I saw this thread near the top and was surprised at how old the original posts were. Then I saw the "bump."
In-between, has anyone suggested that you call the postal inspectors in your area - not the local postmaster, the inspectors? My father was a postmaster, and that would be his advice. Over the years, I've had a couple of non-eBay deliveries that seemed to be MIA. As soon as I called the inspectors - boom - they showed up.
The D/C shows it got at least as far as your local PO, so I would suspect a theft somewhere along the line. Maybe it was out for delivery on a truck, and someone picked it off. If it was tagged with that much insurance, it would have looked like a valuable box. Or it could be someone at the PO. Maybe they're not telling you everything they know.
It's now long after the fact, but maybe the inspectors can at least establish what happened to your box after it got scanned at your local PO.
The inspectors take possible thefts out of the US mail with extreme seriousness.
posted on June 6, 2004 01:54:47 PM newrozrr
It's certain the package was not insured even though the buyer paid the 7.50. If it was it would easily have been taken care of & this thread would not exist.
There was only DC on it.
It seems the theft, if any, occured somewhere at the PO or possibly the box was left at a wrong adress & the recipient liked what he/she saw & decided to keep it.
Moral of the story, if you charge the buyer for insurance & don't use it, you take the risk.
This seller cannot possibly win, she gambled, lost & deserves what she got.
I'm simply saying that if bk hasn't yet called the postal inspectors, he should.
Ultimately, he wants this statue - it might just be possible to recover it. It went *somewhere*.
The inspectors are tough cases. They'll grill everyone in that local PO about what happened to that box - who handled it after it was scanned; who was assigned to his route that day.
I suggested he call the postal inspectors because I didn't see anything in this thread where anyone else had suggested it.
But it's the only way in which he has any shot at recovering this item.
posted on June 6, 2004 04:35:25 PM new
I had a friend order a clock radio for his son from a, mostly, gun dealer. He verified and then double checked that they had his NEW address. Of course, they mailed it to his old address and the renter currently living there opened it as a freebie.
Did I mention that it was some wood dowels painted red with wires and an alarm clock? REEEEAAALLLY real looking, like a bomb laying on your nightstand. To make a long story short, even in this pre-911 period, the block was evacuated and it was blown up by the bomb squad. Served the thief right, but the PD was NOT amused.
My buddy got a free replacement from the seller, and has video from all the news stations covering the 'event', but has never been able to get his original back from the cops. He might have swung it if he had kept a straight face while requesting it, he did want that little prize as a souvenir.
In a thread this long, it's easy to get lost in who's saying what.
Most people wouldn't think of calling the 800 number for the PO and getting the name and number for the local inspector. It's something you'd think of only if you'd worked for the PO or knew someone who had.
I think there's some possibility that if this box was indeed insured for a high-dollar amount and marked fragile, it didn't go out on the truck that morning. Maybe it was put aside for
a special, separate delivery, and it's still sitting there somewhere.
If they could just find out what happened to the box, that would be a significant step in resolving this dispute.
posted on June 7, 2004 05:12:59 AM new
i looked at the seller's auctions and found it hard to believe she would not insure the package just to pocket 7 dollars and risk losing 500.
If it were a bronze statue,i can understand but not porcelain of that size.
The seller travels and sell items of old retirees some are disabled and bedridden,did she say she has the items in possession??
She stated that items may take longer time to arrive which gives me the impression she does not always have the items in possession.What if these oldies between the time she listed the item and the time money is collected from bidder ended up in old folks home,hospital or funeral parlor??
The heirs of the estate would lock up the home and refuse to let her retrieve the item or there just may not be anyone around to let her in??or the items have already been stolen or moved by the heir or caretaker??
There is a possibility she just did not ship the item,she shipped something,but not the figurine of that size ,say 20 inches!??
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