apo address issue

OAKESY25 · September 25, 2008 7:35PM

I sent a box of cards to an apo address just about a month ago...
never heard of that type address before and I was nervous..
it was a $40 box of cards.. and I found out the address was military..
so I felt better about it.. anyway.. it was sent priority and cost a pretty penny..
I charged $10 it cost me just over $20.. anyway.. I had a dc showed delivered
about a week later.. I don't hold onto my dc's after they are delivered especially if I don't hear from
the buyer for a month.. this guy just contacts me and asks me where his package is...
I searched for the dc even though I know I chucked it about 4 days ago...

I feel like I am being scammed but now have no proof.. and would be so disappointed based on the address..
if he says he doesn't have it.. I will refund it.. but never ship to that type address again...

anyone have any experience with this?

mmsportscards · September 25, 2008 7:56PM

oak-

I myself have never had a problem with over 50 trans. Even a few highdollar items.

gator

bobbyw8469 · September 25, 2008 8:44PM

Welcome to the new Ebay!! Protect yourself or pay out! PS - I hold onto everything for at LEAST 6 months, and even that might not be long enough. I had someone just recently call me up on a saturday saying 'where's my package?'..I told him I would give him the tracking number when I went home. He then sent me an email monday saying 'where's my package?'...when I got home from work that night, I punched in the tracking number, and it shows it was delivered FRIDAY before he started calling me up! I called him out and it, and that was the last I heard from him. He was probably hoping I did like you did (threw it away), hoping he could have an easy path toward a free card....the new Ebay keeps getting harder to sell on!

lsutigers1973 · September 25, 2008 10:48PM

I just shipped one yesterday to an APO address. It was only an $8 transaction and thought it would be cool to refund the guy and still send him the cards just because he is in the military. I sent him the refund. Hope I don't have the same issue.

itzagoner · September 25, 2008 10:55PM

yeah. it's the military, and they can't find it unless you can produce a requisition form, official purchase order signed and dated by a commanding officer, tracking and routing information for the military site, and perhaps next time you will also consider affixing a tracking device with beeper to your APO bound package, so you can help them locate it.

in the meantime, it's likely still sitting in a pile on top of the original recipient's desk.

trust me, dealing with the military and asking them to produce proof of receipt of anything is equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.....our company learned the proficiency of dealing with the few and the proud, and we always get paid.......eventually.

Leiascards · September 26, 2008 12:29AM

APO boxes can be a blessing or a curse. Sometimes the packages get there quickly sometimes they take months. DC usually is highly inaccurate with them because they are usually scanned as delivered when they leave the USPS custody, but then it enters the Militarys custody and if it goes overseas it has to go through customs and all that stuff before being delivered.

PoppaJ · September 26, 2008 12:46AM

Oakesy,

Just curious .... how did you send the package?

A USPS Flat Rate box for Domestic Military APO/FPO destination ZIP Codes is only $10.95.

Also, did you happen to submit a form 2976 or 2976a with your package?

PoppaJ

tarheelsnipe · September 26, 2008 3:14AM

What was the name of the Command? He could be stationed overseas. All APO/FPO's go to large military distribution complexes. If he's deployed in a combat zone, the mail could be anywhere. The complexes send the mail to where they "think" the service member is located. I've had similar experiences when getting items shipped to me. After completing several overseas tours, I've learned how to receive mail. Now, I ask sellers if they have a problem using signature confirmation or insurance at my expense. I've had a few refusals, but most senders are glad to accommodate.

I was in the Persian Gulf in 2000-2001, and the Cole was bombed. We immediately sailed to just off the coast of Yemen to provide repair, security, and logistics support. We didn't get mail for almost 3 months. When it did get there, it was stamped by quite a few different places....Long Beach, Sasebo, Bahrain, etc...

storm888 · September 26, 2008 3:36AM

If you have been using a stack of DC tickets, find the stack and start
entering "within range" numbers into the USPS site. You may get lucky.

.....

If you have not cleared you cache lately - MAYBE even if you have --
the USPS site may recognize your machine. Enter the first number
from a DC ticket, and the list of numbers you have viewed will display.

Copy the list of numbers and enter them one at a time until you hit the right one.

..............

NEVER throw away a DC/SC ticket. PayPal is now doing chargebacks from
the year 2000. Yes!!!!! EIGHT YEARS AGO.

....

Leiascards · September 26, 2008 4:06AM

Doesn't matter if they are hitting you for items over 6 to 8 months old the DC is already cleared and may have even been reused by now. I have gone back across several from as far back as 2 years to see they were delivered last week or simply no longer exist in the system. The PO can only go back and find them for about 9 months in their system.

storm888 · September 26, 2008 4:12AM

<< <i>Doesn't matter if they are hitting you for items over 6 to 8 months old the DC is already cleared and may have even been reused by now. I have gone back across several from as far back as 2 years to see they were delivered last week or simply no longer exist in the system. The PO can only go back and find them for about 9 months in their system. >>

///////////////

It's pretty true that most numbers are deleted pretty fast.

I have found some about a year old. Some a few months old, have poofed.

.....

BUT, in the most recent rash of OLD PayPal chargebacks, PP has been
accepting the actual DC/SC tickets as "proof."

artistlost · September 26, 2008 4:24AM

I have started the habit of putting the tracking info into Paypal as soon as I mail it.

If you click on the payment they give you an option to add tracking info. They then link it directly to the buyer and the transaction. This makes it easy for the buyer to check and saves my butt. It also keeps the number on record for ever and ties it to the item.

mathew

PoppaJ · September 26, 2008 5:04AM

<< <i>I have started the habit of putting the tracking info into Paypal as soon as I mail it.

If you click on the payment they give you an option to add tracking info. They then link it directly to the buyer and the transaction. This makes it easy for the buyer to check and saves my butt. It also keeps the number on record for ever and ties it to the item.

mathew >>

Mathew,

Glad to hear someone else does that

It sure does prevent a lot of headaches!

PoppaJ

Leiascards · September 26, 2008 5:24AM

Giving buyers early access to the DC number has bitten many sellers in the butt as well.

apo address issue

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