Fraudulent buyer? Protecting sellers
Good evening everyone, I’ll lay out my case: after a series of offers and counteroffers, I sold an item to a buyer who had just signed up with 0 feedback. The customer pays and so far so good, but when it came time to ship I noticed that the buyer’s first and last name seem made up. I sent an initial message with no reply asking for a phone number for the shipping, I figured he was a very private buyer so I shipped it. Now, Poste tracking says delivery failed because of an incorrect address/missing details. I sent another message to the buyer to confirm the address but I’m not getting any replies from him.. I’m starting to think it’s a prank or a scam, have you ever had experiences like this? I imagine that after a certain number of delivery attempts the package gets sent back to me, at the moment the buyer’s funds are blocked by eBay until delivery is confirmed. How should I handle this and what would be the point of this prank/scam other than making me spend money on shipping? Thanks in advance
gadget_custom_store_srl
·3 years agocontact support via messages, explain the case, and send an email with the shipping label that was sent, and you're good, they will unblock both the money and remove any negative feedback received too, in the end you shipped, there wasn't any problem on your side.
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoThe seller must ship EXACTLY to the address provided on eBay.
If there are any doubts about the address, the seller has 3 options.
A) Cancel the sale
B) Contact the buyer and ask for confirmation (if there is no response, cancel the sale)
C) Ship to the provided address.
If you found a made-up first and last name and decided to ship anyway, you’re a bit at risk of wasting time and money.
Granted, the courier may still deliver the package to that street and house number, if the package is marked as delivered then you’re fine like that.
If, from the tracking, you see that the package is not being delivered due to an incorrect/incomplete/missing address, you can also choose to contact the buyer, point out the problem to them, and offer support for any communication to the courier to correct the address.
If the buyer does not respond and the package comes back, still wait for the buyer to open a dispute for item not received; then contact eBay and point out the issue (made-up first and last name) and that you still shipped to the address provided.
For the rest, if you want, keep us updated.
Best regards.
albe_9950
OP3 years agoAddress checked and rechecked several times and corrected, I even did some research on the town’s satellite maps to see if the address at least existed, the town and street do exist but I got poor results on the house numbers. First and last name are absolutely made up, I think, it has a certain resemblance to two characters from Alice in Wonderland apparently, discovered later, I won’t say anything else because of the rules. Yes, I think I made a rash sale unfortunately.. tomorrow I’ll contact the post office, we’ll see how it goes, I’ll keep you updated. Thanks everyone, I didn’t think I’d find such an active and fast community!
sika700
·3 years agoI wouldn't exactly call it a scammy user... but in Milanese, a nice "p***a"!
In any case, if you had doubts about the name or address, you could have easily canceled the purchase due to inability to ship.
So if it gets sent back to you, unfortunately you'd only be out the shipping costs... the funds would have stayed blocked for at least 15 days anyway, whether it was delivered or not makes no difference.
If you want, keep us posted.
Best regards.
albe_9950
OP3 years agoAh ok, so even without delivery confirmation the funds would be released by eBay and, if a refund is requested, I can use them? I was thinking about some refund scam, basically; the buyer is aware of the held funds and in the meantime asks for a refund, which, as I understood from other disputes (because of lost packages), I’m obliged to issue anyway. This message from eBay also made me doubt.
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoIf the funds are on hold, you can't use them to refund the buyer.
As eBay wrote to you in the attached file you posted:
The funds will remain on hold until the delivery date; the latest estimated delivery date is January 25.
If delivery cannot be confirmed, the funds may remain on hold longer.
In any case, if you have problems like this, you need to contact support.
albe_9950
OP3 years agoUpdate: incredibly this morning the buyer added a phone number and I immediately contacted him asking for information, he explained that he had registered on eBay through a Google account which automatically put the fake Google Nick Name in the shipping address and that he hadn't noticed it, he actually seemed incredulous too, I still have the problem of the package being held with no possibility for me to unlock it and I imagine it will be difficult for him too to explain at the post office the wrong names in order to pick it up in person, I'll wait for it to be returned to sender and we'll see.
I consider the situation resolved, the buyer wasn't fraudulent and is a real person who just signed up on eBay. Thanks to everyone for the support.
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoalbe_9950
OP3 years agoYes, first of all I contacted Poste customer service but according to the operators, since it’s a shipment with Poste Delivery Web (insured, among other things, for a decent amount), it is in fact not possible to change the address while the shipment is in transit, let alone release the package; according to the 4 operators I spoke with, the only thing they can do is check the shipment status via tracking and a few other details. They don’t even know the destination of the packages, let alone the recipient’s name. The only two alternatives were: the recipient goes to pick up the package with an ID document, or it gets returned to the sender, as in fact happened after 3 delivery attempts. With Poste I lost 3 packages in a month with a one-time reimbursement of €30 each, since then I insure everything.
We solved it peacefully: the package comes back to me and I’ll resend it, I doubt he’ll ask for even a partial refund in this case, I didn’t ask for a refund of the second shipment since I’m still within the expected profits anyway and also because the mistake was mine, shipping too quickly under a made-up name, we’re both happy and I keep a potential future buyer, losing €11.70 in shipping.
But I’m starting to think there are very few guarantees, or at least they’re hard to get for sellers, especially when selling on credit..
actar80
·3 years agoGreat decision to reship, if you recover the loss by covering it with the profit you made. You keep the buyer and anyway close the sale without a dispute, because if then you don't resolve it and lose it, you get charged a penalty higher than the roughly 12 euros.
Of course keep proof of the new shipment, in fact as soon as you ship, enter the new tracking. Better yet, contact support in advance explaining what happened and confirm that you will reship
1 question: but were the 3 parcels lost with Poste delivery web or delivery standard?
heavenwelkin
·3 years agoAs far as I know...
If a package is held for an incorrect or incomplete address, it (theoretically) means that by contacting the operator or the broker, they can fix it for me and release it (unless there is a different postal code or province, because in that case it would be a new shipment).
If the address is wrong/incomplete/missing, how did they manage to make 3 delivery attempts?
Usually, if SDA is delivering the package, it is held at their main sorting center (which is sometimes many km away), and the recipient has to go pick it up within a certain number of days.
If the package is delivered by Poste Italiane, it remains on hold at the post office and can be collected there.
Kind regards.
marioelegio
·3 years agoIf you shipped to the exact address ebay gave you and the item gets returned to you, what kind of scam have you fallen for?
The payment will still be released after 15 days and if the buyer shows up again because he wants his item, he’ll have to pay you for a second shipment.
hi
mario
albe_9950
OP3 years agoIn fact, I don't understand the point of it. If he were to open a dispute against me for item not received, I would use his own money for the refund, at worst losing the shipping costs (insured, by the way), but I think I've understood that the funds remain blocked anyway until delivery is confirmed, am I wrong? What if he opens a dispute before the funds are released? How should I behave?.. I'm starting to think it's just some random joke to make me spend on shipping costs, even though I don't understand the point. Thanks
marioelegio
·3 years agoIf you shipped to the address that eBay gave you, you shouldn’t have any problem even in the event of a dispute and you wouldn’t lose anything (you just need to be patient and explain it well, when eBay support asks for information).
The item remains the property of the buyer, but if they want it, they have to pay for a second shipment.
hi
mario