Am I being scammed? (Ebay problem)

GoodOmens · August 2011

Here's the situation: Guy buys my XBox 360 via Ebay. He takes a while to pay but eventually does, via Paypal. The money is in my account, and I ship the console off. This was August 5. A few days ago I get an e-mail from him asking where it is, and whether he'll get it by August 25. I check the tracking number and find that there's no update to its status since it was checked in at the post office, around 2 weeks before. I contact the Post Office, and they basically say that until it gets checked in at a new location, there's no way to track it. I did get insurance on it.

At this point, there's still no update on the location of the package. There's no indication that it reached the destination post office. I don't see any way to deal with this other than to refund the guy's money, and file the insurance claim. Before I actually send him the money (via Paypal), I'm wondering if anyone thinks this is some sort of scam.

I don't have that feeling; it seems that either the Xbox was lost in shipping or a postal worker got a gift for his kids. One way or the other, I don't have the impression that the buyer is scamming me. But I put it before the wisdom of the masses. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Chanus · August 2011

If the tracking isn't showing up, I would guess the problem is with the Post Office. They possibly lost the package.

It's not like the guy can get them not to track the package.

Chanus · August 2011

If the guy is reasonable, you might be able to ask him to wait until you clear it up with the Post Office before sending a refund. You could put the money in an escrow account in the meantime, so he knows it's still there.

GoodOmens · August 2011

He seems reasonable, and we've been in discussion via e-mail since he contacted me. He knew it would be a few days wait (I had to transfer money into Paypal, because I had already taken it out) and didn't have a problem with it. He was hoping to get the XBox by August 25 because he's moving back to Brazil, but that proverbial ship has sailed.

Chanus · August 2011

I don't know if it's possible, so this is just speculation, but if you can set it up with the Post Office that they return the package to you if it's found, then I'd think you could send him his money back without worrying about it, because either you get it back and can resell it, or it's lost and he shouldn't be on the hook for that.

JHunz · August 2011

If the post office has no record of it reaching the buyer, he's not scamming you, you're just getting screwed by the post office. You're in a bad situation, though, because if you refund his money and then the post office delivers the package, they'll totally deny your claim. And unless he would be willing to re-pay you'd be out both your 360 and your money.

On the other hand, though, it's totally not his fault that he hasn't gotten what he paid for. He's not going to wait for you to get your insurance claim money because USPS says "claims are usually paid within 30 days" and that would put him outside of the 45-day paypal dispute window.

I remember that when an Express Mail delivery was past its delivery time, I was able to open a status investigation through their Track & Confirm number (although you have to listen to the automated status and shit before it'll let you speak to a human). I don't know if that service is available on lesser shipment types.

Edit: Late to the reply party

GoodOmens · August 2011

OK, that pretty much confirms my thinking. This doesn't feel like a scam, this feels like an honest fuck-up by the USPS. I agree that I have to pay him back before getting the insurance money, that's only fair.

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