Not Receiving an Order

Lshelley258

Hi

I was wondering if anyone had some advice.
I placed an order on the 4 of February and still haven't received it. I have contacted the seller and they informed me there was nothing they could do and claim they have shipped the items. All other orders have arrived in a timely manner so my address is correct.
At what stage is it appropriate to leave negative feedback or what other course of action can I take?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Lshelley258

Note: other orders from other sellers not the seller in question.

Hoddie

Your options depend on where the store is located, whether they're a business or a private individual, and how you paid.

The first thing you could do is contact your local post office, and ask the seller to submit a claim for loss with their shipping agent if they have a claims procedure (the UK does, for example).

Stragus

Just to get a better picture of the situation, where are you located and where was the order shipped from? Do you know the exact shipping method used?

For example, with Canada Post, even international Small Packets which are officially "without tracking" are tracked internally (we just don't have access to it and they offer no guarantees). Has the seller contacted his postal service to enquire about the packet?

If any such internal non-public tracking shows the package was not delivered, some will say the seller should refund the order. In that case, the postal service may refund even a non-insured package, out of courtesy (it happened to me). The other scenarios are more complicated...

Lshelley258

I have contacted my post office. They informed me that any lost package claims need to be made by the poster.

The package was, unfortunately, just standard package and was shipped from Germany to Australia.

I don't want mark negative feedback if it isn't the sellers fault so a genuine thank you for the information!

Hoddie

In my experience, from Belgium to Australia, standard post can be as quick as 8 working days, but as long as 40 (8 weeks!). This is, in part, because post from Europe to Australia doesn't always go direct, but sometimes via central transit hubs in Europe and Asia, and can also sit in Customs for some time before they deal with it. I think I'm right in saying that Australia has a particularly strict import regime so that may explain the delay in this case.

brennans bounty

hello I think it could be worth checking the sellers feedback and see if they have had feedback showing none delivery if they have some bad feedback I would contact the seller and request a refund if the seller refuses go into paypal and open a none delivery case and you will get your money back ,I am a seller and I always leave a good amount in my paypal account incase of things like this ,often on greedybay I used to have a lot of customers not receiving their items but there was nothing I could do except claim against the post office which normally took ages and was not worth the hassle in the end ,no doubt customers received items but put claim in anyway no way I could prove this because they would not pay for signed for delivery.look into sellers past and if this has happened before and the seller refuses to refund go to paypal.

robernat

@Lshelley258
May I ask what the shippingcost was? Because as far as I know, most German packages have some form of tracking.
As Hoddie said, there is no clear timeframe for transit, as in most cases it depends on customs, it might simply be stuck there (any chance you can contact them)?
Even with a correct address a package can be returned for some reason, worst I lived (as a buyer) was a shipment returned (for no reason) to the seller after 7 months... As a seller I also had orders returned for no reason sometimes 2 or 3 months later. And the longest order I had stuck in customs (as a buyer) was nearly 3 months (and it had tracking).

In regards to feedback: One thing you can do from your order form is to 'report an issue', that way it becomes logged on the seller and Admin can keep an eye on it if it is a 'repeating' issue( now or in future). The feedback itself: well it really depends on your experiance and your trust in the seller (as others mentioned: are there more of such 'signs' on the sellers feedback, did the seller propose more then one shipping method, where you informed it was non trakced/non insured, etc).
I had such an experiance myself here and showed the postal ticket to the buyer, at starters he wanted to leave negative, but by showing the ticket and treating the problem respectfully, he finally decided to leave a neutral in stead (so it didn't affect my %), I considered that fair.
Lost/stolen orders do happen (I currently have a missing in action 300 Euro order, luckely it has tracking and full insurance, so both my buyer and I are safe moneywise, but that will hardly cover the 'actual' loss of the +35 year old MISB sets **sigh** )

Stragus

Guys, that package was shipped 4 months ago, I think it can be declared quite lost until further notice.

@RobErNat raises a good point, you should "Report an issue" (under "More actions") for that order. BrickOwl needs to know when a package is lost and no refund was offered by the seller.

You may be aware that you could claim that refund yourself through Paypal, but that becomes delicate when you volountarily selected a shipping method without tracking to save a few bucks.

International tracking is so cheap in Germany (I'm jealous!), I would expect all german sellers to include tracking for any large order...

robernat

@Stragus define 'lost'.
What can technicly happen to a shipment?
1. The seller doesn't ship (not saying this was the case)
2. The buyer claims he/she never received it (just to be clear, I'm not saying this is a possibility for the OP)
3. It gets stolen along the way.
4. It gets destroyed (postal Van or Truck burns out, a plane crashes), but how often do you read such?
5. It stays stuck in customs (lived it more then once, both as a seller and buyer).
6. It is non deliverable and gets returned to the seller (so enters a postal service, then a courrier, then a customs department, then the local postal service of the buyer, then it awaits delivery, then 'back' to the sorting, then back to local customs, then back to the carrier, then into the sellers customs, then back in the sellers postal service -wow, we are talking many many weeks here- )
7. It's badly packed and gets completely torn open during sorting (machines) or tranportation and becomes a 'disposable' shipment
8. Customs do not like the content and destroy it

What is the highest 'probability' here? To me it's number 3, as any shipment will pass between half a dozen hands at least, or up to 50 peoples (maybe more) hands in worst case if it needs to travel half around the world...
The solution (IMO) is simple (from a buyers point of view), either I badly want something and pay extra to make sure it's delivered, or I decide to have it send 'as cheap as possible' and take the risk...

In regards to 'BrickOwl needs to know when a package is lost and no refund was offered by the seller.' is questionable, rules differ from country to country and it may differ if the seller is a proffesional seller or a hobby seller. BO does not support a distinction between 'professional' and 'private' sellers, so where do we draw the line whether a seller 'should' 'could' or 'must' refund (or not) in such a case?

brennans bounty

sorry to butt in again but surely the buyer has the right to claim the money back for non delivery ok probably not the sellers fault I have been there but the buyer is more important to keep good relations going in my mind the seller should come forward and offer the full refund .the seller has to find out where the item has gone it is not up to the buyer

polarbomber

Your item has either been lost or stolen , i have found the BO users to be very honest . In the EU online sales are covered by a law that if an item is not received the onus is on the seller to refund even if they state they are not liable for the loss of uninsured items . This law does not apply to items shipped to another continent . However as the items were sent airmail the seller should have a postal receipt , and can use this to claim on your behalf . . The seller can refund you and leave a note that you never received the order , this will show up in your stats .
2960 orders completed on BO and only 1 missing ( which was a scammer who got caught out and was plastered over the forum ) , Feebay runs at about 1 out of 50 orders not received .

robernat

In the EU online sales are covered by a law that if an item is not received the onus is on the seller to refund even if they state they are not liable for the loss of uninsured items.

EU sales *should* covered by seller if the purchase is B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Consumer), not if the transaction is C2C (consumer to consumer), so yes, there are sellers who can state they are not liable for lost shipments and they can stand by their 'terms'.
It is the reason why in the long run it is important sellers can identify publicly whether they are either a Business, either a Private (aka Hobby, aka Consumer) seller, as it makes a difference for buyers and their protection (not talking PP wise here). This indication should be clear to any potential buyer, the only thing that needs to be done (any website) is to keep lobbying for such.

BrickItOn

However as the items were sent airmail the seller should have a postal receipt , and can use this to claim on your behalf . .

I don't know how you got this info, but is is certainly not correct. In the Netherlands (and Germany) normal shipment means you basically buy stamps. Yes, you get a postal receipt for your stamps, but there is absolutely nothing to claim or track with this receipt.

I always find it "funny" to see how people don't realize the huge difference in paypal and shipment between countries. My best example:

Shipping 1 minifig Holland - USA uninsured: EURO 1.25
Shipping 1 minifig Holland - USA insured/trackable: EURO 16.50

Clonewarsdude7

check there feedback

robernat

who's feedback ??

Clonewarsdude7

the person he bought from @RobErNat

robernat

I must be missing something... how can you see who he bought from?

Clonewarsdude7

ugh, HE CAN CHECK THE FEEDBACK OF THE PERSON HE BOUGHT FROM FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! (

Clonewarsdude7

@RobErNat

Clonewarsdude7

>:P

robernat

@Clonewarsdude7
The thread is 1.5 months old, the OP hasn't been back to it since then, along the way other people posted messages, the last one, prior to yours today, is from Brickiton, how are readers supposed to know your actually trying to give advise to the OP ?? particulary after more then month...
I strongly recommend to use the 'quote' function or @name to indicate to 'whoom' you are addressing your message.
But as the thread is so old, it was kinda pointless to even reply to it, as I'm fairly sure the OP won't be looking back (well, there's always a chance offcourse).

As a sidenote 'there' should be spelled 'their' when you refer to 'belongings', always surprised to see such spelling mistakes from native English speaking persons... also a typical mistake 'minors' make, so makes me wonder... what is your age (if you don't mind me asking) ?