Trouble with a package delivery, can someone please help?

[Nickleanddime]

Bought a item from ebay and received a small envelope in place of a medium flat rate. Contacted the seller and she said she forgot to pack it and sent it seperate and the box should arrive shortly. Waited till today since that's when estimated time was, and the tracking said it had been delivered for the flare rate box. Called the post office and asked them they said yes delivered so I asked them what the weight was they said under 13 ounces so that's the envelope.

Contacted the seller and asked why there's not a tracking number for the flat rate box. She sent both tracking numbers to me and we tracked both packages. The tracking number that she entered on ebay is for the small one, which the post office is saying is its unavailable.

Entered the tracking for the box and they said delivered to my house. Contacted the seller she advised me to open a claim at the post office on the insurance. And she said shell refund my money if the PO says to get lost.

I'm pissed because I live in a crappy area in a apartment complex with a box bank in the courtyard. Tons of people walk through there everyday, I mean shady kids mostly. So why would the carrier leave it out there on the freaking table!! Why not put a note in the mail box and ill pick it up. Now my package is missing, and I have a feeling it's going to be a fight since I received one and not the other.

Anyways my question is what to do? Has anyone been through this and what was the outcome. This is exactly why I don't order stuff from anywhere online. Well any advice would be great thank you.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Nickelanddime:

You didn't mention how much the item cost. I would file a claim with eBay. You are covered under the automatic buyer protection plan. Don't mess around with the Seller. Go straight to eBay, file the claim, and your money will be refunded via PayPal.

I would make friends with your regular USPS person and explain what you would like them to do with your packages. You can leave a permanent note on your mailbox, as well, for UPS, FedX, etc.

Consider renting a private mail box if you are going to do a lot of mailorder business. It has several advantages.

The USPS is not supposed to leave mail in insecure locations. Some apartment properties have lock boxes with the keys left in the doors. Person gets a package, USPS places it in one of the boxes, locks it, and deposits the key into the proper "letter" mailbox. That person takes the key out, opens the lock box, takes out the package, leaves the key in the door for the next round. Talk to your landlord about putting this system into place if all you have is open boxes.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[Lost&Found]

If the seller is willing to refund it if the usps becomes a nightmare then you are ahead of the game. Save the correspondence in case you have to go the buyer protection/conflict resolution on the bay. For the future you might want to speak to your local post office and see if they will hold packages for pick up instead of attempting delivery to your home address.

 

[Nickleanddime]

The item was $30 dollars including the delivery. I'm suppose to call and speak with my carrier in the morning around 8 am so I'm going to let her know to just either knock on my door or leave them at the post office. I have one more on the way so I gotta get the message to her fast lol. Yeah our place is not something that I would call secure, I'm going to take a few pictures tomorrow before I go up there.

So does only usps insurance cover before delivery then? Unless I can prove unsecure location problay. If that fails and since she said she would refund my money ill see if she keeps her word minus the item I received of coarse. And if not ill do like you guys said off to ebay with it. I just don't want to ding her top Rated seller rating, she has no bad or neutral feedback so it would be unfair to screw her when it is the post office problem. As far as the landlord installing package boxes I don't see that happen.

What messes my whole view of this is, the carrier delivers packages to another women that lives here but takes those right to the door, so why not me? Well thanks everyone have a great night.

 

[vwayne1]

Old bookaroo says open case with eBay when clearly it was delivered and stolen from the customer. It's dirty pool to screw the seller when you know it's not his fault. Issue is with USPS. Just because eBay bends over backwards for the buyer doesn't mean you should take advantage of a seller that did the right thing.

 

[billn1956]

I agree with vwayne it is the usps carriers fault no one elses..the carrier should really lose there job.

 

[Nickleanddime]

I agree with it being the postal carriers fault. That's why I just didnt go to ebay in the first place, and the lady was nice about it all. I've seen the carrier a few times and its just a young guy I'd say no older then 20, so it will suck to lose his job if he does. But he can not be so careless with people stuff.

 

[NHBandit]

A couple of points. Since it was sent Priority Mail it is automatically insured for $50. But... the sender has to file the claim, not you. Open a case with Ebay, get your money back & let the sender chase the post office for his money. I agree that ultimately the fault lies with the post office but if I remember correctly you can not open the insurance claim. The seller will eventually get reimbursed.

 

[deserdog]

If the tracking number shows the item was delivered, post office will probably not pay insurance claim, regardless of who files it.

 

[Iron Patch]

If the tracking number shows the item was delivered, post office will probably not pay insurance claim, regardless of who files it.

That's a big problem of mine, at least it's something that concerns me. It's very expensive for me to ship my more expensive packages with insurance and signature so often I'll just opt for the insurance, especially if it's someone I dealt with before, or just feel like they are not a risk. About maybe 6-8 weeks ago I sent out a $900 package to someone I had dealt with many times so saved myself the $20 and just insured it. About 5 days later I wake up to a message asking for the tracking... I reply with the info., then search it myself and see the package was delivered. I wouldn't say I was ready to push the panic button, but was quite concerned he was asking for the tracking when it showed it was delivered the day before. A short while later it hit me that he changed his address a while back so i was able to keep myself sane thinking he likely has his packages sent to an address which he doesn't live at, so it makes perfect sense how he could request the tracking even though it was already there. I assume it was something like that because he wrote back early evening and he had the stuff. All that having been said, if the package was delivered and he didn't have it, guess who's on the hook for the $900... me! And I agree a postal claim would not be fun to deal with.

 

[Iron Patch]

Bought a item from ebay and received a small envelope in place of a medium flat rate. Contacted the seller and she said she forgot to pack it and sent it seperate and the box should arrive shortly. Waited till today since that's when estimated time was, and the tracking said it had been delivered for the flare rate box. Called the post office and asked them they said yes delivered so I asked them what the weight was they said under 13 ounces so that's the envelope.

Contacted the seller and asked why there's not a tracking number for the flat rate box. She sent both tracking numbers to me and we tracked both packages. The tracking number that she entered on ebay is for the small one, which the post office is saying is its unavailable.

Entered the tracking for the box and they said delivered to my house. Contacted the seller she advised me to open a claim at the post office on the insurance. And she said shell refund my money if the PO says to get lost.

I'm pissed because I live in a crappy area in a apartment complex with a box bank in the courtyard. Tons of people walk through there everyday, I mean shady kids mostly. So why would the carrier leave it out there on the freaking table!! Why not put a note in the mail box and ill pick it up. Now my package is missing, and I have a feeling it's going to be a fight since I received one and not the other.

Anyways my question is what to do? Has anyone been through this and what was the outcome. This is exactly why I don't order stuff from anywhere online. Well any advice would be great thank you.

That makes absolutely no sense! A seller does not forget to pack a box and send a letter. Are you sure it's not the letter which the tracking shows delivered to your house? Meaning.... She sent a letter to get the tracking to cover herself and then just sent you a bad tracking number for the item. Do both numbers follow a path towards your address? If it were me I'd look into that tracking number that's not going anywhere and find out what's up.


Was there much time pass before you received the letter? It could also be possible she sent the box, something happened, and then she sent the letter to cover herself.

 

[diggummup]

That makes absolutely no sense! A seller does not forget to pack a box and send a letter. Are you sure it's not the letter which the tracking shows delivered to your house? Meaning.... She sent a letter to get the tracking to cover herself and then just sent you a bad tracking number for the item. Do both numbers follow a path towards your address? If it were me I'd look into that tracking number that's not going anywhere and find out what's up.


Was there much time pass before you received the letter? It could also be possible she sent the box, something happened, and then she sent the letter to cover herself.

Ditto on that. I'd double check that tracking number myself. Did it show delivered or delivered to your address? I have had packages show "delivered" before and not received them until the next day too. Technically she's not obligated to reimburse you if it shows delivered. I would assume all your correspondence was via ebay messages, I would hope? That will help you get your money back.
On a related note, I have forgot to put paperwork (owners manual etc.) or something in a package and had to mail it separately before. It sounds like the seller is okay and not trying to make over on you. As long as you have all your messages from her (via ebay), you'll be fine. Now go have a talk with your postal delivery person. It seems the Post Office will hire anybody nowadays. It ain't like it used to be.

 

[Nickleanddime]

Ok to answer everything since my last reply. The 2 tracking numbers she gave me were for both packages. The envelope with the single item is the tracking number that ebay had on file for the WHOLE box of items. The tracking number she gave me for the box when entered at the usps website is not available according to the usps. So the post office has it that the envelope is delivered and not the package. On her end its saying that both were delivered. To me it seems fishy that one tracking is valid and one is not, since my post office says that only one package came through this office. I'm still going to talk to them.

Yes I talked to her through the ebay messaging not private. I kept everything including the message of a promised refund. I agree it's not her faught but now that I've slept on it it seems more strange this morning that I received the envelope delivered in place of a box.

As far as the post office goes with not paying the claim because it was delivered. It's law that they are not aloud to leave a piece of mail outside of a usps approved box. Therefore by leaving it on a table in the courtyard or even at my door is not allowed. Contact should have been made with me or it taken back to the office and a note left. I can prove that this area is unsecure without a doubt to a sane person but to them it'll be a battle. Another thing I'm going to ask is why does the carrier deliver another residents package to them at their door but didnt do it for me. They shouldn't ever leave packages anywhere since I could be out of town until spring or at work till the next day so to me that's bad business.

I'm in no way doubting about the sender filing a claim, but I'm going to ask the carrier if she delivered 2 packages with my address on it here. And if she did then its the post office faught that the item was stolen.

But if only that envelope came in then the seller lied and screwed me. So we will see how it goes today. Thanks again everyone.

 

[jerseyben]

Does anyone have any REAL proof that the 2nd box was shipped and/or delivered? You wrote: "Entered the tracking for the box and they said delivered to my house." Then you make a loose connection that it was placed on a table in the courtyard and that it must have been stolen.

The whole story sounds INCREDIBLY fishy. It sounds like all the facts are not present and that some serious assumptions are being made.

Billn1956 said "I agree with vwayne it is the usps carriers fault no one elses..the carrier should really lose there job." You think someone should lose their job over a situation that is based on assumptions?

Replies #11 and #12 are being the "voice of reason" here. Instead of ranting and raving and blaming everyone, you should really listen to what Diggum and IP said above.

Man, this thread really has me ticked off...

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

If the tracking number shows the item was delivered, post office will probably not pay insurance claim, regardless of who files it.

Man that seems like such BS...USPS is consently Effin' up..Its crazy that I saw this post.

Just this last week I traded with a Tnet member some items, and when they sent it. It was sent to the Correct Address, but went around different cities for a week!!

I work in Coppell and it was the First placed it was sent to from his area.

And Dont bother trying to get an answer Via Email from them

 

[Cojones]

You could file a complaint with your local P.O. , they take complaints seriously.

I'm actually dealing with something similar but I'm the seller. I had a claim against me opened up today, never heard from the buyer before that. It was shipped to a dorm apt. and shows as delivered.

 

[leadnbrass]

If it shows delivered for both packages on the sellers (her) end it should show the same on your end.

Have her send you a screen shot and or link of what she's looking at...

In my opinion if it only shows the one package tracked and delivered and no proof of the other tracking number then she and the post office are on the hook.

If it does indeed show the packages (both) went to your address and were delivered you and the post office are on the hook.

I don't feel the seller is responsible if the tracking number is valid and the item was delivered.

As for insurance I (as the seller) will always will refund the money and file the claim IF the item was damaged...if it shows delivered that that is between the buyer and the company that states it was delivered.

IMHO

 

[Nickleanddime]

Well I'm out my money officially. I fought with the post office for 2 hours this morning. I've never seen people change their story and lie as much as what them people do. Had the general for our branch straight lie to me many times over.

Called ebay they said seller is not responsible for it. And since it was confirmed delivered the post office won't cover a stolen package.

So made a police report, cops said sorry bout your luck but your screwed.

Learned a very important lesson from all this today and it is this... When buying or sending a package with ANY carrier always get signature confirmation that way they can't just leave the package unattended. They will take it back to the office. Because uf someone steals your $800 dollar item off the porch your **** outta luck.
I will NEVER buy anything off of the Internet again. And from now on I'm only shipping with delivery confirmation, that way my buyer will never have to go through this and be out of their money again.

Well that's the outcome of this. Me out my money and stuff and some kids getting a laugh.All i have to say is if I ever catch the person that'll be the last time they will ever grip a pencil.... No B.S.

 

[Nickleanddime]

Sorry but our office doesn't, they changed their story numerous times while I was talking to them. They lied in many ways to keep from ever admitting responsibility for it. I told them they left it in a unsafe area. Their response was we left it out of the rain. That's their definition if a "safe and secure location" out of the elements!!!! I think a class action would float here if everyone got in board. How can a company that is out incharge of property be so careless with your items. And to straight tell you they don't care enough to knock on the door is the straw that broke my back. They said they don't care if it sits there for a year their end was fulfilled. Technically yes but the package didnt arrive safe it was left for ANYONE to pick up, not the owner.

 

[billn1956]

Does anyone have any REAL proof that the 2nd box was shipped and/or delivered? You wrote: "Entered the tracking for the box and they said delivered to my house." Then you make a loose connection that it was placed on a table in the courtyard and that it must have been stolen.

The whole story sounds INCREDIBLY fishy. It sounds like all the facts are not present and that some serious assumptions are being made.

Billn1956 said "I agree with vwayne it is the usps carriers fault no one elses..the carrier should really lose there job." You think someone should lose their job over a situation that is based on assumptions?

Replies #11 and #12 are being the "voice of reason" here. Instead of ranting and raving and blaming everyone, you should really listen to what Diggum and IP said above.

Man, this thread really has me ticked off...

Yes I have had the same type thing happen to me. And YES!!! if that carrier left the package anywhere other then an approved place then they should be fired..no if an or butts about it if you can not do a job you hired on to do you should be FIRED if you do not do the right thing an quit.