Ebay item left in undesignated and non existent “safe place”

[pwmdgxju]

I ordered a book from an eBay seller, it did not turn up.
The Royal Mail tracking shows that it was delivered to my address on 4th September.
The seller made enquiries by web chat (as a buyer I do not have that facility) and Royal Mail assured them that the item had been left in my "safe place".

I do not have a safe place.
My front garden is open and my back garden fenced. There is an open passage way between houses. The area is not terribly good and unattended packages on doorsteps are likely to disappear (I often have the delivery of bin and recycling bags which are left on my doorstep mysteriously vanish before I've left the house!)

I've ordered another copy today (from the same seller).

Is the seller expected to refund the cost of the missing item is this situation? They have not offered to do so thus far.

Thanks!

Note; seller is a business, therefore the Consumer Rights Act seems to be on my side.
However Ebay are not always well renowned for their observance of legality...

[pwmdgxju]

Not unexpectedly, the Ebay case was decided in favour of the seller.

This is due to the tracking showing that the item was delivered to the address (even though Royal Mail have essentially admitted that they don’t have a clue where it was left).

I’ve now opened a PayPal dispute but I suspect that they will probably come to the same conclusion.

I fully expect at some point to have to instigate a chargeback via my credit card provider, which is a lot of unnecessary hassle.

Why do EBay’s buyer protection policies not yet take into account English legal statute meant to protect consumers from exactly this sort of failure?

[paulajayne]

A contract existed between the seller and Royal mail which your are not part of. Contact them, for them to sort out the delivery failure.

[pwmdgxju]

Thank you - I appreciate the confirmation.

Sadly this company seller does not seem to want to fulfil their responsibility in this regard, and Ebay are backing them up.

I won’t let it go though. I’ve made it very clear that I’ll be trying every available avenue to get a refund.

[pwmdgxju]

Pleased to update that today, PayPal have refunded me in full.

[Celestine]

Well done!!