Fraud with parcel left at Post Office
Back in September of last year I ordered a small TV from eBay for £120. The order was being shipped through Parcelforce to my home address, and I made sure someone was home throughout the week to accept the item.
After a few days of not receiving it, I decided to track the item and saw that delivery was apparently attempted and the house was carded - there were people home all week, and the house had certainly not been carded. Not a huge deal as I've had this happen before - but on the tracking, it said it had been delivered to a local Post Office, and it had apparently been collected within 2 minutes of it being delivered.
This was obviously very confusing for me, and I thought it may have been a computer mistake and the item was actually waiting for me there. I went around, and they showed me a receipt for the item with someone's signature, that was nothing like mine! I requested to see CCTV but was informed that there is no CCTV in that particular Post Office, which I found very odd. After the Post Office worker refusing to acknowledge what's gone on, I took the matter up with the South Wales Police and let them deal with it for a few months.
Just after new years, I was informed by the Police that there's nothing they can do and they dropped the case. I decided to email PayPal about the issue (which involved raising a case against the seller, which I didn't want to do as obviously it isn't their fault) and also write a letter of complain to the Post Office headquarters. PayPal got back to me instantly and said that as the seller has proof of postage there is nothing they can do.
I had a letter back off the Post Office today, and they have said they have contacted the branch manager and apparently the branch manager recalls my visit to collect the item and said I had shown ID(!) and also the Parcelforce calling card, so essentially it's my word against theirs.
I now don't know what to do next. Does anyone have any suggestions on who I can contact now? While £120 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, I'm essentially a victim of identity theft!
Thanks!
After a few days of not receiving it, I decided to track the item and saw that delivery was apparently attempted and the house was carded - there were people home all week, and the house had certainly not been carded. Not a huge deal as I've had this happen before - but on the tracking, it said it had been delivered to a local Post Office, and it had apparently been collected within 2 minutes of it being delivered.
This was obviously very confusing for me, and I thought it may have been a computer mistake and the item was actually waiting for me there. I went around, and they showed me a receipt for the item with someone's signature, that was nothing like mine! I requested to see CCTV but was informed that there is no CCTV in that particular Post Office, which I found very odd. After the Post Office worker refusing to acknowledge what's gone on, I took the matter up with the South Wales Police and let them deal with it for a few months.
Just after new years, I was informed by the Police that there's nothing they can do and they dropped the case. I decided to email PayPal about the issue (which involved raising a case against the seller, which I didn't want to do as obviously it isn't their fault) and also write a letter of complain to the Post Office headquarters. PayPal got back to me instantly and said that as the seller has proof of postage there is nothing they can do.
I had a letter back off the Post Office today, and they have said they have contacted the branch manager and apparently the branch manager recalls my visit to collect the item and said I had shown ID(!) and also the Parcelforce calling card, so essentially it's my word against theirs.
I now don't know what to do next. Does anyone have any suggestions on who I can contact now? While £120 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, I'm essentially a victim of identity theft!
Thanks!
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Comments
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I suspect what the guy in the Post Office has said about the person collecting the parcel showed his ID is just bullshit! That's what's supposed to happen but, from my own experience of collecting parcels, they don't usually bother. He's just saying that to cover his own backside.
Well, that's what I reckon happened but how you would prove it I'm afraid I don't know.
Same here, I have collected parcels for my grandmother (different gender and surname to me) and have not been asked for ID, All i did was hand over the attempted delivery card and they gave me the parcel
You sell a high ticket item but only send a cheap item tracked to a house in the same postcode as the buyer.
Other person picks up the letter sent to them and then the tracking shows that it has been delivered. If you then try and claim your money back the seller will show the tracking number to ebay/paypal saying it has been deliered.
This does sound very likely. And CCTV would show that no ID was actually shown and that the OP did not collect the item.
The lesson here is that buying online is now risky because of the marked decline in delivery standards. Something out of the control of Ebay of course, but it does make buying via Ebay a risky proposition.
If I wanted a cheap telly, I would just go to a large Asda or Tesco....
Waste of time
Doesn't that involve the scammer having an accomplice living in the same postcode as the (random) victim from eBay ?
Not really you can send anything tracked to the same postcode. Often its just a empty box/envelope or a piece of junk mail. As long as royal mail tracking shows delivery and being signed for ebay will side with the seller. I belive what helps this process is that royal mail are notoriously slow in dealing with claims for thus kind of stuff so normally falls out side of ebay timescales.
The manager should at least be able to produce the could not deliver card, they take it from you.
Its a simple case of non-receipt. Either file a claim with your credit card or Paypal.
Fail, it would have a different address, ie house number, sound like just another false myth to discredit ebay
I ended up raising a small claim against the seller and I won! You can do it online...think the cost is £25.
Good luck, hope you get it sorted.