Postal service/ebay question...

[can'twait]

OK, I bought a bunch of stuff for DH and DD for Christmas from ebay. I bought a cd that never came by when I expected it to so I contacted the seller. He had sent me a "it's been shipped" e-mail, but I wondered if he had sent it via a slower method or didn't really ship it when he said he did. He agreed I should have had it by then and he said he'd send another one because he had a few of them. I've never had a bad experience with my postal carrier so maybe the guy never shipped the first one and was giving me a line of hooey about replacing it for free. He certainly was awfully nice about it. I really thought he was going to say "too bad, call the post office".

So now, I am waiting for another cd, from a different seller. The auction ended on the 6th, the guy said he shipped it on the 9th. If it was shipped first class shouldn't I have it by now? I sent the seller a message last night asking how he shipped it, fishing for him to say he actually shipped it later or by another slower method but he didn't respond yet.

Now I'm starting to wonder if my postal carrier is up to something! We ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon and that all came OK, even a cd in a small package. Once in a while we get junk mail for our neighbors, but we've never "lost" anything before.

So, what should I do now? How long should I wait for this package before I take action? Who should I contact - the post office or e-bay? Can I get my $ back from Paypal for something I never got? If the cd was stolen enroute it's not the sellers fault. I can't even tell if it was stolen or if the seller never shipped it! It's a Disney cd for my daughter, so not something that is likely to be stolen, one would think. What do you guys think I should do?

 

[swilshire]

Thefts are rare, but do happen. It might be a good idea to register your concerns with the local Postal managers. If this is a rogue carrier, there may be other complaints and that will help encourage the Postal Inspection Service to look closely at him.

It's probably more likely at this time of year that your packages are just misdirected somewhere in the mountain of Christmas mail. You don't say where the seller was shipping from, but some areas have more trouble than others in trying to get the mail out. In big facilities, sometimes things get misplaced in an "empty" container and aren't found for a while.

Your seller would have been wise to use delivery confirmation to begin with, to help track the piece, and certainly should have thought of it when sending a replacement.

It's also still possible that he's just stringing you along and never sent anything.

Hope it shows up.

Sheila

 

[welovedis]

If you paid via PayPal for your auctions then the seller needs to be shipping with some type of delivery confirmation to be protected under PayPal's agreement. If they aren't doing this then, unfortunately, they need to either ship another with confirmation or refund your money.

Does your seller's feedback reflect any other shipping problems or items never received?

 

[ohiominnie]

Your seller would have been wise to use delivery confirmation to begin with, to help track the piece, and certainly should have thought of it when sending a replacement.

Does delivery confirmation REALLY "track" something? My experience is it goes from "the post office has been notified that there is an item to be shipped" right to "your item has been delivered." And sometimes the "delivered" message doesn't show up for a couple of days after I KNOW it's been delivered.

It seems like back when you could track the route of it "your package is now in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Albany" but now it just seems like it is JUST a confirmation of delivery....

YMMV.

 

[crazywig]

So now, I am waiting for another cd, from a different seller. The auction ended on the 6th, the guy said he shipped it on the 9th. If it was shipped first class shouldn't I have it by now?

maybe not. it depends on where the seller is located, i have had first class packages take a week or more to arrive. also factor in the holiday mailing season.

 

[smfritz03]

I had something similiar happen. I order dd a $80 dress for her 1st b/day and dh some really nice ties. Well--none had shown up. So I contacted the sellers and they gave me the tracking #'s. Lo and behold---it shows that it DID arrive in the town I lived in's post office. So I called and the postal worker talked to the lady who delivers the mail (small town so only 2 carriers) and she said she left the box on the front door step. And said she left another box a few days later. Well---dh is home during the day and not to mention his police cruiser sits out front. He ALWAYS checks the mail as soon as the postal worker drives off. Well--the day she says she left the first box--dh happened to be working outside and getting things ready for dd's 1st b/day cookout/party and was in the front yard. So we proved she lied there. And the "second" box she said she left---the seller said it wasnt a box---just the larger packet that he mailed 2 ties in. Luckily that was from a corp. and they just remailed the 2 ties. However--the dress I had bought off ebay and was out the $$ and the dress. I filed a complaint. WE have repeadtly gotten other peoples mail and many times bills would be due but have never gotten them. Finally I said enough and have them hold all boxes,etc--if it isnt in an envelope--I want to pick it up. Yes its a pain--but there hasnt been anything "accidently" lost or stolen since.

 

[DianeV]

Did they say in the auctions how they were shipping? Its very possible they used media mail and that can take a couple weeks easily

 

[~Kathie]

Does delivery confirmation REALLY "track" something? My experience is it goes from "the post office has been notified that there is an item to be shipped" right to "your item has been delivered." And sometimes the "delivered" message doesn't show up for a couple of days after I KNOW it's been delivered.

It seems like back when you could track the route of it "your package is now in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Albany" but now it just seems like it is JUST a confirmation of delivery....

YMMV.

An FYI.....If you generate the shipping labels through ebay/Paypal the packages don't get scanned at the PO if your carrier picks them up or you drop them off. They do get scanned when the item is delivered. I'm not sure if you can asked to have them scanned when you drop them off or not.

 

[mickeyfan2]

One year DH ordered my a building from Disney Direct. We never got it. It came by USPS. We contacted Disney and the USPS told them it had been delivered. When we contacted th USPS they told us they hire extras to deliver packages at this time of the season and some of the packages that these people handle either get delivered to the wrong house (person keeps it) or vanish. This might be what happened to yours. In our case Disney sent us back the money.

 

[can'twait]

Update: The auction said it would be shipped first class mail with insurance included. It was shipped on the 9th so I definitely should have gotten it by now. The seller still has not responded to my e-mail. What is insurance? How can I make a claim with it? What will it get me? The price of the cd? I'm so annoyed at this whole thing! I'm still not sure if the seller or the USPS is at fault.

 

[rflorek]

Update: The auction said it would be shipped first class mail with insurance included. It was shipped on the 9th so I definitely should have gotten it by now. The seller still has not responded to my e-mail. What is insurance? How can I make a claim with it? What will it get me? The price of the cd? I'm so annoyed at this whole thing! I'm still not sure if the seller or the USPS is at fault.

The earliest date you can file is 21 days after mailing. Download PS Form 1000, Domestic Claim or Registered Mail Inquiry, and complete the customer portion. You may submit the completed form to any U.S. Post Office. With the completed claims form you will need to provide evidence of Insurance and evidence of value, so you will have to get some infomration from the seller about proof of insurance, like his/her receipt from the post office and a copy of the closed auction page showing the value of the item (or you can ask him/her to file the claim for you). According to the USPS website, you need to provide proof of loss (a written and signed document from the addressee -such as a letter - dated at least 21 days from the date of mailingthat states the addressee did not receive the article. The statement, or a copy of it, must be attached to the claim.)

Good luck!

 

[kilee]

I would ask for more details about the shipping. Is there a tracking number?? They definetly didn't send it media mail. That sort of stuff. I've had it take 26 days for a media mail package. Unfortuntately the person didn't want to pay to ship the book another way.

Also, my first class mail has been almost double the delivery time in the last 2 weeks. So, factor in the huge increase in mail too. I would try and get more details from your seller.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

An FYI.....If you generate the shipping labels through ebay/Paypal the packages don't get scanned at the PO if your carrier picks them up or you drop them off. They do get scanned when the item is delivered. I'm not sure if you can asked to have them scanned when you drop them off or not.

You CAN get them to scan it when you drop it off. Some PO employees will be more willing to do it than others. They do not HAVE to do it if you generated the label. I had our local PO scan a PayPal-generated label a week ago b/c I have a nervous buyer and I wanted to reassure him that, yes, the item was being shipped as promised. Fortunately, our local PO is has a small town atmosphere. The Postmaster knows just about everyone who walks in and greets them by name.

 

[can'twait]

The earliest date you can file is 21 days after mailing. Download PS Form 1000, Domestic Claim or Registered Mail Inquiry, and complete the customer portion. You may submit the completed form to any U.S. Post Office. With the completed claims form you will need to provide evidence of Insurance and evidence of value, so you will have to get some infomration from the seller about proof of insurance, like his/her receipt from the post office and a copy of the closed auction page showing the value of the item (or you can ask him/her to file the claim for you). According to the USPS website, you need to provide proof of loss (a written and signed document from the addressee -such as a letter - dated at least 21 days from the date of mailingthat states the addressee did not receive the article. The statement, or a copy of it, must be attached to the claim.)

Good luck!

Great, thanks, I'll try that!

 

[can'twait]

Update - it came today - yippeeeeeeeeee!

It was postmarked the 12th though, so he fibbed about the ship date. If he had been honest I would not have hounded him with e-mails.

 

[mel63]

Update - it came today - yippeeeeeeeeee!

It was postmarked the 12th though, so he fibbed about the ship date. If he had been honest I would not have hounded him with e-mails.

Glad you got it. He might have mailed it on the 9th. The 9th was a Friday, so if he mailed it from work and they had already picked up the outgoing mail. It might not have actually been picked up until the 12th (Monday.) That may be why it has the 12th postmark.

Just a thought.

Happy Holidays!!!