So, you want to start selling on eBay? Did you know that its a mandatory minimum that 1% of your buyers will come straight from hell? Its true and this PITA (Pain In The Ass) buyer is a great example of that. No they are not all that rude and they aren’t making any threats however they are really dumb and ignorant. On top of that they seem to lack any sense of personal accountability… seems like a trend in our society today. I thought I would share this little story with all of you since it is a bit amusing and if you have ever dealt with a PITA buyer then you sure can relate to my current plight.

On February 25th I sold this Toshiba DVD / VCR combo for $34.95 plus shipping. I was even able to ship the item out on the same day, because thats just the kind of awesome seller I am.

On February 27th I receive this from the buyer, “Hi i have a problem, my order is being shipped to my old address.”

My reply, also on the 27th, “Hi, unfortunately we have no control over the package once it leaves our facility. Your best option is to contact the post office that your item will arrive at and have them forward any mail in your name to your new address. If you know the people who are currently living at your old address you can pick the item up from them or ask them to mail the item to you. Otherwise we will have to wait until the item gets returned back to us, which can take several weeks, at that time we can either reship the item to your new address or provide a refund for the item.”

The item was delivered on March 1st. I did not hear back from the buyer until March 12th, “I have a situation here and I don t know how to handle this but as I sent a message saying that it went to my old address well they delivered it and no one lives there but I am guessing that put it in between the doors. The package is gone I believe it was stolen. What am I supposed to do now.”

My response, “Hi, your best option is to contact the Post Office that delivered the item and ask them for details regarding the package. If they do not have any answers for where it might be then you can ask them about opening a theft investigation with the Postal Inspector.”

On March 15th the buyer opened an Item Not Received case with the attached comment, “I am sending this in hopes to recover my loss. The delivered item was stolen ,I seen the tracking information and it was delivered on schedule. So I’m out a very and my money which I hope to get back”

“The tracking number shows that the item was delivered on March 1st to the address provided by the buyer when purchasing the item.”

Buyer on March 16th, “I understand that the tracking details say it was delivered but it was just dropped there. Noone was home to take it. Then when someone checked to see if it was there, it wasnt. Obviously, it was marked delivered but either it wasn’t delivered by mistake, it was delivered to the wrong address by the postal worker by mistake, or it was stolen. Either way I don’t have the item and would like a refund because I don’t have the item.”

After this response the buyer left a neutral feedback stating that I shipped the item to the wrong address. I called eBay and explained to them that the item was delivered to the address the buyer provided and they removed the neutral.

My response to the March 16th message, “When a customer purchases an item on eBay they provide the address they would like the item shipped to. We ship the item to the address provided. The tracking number says that the item was delivered to that address. If you don’t have the item you need to contact your local post office. We have successfully completed the transaction on our end.”

Buyer on March 18th, “Ebay policy states that If a buyer doesn’t receive an item, the buyer needs to report that they didn’t receive the item by contacting the seller from My eBay. The seller should address the buyer’s concern and provide updates on the delivery of the item, tracking information, OR A REFUND. Also since the package wasn’t sent using an insured usps option the following policy applies. USPS and Stolen Mail Be aware that if USPS can prove that the package was delivered, you won’t be able to file a claim with them because they fulfilled their end of the bargain. The tracking number you provided is their proof.”

“The item was successfully delivered.”

As of March 19th the case is still open with a status of awaiting the buyers response. I have a difficult time having any empathy for this buyer. They had 0 feedback before they got 1 from me yet they still managed to provide the wrong address when making their purchase. The lack of accountability by this buyer is quite astounding to me. I cannot figure out their reasoning that since they didn’t get the item, through their own fault, that I should be forced to give them a refund. I have absolutely met my obligations as far as eBay is concerned so I am not worried about this little situation however it is becoming quite annoying.

So are they a scammer or just really stupid? I haven’t made up my mind yet.

UPDATE

On March 21st the buyer escalated the case and asked eBay to step in to make a final decision. Within just an hour or 2 I received another e-mail from eBay titled “Case #XXXXXXXXX has been closed”. Here is what it said:

This case is now closed

Hi PJ,
We reviewed this case and have closed it without any refund to the buyer.
The case will not affect your seller performance. Any feedback left for this transaction will be removed.

We received tracking information that shows the item was delivered to the buyer’s address.

Yay! Its officially over! This really should never of been drawn out as much as it was. The eBay policy pages are quite clear on this type of situation. The seller is required to provide a valid tracking number showing that the item was delivered to the address given by the buyer. I did that, the case is officially closed and the buyer is blocked from leaving me any kind of negative feedback.

THE END.