NZPost claim to have delivered the package but the buyer hasn't received it. Who is at fault here?

Nobody is neccesarily at fault. But it maybe that the parcel is delivered and 1/ they have not found it(left behind bush of furniture for security) or 2/ somebody else in the house may have recieved it but not told reciever or 3/ it was stolen.  A question to ask is how can NZ post verify it has been delivered to the named address (photo/ GPS cordinates of scanner) or just the word of the courier. It is also possible you in error put an incorrect address (if not copied and pasted from TM), or it is even possible (thinking Maliciously) the buyer selected non signature so they could recieve it and then claim it was not delivered to get a refund.  They should however not have any reason to suspect you scammed them as you provided tracking which they can follow. So there are a lot of variable possibilities which maybe hard to prove or unprove.  But most solid option is to work on NZ post so show how they know solidly  that it was delivered at the required address. If you can get this, then you are fully covered

I've got an cut 'n' paste I send out for these situations. Most of the time the buyers subsequently find the item or realise they've given me an old address. For the remainder either NZPost decide they actually got it wrong, or it is considered "stolen after delivery." In that case you can suggest the buyer file a Police report and consider an insurance claim. Usually that doesn't happen due to the value of the item. If the buyer still isn't happy you can suggest they open a Dispute on Trade Me. That way Trade Me get to make the final call. This can be useful as it means if they find in your favour things like negative feedback can be protected against. However strictly speaking the Buyer Protection Policy says delivery can only be confirmed with signature.

+++++++++++++

Hi there!

Sorry to hear your item tracked as delivered hasn't arrived.

Often buyers have sent an outdated address and forgotten to update it on Trade Me

First double check the address you gave me is the correct current address

If all OK there check in and around your property;

*Check with others in the household or place of work

*Check places that it may have been left (letterbox, under mats, at back doors, behind potplants)

*Check with neighbours, especially if you are on a shared driveway or flat.

*Check camera footage if you have it. The date and time of delivery should be on the delivery notification.

If you have exhausted all those options reply again and I can open an investigation with the courier from my end.

Thanks

Thanks Callum and Don_
I appreciate your help. :)

I have an update.

Last night after I’d posted this onto social media and via this Trademe community forum, somehow the package turned up at the correct address via a courier driver. It was after business hours too and super suspicious.

What makes me super angry is that over 7 days I spent contacting NZPost about this missing package, they lied to me every single time. They told me they had GPS proof on their end that the package had definitely arrived at the receivers front door, and that I must be trying to scam the system.

I would have preferred them to tell me they weren’t sure where the package was, or that they would actually investigate this further. Rather than tell me that there was nothing they could or would do on their end because they “knew” it had been delivered.

This isn’t the first time they have screwed up a courier delivery in the last 3 weeks either.

Thanks again guys. I won’t be using NZPost again.

Hi Kimberlee-Ann
Glad this issue was resolved. If I was you, would make contact with NZ Post one last time and let them know the odd circumstances in which the parcel was eventually delivered.
It’s annoying and time consuming when parcels go missing. I send quite a few parcels each week and in some areas I avoid using a particular franchise as I’ve had problems with them in the past. In other areas the same franchise is great.

Kimberlee-Ann. My best guess here is one of 3 scenarios. Either parcel was delivered to wrong address, and courier driver realising there was an investigation on it retrieved it and redelivered, or the person who recieved it in error contacted NZ post to get it collected and redelivered. Or even (and probably unlikely) that courier had stolen it originally and then only delivered when it was under investigation.

But perhaps by far the most concerning issue here is how NZ post can enfatically state it was delivered to correct address when it plainly was not. What measure are they using to make this statement, just a couriers word? How many more legitimate claims are NZ  Post turning down based on false information?