Scammers?

[AndyL1]

Very odd some people out there. I got an email from Paypal stating a customer was requesting a refund as they never received their stuff (delivered over two weeks ago). I supplied a tracking number and proof of delivery and won the case. Now they are requesting a charge back from their own CC company. Luckily Paypal is acting on my behalf and I am covered for any refunds so I won't be out anything

What's sad is this person NEVER contacted me about it at all. I have sent two emails stating I wish I would have known about it and I even offered a discount on a new purchase. Never got a reply. Oh well. The item either got stolen from their mailbox or they're running a scam. At least I'm covered.

How have you all dealt with these situations? It's my first ever bit of drama! Hope it's the last! Lol!

Andy

[electrathon]

They probibly never got it. I have had the PO sign off on delivery confirmation when the package was never delivered (to a work aaddress with a receptionist). Had it happen twice. Once it showed up weeks later and once never saw the package. They also leave packages outside and criminals come behind the mailmen and pick up the packages.

Probibly the purchaser was rather insulted to buy something, not recieve it and then have the seller ask for more money for another one.

[AndyL1]

I do hope that the package was just stolen and they're not trying to get something for free. I would have made a new one for them had they contacted me about it. The only way I found out was through emails from Paypal. Never got a single message from the buyer. At that point I decided to offer a discount. I didn't say how much, but I'm a softy so it would have been worth it: free! Lol!

[Dwight]

It IS that time of year, . . . somehow Christmas seems to bring out the best of the best, . . . and the other guys too.

I do not always do it, . . . but if it is possible, . . . and I have even a moment to think about it, . . . I'll take the high road.

The last thing I want is my name rubbed in the dirt with the likes of Yugo, Ponzi, Amway, etc.

I like to think of my business as being a lot closer to Zippo. If the Zippo don't work, . . . they'll fix it (actually they just put new guts in it), . . . and I really always did like it knowing that my investment in Zippo was a good one. Don't smoke any more, . . . but that's another story.

Anyway, . . . hope things work out, Andy, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[veedub3]

It is odd that he never contacted you about the package. When my customers don't receive their order, they will give me a call or drop me an email inquiring about it, however, If it was shipped with the USPS I would lean towards them not actually receiving the package, than it being a scam. This has happened to me on so many occasions I have lost count.

Karina

[Chief31794]

I only use USPS Priority Mail with Click and Ship, I provide my customers with a tracking number and track them myself. I've only had one incident it the past three years, a customer had moved and it took about two weeks for the package to show up, but it did. She had contacted me and I was preparing to replace the item and ship again for free when she notified me that the item had arrived. I would rather replace an item than have an unhappy customer. I've shipped through USPS International First Class about 15 times and never had a problem even though you can't track them and it depends on at least two different postal systems. I always insure the package for my raw material and time costs and include the cost of that in my shipping charge so I can recover the cost should a package get lost or stolen.

Chief

[TXAG]

You can actually sort of track first class international packages using the Customs form number. It will not be acceptable by PayPal for proof of delivery, but at least you can usually see where it is and when it's finally delivered. I've been shipping this way for a very long time now and that's how it's worked for me. I've also found that first class international can take anywhere from two weeks to six months, so...make sure your buyer knows this before they just opt for the cheapest method. I've had them tell me to ship it first class international and then nag me constantly asking when it's going to be delivered, starting three days after I shipped it...those, I do not sell to anymore.

[AndyL1]

Thanks all for the added insights on your business. I should clarify that I do know the package was delivered. Beyond that I have know idea why they want a refund nearly three weeks of it being delivered. I can only assume they never got the package... Maybe stolen from their mailbox? Who knows. I wish he would have contacted me... Kind of odd behavior if you ask me that's why I suspect some sort of scam.

Ah well. One bad one in the bunch. At least PayPal has my back.

[Tex Shooter]

I have had that happen a couple of times weeks later and after I produced a PO receipt. to PayPal the customer said he got it two days later. These were on eBay And there feed back indicated that they had done this before. I have been in the wholesale/retail business for 22 years and Only know of 3 packages that were mot received in that period of time. There are a few scammers out there however. There MO is usually wait a period of time and claim they never got a package, but if you show a postal receipt or tracking number they usually all of a sudden say they got it. A scammers more likely MO is to say that there is something wrong with a item and want there money back without returning the merchandise. For the far and away most people are very honest and I would try to work with them. There is however a very slight few that are just down right crooks. By the way I never had a wholesale order customer say once he never got his merchandise and that was thousands and thousands of sales. -- Tex

[bloggs]

One thing we've been seeing in our other business lately is people waiting for just over a year after the purchase then sending messages saying they never got the item. In that business, we sell enough items and a lot of them are straight ordered off the site without any real communication, so we don't always know their names offhand. At some point the tracking info goes away, so it looks like the package never even got sent. They're hoping you just go back and search for their name and don't notice that it is from a year and two weeks ago instead of just two weeks and refund or re-send the items. It's been tried on us a couple times, but luckily we caught the original message dates every time.

[TXAG]

Thanks all for the added insights on your business. I should clarify that I do know the package was delivered. Beyond that I have know idea why they want a refund nearly three weeks of it being delivered. I can only assume they never got the package... Maybe stolen from their mailbox? Who knows. I wish he would have contacted me... Kind of odd behavior if you ask me that's why I suspect some sort of scam.

Ah well. One bad one in the bunch. At least PayPal has my back.

One thing that really sucks about USPS is that they do sometimes delivery mail to the wrong address -- when there is delivery confirmation on the package and they deliver it to the wrong address, it still shows up as "delivered" because they scanned it as "delivered" even though it isn't where it's supposed to be.

PayPal will still find in your favor if that is the case though...but it's bad because you don't have any way to know if it was delivered to the wrong address or if the person really did get the package and is lying.

[Dwight]

My blood pressure usually takes an uptick when this discussion, delivery to wrong address, comes up.

Several years ago I bought a high end video camera on Ebay, . . . paid with the church's credit card, . . . and expected delivery on I think a Friday.

Anyway, . . . delivery day came and went, . . . no package.

Later that weekend, . . . a black pickup and a bunch of unknown folks comes into my driveway. They asked for me by name, . . . and something about the tone just didn't set right.

When he said he had something for me, . . . and started looking on the other side of where he was sitting, . . . I was getting this "fight or flight" feeling coming up.

Lo and behold, . . . he had my box, . . . with the video camera, . . . UPS had simply sat it on the porch and left. Didn't ring the doorbell, . . . knock on the door, . . . nothing. Marked it as delivered, . . . and went on his merry way.

Half of me wanted to shout halleluia, . . . the other half wanted to wring a UPS driver's scrawny neck.

It all worked out, . . . but there certainly was potential for otherwise.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Cyberthrasher]

UPS had simply sat it on the porch and left. Didn't ring the doorbell, . . . knock on the door, . . . nothing. Marked it as delivered, . . . and went on his merry way.

They've started doing that a lot more frequently lately, especially during busy seasons. My UPS guys will normally pound on the door real quick, just in case I didn't notice my dog going off. I had a FedEX delivery that got me heated once though. Brand new drum machine and the guy literally THROWS the box onto my porch and just leaves. I happened to be sitting there watching him do it so I was pretty irate about it.

[TXAG]

Well. This probably will not help your blood pressure any, but I have it on good authority that UPS has been recruiting people in suburban areas for local parcel delivery...they basically set up a trailer in one of your neighbor's driveways, deliver the packages (locking them in the trailer) during the day, then the person is supposed to deliver them around their neighborhood in the evenings in their own personal vehicles. Really doesn't sound like a good situation, to me...