Ebay/USPS shipping problem
slantycouch
Posts: 1,704 ✭✭✭
Bidder wins card from me. I ship card using PayPal with tracking. USPS confirms card was delivered on 2/25. Buyer says he never received card.
What do I do? Kind of a crappy situation. USPS won't honor insurance because it was delivered (which makes sense to me!). One one hand I don't think I owe the bidder anything, I did my part. But on the other, I hate that he's out the card. He seems very genuine about it. I imagine I'll probably get neg'd for it to, whether or not it's my fault.
It's only $35.
Thoughts?
What do I do? Kind of a crappy situation. USPS won't honor insurance because it was delivered (which makes sense to me!). One one hand I don't think I owe the bidder anything, I did my part. But on the other, I hate that he's out the card. He seems very genuine about it. I imagine I'll probably get neg'd for it to, whether or not it's my fault.
It's only $35.
Thoughts?
0
Comments
Done deal move on. Provide tracking
When giving me this info--instead of acting like he believed me, he sent me an all-caps reply saying it had been delivered (and implying that I was a liar/scammer--even though we had done business multiple times in the past). That really got under my skin, and I tried talking to my postal carrier, the postmaster at my local branch, and all of them said they could not help me locate this supposedly "delivered" package. I knew I could do nothing but take the loss. I did not leave any feedback or even reply back to the seller, because I at least gave the benefit of the doubt to him--even though he had used confirmation delivery on the package, he still might have mistakenly addressed it incorrectly and it ended up somewhere else.
About a month later--out of the blue, the package was in my mailbox. Obvious post mark from when seller had originally sent it--no marks, tears, damage indicating it had been in any trouble--it was just there with no note or explanation from post office as to the long delay.
I was glad to get the card, but still was never able to convince myself to buy from that seller again--he had done his part, but his reply message to me acting like I was trying to scam him (when I was just an innocent and honest buyer) burnt that bridge.
Just wanted to share a rare occurrence that did happen. Delivery confirmation works great over 99.9% of the time--but there are some oddball times when tracking information is incorrect.
If the OP has dealt with this buyer before, and/or trusts the buyer--I would suggest refunding the money, and ask the buyer to please repay if the package ever arrives. This could build a nice bridge to future bids and increased income from this buyer.
If an insured DC item showed delivered and I - or my trusted buyer - did not receive
the item, I would file a claim.
If the claim was denied, I would use the two-step appeals process.
.......
USPS well KNOWS that DC is NOT "proof of delivery" to the addressee. (edited for clarity.)
My substitute carriers are TOTALLY incompetent and routinely place
other folks' DC-items in my boxes.
My regular carriers NEVER make such mistakes.
..........
DC is accepted by PayPal because there has to be "some end" to a
transaction, and because the system is pretty reliable.
Few sellers will refund a lost item, if DC shows it delivered.
Then I'll try to file the insurance claim.
Then I'll tell him to wait 3 months and it will randomly show up, a la Akbar's story haha.
Under the PayPal agreement.
If the seller presents evidence that they delivered the goods to your address, PayPal may find in favor of the seller even if you did not receive the goods.
This doesn't prevent the buyer and seller from filing a valid insurance claim. It also doesn't prevent the buyer from contesting a credit card charge. The easiest way to get the money back is for the seller to communicate with the buyer and file a valid insurance claim. The buyer signs the official postal form saying the package was never received, and then gets remibursed by the Postal Insurance. The buyer and seller don't lose any money. You could also issue a good will refund before the insurance claim but the buyer has less incentive to cooperate with the investigation if his money isn't dependent on the claim going through.
Also see if it was delivered on a Saturday, as that is the "normal" off day for regular carriers.
If you purchased insurance you should file a claim, and send a refund to the buyer.
"Delivery Comfirmation proves that the item was delivered, IT DOESN'T PROVE THE ITEM WAS DELIVERED TO THE CORRECT ADDRESS. I've had quite a few packages delivered to my house that wasn't meant for me. It wasn't even on the correct street. The 5 digit number of my house matched the 5 digit number on the address on the package and those idiots at USPS don't even look at the street. It has happened twice in the last year alone."
I sure wish another board member or two reads this thread... I made a purchase/trade with a fellow board member last Dec and never received the cards. He provided a DC that showed delivery on a Sat more than 1 hour before I received my mail (just as Jim mentioned).
Bad enough the cards never arrived for an X'mas gift (for my Boys), but the seller apparently thought I was lying... I read such from another board member (not involved in the deal) in another thread bad mouthing me. I should have filed a Paypal claim or chargeback for the cash portion, but the seller did ship the items and he didn't mis-delivery the cards himself... so, I decided to let it go.
As for what else he said/wrote about me, no cool... and I did nothing but support and praise him after he got bammed too.
Mike
items and he didn't mis-delivery the cards himself... so, I decided to let it go...."
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Sadly, a mistaken DC trumps an INR-claim at PayPal ----- and at MOST credit-card companies.
The USPS insurance scheme plays by a more "reasonable" set of rules.