posted on November 27, 2001 08:25:18 PM new
About 6 weeks ago, I purchased a lot from an ebay seller. The lot was to be shipped via USPS media mail with insurance. Both in my e-mail correspondance and in a letter enclosed with my payment, I specifically requested that the lot be shipped to my work address. I did this because I am not home during postal deliveries and am at work during the post offices operational hours.
Well, after waiting over 30 days from delivery, the lot has still not arrived. I requested that the seller start the insurance claim process. He found the insurance slip, and sent me an e-mail with the address that was on the slip. Guess what.?!? It was my HOME address. I'm guessing it must have been copied from the return address on my envelope. I now have a pretty good idea what happened to the package. It is probably waiting at my post office branch. However, as stated previously, I can not pick the package up (and the post office is not likely to deliver it to my apartment when noone is there). What should I do in this situation?!?! Obviously, I am very upset with the seller for putting me in this difficult situation. I am strongly considering leaving negative feedback. Is this appropriate? Any help you can give me in this situation is appreciated. Thanks!
posted on November 27, 2001 09:20:12 PM new
While I can understand your frustration, I am not sure that this would warrant a negative. People make mistakes and it is easy to miss reading something (heck, customers do it all the time).
Now for a solution...
Some ideas--
I am not sure how big of a city you live in, but can someone else possibly pick it up for you? Maybe if you placed a call to the post office they might be able to offer you a solution (maybe they can transfer it to another post office locally that is open saturdays or something?) Or if you can think of a neighbor the postperson might be able to hand it to since you are not able to be home. Do you have a apartment manager who might be able to accept it? (You would have to let the post office know where they can leave it in this case).
I would ask the post office for thier help since they didn't seem to leave you a slip letting you know it was there in the first place and hopefully they will be able to help get it to you.
I know this board is full of folks with ideas-- someone else might have a better idea so I will go, but wanted to say good luck in the meantime.
posted on November 27, 2001 11:30:24 PM new
Can you go on Saturday? Can the PO deliver it to an officen that is open late hours? One main branch in your area may offer "satellite" hours and you can pick up after work. Your situation is common so I'm sure there is a way.
I suggest going to link http://www.usps.com/locator/ and talk with a supervisor during business hours (from work )
Thank you both for your responses. Unfortunately, there is no time that I can get to any of my local post-offices during their operational hours. That is why I had specifically asked to have the merchandise shipped to my work address, in an attempt to avoid this situation. I will most likely try some of your suggestions. However, I felt that I should also inform the seller of the situation and ask him how he would suggest proceeding. Therefore, I sent him the following message. We'll see what I get as a response. His attitude and helpfulness in this matter will help to determine whether I will feel inclined to leave a negative or not. Here is the message I sent:
Dear Seller,
Well... I think I can see where the problem is. I had requested in both my e-mail correspondence to you and in a handwritten letter sent with the payment for the package to be shipped to my work address of:
Instead, your insurance slip shows that it was shipped to my home address. My guess is that you copied the address from my return address on the envelope rather than reading the correspondance I sent with the payment. I specificaly requested that the item be shipped to my work address because I am not at home when mail is delivered. I am also at work during all of my post offices operational hours so I can not pick up packages at the post office. Knowing this information, how do you suggest we proceed? I am afraid that the package could possibly be waiting at my local post-office, but as I stated, I have no way to retrieve it. Your suggestions on how to deal with this situation is appreciated.
posted on November 28, 2001 01:54:55 PM new
If pickup at the post office is difficult for you, I suggest in the future that all your correspondence reflect your work address. This way there is no way the seller can deliver to the wrong address.
I guess the lot will have to be returned to the seller and re-shipped to your work address. I hope its not too expensive.
posted on November 28, 2001 02:03:03 PM new
Sun818,
I agree that in retrospect that would have been best. However, this situation is clearly the sellers fault for not reading my messages. Do you know if media mail will be returned to sender? The last I knew was that media mail packages that were undeliverable were discarded.
Oh... also, I forgot to mention previously that I had contacted the seller about this on 11/14/01 and had asked him to confirm that the shipment was shipped to the correct address (and typed in my work address). He simply sent an e-mail stating I needed to wait the 30 days before an insurance claim could be made. It makes me a little upset, because if he had bothered to check the address at that point (as I requested), then we would be much further along at this time. Overall, I think I'm stuck with a seller that doesn't pay attention to details too well!
posted on November 28, 2001 02:20:34 PM new
To give you all a better background on this (and hopefully provide some entertainment), I've copied all the previous e-mail correspondance between the seller and I. Notice how he repeatedly insists that there is nothing he could have done about it. Hmmm... how 'bout addressing the package right? Anyhow... I'll let you all know what response I get from my last e-mail!
He Wrote:
Just pulled your Insurance slip. Package was mailed to xxxxxxx. xxxxx xxxx, xx. xxxxx. Please send by mail a breif note from you stating package wasn't
received and a breif discription of what it was and a copy of your canceled check or MO. Sorry for any inconvience but it is something I had no control over. Send to xx xxxx xxx
xxxxx xxxxx, xx. xxxxx. Thanks, xx.
I wrote:
As of 11/27/01, I still have not received the package. Could you please start the insurance claim at the Post Office? Thank you for taking care of this.
He wrote:
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 20:00:14 -0800
Hi XXX, I sent that package out on Oct. 17th insured and it is hard to believe that they could loose a package that large. Wait until after the 17th of Nov. and if it doesn't get
there let me know and I'll process a claim at the PO. Sorry but entirely out of my hands. Thanks, XXXXXXX XXXXX.
I wrote:
It is 11/14/01 and the advertisements have still not yet arrived. Could you please confirm that they were sent to the correct address? I requested them to be shipped
to:
XXX XXXXX
XXXXXXX XXXXX
XXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXX XX XXXXX
Also, you mentioned in your last e-mail that they were insured. Do you have any sort of a tracking number for them? Thank you for looking into this.
He Wrote:
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 10:26:00 -0700
Hi XXX, You should get them any day as they were sent INSURED on the 17th. Keep me posted. Thanks, XXXX XXXXXXX
I wrote:
I'm just checking to make sure you received my payment okay for lot #XXXXXXXXXX, the XXXXX XXXXXXX. As of 10/26/01, I still have not yet received the package. When was it shipped, and is there any tracking number? Please give me an update on the status of our transaction. Thank you!
He Wrote:
Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 23:30:45 -0700
Hi, You won lot #XXXXXXXXX in my EBAY AUCTION for $100.00 plus $9.50 for P&H for a total of $109.50. Please send payment with lot # and your Email address to XXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXX. PLEASE CONFIRM THIS NOTICE. Thanks, xx.
I wrote:
It appears as though I am the high bidder for your eBay auction #XXXXXXXXX, XXXX XXXXX XXXXX. My final bid was in the amount of
$100.00. According to your terms, the p&h for this lot is $9.50. If I am correct, this brings my total balance due to $109.50. Please send me an address for you, and I will send the payment right out. For your records, my mailing address is:
posted on November 28, 2001 02:54:23 PM new
If it's been over 30 days and the package was at your PO waiting for you unclaimed it will more then likely have been shipped back to the seller as undeliverable at this time.. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
posted on November 28, 2001 03:05:26 PM new
I think the first thing you should do and should have done, is call the post office and find out if it is really there. And then ask them what to do.
posted on November 28, 2001 03:36:01 PM new
This is a challenging situation. I would ask that you give the seller the benefit of the doubt if he's willing to work with you for a solution. I've only had one neg and it came from a buyer who did not tell me about a problem he had. I would have bent over backwards to help if he'd given me the chance...
Here are a few ideas:
1-have a taxi cab company or local currior service pick up the box for you and deliver it to your work or home. the extra $10 or so will be worth it to be finished with this thing... perhaps ask the seller to pick up this fee...
2-have the seller accept it when the post office sends it back and request a reshipment at the sellers expense. That's something as a seller I would have offered to you up front.
3-find a local teenager to pick it up for a few bucks.
4-call the post office and ask them for a suggestion. This can't possibly be an isolated situation - many people can't get to the USPS during the day.
5-can your employer allow you to swing your shift by an hour or so one day? come in at 10am and stay to 6 or 7pm - then use the morning hour to hit the post office.
6-I love the previous members suggestion. It's his mistake so asing him to fix it in whatever way he prefers is reasonable. No help would warrant a neg to me.
Just some thoughts. Maybe they will spark a workable solution for you. As for feedback, consider leaving a neutral with the problem listing in your feedback comments. Negatives are very harsh and in my opinion should be reserved for very irresponsible or fraudulant ebayers. If it's used too often for small offenses all sellers will end up having negs and they will lose their usefulness to the community.
Best of luck,
Melissa
www.JumpStartSales.com
Bringing Sales to Small Business
posted on November 28, 2001 03:55:23 PM new
What kind of employer accepts your mail but works you six days a week and won't let you leave for a lunch time trip to the Post Office?
I say tell the boss to get a life and quit!
dendude
posted on November 28, 2001 05:47:11 PM new
mmcnat:
Thank you for your list of suggestions. I am sure I will give some of them a try. I too feel that the best thing to do is to give the seller the option to fix this in whatever way he prefers. That is why I sent him the last e-mail asking him what he suggests we do.
To the rest:
I do get a lunch break.... but my commute to work is a half-hour. There is no way that I could get to the post-office, wait in line, and get back within my lunch hour. I really do enjoy my job, but as you can see it does make getting to the post office a problem. Of course... if the seller had paid attention to my e-mail and letter, then we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with!
posted on November 28, 2001 06:20:49 PM new
As your boss to go to the Post Office and pick it up for you.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on November 28, 2001 06:27:37 PM new
A simple call to the post office would solve all of the problems. It is highly possible you have waited to long know and the package has been reurned of abandoned. The USPS is easy to work with on packages like that.
posted on November 29, 2001 04:50:18 AM new
Well, here's the response I got from my last e-mail:
Hi , I would suggest to contact the Postmaster right away at XXXXXX and see if it is or was there and leave your forwarding address with them so this doesn't happen in the future and cross off your other address on future mailings to avoid any confusion. As they don't read my Emails in shiping and I no longer have a copy of the letter in question I would presume that they would have sent it to the address on the evnelope. Keep me posted please. Thanks, XXX XXXXXX.
I figured that I would have to call the post office. However... it does not make me at all happy that he is not taking ANY responsibility for this! Notice how there is absolutely NO appology AND how he is blaming the problem on ME!!!!! If he had done his job properly this would have never happened in the first place. Considering the trouble he's putting me through and his inconsiderate attitude, I am strongly leaning toward a harshly worded nuetral or negative.
posted on November 29, 2001 01:05:27 PM new
I'm not making excuses for the seller, but obviously this seller separated your letter from your envelope. Then when the time came to ship your item, they used the return address on the envelope. As a seller, I've encountered this type of situation. If you choose to have items mailed to your work address, you should also put that same address on the envelope so there will be no confusion.
I do believe a call to your post office is in order. The seller is wrong, in my opinion, but a simple call from you to the post office might clear every thing up.
I too, work in a different town than my home post office. When I was buying, I had items shipped to my work instead of home. It would be impossible for me to work my 8 hours in one town and manage to get to the post office during their hours in my home town. Before work, after work or lunchtime, it still wouldn't have mattered.
posted on November 29, 2001 01:34:28 PM new
You must not want your package that badly... Blaming the seller is not going to get the package to you. Calling the post office to find out what's going on will. Also, if you plan on leaving a neg, do it after the transaction is over. If you leave it now, don't expect any help from the seller.
posted on November 29, 2001 01:50:25 PM new
I do want the package badly! Just remember... I did not know until the 27th that the package would even possibly be at my home post-office (remember it was supposed to be shipped to a different place entirely!). I gave the post-office a call today, and they had no record of the package arriving. I guess my next step is to have the seller file the insurance claim. I've been around enough to know not to neg the guy before this is all over... but after I get my payment back.... let's just say I do not feel like I am receiving good customer service.
I have been a seller on eBay for over 4 years, and have a rating of over 1100. I was bidding on this item from an alternate bidding account, so I have no fears of retalitory feedback. If I had made this mistake, the first thing I would have done would have been to issue a sincere appology for creating the problem. The next thing I would have done would be to call the post-office I had sent the package to for the buyer. If it was my mistake... I should be the one taking the time to fix it! Then, I would have offered to pay the cost of the stamp for the buyer to send me the necessary information for the insurance claim. This seller has done none of the above... not even a slight appology! I don't see how anyone could consider leaving anything better than a nuetral at this point... His customer service is very lacking. The only positive thing is he has consistently responded to my e-mails in a timely manner. What a pain this transaction has turned out to be!
posted on November 29, 2001 02:11:04 PM new
At least he is responding to your e-mails which might would warrant at least a neutral. I understand that he has not apologized but appears he has stayed in touch and is willing to work with you on insurance recovery. That to me is worth more than any apology. Also I don't want to sound harsh and I see he is at fault but you as well are at some fault. If you would have put your works return address on the envelope then none of this would have happened. Sometime papers can get seperated from their envelopes and he solved it the best he could by sending it to the RETURN address. I've been selling for years also and I can say I have had similar problem such as checks with one address and a return address different on the envelope and in some cases a third address on a scribbled piece of paper. It a lot of work keepin things together and mistakes happen. Anyway sorry again if I seem to harsh but count your blessing you may at least recover your funds on this one. Unfortunatley Thats lots more than you would get from some seller.
posted on November 29, 2001 03:29:02 PM new
Doncha just love sellers that intend to teach other sellers how to sell.
You work six days a week in the real world, have more than 1100 transactions as a seller. There's no time in your schedule to go to the Post Office and pick up your package so you ask the seller to mail the package to your work address (a huge risk no seller really wants to take). I just love spending my time with a five line mailing address wondering the whole time if Ajax inc. (the place that has a six day work week) is even going to get it to their employee. The package is lost or stolen and you're already planning to neg/neu the seller even though he's responded to all your emails and has indicated that he will help you with the insurance.
Tell your boss to take a hike and get a real job so you can swing by the Post Office on Saturdays.
dendude
posted on November 29, 2001 04:20:27 PM new
Walhalla,
Your statements are very inconsiderate and uncalled for. Please do not make false assumptions about my place of business. I am very happy there. Yes, I do not have time to travel to my home post-office. However, let me explain to you about my current work situation. I work at a small private college (500 undergrads) as a computer tech for our bookshop (we sell computers... I support them). All packages are shipped directly to our store and are handled by one and only one very responsible shipping clerk. I can assure you that there is absolutely NO risk in having personal merchandise shipped to my workplace (in fact it is encouraged!)
While I do have a busy work schedule (being the only computer tech), it is not at all a burden. I am allowed by my boss to work on my personal ebay sales when there is no store business to attend to. This alone is worth the hours I put in! I'm sure many ebay sellers would love an opportunity like this. I also have access to the campus post-office where I ship my merchandise out during my lunch break. All in all, it is a very convenient job.
Finally, even if I did have a chance on Saturdays to pick up packages, why should I have to??? I paid for shipping to MY preferred address. If the merchandise is delivered some place else, why should I be happy about it? This seller has caused this transaction to be much more difficult then it should have been. I certainly don't see why he should get positive feedback because of that! As I do leave feedback on ALL my transactions, that only leaves a nuetral or negative. Even if I DO get my insurance claim (which is not guranteed to pay off), then I am still out all the time and trouble involved in getting it.
Bottom line... I am not a seller trying to tell another seller how to do business. I haven't told this seller how to do anything. (although maybe I should have!) Throughout this entire ordeal, I've let him make the decisions on how to fix the problem. It is his decisions that will determine whether his feedback will be a neutral or a negative.
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