Recently I have run into what I hope to be a short string of post office screw ups as it pertains to card orders. My most recent one was a busted open envelope with no cards in it.

I appreciate sellers who step up and offer a refund or replacement but why does there seem to be a hang up with making the post office fix the problem? What does Ebay suggest to sellers in such an incident? I have never made a claim with the post office before, is it really that bad of an experience?

I really don't know the right or wrong answer with this but in principle it seems there are times when post office should take care of the problem.

If it wasn't insured, all you get is an "I'm sorry".

First Class Mail is basically Priority's unwanted step child. No protection, limited tracking, and no basic insurance.

You might get a sympathetic clerk who will give you the "well look into it" line, but honestly the the problem is well beyond where the clerk stands as most mail is sorted in massive buildings at a high rate of speed.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
If it wasn't insured, all you get is an "I'm sorry".

First Class Mail is basically Priority's unwanted step child. No protection, limited tracking, and no basic insurance.

You might get a sympathetic clerk who will give you the "well look into it" line, but honestly the the problem is well beyond where the clerk stands as most mail is sorted in massive buildings at a high rate of speed.

Ed

So what do the claim forms do? Or is there such a thing? I can't imagine it is a fast process.

There is no way to file a claim on First Class.

Priority automatically gets $50 insurance, so there is a claims process involved there. They require the receiver to keep all packaging materials, but it's the sender who has to make the claim.

I've filed 3 claims in 21 years, got paid once.

Ed

In the UK i think anything that you post is automatically covered up to X amount. If you want more cover you pay a little extra.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
In the UK i think anything that you post is automatically covered up to X amount. If you want more cover you pay a little extra.

Covered to £20 ( $26 ) at no extra cost if you get proof of postage when using post office .

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
There is no way to file a claim on First Class.

There is no way to file a claim with the post office on First Class.

But if you make payment, the seller is obligated to get you the merchandise (unless you waive the claim, by agreeing to something like "buyer takes all responsibility for shipping if they won't pay extra for tracking" or something like that.)

You won't make friends doing this, but if the seller uses 1st class and you don't receive it, you can write to the local prosecutor where ever the seller lives and ask them to open a mail fraud case (cc a copy of the letter to the seller). And you can do the same thing by writing to the Postal Inspector. You'll likely get blocked from bidding on that seller in the future, but I've gotten results by doing it.

The seller owes you the merchandise (or a refund). Just because he hires someone unreliable (the post office) to deliver doesn't relieve him of his obligations; he still is ultimately responsible.

Message to self: Never sell anything to Bill.

What wolfie? In the UK you never heard the expression "making a federal case out of it"?

My own experience is that First Class mail is still generally reliable, if slower than before. I do most of my bill paying manually and they all seem to find me every month. They seem to cash my checks without any problem too. I'm on the list for just about every animal and children's charity imaginable and they get delivered.

If you threw a card in an envelope with a first class stamp I think you would get it 99.8% of the time, just made that percentage up, but you get the idea. The card might be bent or wet, so not a great idea, but it would come.

To me, the more likely cause of missing mail is still that the person sending the envelope or package just didn't do it. Which is why you need both insurance and tracking numbers when the value of an item is more than an amount you can just shrug off if you don't get it. If someone tells you that they aren't doing any of that and you agree to it, you had better know who they are, because you will be stuck if you don't get it.

Over the last couple of years I have had more problems with long delays in the delivery of tracked and insured packages than anything in First Class mail. Two were never found, but fortunately they were from big companies and one was replaced and the other refunded.

I think Jim Croce wrote a song, "You Don't Mess Around with Bill."

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Message to self: Never sell anything to Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I think Jim Croce wrote a song, "You Don't Mess Around with Bill."

[/QUOTE]

That was Jim. You know, his evil twin brother.

Yeah, my dad was a big fan and I liked him too. My dad had a van in '73 and we were driving somewhere when we heard on the radio that Croce died in a plane crash the day before (suddenly working on 50 years ago). He wrote some great songs and played them well. I still have at least two of his albums.

Anyway, I've talked to Bill off the board. He's a good guy. I hope nobody else tries to rip him off.

Hey look, I have 2021 posts or do I really need glasses and that's just the year?

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:

Hey look, I have 2021 posts or do I really need glasses and that's just the year?

Jess

You cannot make another post until next year or you will ruin it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, MyDuke, but I thought your question is more why ISN'T the PO responsible. And, honestly, it's a darn good question. Why is the burden all on the seller? The buyer bought a service from me and I bought a service from THEM. And yet, the onus isn't equal.
I don't ship expensive items with USPS insurance. I use a postage printing company that has a service. Knock on wood, but I rarely have a package go missing forever at least until this last year. So, I don't often file a claim but at least my odds are better with them than the PO.
When a buyer asks me to look into a lost package, I usually say we'll just deal with it between us because lord knows, their 'search for lost packages' is useless.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

To me, the more likely cause of missing mail is still that the person sending the envelope or package just didn't do it.ing any of that and you agree to it, you had better know who they are, because you will be stuck if you don't get it.

Just as counter to this, I would offer my own experience. Mykdude is too gracious to name and shame, but I'm one of the sellers he had a problem with. The package just...stopped moving...and never showed up or came back to me. I don't mind saying I was the guy cause I took care of it. But, I sent it. I mention it to say that it isn't always shifty sellers.
I honestly think it may still show up though I'm losing hope.
I will say, I appreciated that Myduke had already opened a tracking claim that failed before even notifying me about it. I appreciated his trust and the fact he knew it wasn't my fault, though my responsibility.

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:

I will say, I appreciated that Myduke had already opened a tracking claim that failed before even notifying me about it. I appreciated his trust

My default position is that people are honest and trustworthy. Cause the vast majority of them are. But sometimes you've got to drop the hammer.

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:
Correct me if I'm wrong, MyDuke, but I thought your question is more why ISN'T the PO responsible. And, honestly, it's a darn good question.

That is exactly my question. An organization is being hired to deliver a package. Why aren't they responsible while the item is in their care? Just because they are the government? I have to purchase insurance to insure they do their job? Really?

Something is broken here.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:
Correct me if I'm wrong, MyDuke, but I thought your question is more why ISN'T the PO responsible. And, honestly, it's a darn good question.

That is exactly my question. An organization is being hired to deliver a package. Why aren't they responsible while the item is in their care? Just because they are the government? I have to purchase insurance to insure they do their job? Really?

Something is broken here.

Honestly, it's the same with most any courier.

UPS: Over $100 has to have additional paid insurance. Normal service, they're only liable for $100. That includes loss and damage.

I don't do much with FedEx, but I believe they are basically the same. Pay for insurance or take your chances.

So it's not just the Post Office or because they are "government".

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

Honestly, it's the same with most any courier.

UPS: Over $100 has to have additional paid insurance. Normal service, they're only liable for $100. That includes loss and damage.

I don't do much with FedEx, but I believe they are basically the same. Pay for insurance or take your chances.

So it's not just the Post Office or because they are "government".

Ed

I have to agree with Ed. It's pretty much the same here with the Royal Mail, though it is now more of a private sector organisation since the government sold off most of it not too long ago. Basic First or Second Class post is covered for £20, Signed For Delivery is up to £50 and for anything worth more than £50 you need to use Special Delivery which is tracked and signed for. I haven't checked recently but there also used to be a ceiling of £250 of cover on Special Delivery.

There's an additional caveat/consideration with standard post too. Unless you get a certificate of posting to prove you sent the item, you cannot make any kind of claim. That's why I never just drop any card sale items in a post box. They always go through a Post Office so I can get that all important Certificate of Posting. Plus the pther caveat that if you didn't choose to use the correct cover in the first place they may well reject your claim

Also in the UK you have to prove the value of your item with a receipt- it is not good enough to use the ebay sold price