Suggestions for safe delivery for eBay purchases?

I write this very disapointed regarding a recent eBay purchase... 2 razors... one very nice W&B barbers use plus another one that was much cheaper. Was sent via USPS, and tracking showed it was delivered on the 28th Feb, but not to me. It looks like my local post office has delivered to wrong address, as someone by name of Ramirez signed for it, but there's nobody of that name at my house (not even close). I suspect it has been delivered to wrong house. I asked my neighbours but nobody knows anything of it.

I would have thought that the post office would have required a name check, rather than let anyone accept the parcel. It was sent USPS to Australia priority mail international, and paid over $200 for it. Now Im going to end up in a battle with Paypal / seller etc. As far as I can tell, the seller has done everything right (although I can't confirm if he addressed it correctly, but checked my correspondence with him and address etc was correct), and seller was good re communication and very helpful, and I can see via tracking the item came into Australia, so he shouldn't lose out if addressed correctly, but at the same time, I shouldn't either as I didn't receive it.

I dont want this happening when I buy other items, so has anyone had problems like this they have solved, or suggestions as to how I can avoid this happening in the future?

Very disapointed, as I dont want $ refunded by paypal or postal service, I want the razor.

I recently had a razor go missing on delivery. I notified the seller that yes the tracking indicated that the razor had been delivered but obviously not to me. Then I went to the post office and complained. A few days later the postman brought me the razor.

The international aspect is this is certainly a complicating factor. Does the tracking tell you where (locality not address) the parcel was delivered? If so, I would start with the servicing post office for that area. If the best that comes up is Australia...well good luck with that...its on the continent somewhere:shrug:.

I would have no qualms about pursuing the matter until the timeline for disputing the sale is short then complaining to paypal. The insurance is to protect the sender...not the recipient. Let him file the claim and you are "made whole" by paypal. Be sure to document it all with messages through the dispute system. Good Luck!

Thanks.

I have tracked down the real estate agents who manage a neighbour's property and emailed them to find if they have a tenant named Ramirez, hopefully that may shed some light on the situation. My bin has #19 painted on it, and sits at the border of my property and the tenanted property, so I suspect Australia Post may have seen it and gone to wrong house. If this is the case, Australia Post can pursue Ramirez for mail fraud, as he signed for package. Im hoping its that easy, but time will tell... so frustrating.

Have you filed a complaint with the Australia Post that they delivered it to the wrong address and you never received the goods? Seems like they are the ones that made the error.

Bob

I tried to deal with Australia Post, and they provided the name of the person who signed for it, but they won't let me escalate, as they claim it needs to be done by the seller. I have contacted the seller, and good communication from him, sounds like he wants to help but is out of town, but will do what he can in a couple of days when he returns home. From communication so far, I trust that he will be cooperative, but I want to do what I can on my end, and also am looking for tips on how to transact in the future to avoid situations like this. If required, I'd rather just pay a few extra $ for a more secure delivery option.


Im not talking about insurance, as when I buy something, I want it, I don't want to wait for a couple of weeks, see that the item doesn't arrive, then wait for another couple of weeks for refund. I just want the safest way to pay for delivery and actually receive the item.

I dont ship Intl for that reason. I will only do Canada priority, but thats like $24. I believe thats signature also. Sorry to hear and hope you get whats coming to you.

I recently ordered a few razors off ebay and from Above The Tie, three small packages in total. Tracking said they had been delivered (USPS), but there was nothing at my house! I thought about it for a minute, then I decided to walk the neighborhood looking at the next few streets over. I looked for homes with the same number as my house, but on different streets. Next street over, I found three small packages on the porch of a house with my same street number. I knocked on the door to let the guy know what was going on before I started gathering up the boxes on his porch. I was very relieved.

I thought of doing this because a year ago FedEx left a priority package on my porch, and it was addressed to a house with the same street number as mine, but on the next street over. I brought it to him.

These guys are in a huge hurry constantly, and sometimes they screw up. But when that happens, you are at the mercy of the person who mistakenly receives your mail. Hopefully they are honest enough to do the right thing. Anyway, I would go around to homes in your neighborhood that have the same street number as your house, and ask them if they have received anything by mistake. You might get lucky.

Yes, Im hoping I will get lucky and find the person who received it. I just went out to the neighbours bins, as rubbish pickup is tomorrow morning, but couldn't find evidence of the packaging :( Most of my neighbours would be honest people I imagine, as its not a cheap area that I live in, but being walking distance to the city CBD, there are many houses that have half a dozen students crammed in there, with international students or visitors as well. The house adjoining is one of those, whose bins I checked.

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Originally Posted by MinATX

I recently ordered a few razors off ebay and from Above The Tie, three small packages in total. Tracking said they had been delivered (USPS), but there was nothing at my house! I thought about it for a minute, then I decided to walk the neighborhood looking at the next few streets over. I looked for homes with the same number as my house, but on different streets. Next street over, I found three small packages on the porch of a house with my same street number. I knocked on the door to let the guy know what was going on before I started gathering up the boxes on his porch. I was very relieved.

I thought of doing this because a year ago FedEx left a priority package on my porch, and it was addressed to a house with the same street number as mine, but on the next street over. I brought it to him.

These guys are in a huge hurry constantly, and sometimes they screw up. But when that happens, you are at the mercy of the person who mistakenly receives your mail. Hopefully they are honest enough to do the right thing. Anyway, I would go around to homes in your neighborhood that have the same street number as your house, and ask them if they have received anything by mistake. You might get lucky.

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Yea, there is no 100% guaranteed way to have something shipped, no matter the service used, without it getting lost.

Bob

Im now really worried as I have a Mappin & Webb 7 day set on its way. Im thinking of cutting a giant #19 out of plastic sign material and double sided taping it to my fence until they arrive lol.

Is there any way to contact the post office and ask them to hold packages at the post office so you can pick them up personally?

Yea, it is always a nervous time for me when I am expecting anything to be delivered. UPS misplaced/lost a rifle I had shipped and seemed not too concerned an about it. Filing a police report for a lost rifle and giving UPS the incident number seemed to light a fire under their azzez as they found it shortly thereafter. Always wondered if a theft report would wake up the Postal system in similar circumstances.

Bob

Not a bad idea. Will contact the local police tomorrow, and the post office re future deliveries - see if they can hold them for pickup rather than deliver. Thanks

In the U.S you can get hold for pickup. You pay for it though.

I had the same situation with a parcel I sent and USPS delivered it to the wrong person. The buyer went to the Post Office and made a big fuss over it and they retrieved the parcel. Afterall it was their error.

A few years ago my son ordered a High End Computer which was delivered by UPS. They delivered it to the wrong address. When they realized the value they made the driver go back on his time to get it back. His excuse was the address label was damaged and he had to guess the address. When we got it the label was perfect.

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Originally Posted by AndrewJM

If this is the case, Australia Post can pursue Ramirez for mail fraud, as he signed for package. Im hoping its that easy, but time will tell... so frustrating.

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I don't know how things are in Oz, but over here the postman comes to my door and says 'here, you gotta sign for this'.

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Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, there is no 100% guaranteed way to have something shipped, no matter the service used, without it getting lost.

Bob

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Exactly. There is always a risk. I use registered shipping because that way, the handling of the package is much more secure in the post office network. Other than that, you have to take a leap of faith.

I just issued a refund to someone today for an eBay sale that the PO screwed up. I sent it over a month ago and the online status indicates that it still hasn't left the PO in Chicago. The buyer was more than patient but after having contacted the PO several times, it was apparent to me that they have no idea where it is. I'll file a claim and hope to get my money back but I'm not holding my breath.

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Originally Posted by AndrewJM

Im not talking about insurance, as when I buy something, I want it, I don't want to wait for a couple of weeks, see that the item doesn't arrive, then wait for another couple of weeks for refund. I just want the safest way to pay for delivery and actually receive the item.

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Granted we all really want what we bought, but if it is truly lost...Why take a bath on it? Pursue the issue through paypal and let the seller file his claim.

The only truly secure way to get the item would be to go get it or have it couriered. But then the airlines wouldn't allow it as a carry on. Lost baggage is at least as likely as a missing parcel.:banghead:

Sounds like the post office screwed up and the only way to force them to do anything is through the seller, so the course of action is pretty clear - you open a paypal dispute, the seller loses that dispute but wins the one he has with the post office. It seems more complicated than it needs to be, but that's how the rules are set up.
Of course, since paypal is the arbiter they can decide in favor of the seller, and there wouldn't be much you can do. I've been on the receiving end of that and have learned my lesson - I switched to using credit card funds with paypal and in the case of problem have my credit card company fight with them. Outside of USA you may not have that option though.

it gets dicey when the USPS delivers to the wrong address because all the records say it was delivered and signed for. The buyer has to convince Ebay-paypal the unknown person isn't actually a resident of the house and they are trying some sort of scam.

Thanks everyone, I will wait a couple of days and lodge a dispute with paypal so hopefully the seller nor I have to wear the loss.

Cheers,
Andrew

p.s. Good news, the other 7 day set I was expecting has been held at the post office, so will pickup from them Monday :)

Andrew

I don't think you can hold the seller responsible. If the seller can prove he sent it by registered mail and someone signed for delivery, what else could the seller have done to avoid this issue? Maybe someone working for the postal service nicked it and used a false name when signing for receipt. If you really want to avoid this you will have to take out the insurance against missing in transit yourself. Keep us posted.

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Originally Posted by Kees

I don't think you can hold the seller responsible. If the seller can prove he sent it by registered mail and someone signed for delivery, what else could the seller have done to avoid this issue?

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The seller is still responsible to dispute with the post office because their contract is with the seller, not the buyer (hence they have not been helpful at all when the buyer contacted them).
I don't know how registered delivery works in australia, but here in US they verify the ID of the person who signs and apart from the signature there is another line where you have to fill out the address.

Ebay guarantees delivery so once they are satisfied, the buyer is reimbursed and the money is taken from the seller. The seller can then file a claim with the post office depending on the insurance. International mail can be really limited.

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Originally Posted by AndrewJM

Im now really worried as I have a Mappin & Webb 7 day set on its way. Im thinking of cutting a giant #19 out of plastic sign material and double sided taping it to my fence until they arrive lol.

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Don't you be worrying about these, they are in my bathroom and shaving beautifully!!

I didn't even see this thread before now. I am the seller of that fine and sweet W&B.

The best you can manage with the US postal service on international is registered signed for packages. every layer of protection you add to the shipping adds to its cost. I shipped via EBay's shipping app, and used the ShipCover insurance instead of the USPS insurance. In this instance, that was a wise move. I am happy to learn that Andrew has recovered his package from a neighbor, but if he had NOT, USPS would have DENIED any insurance claim as the package was not lost or damaged, (proof of delivery removes them from responsibility)
I take great pride in the things I do, and that includes taking responsible care with my shipping, as well as my honing. :chapeau

I don't know if the person who tried to claim Andrews package messed with the blade before returning it, so if it does not shave well for him, hopefully one of you fellow Ausies will be willing to help him out. But hopefully they just marveled at its beauty and were too scared to touch it!
Good Luck Andy!

As (bad) luck would have it, I became a victim of this problem myself for the second time in two months, just a week after adding to this thread.

Last week I ordered an assortment of soaps from SRD. I payed for priority post (USPS). Four days later (after the shipping notice) the package still had not arrived. Thankfully, just as I was getting ready to raise the issue with the post office, a neighbor I had never seen before knocked on my door last night and brought me my package. The carrier left it at the wrong house. I'm still going to file a complaint. With the misdelivered packages over the last two months, that amounts to nearly $400 of goods that would have gone lost if I hadn't thought to check with neighbors, or if they hadn't been honest enough to bring it to me!

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Originally Posted by MinATX

As (bad) luck would have it, I became a victim of this problem myself for the second time in two months, just a week after adding to this thread.

Last week I ordered an assortment of soaps from SRD. I payed for priority post (USPS). Four days later (after the shipping notice) the package still had not arrived. Thankfully, just as I was getting ready to raise the issue with the post office, a neighbor I had never seen before knocked on my door last night and brought me my package. The carrier left it at the wrong house. I'm still going to file a complaint. With the misdelivered packages over the last two months, that amounts to nearly $400 of goods that would have gone lost if I hadn't thought to check with neighbors, or if they hadn't been honest enough to bring it to me!

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I assume payment was made via PayPal, with it's Buyer Protection plan. However, it's not at all clear if the seller opted to insure the packages over-and-above the $50-worth which is included as part of USPS Priority Mail shipping. AFAIK, any package insured for $200 or more, must be signed-for by the recipient or his/her agent (usually a family member). Yes, the insurance is for the Seller's benefit, and it costs an additional sum, but if *I* was a Seller (and I am, on occasion) I would make darn sure that *I* was covered for a lost or mis-delivered package -- under PayPal's Buyer Protection plan, the Buyer is reimbursed for the full amount of his/her purchase, but the Seller is left "holding the bag" -- THAT's why it pays to insure for the full amount: if something gets lost, the Seller is also reimbursed for his/her loss. But no, what with eBay and/or PayPal fees, we become tight-fisted... and now we see that being so can come back and bite us on the a$$.

Great news, I got the razor, neighbour had signed for it - sneaky bastard. So glad, its a beautiful razor and shaved like a dream :)

Glad to hear its a good shave for you Andrew. I was worried your neighbor might have used it to flip muffins or some other frightening abuse! And admit it, its prettier in person than it was in the photos! :beer1:

All is well in Shaveland ? I had a package show as delivered once and it came almost a week 1/2 later. I had to sign for it this time :<0) It had some cherry or strawberry colored stain on the envelope with a shoe print. Looked like somebody spilled on the floor,dropped some mail, and stepped in/on both. In came back with an apology in a sealed plastic bag with specific instructions to inspect before signing a release. Apparently it had to be logged, stored, inspected, repacked ( I assume in case it was haz-mat ), and redelivere. Guess I was lucky this didn't take a month.

Yes, it does look even better in person. Initially I thought I had better get it polished, but upon arrival have decided that it is fine as is. Thanks Steve.