Neutral Feedback for Item Stolen Out of Mailbox – How to handle?

I have also had buyers who admitted the item was stolen after being delivered. Ebay does not hold the seller responsible. You do not have to reimburse her. I recommend calling ebay. They usually don’t remove neutrals but I would try anyway.

Yep, call eBay. They’ll understand that you did everything you were supposed to do.

I would be interested to hear what more experienced seller’s might say, but in my opinion, in regard to the feedback, I would call ebay and see about getting it taken off. Something being stolen from a buyer’s mailbox has nothing to do with you as the seller. If ebay will not remove it, you may want to let it go and move on. I think perspective buyer’s (upon reading the feedback) will see that the neutral feedback had nothing to do with you as a seller. Packages being stolen off of porches is a current day crime wave that seems to be escalating with both individuals and groups alike participating.

In addition, Priority Mail comes with insurance, so you may want to call the post office tomorrow to file a claim.

Regarding things stolen out of the mailbox, I was on the other end of that story. My mailbox was being emptied almost daily. I eventually managed to prove it to the post office with parcel tracking. They told me to contact my supplier and ask them to initiate a claim for the item. I did, and I received a refund from the seller about two weeks later. I assume the seller was paid and then refunded me. I didn’t actually ask for the refund, as I didn’t hold the seller responsible, but she thanked me for the advice and then sent the refund.

I’m not saying that the OP should do this, but it really left a very good impression on me that she’d done it! I don’t know if a buyer can amend feedback (I know we can’t, as sellers) but it may halp your case if you let the buyer know you’re putting in a claim and will send a refund if you receive one.

A Neutral will not be visible to your buyer, unless they deliberately click on your feedback. With 100% positive, they probably won’t. If they do, then they can click on the feedback and see the comments.

If they see the comments it will be evident that the feedback was not deserved.

In other words, is it worth the effort to make steps to get it changed. A phone call is no big deal, but to file a USPS claim is more effort that I think I’d go to on this one. The buyer has issues with his deliveries that he needs to address on his own.

It’s tough to keep perfect feedback with all the unreasonable and grumpy buyers out there. I think you already dodged a bullet, because the buyer gave you a neutral and not a negative.

Good Luck

Jay, I had to report it to my local Sheriff and get a case number bc they’ve had a spate of mailbox thefts in the area in the last 3 months. The Postmistress told me when they have enough cases reported, they set up a sting. I’ve not heard of any progress though. The guy who has the property nearest the postboxes says he’s seen vehicles there late at night with music and drinking. Why he didn’t think to call the Sheriff, I don’t know!

I had a suspicion that stuff was going missing, but there’s no way to tell with general mail. It was just odd to me that we were getting NO mail at all, not even junk mail! Of course, packages are tracked, so I had a delivery notice and no parcel, so it was possible to “prove” it. Even better, the parcel was an odd shape, so the postal carrier remembered the delivery. Helped the whole process.