Hello all,

Has anyone ever seen something like this?

A few weeks ago I bought something fragile from a U.S. Ebay seller,
received the item if excellent condition a few days later and exchanged
feedback with the seller.

Today I received a strange letter from Canada Post, explaining that
the seller had made a claim to the USPS because 'the item was
damaged in shipping'. The letter stated that an inquiry regarding that
claim was being made by the USPS and that Canada Post was only
forwarding to me the relevant USPS forms.

The USPS document was filled with my name and address as well
as the seller's name and address and the correct item description.
The description did not however include the Ebay item number,
and I know that the seller was offering several other similar items.

There also was a page with questions to me regarding the nature
of the damage, the possibility of repairing the item and so forth.
The package also included a prepaid return envelope.

I can see only two possible explanations for all this:

1 - The seller received a genuine damage claim for a similar item
he sold to someone else and mistakenly referred to my item instead
of the one actually damaged;

or

2 - The seller is attempting to defraud the USPS by deliberately
claiming a damage that he knows never happened.

Any ideas or similar experiences? Thanks in advance for all replies.

I would think that more than likely it is the first one. Fraud would be hard for him to pull off without you being in on it, which obviously you are NOT!

So I will just fill in the form with the plain facts and let the investigators draw
their own conclusions. Good night.

Seller is commiting fraud to make double money.

Seller is commiting fraud to make double money.

gotta give him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he was selling two identical items... on the other hand... if there was damage to an actual item... wouldn't the seller have contacted him and gave their info?... but i've seen this before... depending on the value of the item... and who complains.. buyer or seller... it's sometimes easier for them to just pay the claim instead of sending someone out to investigate the damages.... in my case a shelf was damaged on a component stand i shipped.... ups is brutal... i filled the forms... made the claim and that was that... the customer never had anything to do with the process... i assumed that someone would come to inspect the item... never did... and the value was 2800 with 400 assessed damage.... all you can do is be honest!

I'd give seller benifit of the doubt and send a email saying he has confused you with a diffrent buyer as your item arrived intact. Then see what happens from there.

+1 Assume a mistake has been made until the seller proves otherwise.