Am I sunk? PayPal claim not going my way.

[njdunkin1]

Hey all. Woke up this morning with a lovely negative balance of 50.00 subtracted to my account. Apparently, a buyer had been unhappy because he "received no product from me", even though I shipped out on the first of December.
I guess the package has been lost? Shouldn't the buyer have taken this up with USPS? Either way, I have been on hold with PayPal for about 10 minutes in hopes of reaching the right person to help me with this case. Any tips or suggestions?
NJ

[Eggoman]

Does your package have a tracking number? You may be able to prove that you shipped it.

[njdunkin1]

Originally Posted by Eggoman

Does your package have a tracking number? You may be able to prove that you shipped it.

Yes, I have it here (shipped through PayPal):

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfi...99937115665312

[Eggoman]

Can you research the tracking Number to see if it indicates the current location of the package? (Careful, the USPS can be "a tad pokey" about updating this info.)

But you may be able to use this info with PayPal to PROVE that you indeed DID ship the card.

IF there is confirmation by the USPS that they did deliver the package, that may be enough...good luck!

[KMayUSA6060]

With the tracking number provided, this seems to point directly to USPS, and you should be in the clear.

[ramram]

your current battle is with USPS, until or unless, it actually gets delivered. If you have insurance on it, you will need to pursue that via USPS's policy.

[slidekellyslide]

Looks to me like USPS lost your package. Paypal won't care, they will take your money because it didn't get delivered. You need to take it up with USPS at this point.

[edhans]

Originally Posted by njdunkin1

Any tips or suggestions?
NJ

Easy. Don't take PayPal.

[njdunkin1]

Appreciate the feedback, everyone. After speaking with Gabriella over at PayPal, she recommends taking things up with USPS to find the package. Essentially, once delivered, I get the funds returned to me...now to just wait 30 more minutes on the wait line for USPS

I'll contact my buyer and let him know the steps I am taking in order to resolve this. I just get surprised when I receive no messaging from the buyer, stating he/she is unhappy!
NJ

[Touch'EmAll]

I recently had same situation happen to me. I sold card on eBay, buyer paid. Then I immediately sent it out with tracking number included. Two weeks later, I get an eBay "claim started" against me because buyer never received it. I am thinking WTF, I did everything I was supposed to do, and promptly. I too had money deducted and on hold at Paypal. Who now stands to lose? Buyer or Seller (me)? I went to Post Office to inquire and they basically told me NOTHING to do but wait, sorry charlie. Thankfully, a few days later the tracking showed now in continue route to buyer - and was infact delivered few days later. Whew! Ultimately if lost in mail, I honestly do not know what would happen next - who absorbs loss, buyer or seller. Good luck. Hope it works out for you.

[ibuysportsephemera]

2 comments...one good and one not so good:

1) I have posted many times in the past how to get a package going again in the USPS website....sign up for the email updates. For some reason this works really well. Any packages that I have had delayed magically show up when doing this.

2) The buyer is savvy and realized that the package was delivered without being scanned. He started a claim knowing that the package will never show up.

Good luck.

Jeff

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ibuysportsephemera

2 comments...one good and one not so good:

1) I have posted many times in the past how to get a package going again in the USPS website....sign up for the email updates. For some reason this works really well. Any packages that I have had delayed magically show up when doing this.

2) The buyer is savvy and realized that the package was delivered without being scanned. He started a claim knowing that the package will never show up.

Good luck.

Jeff

I have also found signing up for email update magically works most times.

As far as #2 some sellers send empty boxes to the correct address. On eBay there is bad buyers and sellers. They are few and far between but it really sucks when you run across one.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by edhans

Easy. Don't take PayPal.

It is the shipper's responsibility to get the package to the buyer. He chooses the shipping company and has the option to purchase insurance. I hope you aren't saying that you should take someone's money and not deliver the product.

[Sean1125]

It is the sellers responsibility to get a package delivered to the buyer. If a package gets lost in transit or does not arrive it is solely the sellers responsibility to contact shipping or refund the buyer their money. As described, you are not in the right on this claim and unless you can get the package found and delivered you will be out the money.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

It is the sellers responsibility to get a package delivered to the buyer. If a package gets lost in transit or does not arrive it is solely the sellers responsibility to contact shipping or refund the buyer their money. As described, you are not in the right on this claim and unless you can get the package found and delivered you will be out the money.

Sean is 100% correct. With thousands of transactions on eBay with Paypal, I have found the package MUST show as delivered or you are out the money. No way around it. I have heard stories that even delivered packages have resulted in a refund if the buyer says "well, it may have been delivered, but I never got it." You hope people don't try and pull that but it has happened. Contacting USPS is your only recourse at this point. Most packages are automatically insured for $50 so you might still come out even in the end.

[jfkheat]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Most packages are automatically insured for $50 so you might still come out even in the end.

This is true if the package was shipped priority mail. It looks like this one was shipped first class. If the shipper didn't buy insurance, there is none. That being said, I hate that the post office wants people to pay for insurance to insure that their job is done correctly.
James

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Sean is 100% correct. With thousands of transactions on eBay with Paypal, I have found the package MUST show as delivered or you are out the money. No way around it. I have heard stories that even delivered packages have resulted in a refund if the buyer says "well, it may have been delivered, but I never got it." You hope people don't try and pull that but it has happened.

Yup, I have had that happen a few times over the years. Oftentimes Paypal would pay out on those anyways to keep a customer happy, but luckily it came out of their till, and not mine.

I wonder with the Paypal split from Ebay, whether they would even do THAT anymore.

I've also had a few cases where the package showed delivered, and the person on the other end insisted they never got it. Well, it's amazing how many of those magically get found in an unexplored portion of the house when you return reply with the phrase "OK, I will file a stolen package report with your local post office then, since stealing mail is a Federal crime".