Buyer filed non-receipt dispute, tracking info not updated in 2 weeks

[SlickJane]

I had a few vero products, sold them and buyers paid for them before vero cancelled the listings (so buyers were notified the listing was cancelled). One guy immediately opened a Paypal Non-receipt dispute. So I told him I would either refund his money right away, or mail him the item. He says he wants the item. So I mail it Priority Mail. It has been 2 weeks, and the claim is still open, and the tracking info says (not updated) since April 2, but shows it arrived at a Post Office Box on that date.
Is this normal? I've never had this happen, a package just sit in a post office unclaimed, I guess? Is the buyer trying to play me?
Thanks.

[ptenchick]

The package was delivered to the buyer's confirmed Paypal address, right? I hope you provided the tracking info, etc...
The dispute was escalated to the claim....if the buyer doesn't get back to you within 7 to 20 days (for each claim it's different, Paypal will let you know), the claim will "time out" in your favor...I had this happened to me a few months ago...
Just wait. Everything could have happened to the buyer (e.g. he went on vacation or had an emergency)...Did you try to contact the him?

[SlickJane]

After he said he wanted the item instead of a refund, I mailed it and provided the tracking info in the Paypal dispute. When I track the package, it doesn't show it was delivered, it shows "Out for Delivery or Available at Post Office Box" on March 31. Then on April 2, it says, "delivery status not updated", and that's it. No response from the guy, and he has not escalated it to a claim.

[ptenchick]

Hopefully, the buyer won't escalate it to the claim and you won't hear from him again!! Why?
Because you have to wait for 20 days since the dispute was opened (that's a dispute time period), and it will "time out" on its own in your favor!!!
Another thing is when the dispute is closed it CANNOT be reopened again or escalated to a PayPal claim!
USPS can screw things up too.... One time i got the same message when tried to track my vero item online...I got so nervous that mailed another parcel to the buyer just to make her happy as I thought i lost the first item forever... at the end the buyer got 2 items (it took usps 2 weeks to deliver the first one and then the status has changed)... I emailed the buyer and kindly asked her to return one...So, she never emailed me back and closed her Ebay account...
Good luck!

[SlickJane]

Excellent, thanks for your help, I didn't know it times out after 20 days in my favor! I did read on here a while ago that if someone opens a non-receipt dispute, then they can't open a "not as described" dispute, which is cool b/c there are a few typos

[SlickJane]

And wow that sucks about that one buyer...I guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way, huh!

[Ghost]

Yeah most people in general don't seem to know about the "timeout" policy with Paypal. I used to know this one seller who was an accomplished master at stalling angry buyers just long enough to use this against them.

[SlickJane]

That's awesome- except then they can dispute with their credit card and the seller is automatically screwed.

[Ghost]

Yeah, it's still better than nothing though. Plus we all know how Paypal likes to take the funds out of the buyer's bank account even when they say to use credit card.

[SlickJane]

You are right, and that is a good trick to remember!

Effing Paypal.