Buyer can't find delivered item.

[guyonetheinternet]

Tracking shows the item is delivered. Buyer messages me asking what the package looks like because he/she can’t find it.

I respond. Then later I get another message saying essentially: “Yeah, I know it was delivered. PO even says so. But I can’t find it so now I’m going to file a claim with the PO. Don’t know what happened.”

Obviously it’s not my problem, but still I feel an impulse to do something to make him/her feel a bit better. Really don’t feel like giving away any money though.

Anyone have any clever ideas here about how to turn this into a better experience for the customer?

[sonia]

Not sure there’s anything you can do. I would count my lucky stars that the buyer wasn’t blaming me for the issue and move on.

[guyonetheinternet]

Yeah… just feel kinda bad ignoring the buyer. Flaw in my personality, honestly.

[Inglewood]

I’m going through the same thing as a buyer at the moment – really frustrating when it says that the post office delivered the item and I didn’t get it. The item I bought was from a very large reputable retailer and they are following up with the post office for me. Worst case as a buyer my credit card will have my back, but it’s a lot of calls to rectify and I still want my item.

Last time I had this happen my parcel turned up at a neighbors house…maybe happened again.

Here is the response the retailer I’m dealing with gave:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your recent online order.
I am sorry to learn that you haven’t received your order. I can certainly understand how this would be concerning especially as it shows delivered.

I have forwarded your email to a member of our team who will be looking into your order and will respond to you as soon as possible.
We appreciate your patience, while we look into this matter.

[guyonetheinternet]

I wonder what it means to ‘follow up with the Post Office.’ At least, I my own situation, it seems the post office put it in the mailbox and that was that. Can’t imagine what more they would be able to add.

[IndySales]

I had this issue as a buyer about 3 or 4 times, and each time the package would get marked as delivered only to show up days later. Eventually I caught the USPS truck driving up to my place for about 2 minutes only to pull away without delivering anything. The tracking then updated to show the package as delivered.

I don’t know how true this is, but apparently this behavior started when Amazon was using USPS as their primary carrier – USPS workers were told to pull over their trucks at 5PM and mark all Amazon packages in the truck as delivered in an effort to keep Amazon happy. I’m not sure that’s the case here, though, but I found it interesting regardless.

Makes me wonder how often this happens to stuff people buy from me and I just don’t hear about it.

[Jay]

Its nice to be nice, but once USPS marks it as “delivered” there’s nothing you can do. As long as you uploaded tracking, eBay and Paypal resolve you of all responsibility.

The only outcome that further communication will get you is the buyer expecting you to refund their money.

[guyonetheinternet]

Thank you Jay. That second paragraph makes me feel a bit better about just letting this go. Buyer can still leave feedback. And I find calling eBay kind of a chore. Probably won’t get to that point, though.

Thank you everyone.

[ebaymom]

I just dealt with this as a buyer (totally frustrating and it really sucks… I tried to file a claim with paypal to see what would happen and as expected, it didn’t work out. The customer ended up sending me a replacement part as a courtesy but I realize they totally didn’t have to do that. I really appreciated their professionalism. They went above and beyond. They item was only $2.00)

Now, I am dealing with this today in fact as a seller.. also, really frustrating.. I feel your pain because I do feel bad for them but I’m getting too many free returns, why should I be out even more money because of an unreliable postal service? There is the feedback consideration as well so I at least want to send a response… They waited 3 weeks to let me know and said that they knew tracking shows delivered but they never received it and was wondering if I had any additional info.

Here is how I responded (in case it helps… I am trying to leave the ball in their court while stressing that this really is a USPS issue…)

Hi <Customer>,
I am getting back to you with all the info on my end.. I am very sorry you didn’t get your package. This happened to us last month with a phone charger we ordered on eBay that tracking showed “Delivered” that we never received, so I understand how frustrating this situation is!

Is your paypal address correct?

<INSERT PAYPAL INFORMATION HERE>

Here is my tracking information (probably the same as yours):
<INSERT ALL YOUR TRACKING INFO HERE FROM USPS WEBSITE>

Did you have any success contacting your local post office and speaking to the Carrier Supervisor and/or the Post Master? GPS tracking is often used with delivery confirmation so it is something they may be able to double check.

Here is also a link to report missing mail to the US Postal Inspection Service: https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/mlntrcvd.aspx#ctl00_mainContent_RadioMNR

[guyonetheinternet]

The point about the correct address is a good one. If you put two different addresses into the ebay/paypal system for whatever reason, it’s really not hard to accidentally send something to the wrong address.

And this buyer was a (0) which ups the odds of a mistake.

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