A UPS courier delivered a £130 satnav purchased from eBay to my bin while I was away, and no one will take responsibility. No delivery notification had been left. I just found that the order status had been set to “delivered”. When I made enquiries, UPS stated it had been delivered to my address in location “other”. A further enquiry identified this as “grey bin”. That is my landfill bin. They reminded me that my bin day was Friday (they’d checked!) and the parcel was delivered on a Tuesday. I’ve received no response from the seller, so I opened a case with eBay, submitting the admission from UPS that the parcel had been left in my bin, and they rejected my claim as the seller had provided proof of delivery. Help please, before I lose the will and get in the same bin myself!
MS, Manchester
Couriers are pressed for time, but it’s hard to believe that anyone would be daft enough to leave an item in a waste bin, even if they do have the wit to stick an advisory card through the letterbox (which, in your case, they didn’t). UPS told me that during the pandemic drivers are authorised to leave packages in “secure locations that are out of sight, clean and protected from the elements”. I suppose you could say a well-kept wheelie fits that description, but UPS acknowledges it was an inappropriate receptacle and that it has refunded the customer. However, “the customer” in this instance is the eBay seller, who, it seems, is not in a hurry to refund you. It wasn’t until I queried eBay’s decision that it admitted you’d been short-changed.
It claims that it requires formal confirmation of an unsafe delivery from the courier on headed paper or email, and rejected the email from UPS that you provided because it did not include the company logo, tracking number or confirmation of mis-delivery (even though it clearly stated it had been left in the bin). Not that it thought to mention that at the time. It has now refunded you as a “one-off courtesy payment”.
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