Ebay seller says item not delivered - USPS says it was. What now?

[PII | 1,885]

1 hour ago, The Strangest said:

So I talked to the post office where the package was delivered. After sitting in the general delivery section of their post office for God knows how long, the package got put back in the mailstream for whatever reason. They delivered it to this guy’s other known address, which turns out to be a homeless shelter. I called the homeless shelter and they confirmed they had the package, and the dude that worked there was making it clear that he’s sick of dealing with this guy. So I emailed him and told him that’s where it is. A few days later he emails me back saying he “can’t” go there. I simply said “Well, that’s where your package is.” Now he’s emailing me today saying he called them and they don’t have it.

Why the fuck am I dealing with this?

I would give the shelter a call again to double verify that it's there and then ask if the guy has been barred from the property.  (I recommend summoning all of your strength in order to be as polite as possible.  If you've never worked in a homeless shelter you have no idea how stressful it is.)  If they say no he has not, then you just have to convince him.  If they say yes, you'll have to do your best to sweet talk whoever you get to speak with into allowing him to come by for it, maybe just showing up at the door outside or something - might have to explain how important it is to you and request that they let their staff know the deal.

...and take lots of deep breadths.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

I'd call the shelter again too, ask if it's ok to record the conversation depending on state laws if that's needed.  Get them to re-confirm that A) the have it, B) the true owner is a rude assclown they're fed up with and C) they banned him from the property.  THen call the dude again and record him saying it's YOUR problem despite verifying he knew where it was and that it was obtainable.  Play that back for ebay and his ass is done.  You'll have the current holder, and the ultimate owner both admitting to delivery and location of the package.  Then it's his problem to get it or send a friend to.

[Strange | 1,700]

Dude emailed me back today telling me to mail it to a new address.  I told him I don’t have the package, it’s still waiting for him at the center. He still swears it isn’t there, so the homeless shelter must have sent it back to me between when I called today and his most recent email.

So he sends me back this nice email. Name is uncensored this time for those who want to avoid dealing with this asshat. I told him I’ve done everything I reasonably could do as a seller and that if he gets the package, great, but if it gets sent back to me I will refund him rather than send it to this new address. I’m done.

 

[drxandy | 3,225]

I am sorry for your trouble but the drama is pretty entertaining. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

17 hours ago, The Strangest said:

Updating this thread again. This shit is weird.

So I talked to the post office where the package was delivered. After sitting in the general delivery section of their post office for God knows how long, the package got put back in the mailstream for whatever reason. They delivered it to this guy’s other known address, which turns out to be a homeless shelter. I called the homeless shelter and they confirmed they had the package, and the dude that worked there was making it clear that he’s sick of dealing with this guy. So I emailed him and told him that’s where it is. A few days later he emails me back saying he “can’t” go there. I simply said “Well, that’s where your package is.” Now he’s emailing me today saying he called them and they don’t have it.

Why the fuck am I dealing with this?

Because you've figured out that it's worth $20 to put up with this shit?

I would have been done at the initial message.    "Sorry about that, no clue what USPS did with it, here's your full refund."  

[Strange | 1,700]

9 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Because you've figured out that it's worth $20 to put up with this shit?

I would have been done at the initial message.    "Sorry about that, no clue what USPS did with it, here's your full refund."  

I hear you, I just didn’t want to roll over and give this dude the money on his word alone when USPS says it was delivered.

Maybe if he hadn’t been a dick in the second message though I would have been more sympathetic.

[Strange | 1,700]

Sorry to keep spamming this thread. The (hopefully) final update:

The homeless center called me to tell me they are mailing me back the game. I told him three times it was there and he said he wouldn’t go there. Reminder: it got sent there in the first place because he never came to pick it up from general delivery and the post office sent it to his last known address. The center had no issue with him coming to get it. I told him what happened and that I’m refunding his money. I’ve got an inbox full of emails cussing me out, how I’ve failed as a seller, etc. He also told me to eat a dick, so if you guys catch me on Grindr let me know you’re from VGS.

[Hybrid | 425]

What an ass 

[drxandy | 3,225]

Yeah, glad to add to the block list. What a turd.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 8/10/2020 at 5:03 PM, The Strangest said:

Updating this thread again. This shit is weird.

So I talked to the post office where the package was delivered. After sitting in the general delivery section of their post office for God knows how long, the package got put back in the mailstream for whatever reason. They delivered it to this guy’s other known address, which turns out to be a homeless shelter. I called the homeless shelter and they confirmed they had the package, and the dude that worked there was making it clear that he’s sick of dealing with this guy. So I emailed him and told him that’s where it is. A few days later he emails me back saying he “can’t” go there. I simply said “Well, that’s where your package is.” Now he’s emailing me today saying he called them and they don’t have it.

Why the fuck am I dealing with this?

I don't know what dollar value you assign to your own time, but you've already done more than $20 worth of work by my estimate. Cut your losses and move on.

[Strange | 1,700]

31 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I don't know what dollar value you assign to your own time, but you've already done more than $20 worth of work by my estimate. Cut your losses and move on.

The game is on its way back to me. The shelter got sick of holding it and sent it back. Dude wanted me to ship to a third address when it gets back to me and I said I would just refund him instead. He cussed me out.

All is well.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

17 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

The game is on its way back to me. The shelter got sick of holding it and sent it back. Dude wanted me to ship to a third address when it gets back to me and I said I would just refund him instead. He cussed me out.

All is well.

Hahaha. All's well that ends well, I suppose. Crazy story. You've definitely got some serious patience.

Edited August 12, 2020 by DoctorEncore

[Tanooki | 4,933]

39 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

The game is on its way back to me. The shelter got sick of holding it and sent it back. Dude wanted me to ship to a third address when it gets back to me and I said I would just refund him instead. He cussed me out.

All is well.

What an asshat, and I think there's no reasonable way to ever trust that clown on that mail it to a second address crap.  That right there would strip you of any argument and he could run you over any way possible as ebay would say it was your choice not to use the validated paypal address.  Best thing is done, get it back, refund the moron his money and block him while exposing the ebay id.

[Strange | 1,700]

Sorry to everyone sick of seeing this thread, but there’s another small update: the dude opened an eBay case against me and lost it. I got a message from eBay stating this because the tracking had shown delivered to the address he provided. So eBay told me that they’re deleting the negative feedback he left me and that I don’t have to refund this dude, but I still will if/when I get the game back.

Edited August 15, 2020 by The Strangest

[TylerBarnes | 184]

Yeah, what a wild story. Typically when this sort of claim happens, you want to get something from the customer stating they didn't receive. Let them know you will start a claim, Open a claim with the courier and have them investigate. If they deem the claim valid and pay the insurance, you refund the customer. If not, you did everything you were obligated to do for them, and have records of it for the PayPal dispute. Done. It is his responsibility to pick up his mail and make sure USPS has a valid address for him. 

Edited August 15, 2020 by TylerBarnes