Would you find this "suspicious" or am I reading too much into this?

Jimmy_Commonpants

I purchased some cards from an internet retailer who I wont name(right now) who has numerous listings on various websites. The package was mailed out from them on May 30th. Being curious, I tracked the package on Monday(June 5) to see if it would be arriving soon. Funny thing, the tracking says the last scan was at my main post office sorting facility on Thursday, June 1st, and that it was now "in Transit". Sorting takes less than an hour, my local branch is ten minutes away and there is no record it was scanned out of the sorting facility. Realizing something isn't right, I contacted USPS customer service yesterday. They of course knew nothing other than it has never scanned again since arriving June 1st. They have assigned a case to a local inspector and said I would be contacted within three days.

In the mean time, I emailed the seller to let them know the situation, that it appears to have been lost at the local sorting facility. I advised them I routinely receive packages of cards through USPS and have never had an issue. I asked if there was anything they could do from their end(I have heard of other dealers doing everything possible to track down lost packages) and their response was simply, "After day 30 we will issue a full refund". I find it odd that they don't seem to care at all about the lost package(more than $50, less than $100). Also, the card was by far the cheapest one available, by over $30. Could they have "recalled" the package? I have had two dozen packages shipped to me over the past four months and none got "lost" at the sorting facility(And two others from different sellers have arrived on time since this one was "lost"). Am I reading too much into this? I would have thought they would be more "concerned" and wanting to track down the package. Anyone have a "lost package" issue before where the sender didn't seem to care?

Grimster

I think you are reading too much into it. I would just give it a little more time to see if the post office finds it and can deliver it. I think the seller is "ok" with waiting a bit to give you a refund in regards to a "lost" package, but 30 days is a bit much. I have had packages a couple days late, even a week or two late (at various points in the transit process). My worst was a package sent in October...Priority mail even....finally arrived in March. Ridiculous lol.

Not sure what the seller can do beyond what you've already done in regards to trying to track the package down. I'd just give it some time....then if it is nowhere to be found...get your refund and move on. Just make sure you initiate the refund process before the window of opportunity closes (ebay vs. paypal vs. credit card...)

alifaxwa2

He cares, he just knows that most of the time, it shows up.

LOTSOS

I'd say your reading too much into it. I bought a card from a guy who was based out of NYC. It was a very nice card that I think I stole. I was concerned that he had had second thoughts after the label was created as it didn't show any scans.

He assured me that it had been dropped in the mail department of his law firm.

Turns out the package managed to travel from NYC to PHX without a scan. First scan was the out for delivery scan. So strange things can happen.

Kevin

divecchia

I had a package I sent out that was lost for about a month as the last tracking read, "In transit to final destination". I refunded the buyer and then the package shows up. I was fortunate this was a good buyer and he sent me payment a second time. So give it some time before giving up on it.

Donato

Jimmy_Commonpants

Ok, thanks for the advice and info. I know I am overly suspicious of things, and I wouldn't think a volume dealer would try to pull such a trick simply over an "underpriced" card in that price range. It was just weird considering it was the first time I bought from these guys and the price was almost too good to be true(I've seen it for a minimum of $30 to almost $100 higher in the same graded condition). I was about expecting to get the old "I'm sorry, the card has already been sold" email after I purchased it, and then this happens. It got my "Spidey Senses" going.

erikthredd

I'd say give it more time as well. I live in MA and not to long ago shipped a card to a buyer in NH who lived less than an hour away. The card went from my hometown to Boston to NH to New Jersey back to Boston then finally to the buyer in NH over a 10-12 day period. My local post office said that sometimes weird things like this happen and to just wait it out. Hope this helps.

Jimmy_Commonpants

@erikthredd said:
I'd say give it more time as well. I live in MA and not to long ago shipped a card to a buyer in NH who lived less than an hour away. The card went from my hometown to Boston to NH to New Jersey back to Boston then finally to the buyer in NH over a 10-12 day period. My local post office said that sometimes weird things like this happen and to just wait it out. Hope this helps.

Curious, was the package scanned in at all of those locations?

erikthredd

@Jimmy_Commonpants said:

@erikthredd said:
I'd say give it more time as well. I live in MA and not to long ago shipped a card to a buyer in NH who lived less than an hour away. The card went from my hometown to Boston to NH to New Jersey back to Boston then finally to the buyer in NH over a 10-12 day period. My local post office said that sometimes weird things like this happen and to just wait it out. Hope this helps.

Curious, was the package scanned in at all of those locations?

Yup and by the time it hit NJ i was like WTF? Luckily the buyer was a patient guy,i gave him updates once I saw it was off and he was cool about.
As for your comment about expecting to get the old "I'm sorry, the card has already been sold" email ,I collect mostly Jordan stuff from the 80's and just bought this Coke card,waited 2 weeks for it to arrive,never did & never heard from the seller once during that time and had to get a refund by ebay on day 16. The seller never replied to any of my messages or ever gave me a reason for why I never got the card. Was pretty PO'd,I love finding odd MJ stuff from the mid 80's and wasn't able to get this one after all. I advise everyone to stay clear from this guy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351829735069?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Jimmy_Commonpants

See, that's my problem. It hasn't been scanned in anywhere since June 1st, when it arrived at the local main post office branch. Normally, the tracking info will show it leaving within 45 minutes to 1 hour to my local branch, which is about ten minutes up the road from the main branch. But there are no update since June 1st, it just has a generic "in transit to destination" note. So it couldn't have been erroneously re-routed to another post office like in your situation because it would have been scanned when it arrived there. I've seen lags before coming across the country, but the lag was at say a California facility and then two days later the next scan is here in Florida. But never has there been a lag from my home town main post office to the local branch - it makes no sense, it almost has to be "lost", stolen or somehow recalled. I'm going to hold out some hope here, but I don't think I will ever see this package.

erikthredd

I hear ya,that does sound like a crappy situation but there's not much you can do there and it sucks you'd have to wait 30 whole days for a refund from the buyer. I have had packages shipped to me that tracking said was still at origin post when the cards showed up at my house. Do you know if the seller had their shop name on the package so that whoever handled knew there was cards inside? In 01-02ish I bought a PSA 10 Topps USA Nomar Garciappara rc from a well known PSA dealer and got an empty package that was retaped. I had to send the package back to the seller and he found out someone had been opening some of their packages getting shipped,taking the cards then retaping the package half-ass. I was pretty bummed at the time but the seller sent me a psa 9 and reimbursed me the difference.

sedin26

Yah, odd stuff can happen in the mail. Not really applicable to your issue but I had an ebay purchase from a seller shipped from USA to Canada in July last year. It never showed up - showed as out for delivery in my city and then disappeared.

I got refunded at the appropriate time and then about three months later, it randomly showed up. Big marker on the front said "Found on Street". Then on the back, someone else wrote "Sorry I opened this, it got dropped off at my house by mistake"

Miraculously, all cards were intact and in good shape.

grote15

I agree you are reading too much into it. No way on earth they would recall a package like that and at less than $100, it's probably not worth their time and effort to do anything other than refund you if the package is lost. If it was shipped priority mail, it is automatically insured anyway for either up to $50 or $100 anyway.

Even if a package were recalled, you'd see a notice to that effect with the tracking number. I would certainly not place any blame on the seller in this case. They cannot control the USPS.

Jimmy_Commonpants

Well, it gets weirder.....

I purchased this through the dealer's Amazon storefront. So, I just got curious and started looking around at other offerings on other websites to see if the card was being offered somewhere else. So I log into my Amazon account to take a look at the serial number on the slab to see if I can match it. Obviously, the little picture you get in "My Orders" is way too small to read, so I click on the product link to get the larger picture and .... it takes me to a page where the same dealer is offering the card, with the same exact description and subgrades, but the picture is the Chrome version rather than the regular Topps and they are asking ....$100 more than I paid! The product description does not say "Chrome" anywhere in it, but the label on the slab clearly says it and the card is clearly the chrome version. Now, the problem is, I can't verify if that is the same picture of the card I bought or not because that is where it takes me when I click on the product link attached to my order. Hmm... It is starting to look like these guys accidentally listed a Chrome card as a non-chrome card and don't want to honor the price, and had it recalled once someone realized what happened. Wish I had paid more attention to the slab and serial # now. Grrr...

Its been three days and I have gotten no reply from USPS. The automated phone system still says "you will be contacted within three days". If these guys either didn't send it - or recalled it - and are "playing dumb" pretending they don't know what happen and will refund me in 30 days if it doesn't show up, that's mail fraud at a minimum. Given all of this, and the fact that the tracking stops at the first place it arrived after leaving their State's mail sorting facility, I just can't help but bet they somehow recalled it, and a new label was created at that point, and therefore, there is no longer a package out there with the tracking number I was given. But there should still be a record of that, so I can't reconcile how USPS customer service didn't know that if that's what happened. Its just so frustrating, and its not even the money. I just hate being jerked around and have had pretty good luck so far with online dealers.

I'll keep the board updated if anything changes. Thanks for the responses!

erikthredd

Can they actually recall the package then have it given a new tracking number while its at your end of the shipping process? I've never heard of that before. You would think the original tracking info would have some kind of notification on the usps tracking page saying it was recalled or deleted if that was the case.

grote15

A package cannot be recalled without any indication on the tracking number. I think your imagination is getting the best of you here. If you keep looking hard enough you're going to find conspiracies where none exist. The fault here is with the PO, not the seller.

Jimmy_Commonpants

Thanks for the comments, still not looking good. Called the USPS automated number for tracking/case look-up and it said "your case has been resolved", but nobody contacted me(And tracking still hasn't changed sine 6/1). Had to talk to a customer service rep again and he put in another request for the inspector to contact me. I specifically asked this time if a sender can recall a package, and the person said yes, its called "package intercept". I asked to check my shipment and he said there was no record of that. I told him the story and that I suspect that's what happened and there is just no record. He said he had no other information and someone should call me within three days(which is what I was told before).

Meanwhile, my "Browsing History" on Amazon only shows the card they are offering at $160 now, which has the same description of the one I bought for more than $100 less. As I said previously, the link in "My Orders" goes to this page as well, with the same description, but higher price. I'll be shocked if it turns out they_ didn't _intercept the package.

muffins

@Jimmy_Commonpants said:
Well, it gets weirder.....

I purchased this through the dealer's Amazon storefront. So, I just got curious and started looking around at other offerings....

>
>
cliff notes:

4sc on amazon
two listings errors
could care less
took forever to ship
terrible customer service

long version:

if you are talking 4sc, then whoever is listing/shipping on amazon is doing a terrible job...

i hoard a certain card from 85 topps tiffany...bought a few off amazon from them at $12. one was listed as a tiffany, another was simply listed as 85 topps but had a different '85 tiffany cert that was listed...so i bought both.

after 2 weeks both cards arrived and they both were plain jane '85 topps regular.

emailed them for a return label since both listings were blatantly wrong and thier reply was 'send them back and we'll refund'

didnt feel like arguing so they are now in my freebie pile.

mlbfan2

@Jimmy_Commonpants said:
I'll be shocked if it turns out they_ didn't _intercept the package.

Even after the postal inspector said it wasn't? It costs $13 plus postage to intercept a package, so I think there'd be a record of it if that had been done.

Jimmy_Commonpants

Its Not 4SC, but calling them "the 4SC of BGS/BCCG graded cards" might not be too far from the truth given the number they have. I read through pages of reviews, nothing that stood out. Their profile says they have only been in business since 2011, which automatically makes me now wonder "what name did you sell under before that?".

To Mlbfan2,

It wasn't the postal inspector, just a cu rep at the call center. I know it sounds ridiculously paranoid, but there are just way too many coincidences and things that don't add up for this to have disappeared into thin air at the first place it arrived after leaving the sender's home State. And when they close out the case as "resolved" without contacting me or updating the tracking, it sure seems like someone found out where it is and "coming to me" isn't it.

grote15

@mlbfan2 said:

@Jimmy_Commonpants said:
I'll be shocked if it turns out they_ didn't _intercept the package.

Even after the postal inspector said it wasn't? It costs $13 plus postage to intercept a package, so I think there'd be a record of it if that had been done.

Exactly. Maybe the PO is in on the conspiracy, too, lol..

Seriously, if a packs intercept takes place, you would see a record of that on the tracking number. The PO stated no such service was used. It's more likely the package was lost or stolen at this point (hopefully not), but continuing to insist that the seller has something to do with the loss of the package is simply misguided and inaccurate, based on the facts.