Do I need to refund - buyer says item stolen from step

[ilovecherries]

Can I just check something as I’m going round in circles with eBay. Sent an item 24 hour tracked, didn’t buy postage via eBay but did upload tracking. Item delivered the following day and shows a picture of the buyer’s door with parcels lying (mine and others) on step, but can’t really see if the door is open or not. Anyway, buyer says item wasn’t there when they got the delivery notification and opened the door. Do I need to just suck up the loss and refund or can I do anything with eBay? RM says as they can GPS the delivery point, they’ve fulfilled the contract and the step was the designated ‘safe space’. Thanks.

[supertatos]

@ilovecherries

Can I just check something as I’m going round in circles with eBay. Sent an item 24 hour tracked, didn’t buy postage via eBay but did upload tracking. Item delivered the following day and shows a picture of the buyer’s door with parcels lying (mine and others) on step, but can’t really see if the door is open or not. Anyway, buyer says item wasn’t there when they got the delivery notification and opened the door. Do I need to just suck up the loss and refund or can I do anything with eBay? RM says as they can GPS the delivery point, they’ve fulfilled the contract and the step was the designated ‘safe space’. Thanks.

Given all of the above then no

[xyz111]

If the buyer has said that's a safe spot, then I would say that's their problem. A step isn't safe!

[Yellowaveo59]

When you select the safe spot in Royal Mail you have to tick a disclaimer to accept responsibility of the parcel in the safe place.

[ilovecherries]

How do I resolve this with eBay though as they’ve said they are refunding the buyer as they’ve reported it as item not received? Is there any sort of appeals process I can use? I’ve searched everywhere but it all seems to be automated. Buyer says not received/ebay takes money from seller.

[ilovecherries]

Sorry - the RM safe space thing is probably a red herring, I simply mentioned that to explain why I couldn’t get my money back from them. It’s how do I stop eBay doing an automatic refund?

[Octobed]

This is a common scam unfortunately. Ebay will side with the buyer and you will need to chase with your shipping carrier. It's wise to get items insured or send signed for to avoid this in future. Oh, and any selling fees are still going to be due too as its in their terms and conditions. Sorry this happened, OP. I hope you haven't lost a lot of money.

[Octobed]

Forgot to say ebay do use collection agencies to recover refunds and fees.

[BananaLlama123]

I have a safe space designated for Royal Mail and I had to tick a box to say I accepted responsibility for parcels left there. Otherwise they would take them to the post office and I would have to collect them. If your buyer has accepted this responsibility I don't think it's on you

[CJ0374]

I don't know the answer, but despite being on ebay for years, only recently found that they have a dedicated forum. You might find additional/more advice on there. best of luck.

[ilovecherries]

@Octobed

This is a common scam unfortunately. Ebay will side with the buyer and you will need to chase with your shipping carrier. It's wise to get items insured or send signed for to avoid this in future. Oh, and any selling fees are still going to be due too as its in their terms and conditions. Sorry this happened, OP. I hope you haven't lost a lot of money.

Well, it’s over 50 quid. Which is why it was sent tracked rather than signed for, as tracked has better insurance. Except RM says it’s not on them as they DID deliver it. Why would ebay need to use collection agencies though? They can just help themselves from my account.

[ilovecherries]

@BananaLlama123

I have a safe space designated for Royal Mail and I had to tick a box to say I accepted responsibility for parcels left there. Otherwise they would take them to the post office and I would have to collect them. If your buyer has accepted this responsibility I don't think it's on you

I don’t think it’s on me either, but that doesn’t mean eBay hasn’t already frozen the funds for a refund. 😡

[dementedpixie]

I very much doubt that the buyer designated the step as a safe place to leave packages. If RM have chosen to leave it there without agreement from the buyer then its RM you should be claiming from.

[Hippomumma2]

You need to appeal with Royal Mail. Leaving a parcel on a step is not a safe delivery. Appeal it, and make a complaint.

[fuzzleberry]

@Hippomumma2

You need to appeal with Royal Mail. Leaving a parcel on a step is not a safe delivery. Appeal it, and make a complaint.

RM have recently changed their t&cs on this and 'safe places'. Their new policy is that they won't refund when GPS coordinates match ( their threshold of when you can now claim is not yet clear )

[TheTigerWhoCameToEatMyHusband]

Get a call back from eBay and explain. We have had this and eBay sided with us on numerous occasions as it had been delivered the buyers were just scumbags.

[TheTigerWhoCameToEatMyHusband]

You might get more help on the desktop site rather than mobile through the seller hub.

[ilovecherries]

Just came back to say thank you for the advice and am pleased to say eBay found in my favour and closed the case without penalty. I always thought that simply never happened so I’m delighted. I would just have rolled over the accepted it without your encouragement to track down a human to help. Which wasn’t easy, but worth it!

[Luckycloverz]

That's great news!

Thanks for coming back to update, gives us hope to chase if it happens to any of us!

[OzziePopPop]

If tracking confirms delivery, then no refund.

[19lottie82]

Just make sure the tracking number is uploaded to the sales record. If you purchased the shipping through eBay that will be automatic.