Missing box

[Tak]

I sent out tons of ponies in the last few months. One package came back to me. I wasn't sure how to contact the person and accidentally sent a message to the wrong person who immediately jumped on it saying she wants her money back. Hers was priority mail and I no longer have the tracking number, but I was sure I got confirmation of arrival from her. I got the package that was returned sorted. Although in the end I paid them to take the ponies since shipping costs are so high. It was the right thing to do. Now I've got this other person on me and I understand that with shipping hers was close to $50. However, I've got a bad feeling about her claim. I hate to distrust anyone, but I've been burned to the bone. I also don't physically have enough to refund her at this time. I'm on ssdi and a single mom. I pay almost $250 a month just for transportation to medical appointments and the grocery store. We only get by due to low rent since my parents are my landlords and I just pay the mortgage. Otherwise we would have to rent a room. So, anyhow, I started a claim with the post office to find the package and they were very confident they could find it. I'll hear from them Wednesday. My buyer's response was "I need that money". Not anything about it being good to find the ponies. She's obviously already expecting her money back. I have to skip any food shopping for my daughter dog and I for the rest of the month, plus skip the follow-up X-Ray from my dog's surgery in order to refund her this month. I'm sad, confused, upset for thinking ill of someone, and want to cry for my budget's destruction. I budget down to the dollar every month. I tried so hard. I'm tired of trying.


[moving to Trader Support ~ Kiwi]

[bluerose9978]

I think I would simply explain to this person that you mixed up the messages and are tracking down who the package really belongs to and that you've gotten it sorted and you're sorry for the inconvenience and it shows hers had already been delivered.

It is a good idea to always keep and enter the tracking number into eBay as soon as you can so that you AND the buyer have it and so that eBay also has a record of it. That way the buyer can't pull some scam like this.

[LadyMoondancer]

The odds are incredibly low that the package was actually lost.  Why would the buyer wait months before saying anything?  They are lying.

I would send a message like:  "Hello, I apologize for the confusion.  I was trying to message a different buyer, but messaged you by mistake.  Have a nice day!"

(Alternatively, you could wait until the PO gets back to you and also mention the specific tracking number in your message:  "The US Postal Service records show your package, tracking number blah-blah, was delivered on [date].")

Do not indulge this person's greediness, don't try to argue or reason with them, and don't respond to any further messages from them.  (I would also immediately add them to your blocked bidder list so they don't spite-bid on your auctions, which sadly is something people sometimes do as an excuse to leave a negative.)   Continue to follow up with the post office in case the person files a claim.  But they may well be too lazy to file a claim.  I think they are just looking for easy money.

In the future always enter the PO's tracking number into eBay's "sold" page.

[Tak]

I don't sell on eBay. Unfortunately I don't have their protection. I really dislike selling and was only doing so out of necessity. It was on a fb group. I already filed a claim with usps. They called at 5:30am today to let me know. I'll message her politely as suggested and if she comments negatively about me on their feedback system, sai la vie. Thanks all for the advice. I've already spoken to PayPal to.

[Taffeta]

Yeah, I would've just contacted the buyer to say, so sorry, accidentally replied to the wrong person. You can always take the line, rather than accusing them of lying, that you think they're confusing the transaction too, as you had confirmation that her item had already arrived. See what USPS say as well, but so long as you don't make any accusations and are apologetic for the misunderstanding, then it makes it more difficult for her to claim anything.

I tend to keep post receipts. It might be worth, when you send on paypal to send a scan of the receipt or type and send the tracking code to that person when you tell them it shipped. That way you can go back and see the message and check the code to see where it is. I had a couple lately that didn't update over the weekend and then ended up in an office needing pick up - but both have since been delivered safely. However here in the UK I know that sometimes out post workers forget to put a collection card in the letterbox and so people can't go collect their item as they don't know where it is.

This always happens when I send stuff to one ponyperson; her local postal people seem allergic to "we have your item, come get it" notification cards, and so I always send to her with tracking so that, if it doesn't show up after a week, we can find out which depot it got hauled to...

Though if this is a LONG period of time, it may be that the buyer is just trying to take advantage.

[kitkatvintage]

I would recommend letting the admin of the Facebook group know that this buyer is trying to extort money from you. Explain the situation as you have here. Admins of Facebook groups typically want to keep track of "bad buyers" the same as here.

[LadyMoondancer]

Ah, I see, I didn't realize it was on Facebook!

Maybe you could start a spreadsheet where you type in the tracking code of each package you send, along with the buyer's name/screenname and the contents. 

[Tak]

The post office says it was delivered. She still says she hasn't gotten it. I'm pretty sure she's on here. She's bought from me before no problem. She's saying I promised a refund. I said "if we can't find the box, then I will issue a refund". The post office says she has it. It was mailed priority on May 16th. I can't message site administration because my tablet only allows messenger now and I can't figure out how to message someone new. 

[Thunderwing]

If the tracking says it was delivered, then it was delivered: you have fulfilled your half of the agreement. If it was stolen, then a police report needs to be filed. If the post office will pay out on the insurance claim, then you can refund the buyer. Do NOT refund the buyer before you have the insurance money in hand.

[bluerose9978]

If the tracking says it was delivered, then it was delivered: you have fulfilled your half of the agreement. If it was stolen, then a police report needs to be filed. If the post office will pay out on the insurance claim, then you can refund the buyer. Do NOT refund the buyer before you have the insurance money in hand.

And your buyer needs to keep in mind that it's illegal to falsify a police report, so hopefully she's telling the truth.

[Tak]

I did finally get a message from the administration. The post office did their job. She's messaged me six times telling me in different words to refund her. Not once has she expressed interest in the ponies. I don't want to vilify her and don't like to think badly of people, but she's badgering me. The post office said they would do another search including the dead mail warehouse. My other concern is that why didn't she tell me they hadn't arrived? I mailed May 16th and this only concerned her on June 17th when I accidentally contacted her. I know she's on here. I don't know who she is. I don't want this to effect either of our reputations or friendships on here. She did send the money friends and family. I did not ask her to. I'm so conflicted.

[Stormness_1]

If you've contacted the fb page admin about it, just block her if she keeps hassling you. You've held up your end, if it says delivered, it's delivered. I know sometimes life gets in the way and you don't contact your seller right away, I literally today just shipped out a muddled parcel I hadn't noticed was wrong until the seller PM'd me here about it. But this smells fishy to me. Almost like she can't turn back now because she's said it hasn't arrived so she's dragging it through to the bitter end, and getting that refund. You have no obligation to refund, and from what my gut tells me, she's trying to take advantage of the situation. I personally would not refund her, but that's probably because I'm really stubborn when I know I'm in the right!

[LadyMoondancer]

Do not give her a refund.  The PO is not going to magically find the package, because she is lying about not receiving it.  If she REALLY hadn't received it, she would have contacted you months ago.  She is just trying to take advantage of you.  Ignore her and block her.  And don't feel guilty--it's perfectly okay to think badly of people who are trying to scam you, lol!

[bluerose9978]

Do not give her a refund.  The PO is not going to magically find the package, because she is lying about not receiving it.  If she REALLY hadn't received it, she would have contacted you months ago.  She is just trying to take advantage of you.  Ignore her and block her.  And don't feel guilty--it's perfectly okay to think badly of people who are trying to scam you, lol!

I agree.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Do not give her a refund.  The PO is not going to magically find the package, because she is lying about not receiving it.  If she REALLY hadn't received it, she would have contacted you months ago.  She is just trying to take advantage of you.  Ignore her and block her.  And don't feel guilty--it's perfectly okay to think badly of people who are trying to scam you, lol!

Definitely this!  Annnnnnnnnnd you may want to message a TS mod