Shiply Courier collected Item, never delivered, now will no communicate

[vnelhams]

I sold an item on ebay, marked as collection only, and my buyer chose to send a courier to collect. I agreed to this to facilitate the sale - yes, everyone has told me this was a mistake.

Buyer made all the arrangements, using Shiply - that was her mistake!

Courier duly collected the item - a hand-carved coffee table sold for £250 - but has never delivered and will not return emails, texts or phone calls. In short, he has gone AWOL and taken my table with him.

Ebay, of course, have taken £250 off me again and given it back to the buyer. Neither of us has the table.

So how do I recover the goods?

My buyer seems either unable or unwilling to trawl through her emails to find her booking confirmation, but in the meantime I have found his name (though I suspect it is false), email address, phone number, a copy of his terms and conditions, the city he is based in, and I have his van make and registration. What I don't have is an address, or my table, or £250

Can any one advise me on my next move.

[unclebulgaria67]

Courier was to be paid on delivery. The buyer refused to accept delivery or pay courier. Courier took item away as they are entitled to keep item to cover their costs. Buyer then reports non delivery to get their money back. You are then without a coffee table as a result.

 

Just a guess, which may be why the buyer refuses to help. Wonder whether the courier can confirm what happened and if it was as per the above, that EBay may look at this again.

 

Unless the courier confirms to you or Shiply what happened with the delivery, you are a bit stuck.

 

ps. Buyer refused because they changed their mind on purchase for whatever reason. Bet this happens. Buyers use the courier payment on delivery, so if they refuse an item, they don't lose out because of the EBay refund system.

[vnelhams]

Courier was to be paid on delivery. The buyer refused to accept delivery or pay courier. Courier took item away as they are entitled to keep item to cover their costs. Buyer then reports non delivery to get their money back. You are then without a coffee table as a result.

 

Just a guess, which may be why the buyer refuses to help. Wonder whether the courier can confirm what happened and if it was as per the above, that EBay may look at this again.

 

Unless the courier confirms to you or Shiply what happened with the delivery, you are a bit stuck.

 

Thanks for reply - courier was paid up front by my buyer. As far as I can tell, it is not the buyer making things difficult, but a very dishonest courier - he was particularly interested in the table when he collected it and I suspect he has either kept it for himself or sold it on.

I just want to know if there is anything I can do to recover the goods - surely this is theft?

[unclebulgaria67]

How do you know courier was paid up front ?

 

Could the buyer and courier be connected ? Just thinking that a buyer could select a courier friend registered with Shiply. With EBay refund policy, it could be a way to obtain free goods.

 

If the buyer had paid the courier and lost money as a result, why would they not be more helpful.

 

My instinct is telling me that the buyer may not be the innocent party here.

 

At the moment you have reasonable belief that a theft has taken place by the courier and you could report to the Police local to where the courier is based. Whether they will investigate is another matter. But if they did, you might find out more.

[JoeyJoeC]

Well as they appointed a courier to collect the table, your part was done. An authorized person collected it. So you shouldn't be out of pocket. Do you have any receipt that it was collected?

 

Personally I would call them and kick up a fuss, they will say they can't refund it, but just keep repeating yourself. I had a £200 laptop go missing when someone collected it, and then claimed they didn't get it. They eventually refunded the £200.

 

Edit: Shiply isn't a courier, it seems to be just a service to match you to a courier. And from the looks of it, the courier could be anyone.

[CrappoMan]

Nobody is going to volunteer any info to you, neither the buyer, the courier or Shiply, as you are a third party to the courier transaction.

 

The only way you have any chance of getting any info is with the police's involvement. Report the theft.

[aburobert]

Did you keep a copy of the eBay listing?

 

Also do you have a receipt from the courier to state collection was made?

 

As your listing said 'collection only' and if you can prove collection then you should be demanding your money back from Paypal as you have met all the conditions of your sale.