Seller gave me a fake tracking number with a thank you card
Online sellers use dummy items like thank-you cards to mark orders as delivered and manipulate their shipping metrics. Once the carrier marks the letter as delivered, platforms automatically close the refund window, preventing buyers from getting their money back.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Contacting customer support for adviceDid this help you?
- 2Waiting for the letter to arrive and opening an item not as described case for a refundDid this help you?
- 3Disputing the transaction directly through the platformDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This is a custom bobblehead from a seller with 100+ sales and they are behind on their work which is fine but it seems like they are either trying to game the system so their delivery rate/speed on their products still looks good.”source ↗
“My understanding is this is a common Etsy scam. There was a similar post recently I read where OP bought custom furniture and the received a thank you card instead of the ordered item”source ↗
“if that letter shows up Etsy assumes that the product was "delivered" and you have no recourse to get your item refunded if they don't ship it.”source ↗
“And since its mark deliverd weeks ago etsy wont help”source ↗
“they tell you it's a thank you note - but your order gets set as 'delivered' when you accept it. after a few days - your window of complaint closes and they make off with your money.”source ↗
Where this came up
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- 4Buyer falsely claims item is fake to force a return
- 6Why do users keep clicking phishing links?