition of the sale, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to "always" be in.

If it is Evri ( was Hermes) I had no problem getting a refund from them. Once they saw on the tracking that the item hadn’t moved ( from their receiving depot to the destination, nor returned to me) they said it was lost, apologised and refunded me in full within a few days. I called and spoke to someone who sorted it all.

What was the value of the lost item? If only a few pounds I would refund the buyer straight away and send an email (showing attempted deliveries and explain item now appears to have been lost by the courier) and then attempt a compensation claim from the courier.