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Hey all,
OK, I’m just asking for feedback here. I sold a LEGO set back on Aug 31, mailed it out Sept 1. I live in Indiana, it’s going to North Carolina. It was tracked leaving my post office, got to Indianapolis on Sept 2, and has not been tracked since. Says it’s in route
I’ve called the post office, I have a claim in to the post office for a lost package, but I don’t know if it will work as I feel I’m too early. The person paid $104 for this set.
What should I do here? I’ve called eBay – they won’t insure or back me on this. Says it’s a post office thing. Post office is impossible to get a hold of right now. I did file a claim -but no clue if that is going to work or not. Do I just refund them now (all of it) or do they have to make a case first and I refund that, or ????? What is the process on this?
I’ve honestly never had a lost package before, so I’m just wondering how to proceed. Neither eBay nor the post office have been too helpful here on what I should do. They say wait – the buyer I feel has waited long enough. So I’m just curious
Thanks
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Did you submit your claim online? If so, you do have a “paper” trail. I wouldn’t refund yet. In addition, when you look up the tracking number in the USPS system, it gives you the chance to be notified when there is any movement on the package. You should go ahead and sign up with email or text so that you know when the package finally makes a move.
I would explain to your buyer that the USPS is having issues related to the pandemic and, while only a portion of packages are affected, it is not uncommon right now for a package to not show any movement for a while. You can google for a news story and send the link if you want.
If the buyer opens a case (or has already opened one), make sure to call eBay on the day that they tell you to. Tell them all that you’ve done to try to get the package moving (opened a case, called the post office, etc.). Ask for more time to get the package moving. eBay may not insure you due to a post office issue, but they can delay the case closing if you contact them and work it out.
I had several packages get delayed in the July-August timeframe. All of them eventually got to their destination. For one, the buyer opened a case and called on the final day. eBay closed the case and refunded them. I happened to be on vacation that day in an area with limited cell phone coverage, so I wasn’t able to call. I lost out on that one, but all the others worked out in the end.
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Have you seen this thread:
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Since it’s been more than 7 days of no movement shown in tracking, ebay policy is that you should refund.
When you say you have a “claim in” to USPS – is this an insurance claim or a missing mail request? USPS posts the timeframes for filing lost package insurance claims here:
https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm#
15 days for priority, so you’re just a bit too early.
Given all that, and the risk of the package arriving right after you refund, this is what I would do. I would send a message to buyer saying something like “Thank you for your continued patience. Please rest assured that you will get your item or your money back no matter what, b/c that’s ebay policy. It’s just a question of when. If you could be patient for just 2 more days, at which point I will be able to file a USPS insurance claim, that would help me not be out any money on this transaction. If you don’t receive the item in 2 days, I will refund your money.”
Worst case they escalate to ebay and they do the refund for you. That said, I’ve never gotten this far along in the process, so I don’t know if them escalating to ebay causes a strike against you somewhere. Luckily my string of “please be just a bit more patient” emails have kept the buyers at bay just long enough for the packages to arrive.
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I’ve had 3 situations like this in the past month or so, none as expensive as yours but about the same total. In each case, I requested email updates for any new scans and “begged” the buyer for more time, which all the buyers agreed with. None of the packages had any movement in a week. Two of the orders I had multiples and sent a replacement, the other I refunded. These were all first-class packages, no insurance. I asked the buyers to refuse delivery if the package did show up.
I got a message yesterday from one of the buyers I sent a replacement to, the original package finally arrived (sent Aug 25th) and he refused delivery so it is coming back to me (I also got a delivery scan email from that tracking request). The other 2 never did show any updates, I’m assuming lost and see this as a cost of doing business and providing good service. I did get glowing feedback from 2 of them.
What would you want to see happen if you were the buyer?
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Thanks for the replies – I appreciate the help. I am frankly just really frustrated with the USPS on this one. I have tried calling many times, which I feel is pretty hopeless. I have talked to people, but none have been helpful. I put in a claim online – with a money amount, so I am hoping to get insurance from them but that too has had no movement in 2 days, and so I don’t know where my claim stands. When I called to ask they told me that is managed out of St. Louis and they couldn’t help me. What does that even mean???
I will refund the buyer today – I begged for more and more time and told him that today will be the last day. That doesn’t bother me, I agree that it’s the cost of doing business. I’m really only out shipping as that was a toy I had on my shelf in the basement for a long time – but it annoys me that the post office is being such a pain on this. The package still has not moved from Indianapolis. They did open a package research case on the day I called them, and then they closed it that same day – but I don’t know what that means. I never received info on that. My claim is still “under review” – which is USPS speak for “not looked at yet”.
The post office has been good for me and my business all these years. So one package out of the many is not a huge loss – but it annoys me that they went from a business that used to be very helpful to one that now is difficult to deal with. I live in a small town – not really any other options out there. I can’t use Fed-Ex or UPS – unless I want to drive far to drop off packages. Post office is a walk away.
Rant over. Thanks
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No, we don’t have Walgreens. I live in small town Indiana (less than 8000 people), and the closest commercial Fed-Ex or UPS is near Indianapolis (40 miles) or Terre Haute (35 miles the other way). We have a small mom and pop drop off location that is open a few hours a day – but it’s not convenient for me and it has unpredictable hours at times, so I don’t use that. So I am really limited to USPS. It’s only one package, I can go with USPS. But it is still frustrating.
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8000, that’s huge, mine is 1100. No Walgreens, of course, but we do have the UPS distribution center for when I need to use them.
I suggest you do request email updates if you haven’t already, then if it does get delivered you will know and can try to bill her or ask for it back. I usually suggest they refuse delivery if I have refunded.
At least you can get this off your back if you end up refunding and do something more productive.
Good luck.
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So I was surprised to see today that my claim was approved and the post office is sending me a check. No contact what so ever, except an initial email with a link to my claims page.
I refunded the buyer in full. However, now I still have this transaction sitting there on eBay. Do I cancel the transaction in order to get eBay fees back? Is that how it works? I just wasn’t sure the next step here – makes sense to me but I wanted to check first. I’m still old school payments so I processed the refund through PayPal, not through eBay.
Thanks
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