Overseas buyer now says item sent 28th Feb not arrived.....

[PurpleFrog]

Damn! Damn! Damn!

I sent an item to Malaysia on Monday 28th Feb. I did this just before the thread was started on here on posting to Malaysia. I sent it Airmail Small Packet. I have a certificate of posting, but it was not sent Airsure or International Signed For.

The buyer had not left feedback, but when 45 days elapsed I assumed everything was OK. I got an e-mail yesterday (3rd May) to say it has not arrived. What should I do? Payment was made on Friday 25th Feb - 67 days ago - so I can't refund via PayPal and get fees back.

Part of me wants to tell him that it is just hard luck on his part - he hasn't followed the eBay instructions.

On the other hand I can try claiming through Royal Mail, then when/if I get the compensation I will deduct all fees I could have claimed back from eBay and PayPal if he had complained in time, and refund him the difference.

I am using Selling Manager (thanks to sixlostmonkeys a while ago) and it e-mailed him on 12th April to remind him to leave feedback. Why didn't he complain then? Grrr!

What would you do?

I definitely wouldn't refund anything at all. I'm pretty sure buyers only have 45 days to claim and 60 to leave feedback, so that buyer can't leave you a negative either.

They should have contacted you sooner or made a claim through Paypal or ebay but those options aren't open to them now so you don't need to do anything.

Thanks Dinosaurs - but I think I would feel guilty about doing that. But then why should I ? It isn't my fault he screwed up!

I suppose I feel I should have checked that it had arrived, but then I have had quite a few buyers in the past year, some overseas, who have not bothered to let me know the parcel has arrived or to leave feedback. If I was an eBay business I couldn't chase up confirmation of delivery on every parcel.

Should I just ignore him? Or send an eBay message back explaining my position?

Honestly, I'd probably not reply, as you're likely to get a potentially abusive response in return! He must know that he has no recourse through either Paypal or ebay or he woudl have opened a legitimate case. But if you do decide to reply I'd say that I'm really sorry you didn't receive it but as he's left it over 2 months since you posted it you won't be refunding him.

You might want to check how long you as the sender have to claim for undelivered Airmail - your time to claim may also have run out and if so you could also say that to him.

Don't feel guilty, really, 2 months is way too long for anyone to expect a refund - which is probably why ebay and Payapl limit it to 45 days - that's very reasonable I think.

You are right - if I reply, he will either threaten to kill me or tug at my heartstrings and I will cave in.

I think I have 6 months to claim for undelivered Airmail as I just did a claim a few weeks ago for a similar item from the same listings batch. The two parcels were posted on different days and the other was to the Netherlands, otherwise I would suspect something fishy was going on!

I have sold over 170 items since I started on eBay and these are the first parcels that have gone AWOL.

Same here, the only ones I've ever sent that have not turned up were overseas so we no longer send outside of the UK and we've sold over 2000 items.

Be brave and ignore his email - there's nothing else he can do if you don't refund or reply. Hopefully he'll learn!

My advice is exactly the same as Dinosaur's - they have absolutely no come back upon you after this length of time and quite frankly why have they left it so long before contacting you ?
Do not feel guilty it is not your fault.
Are they an experienced Ebayer ? Do they have lots of feedback ?
Most people would be in touch after a couple of weeks had passed - two months + is way too long.
I sell worldwide on Ebay and I do often post to Malaysia, my experience is that 7-10 days is the average delivery time. In fact I often get items delivered faster to the Far East than to some parts of Europe - which amuses me no end.

Thanks Dinosaurs and 80sbabe. I think I'll just try and forget it.

They are not an experienced eBayer - feedback of 5 - but I had a eBay message conversation with him before he bid regarding postage .... and then another conversation iirc regarding payment which was not immediate . I suppose that is why I feel guilty.

I think I was getting a bit too cocky about sending parcels all over the place. I know that some people insist on always getting Airsure or "signed for", but that seems excessive for lower value items.

What with 2 parcels going missing, buying a pair of trousers listed as BNWOT which had clearly been worn, being sent incomplete items and an ipod which was not the model shown in the stock photo, I think I am rapidly getting fed-up of eBay!