EBay - no proof of purchase - buyer claiming not arrived

[Lovemylittlebear]

Hi, just after some help please.

sold an item on eBay and I sent second class Royal Mail. I asked for proof of purchase and the lady acknowledged this so I stupidly didn’t check receipt. Had my little boy with me and was trying to bash out an eBay post run and doctors appointment (another excuse for not checking receipt).

anyway several days later buyer claims item not received and wants a refund. Ive got my receipt out to sort this and there is no bloody address or barcode on it…just the date and cost. Is there anyway I can prove I sent this to this person or am I screwed and will have to pay £30 of own money to refund when I did send it in good faith? Any tips on what to do or if I can claim something back from Royal Mail appreciated as was trying to make a bit of money to put toward a day out for the kids and it’s backfired.

Thanks
x

I doubt it. Maybe it hasn't arrived or maybe you're being scammed. In future send everything tracked - using the Royal Mail app it's as cheap as £3.29 and the postie come and collect it from you for free.

Ah that sounds good thank you. I’m crap with stuff like this - do you have a link I can look at so I can do it right next time please?

thank you

Unfortunately proof of posting just proves you posted something to someone on that day. It doesn’t show delivery, as a pp said you have to spend more to track a parcel.

You may be able to claim compensation using the Royal Mail website. I sent a parcel to my daughter once which didn’t get there, all I had was proof of postage and receipts for the items. It had to be less than a certain amount, yours isn’t drastically high so you should be ok. It was a few years ago now I’m afraid so not sure if Royal Mail have changed their criteria but do Google Royal Mail compensation and follow the instructions you never know.

If you get proof of posting this has a tracking number on it. Use that number to look up if item was delivered.

Mind you, it's cheaper to buy RMail postage on ebay, so then you get the tracking all uploaded automatically. Need a printer probably, though.

If it was a parcel, the reference on your receipt, a combination of letters and numbers, acts as a proof of delivery scan. Type this into Royal Mail tracking before doing anything else.
Sometimes Post Offices handwrite the house number and postcode on the receipt so you could potentially get away with doing this.

If you asked for 'proof of purchase' that is where you may have gone wrong. The cashier may have thought you just meant a receipt. What you should have said is proof of postage which would have then had the postcode on and would have covered you for insurance purposes.

The receipt should have the post code and posting reference. I think there are two bits of paper they print out so perhaps you threw away that part.

If the buyer has good feedback then it is likely to be a genuine did not receive. So you have to take the blame here for not checking and keeping your receipt. For item not received the seller needs to refund (assuming you cannot prove it was delivered) and then claim compensation form the courier if they offer this facility. The fact you did not keep your receipt is not the buyers fault.

Sending parcels second class is fine as long as you keep the posting reference. Signed for service is overkill imo unless the item is more valuable.

Check if you're covered by RM insurance.

What I found: Every 2nd Class item is covered against loss or damage up to £20 or the value of the item,

Thanks all really helpful. Normally when I have asked for proof of postage there is a reference code and their postcode etc but it hasn’t been put on the receipt, so wasn’t done (but I didn’t check so that’s my problem). I will refund the seller and see if there is anything I can claim back from Royal Mail for the type of receipt I have. I always keep the receipts - have about a years worth in my drawer….just typical that this time with this particular parcel/ receipt that this has happened.

Thanks for the replies

Could you ask her to wait a few more days in case it’s just late arriving. Some area can take a good week or longer to arrive.