ebay buyer from UK opened a case without contacting me at all after a month

[HoustonCollector72]

I have an open case from a UK buyer , I have the tracking info,from the ebay shipping label  but it stops at Chicago  , which is the last point before the packages leave the country ,so it doesn't show as delivered

the buyer  claims the item never arrived

what to do on this case ???

I'm going to switch to  Priority  International from now on, there is an automatic Insurance on the packages and extra insurance if it is something more than 200 dllrs !

this is the first time I get one of this claims  , it is scary !!!

going first time monday to my postal office and see what they can find out about the package, but there was no insurance since it was first class international .

[svleonard]

Do you still have the shipping receipt?  There should be a customs form number that you can give to the post office.  They might be able to look up what happened to it using that.  Also, you can scan your shipping receipt as evidence that you did ship the package.

[HoustonCollector72]

Do you still have the shipping receipt?  There should be a customs form number that you can give to the post office.  They might be able to look up what happened to it using that.  Also, you can scan your shipping receipt as evidence that you did ship the package.

  Yes  , I have the TRacking key  ,which is as well the Customs Form  ,all that info is on Ebay and Paypal, the Package left the Country  from Chicago and nothing else was scanned or nothing else is showing up on the USPS site either.

Going over to the USPS office  tomorrow and have them checked  the package  location ,maybe is still stuck on Customs more likely, I have not had this problem at all
they already have a red balance for the money the buyer paid me and want me to send him back

[svleonard]

It may be stuck in customs, or, sometimes international just takes a long time.  If you have proof that you did ship the package to the provided address, then you should win a case.  After all, you can't control what the post office does after you ship the package.

[HoustonCollector72]

It may be stuck in customs, or, sometimes international just takes a long time.  If you have proof that you did ship the package to the provided address, then you should win a case.  After all, you can't control what the post office does after you ship the package.

  hope  it goes that way , the only thing  is that the tracking does not show delivered , it shows still in transit  since october 5th
will see how it goes tomorrow
hope it shows more tracking on their system

[Rhubarbpie]

Also, about the no contact thing before opening  case, ebay does have this thing where if you need to contact a seller about your purchase (for example, if its not arrived yet) you can select a number of query options, BUT selecting anything other than "Other" will automatically open a case. It may not have been the buyers intention to open a case without contacting you first.

I have accidentally opened a case up before; getting caught out on this and felt awful about it.

[NoDivision]

It may be stuck in customs, or, sometimes international just takes a long time.  If you have proof that you did ship the package to the provided address, then you should win a case.  After all, you can't control what the post office does after you ship the package.

Nope. Not true. You have to have proof of delivery to win an ebay/paypal case. This is why I only ever ship priority for international ebay sales.

[snwbear24]

Good luck with it hope everything works out!

[Sebby6]

Yeah. It's a sucky situation, but the buyer hasn't really done anything wrong. There's been no movement on the parcel for a month, so they go to Ebay to contact seller, selects "item not received" which would be the correct topic for the email and then Ebay automatically opens a case. In fact it's surprising they waited a month.
Unfortunately the receiver can't track a missing parcel, so the best thing you can do is to contact your post office with the tracking number. If the parcel is lost you should be able to make a claim.

[HoustonCollector72]

Yeah. It's a sucky situation, but the buyer hasn't really done anything wrong. There's been no movement on the parcel for a month, so they go to Ebay to contact seller, selects "item not received" which would be the correct topic for the email and then Ebay automatically opens a case. In fact it's surprising they waited a month.
Unfortunately the receiver can't track a missing parcel, so the best thing you can do is to contact your post office with the tracking number. If the parcel is lost you should be able to make a claim.

  Even if I sent it First Class International ?
I don't think we can claim or can we?
I went to my postal office but they said , they do not guarantee tracking on that service after it leaves the country, but the website  says otherwise, it says "free delivery confirmation " under First Class International
the clerk at the postal office said ,not even Priority International does it , only the Express International , is she wrong?

[ponylady]

I know just recently through Ebay they started offering delivery confirmation to some countries. I believe the UK was one of them. Does the customs number start out LZ? If so it should track your package all the way to her door. But like I said it is something new, so their country may or may not scan the package.    Unfortunately although it is supposed to track it, eBay has to see by that number that it has been delivered for you to win the case. If it is not showing they will side with the buyer no matter what.

Also the lady at the PO was correct in what she told you to an extent. Global Express is a guarantee, although I have seen Priority track a package depending on it's destination. It's honestly hit or miss. But in that being said the free delivery confirmation is only available through purchases online, I believe. I do not think they offer it at the PO itself.

[HoustonCollector72]

I know just recently through Ebay they started offering delivery confirmation to some countries. I believe the UK was one of them. Does the customs number start out LZ? If so it should track your package all the way to her door. But like I said it is something new, so their country may or may not scan the package.    Unfortunately although it is supposed to track it, eBay has to see by that number that it has been delivered for you to win the case. If it is not showing they will side with the buyer no matter what.

Also the lady at the PO was correct in what she told you to an extent. Global Express is a guarantee, although I have seen Priority track a package depending on it's destination. It's honestly hit or miss. But in that being said the free delivery confirmation is only available through purchases online, I believe. I do not think they offer it at the PO itself.

Yes, this package's tracking is an  LZXXXXXXXUS, this one did not get scanned after leaving the Country 
I was told at the PO  to have the buyer  inquire about the package to their PO over there or the Customs Department ,is that even possible?

[hathorcat]

I know just recently through Ebay they started offering delivery confirmation to some countries. I believe the UK was one of them. Does the customs number start out LZ? If so it should track your package all the way to her door. But like I said it is something new, so their country may or may not scan the package.    Unfortunately although it is supposed to track it, eBay has to see by that number that it has been delivered for you to win the case. If it is not showing they will side with the buyer no matter what.

Also the lady at the PO was correct in what she told you to an extent. Global Express is a guarantee, although I have seen Priority track a package depending on it's destination. It's honestly hit or miss. But in that being said the free delivery confirmation is only available through purchases online, I believe. I do not think they offer it at the PO itself.

Yes, this package's tracking is an  LZXXXXXXXUS, this one did not get scanned after leaving the Country 
I was told at the PO  to have the buyer  inquire about the package to their PO over there or the Customs Department ,is that even possible?

Yes its a good suggestions to make to your buyer. Do you remember what value you declared on the package and whether it was marked as a gift? That will let you know whether it has potentially been stopped by customs. Its not possible to enquire to a customs office - your buyer will need to enquire to the postal delivery/courier services. As customs on mail is handled by them once it has been cleared as safe to deliver.

The buyer can check with 1) their local post office and 2) their local sorting office. It is possible that the package has stopped there due to customs or due to delivery issues [although the post man "should" leave a calling card along with other mail if it was not possible to deliver it at the time]. As you have posted first class rather than express, it should be the regular Royal Mail system which delivers the parcel.

However, the other possibility is that it came into the country and has gone to a courier company for delivery - unfortunately unless you call every single mainline courier company to see if there is a designated delivery for a certain post code, you probably wont manage to track it this way. However if it is being delivered with a courier company and there is a customs charge, then the buyer will receive a posted letter with notification of the charges. If I was the buyer it may be worth a call to Parcelforce, Yodel, DPD and TNT as they tend to be the courier companies who will handle international couriered mail. All they will need is their post code and a window of when the delivery would have been due and most couriers should be able to see if they have made an attempted delivery or if they have something awaiting customs fees.

[HoustonCollector72]

Thanks EVeryone for their info , will see what happens  ,crossing fingers

[Jemofirongate]

I thought the First Class international tracking number was a bit of a myth? Ive read countless stories of these parcels going 'missing' at the shores of the US and never making it over the atlantic.

Whilst it might provide tracking within the US I'm not conveinced its being treated as tracking that gets scanned at every stage of transit, unlike proper tracked services. A proper tracked service would get scanned on its arrival in the UK.

Whilst its last known location might be Chicago its very possible the parcel did make it to the UK but if no-one scans the barcode then you wouldn't know?

Proof of shipping might get the buyer to back off for another week or two and hope it arrrives but if a case is opened and ebay require proof of delivery I'm afraid you might stand lose out on this one, sorry

Jem