Buyer says the shipping info on his order was not entered by him

[TJCustomCreations3D]

I've got a buyer who placed an order Friday. He has ordered before. This latest order came in with a different buyer name and address in a different city and state. I assumed he was sending it to a friend or whatever. He just messaged me very irate and said I sent his order to the wrong person, that he did not put that name and address on the order. But all correspondence from Etsy (the order notification email and such) has that name and address. I know strange this happen...but has anyone encountered this before? How should I proceed? I asked him to look in his account and check his order history to see what it says. So far no reply but it has only been 15 minutes.

[bradgoodell]

I'm confused.  He placed the order, but the address was wrong?  He didn't notice it when he was checking out (it shows twice) or on the order confirmation he received after placing the order?  That is pretty odd.  Or are you saying he never placed the order?  

There is nothing you can do for him, other than offer advice.  

1-He should report the fraud to his credit card company 2-He should change the password on his Etsy account and delete the fake address from his account.  

[bradgoodell]

Adding, this isn't your problem to solve.  You sent to the address given you at checkout.  You've done nothing wrong.

He can contact Etsy if he wants this cleared up.  You cannot.  Etsy will not discuss the buyer's checkout details with you.  It's a matter of privacy.

[TJCustomCreations3D]

Thank you for the reply! If you read my reply below you'll see he finally admitted that it is his daughter's college address from 5 years ago. Whatever payment method he chose had that stored as the address. And right, who doesn't verify the shipping address when ordering?? 

[VintageRescueSquad · Accepted solution]

Yeah, he should contact etsy directly. Either it was a glitch, or perhaps he paid with Paypal or ApplePay, which often reverts to other addresses on file.

Have him go to his profile, and then to the Addresses tab. It has any other addresses you may have sent to (like I have my sister's, and my parents' old address when I sent them gifts).

[TJCustomCreations3D]

You are right! After berating me and blaming me it turns out it was his daughter's college address from 5 years ago!! He wants me to call USPS and have them go to the house and get the package back! I told him the best case scenario is that he opens a case and gets a refund but they don't take it from me. Is there anything more I should do?

[TheVintagePineapple]

@TJCustomCreations3D 

What will most likely happen is that the package will be returned to you once the college realizes the daughter isn't a student anymore.

Did you really tell the buyer to open a case?  If so, given the things you're selling along with no refund/exchange/cancellation policies, then there's a good chance that the refund will come out of your funds, not Etsy's.

[TJCustomCreations3D]

It's not an on-campus address, it's a regular house off-campus.

[AAANativeArts]

For about $18, he can have it redirected to the correct address while it is still in transit. But that is not your responsibility. It is the Buyers responsibility to check his address and be sure it is correct. If the person at the old college address is honest, they will mark it Not At This Address and it will get sent back to you eventually. But they might just keep it and say nothing.

Are you sure his daughter isn't still in college and used her father's card?

If you tell him to file a Case, Etsy will refund. They may take it from their funds, OR YOURS, and they will not ask for the merchandise back, so you will be out both your money and merchandise if they take it from your funds. If he does a charge back on his credit card, and they allow it, same thing, you are the one who will lose out.

[TJCustomCreations3D]

It was already delivered.

[bradgoodell]

I figured it was probably his mistake, but was trying to be polite.  People don't want to admit their own screw-ups. 

I wouldn't have suggested he file a dispute.  Etsy dings sellers for disputes, even if they pay out of their pocket for them.  Hopefully Etsy doesn't take the money from you instead.  If they do, dispute it.  

Good luck!

[TheVintagePineapple]

@bradgoodell Disputing it might not be a good idea for the OP in this situation.

[2di4jewelryoriginals]

It might not be the buyer's mistake. I recently moved and changed my address on etsy and all my payment providers. My current address is listed as my default address on etsy, yet all of my recent purchases have been shipped to my old address. 
 I have mail forwarding set up, so I will eventually get my items. Still, it doesn't make any sense why they were not shipped to my default address on file. 

[VogueVixens]

@2di4jewelryoriginals Did you do "Buy it Now", or purchase from your cart?

It you purchase from cart, you for sure get to see the shipping address, and change it before the sale is completed. 

One time I went through purchase quickly and wasnt paying attention, and a stored address that I had previously sent a gift to, ended up veing the shipping address.  But it was a relative in my city, so not a problem for me to let them know a package for me was coming to them.

[2di4jewelryoriginals]

@VogueVixens 
I made all the purchases from my cart. I didn't double check the address as I didn't think it would be a problem since I had changed it weeks prior. 
After I noticed that my items were out for delivery and then marked as forwarded, I checked the address on etsy and the default address is my current one. I deleted the old address to prevent this from continuing.  

[abellagift]

I believe there is a section on USPS.com where you can re-route your package to a different address. 

[TJCustomCreations3D]

We tried that, it was already delivered though.

[AAANativeArts]

@abellagift

Yes, you can have it rerouted if it is still in transit. But they charge around $18.00 for that service. If it has already been delivered, it is too late to reroute it.

[hopeandjoystudios]

This sounds like it is his issue to sort out. If I sent it to an old address that is on me. The buyer can only ship to the address provided.  Why should the seller refund because the buyer didn't check what address they used?

I would reach out as the buyer to that PO and explain the situation and ask if they return it as it would have their daughter's name on it if you ( the buyer) can pay to forward it. As a seller I would say if they return the package to me in good order I  will be happy to refund the item price.

[PristinityJewelry]

I've always found it a curious thing...

That many shoppers think sellers should just simply send another at no charge, even when the error was clearly their own.

Or somehow can magically retrieve the original shipment.

And if the seller declines, it is the seller that suffers their wrath.

(shrug)