major help needed - ebay

[jeepgirl30]

I sold tickets to a NFL game that was played today. They sold wed, i overnighted on thursday. They were delayed. Now the person is saying I need to refund the money.

I provided him the tracking number but he said it is invalid. Its not, I just used it and found out the package is delayed.

I was out of town so I didn't know he was having trouble with the tracking.

What do I do??? Its $125. DHL says the package was not damaged so they won't pay.

 

[EthansMom]

It sounds like you need to refund the money. Also, I would go after DHL for at least a refund of the shipping fees since the package did not arrive overnight.

 

[jenimay]

well dhl has a guarantee so you should be able to get back the cost of shipping. As for the actual tickets, tell him to try the tracking number again and tell him you verified it was delayed. You will probably get a negative anyway, but maybe split it with him? I don't know that's a tough one

Jeni

 

[cascadecupcake]

What do you do? Unfortunately, you need to refund the money. The buyer purchased the tickets from you. (and along with it came an assurance that they would have the tickets for today) DHL is merely a representative of you if you contracted them to deliver your goods.
Besides, from what you described I'm guessing it was a paypal transaction--you will lose when the buyer disputes the charge anyway. Why not step up and do the right thing now before it even comes to that?

 

[ADisneygirl]

I am sorry, this situation stinks, but there is a risk involved in selling tickets to an event that is taking place within 3 days and that need to be mailed. He purchased the tickets in good faith and paid immediately for them. Of course he expected to get the tickets before the event so he could use them -- why else buy them?

It is not your fault that the delivery was delayed, but you have to admit that as a buyer he did not get what he paid for. Even if he gets the tickets now, what good are they? The game is over. If it were me I'd be expecting a full refund. Maybe you have some recourse with the delivery company, but not with the buyer. He deserves his money back.

 

[my3kids]

You should be able to get the shipping charge refunded from DHL, but other than that, I think you need to refund in full. It wasn't your fault, but it wasn't the buyer's either. I think you refund and say you are sorry. If he leaves a negitive, you can make a note that you refunded in full and DHL didn't deliver.

 

[JerJan]

SORRY! Not your fault...out of your control....but, the buyer followed all the rules and should not be charged! REFUND the money!

 

[drakethib]

I sold tickets to a NFL game that was played today. They sold wed, i overnighted on thursday. They were delayed. Now the person is saying I need to refund the money.

I provided him the tracking number but he said it is invalid. Its not, I just used it and found out the package is delayed.

I was out of town so I didn't know he was having trouble with the tracking.

What do I do??? Its $125. DHL says the package was not damaged so they won't pay.

You need to check and see if the tickets were indeed delayed, and if they were you owe the person their money back if he or she sends you back the unused tickets. I know they can't be used again, but maybe DHL will work with you in some kind of way.

 

[jeepgirl30]

We are working together so thats a good start.

I explained when i shipped i would be out of town and gave the tracking number. He never tried to contact DHL. DHL said if he would have called they would have made arrangements for him to pick up at the sorting station. I had no idea there was a problem.

It really does suck. We sold tickets because DH's friend backed out and we were stuck with extra tickets we had paid for, we sold them for what we paid. Now we are in the hole because I see its up to me.

I just got ripped off a few months ago and can't do it to someone else.

 

[DianeV]

My personal opinion is that you should split the cost. It wasnt your fault and it wasnt the buyers fault. You should be able to get the shipping cost back from the shipping company but many have a disclaimer about time sensitive things like tickets that they are not responsible for the ticket cost if delayed which does stink.

 

[DMRick]

Since you have the tracking, Paypal will prob find for you and not return their money. Unless they paid via Paypal on their credit card. However, IMO if you said they would have them in time, the responsibility is yours, unless there was something wrong with the address they gave. If you don't pay them back, they very well may take you to small claims court. What do you say in your description and emails..do you promise they will have them before the game?
It's a bummer.

 

[PrincessKitty]

I have to agree that you owe the buyer a 100% refund. I don't think the buyer should have been expected to contact DHL--who would know they could pick up a delayed package at the sorting station? It does really stink that you're out this money, through no fault of your own.

 

[DianeV]

To be honest if I had bought tickets for an event that was that close I would be watching the whole way to make sure I got them in time. The seller already told the buyer they were going out of town and gave them the tracking info so the buyer knew how they were being shipped. That next day if I didnt have them I would be calling DHL and asking what is going on. The buyer needs to take a little responsibility here in that they didnt try to find out what was going on with the package knowing the seller wasnt around. There is a very good chance had they called as the seller said they would have been able to get the tickets in time....so I dont think you can totally blame the seller here. She did what she was supposed to do and that is ship them overnight. She cant control what happens after that really. I just dont understand a buyer being that lackadasial (sp?) about the tickets getting to them on time and then all of a sudden making an issue after its too late??

 

[PrincessKitty]

To be honest if I had bought tickets for an event that was that close I would be watching the whole way to make sure I got them in time. The seller already told the buyer they were going out of town and gave them the tracking info so the buyer knew how they were being shipped. That next day if I didnt have them I would be calling DHL and asking what is going on. The buyer needs to take a little responsibility here in that they didnt try to find out what was going on with the package knowing the seller wasnt around. There is a very good chance had they called as the seller said they would have been able to get the tickets in time....so I dont think you can totally blame the seller here. She did what she was supposed to do and that is ship them overnight. She cant control what happens after that really. I just dont understand a buyer being that lackadasial (sp?) about the tickets getting to them on time and then all of a sudden making an issue after its too late??

I don't think anybody is blaming the seller. However, it is the seller's responsibility to get the tickets to the buyer in time for the game. Although it is not the FAULT of the seller that the tickets didn't arrive in time, it is the seller's RESPONSIBILITY to get them to the buyer. (If we were going to assign FAULT, it probably should be to the friend who backed out!)

 

[lbgraves]

I also agree that it was the buyer who took a great risk in buying tickets on Wednesday night that couldn't be shipped out until Thursday at the earliest for a Satrurday game that they would need to be received by Friday evening. Everyone knows that even if you pay for an over night service anything could happen to prevent that. Even priority mail can take a couple weeks sometimes. Personally, I would be going after your friend who backed out on you for some if not all of the money for the tickets they had you buy for them.

 

[DianeV]

Actually the sellers responsibility is to ship the item as stated in the auction which she did. She cannot control the delivery service..she notified the buyer of shipment with the tracking number and company they were shipped through. She also told the buyer she was not going to be around.

The buyer should have been a bit proactive here when they knew they had a time sensitive item coming and not just waited around until it was too late and then blame the seller.

 

[KPmom]

Keep in mind that it might not be much but you can also get your sellers fees back. There is a form that you can file with ebay if you have to refund money. List it as 100% refund and the reason is shipping issues. I know it's not $175 but at leaset you are not out the sellers fees. ~Mandy

 

[Big Kahuna]

First off, you need to refund the purchaser his money... He clearly didn't get to use the tickets. You do have a claim, but it is with the delivery system you hired to perform the delivery for you.
As previously mentioned, you need to have them refund the shipping costs to you. You also need to read the paperwork you filled out regarding the shipping... DHL may say " It isn’t broke so too bad" BUT that is not true, your out $125.00 plus the shipping.
You need to read the shipping agreement to see if they have an arbitration clause or some other remedial system to cover your loss. If they have any type of remediation or arbitration clause, then immediately begin and follow that process. If they do not have a no "lawsuit clause", then you can go down to your local district court and file a small claims suit against DHL for your losses.
The paperwork is very easy to fill out, and DHL gets mailed a copy and court date. You claim of action is quite simple: I hired DHL to deliver 2 NFL tickets and they failed to deliver them promptly or in the time frame I paid for, and their failure to do so, resulted in a $ 125.00 loss to the plaintiff. They therefore violated our agreement for delivery and because of their negligent actions; the tickets lost any pecuniary value they had. I therefore ask that DHL provide to the plaintiff restitution in the amount of the actual cash/face value of the tickets.
If they fail to appear, the case goes to trial and you testify that you’re out the money etc, and a judgment is entered against them. In fact it’ll cost them more to send a lawyer than to pay you.
I've done this and won before. In fact there is a filing fee that you have to pay, and when you win, they have to pay that fee too as part of the judgment.
I've actually had two judgments, and when one of the companies ignored it, the Sheriff's Department went to the local facility and seized a bunch of office equipment for Sheriff's sale to satisfy the judgment. Funny, they ignored me for six months, but suddenly sent a check in 24 hours, when the deputies took their stuff.
I'm really not a fan of civil suits, but when I enter into a contract and I do my part and loose money, then the people responsible for my loss need to take it on the chin... If it was my fault, then I deserve what I get, but if it's not then someone needs to make it right. Your initial call to DHL sounds like your heading down my path. I probably would never have done this the first time, except for the arrogance of the customer service rep I dealt with.
The second time, I was familar with the system and knew that I wasn't going to take a hit for something I didn't do. Hiring DHL is no different than hiring an electrician. You wouldn't pay an electrician to install a light and not have it work, and still send him a check would you?
Give the guy his money back and do what you need to do ... Best wishes....

 

[DMRick]

While I agree it would be nice, I don't think eBay will see it that way. The delivery service she chose, did not deliver in time. I think she owes the money back, and will need to take this up with the delivery people. She can actually do what she wants and take the probable neg, and see just what either Paypal, the credit card or eBay will do.
I don't think that the fact that she was not available has anything to so with it. If the auction said the buyer must get in touch with the delivery service or all bets were off, it would be different in my opinion. It was suppose to be overnight, they paid for overnight, it didn't come overnight. Perhpas the OP should have called the delivery service to make sure such a time sensitive item was delivered. The bidder couldn't control how they were shipped. Perhaps we need more info. Why was the delivery delayed, and were they perhpas shipped too late in the day for next day delivery? I guess not knowing that, it is hard to assign blame.

Doris
Upstate NY

Actually the sellers responsibility is to ship the item as stated in the auction which she did. She cannot control the delivery service..she notified the buyer of shipment with the tracking number and company they were shipped through. She also told the buyer she was not going to be around.

The buyer should have been a bit proactive here when they knew they had a time sensitive item coming and not just waited around until it was too late and then blame the seller.

 

[DianeV]

All ebay and paypal is going to want to see is delivery..they are not going to care when it was delivered. The seller shipped the way she stated she would in the auction and the item was delivered (or will be) ..most likely any complaint will be denied. I cant see ebay getting involved in time sensitive items. That is the risk to the buyer and seller when selling and buying something like that.