what would you do? (shipping problem)

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

I would have filed a claim on the insurance of the shipping company and tell my buyer to be patient while I sort it out. If the shipping company said I am SOL, then I ask buyer to ship what he got back and I issue a full refund.

If you are primarily worried about(which from the wording in OP, you are) being taken then stick to local sales only.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

First off: the seller went above and beyond the call of duty here but also screwed up by not using delivery conf on all shipments and shipping with shitty USPS in the first place (which also costs more). In essence seller you ripped yourself off hardcore and caused your loss.

Ok - For future purposes, everyone shipping and selling items should follow my advice here. I am an e-bay seller and very experienced with hundreds of transactions / shipments with UPS, FedEx, USPS, and DHL.

First order of business,

USPS is a terrible value unless you are shipping light items (2-3 LBs) or envelopes. Parcel Post is a rip off, sometimes it only costs 20 cents less than priority and takes 500x longer. NEVER SHIP PARCEL POST. I'll explain why later. USPS in general is a rip off - do not ship USPS if your item is over 5 LBs at all. NEVER SHIP PARCEL POST. ALWAYS BUY DELIVERY CONF.

Drawbacks of USPS:

-Extreme disregard for your items

-Even if you write "Fragile" they will treat it like shit

-No real tracking, tracking costs extra

-Rip off (Costs more than UPS and FedEx - by A LOT)

-Annoying underpaid disgruntled staff that don't give a shit

-Costs extra for delivery confirmation and insurance (both free with UPS/FedEx)

Advantages of USPS:

-Good for cheap, light items you aren't too concerned about

-$1-3 shipping on items under 13 ozs

-Cheaper for International mailing and pretty much the only postal system used internationally because the others are so expensive

UPS / FedEx Advantages:

-Free complete tracking (shows where the item is)

-Free Delivery confirmation

-Free insurance up to $100

-Discounts on multiple items with 1 master tracking #

-WAY WAY WAY WAY cheaper than USPS. Up to 75% cheaper on shipments 5 LBs or over

-Easy claims process, if something breaks or gets lost (which usually it doesn't) they will refund you everything as long as you declared the value

UPS / Fedex Disadvantages:

-Light items may cost slightly more to ship

As you can see, USPS is a major ripoff and UPS / FedEx is the way to go on all heavy items. You would have avoided this situation completely and paid less on top of it, had an insured and tracked shipment and a perfect transaction.

Moral of the story for this thread:

Never use USPS.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

i ALREADY sent him $60. and fwiw- the usps delivery conf# is 0304799000213030630 . delivered on nov. 29th!

you can have him ship back first, and then refund him for what was eeturned, minus the 60 that you already gave him.

 

[donpisto 5,000+ posts]

First off: the seller went above and beyond the call of duty here but also screwed up by not using delivery conf on all shipments and shipping with shitty USPS in the first place (which also costs more). In essence seller you ripped yourself off hardcore and caused your loss.
Ok - For future purposes, everyone shipping and selling items should follow my advice here. I am an e-bay seller and very experienced with hundreds of transactions / shipments with UPS, FedEx, USPS, and DHL.

First order of business,

USPS is a terrible value unless you are shipping light items (2-3 LBs) or envelopes. Parcel Post is a rip off, sometimes it only costs 20 cents less than priority and takes 500x longer. NEVER SHIP PARCEL POST. I'll explain why later. USPS in general is a rip off - do not ship USPS if your item is over 5 LBs at all. NEVER SHIP PARCEL POST. ALWAYS BUY DELIVERY CONF.

Drawbacks of USPS:

-Extreme disregard for your items

-Even if you write "Fragile" they will treat it like shit

-No real tracking, tracking costs extra

-Rip off (Costs more than UPS and FedEx - by A LOT)

-Annoying underpaid disgruntled staff that don't give a shit

-Costs extra for delivery confirmation and insurance (both free with UPS/FedEx)

Advantages of USPS:

-Good for cheap, light items you aren't too concerned about

-$1-3 shipping on items under 13 ozs

-Cheaper for International mailing and pretty much the only postal system used internationally because the others are so expensive

UPS / FedEx Advantages:

-Free complete tracking (shows where the item is)

-Free Delivery confirmation

-Free insurance up to $100

-Discounts on multiple items with 1 master tracking #

-WAY WAY WAY WAY cheaper than USPS. Up to 75% cheaper on shipments 5 LBs or over

-Easy claims process, if something breaks or gets lost (which usually it doesn't) they will refund you everything as long as you declared the value

UPS / Fedex Disadvantages:

-Light items may cost slightly more to ship

As you can see, USPS is a major ripoff and UPS / FedEx is the way to go on all heavy items. You would have avoided this situation completely and paid less on top of it, had an insured and tracked shipment and a perfect transaction.

Moral of the story for this thread:

Never use USPS.

USPS is not the only one who doesn't pay any attention to Fragile items. I know someone who works at Fed Ex and he says some of the people there don't care if it says the box is fragile. And if the box stands out, as in different color box and whatnot, they will have some fun with it.

I personally use usps for small items or if it can fit in a flat rate box (and if i have to ship to canada. Other than that, I always use Fed Ex. It is the cheapest by far. DHL is slightly cheaper I think, but the closest one near me is a good 20 mins.

 

[Macklessdaddy 10+ year member]

and to clear it up.. from waht the post office explained to me, for the items to be listed as "delivered" all 3 boxes would have had to be scanned at drop off

I have not read the whole thread,just up to this post.I am a letter carrier that just so happens to live near where you shipped the boxes(not that it matters)but because it says delivered means jack(not taking anybody's side)we are supposed to only scan when we are about to deliver something but we cheat all the time,basically meaning we scan when we remember,this area has some incompetent fools delivering the mail.Your next door neighbor or a house with the same number diff street may have the package.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

USPS is not the only one who doesn't pay any attention to Fragile items. I know someone who works at Fed Ex and he says some of the people there don't care if it says the box is fragile. And if the box stands out, as in different color box and whatnot, they will have some fun with it.
I personally use usps for small items or if it can fit in a flat rate box (and if i have to ship to canada. Other than that, I always use Fed Ex. It is the cheapest by far. DHL is slightly cheaper I think, but the closest one near me is a good 20 mins.

fedex is cheapo for sure but one thing they do that pisses me off that UPS doesn't do is they are very sensitive about how big your package is (will charge more for packages UPS wont) and they will ALWAYS round up even for the tiniest .05 oz over a lb. its just an excuse to squeeze more profit and i am so close to snapping at them about it/ i switched to them from UPS (they literally stole me - a person in corporate arranged a deal with me to be fedex exclusive and get performance pricing) and did not expect to get treated 2nd rate

with UPS anything goes as long as you choose them. with fedex its 10 added fees and an added pound and dimensional weight. makes me wanna switch back to UPS if they didnt **** up my MLK order

 

[Decado2 10+ year member]

If it says delivered I believe it is the receiver's duty to talk to the courier to see where it was actually delivered to

This is what I was told when I inquired about my missing motor, the lady told me that its up to the reciever to file a claim, or, i would need to get the damaged packaging back from him so I could file myself.

Chad, that dude needs to be talking to his post office, this same thing happened with me with DHL, a member here shipped me a package which they lost, I didnt blame the shipper, he did his part, his communication with me was/is top notch, we have both come to an agreement on the whole situation maturly and respectfully!

DHL f'ed up in my case, not the shipper, this situations is not your fault Chad! You remember those tinsels you sent me Chad............. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif