USPS shipping question.

[TAArrowood]

Hey guys. Merry Christmas to all! Quick question for everyone. If you make a purchase on the classified ads here on Rokslide. The seller receives your money and provides you with a tracking number, the tracking shows that the item has been received by USPS and is in process ( but never arrives). 1) How long should you wait before getting concerned? 2) If the package never shows what is the next move? Should you contact the seller and ask for reimbursement and expect him to file for insurance to recover his money? I know it can easily happen and does. I have three outstanding items in shipping now from early December. Just wondering what an appropriate course of action. When both the seller and you have done everything right, how do you unwind the tangled mess created by USPS? Thanks in advance for any/all responses.

 

[CorbLand]

I mean it is USPS and if its theirs is like mine, it likely will show up before the tracking updates.

Personally, I would give it a week to ten days before I really got too concerned, unless its coming from a state thats pretty close.

First step would be to reach out to the seller and see what they can come up with. Working with them to come to a solution is always the best course of action. If that doesnt work, look into any buyer protection you may have from the payment service you used.

Yes, I would expect the seller to reimburse me and work with USPS on the insurance claim. They shipped the item, not me.

 

[elkliver]

this time of year.... 3 weeks may be appropriate to wait

 

[can1010]

first it is Christmas and all shipping is screwed up. second just go ask your postmaster at post office mine sorts things out in a day or two that's the quickest remedy

 

[fwafwow]

I agree with Corb on the timing etc. USPS is so bad in general, and even worse now with the holidays. One of the reasons I can't stand it - to send, or receive. UPS isn't perfect either, but that's my go to.

As for insurance - that's a tough one, at least when there is no specificity in the post, or communications. Did the seller say there would be insurance, or not? When I transact, I try to be clear. But in the absence of detail, I think there is much ambiguity. Most buyers assume the risk of loss is on the seller, but I'm not sure that's always the case, and even if it is, when does it end? We are all so used to dealing with retail sellers - with being able to say that until I get the item, the risk is on that retailer. But classified sales aren't retail.

Note - I'm not arguing either way, other than both sides should be pretty clear before the deal is done.

 

[intunegp]

First contact the seller and see what their story is. If an appropriate amount of time has passed for you to agree the item is lost in the mail, talk to them about a refund. I think all USPS parcels are insured for $100 even if they didn't pay for extra insurance. If the buyer is unwilling to work with you, file a dispute with PayPal. If you used goods and services but didn't receive your goods, PayPal should help you out.

Classifieds rule 14 states:

Pay Pal gift or Pay Pal Friends and Family payment options are for people who are Friends and Family. Moderators won’t help with any issues on items bought or sold with F&F.

If you paid friends and family, you may be out of luck. Many online marketplaces explicitly state in the rules that the seller is responsible for the item up until the point the buyer receives it. That doesn't seem to be part of the Rokslide rules. Even when it is, the seller being banned doesn't get you your item or refund anyway, but it is a good motivator for them to conduct themselves honorably if they want to continue using the forum.

 

[TAArrowood]

The frustrating thing right now is that two of the three items have made it to witching 30 miles of my home, then show going cross country, then just sit there with no updates. I’m not placing any blame on the seller. They did what you expect them to do and quickly, but at some point I may have to contact them and see how they want to move forward. After having been on the seller end myself, I feel like the transaction is on me until the tracking shows delivery. I usually follow up with buyer and confirm that he did receive the item, it was in good condition and was what he expected.

 

[CorbLand]

The frustrating thing right now is that two of the three items have made it to witching 30 miles of my home, then show going cross country, then just sit there with no updates. I’m not placing any blame on the seller. They did what you expect them to do and quickly, but at some point I may have to contact them and see how they want to move forward. After having been on the seller end myself, I feel like the transaction is on me until the tracking shows delivery. I usually follow up with buyer and confirm that he did receive the item, it was in good condition and was what he expected.

Sounds like USPS around this time of year.

 

[Bugger]

this time of year.... 3 weeks may be appropriate to wait

3 weeks is about right. I had an eBay item that showed no updates for 2 weeks after arriving in my city, the local office basically said if it hasn’t been scanned for that long it’s most likely lost/stolen. The seller reimbursed me and then the item showed up on my porch 2 days later. It never happens with Amazon, only regular mail..

 

[TimberRunner]

Usps is a trainwreck. Not unusual to be a month here.

 

[Hill Difficulty]

Once a deal is binding, Buyer is responsible for payment and Seller is responsible for delivery.

Some nuggets:

• Communicate with the Seller as soon as there's reason for concern
• Keep the dialogue fair and healthy while making sure the Seller is clear on responsibility to deliver
• Be very confident that USPS will pull through

As a Seller, my response to a delivery hangup is to refund the Buyer's money until USPS tracking confirms the delivery. Odds are very high that everything will turn out.

Current news about a particular USPS distribution center having a problem is usually published online.

 

[BrentH]

I agree with all that’s been said.

I think it would be appropriate to contact the seller at this point to let them know what is going on with the shipment(s), but if you are fine waiting longer, I bet the packages still arrive.

One time I sold some fishing gear and shipped it usps to a guy who lives an hour and a half away here in WA. I never thought to check tracking, and I honestly forgot to send him the tracking number (my fault), but two weeks later he sends me a message saying he never got them. I checked the tracking and the package had just departed HAWAII! Package finally made it to him, but it took around 3 weeks total. He was fine waiting it out, but had they not made made it back from Hawaii, I feel that it would have been my issue to deal with and I would have offered a refund.

Whether the seller purchases insurance or not is up to them, but I think the burden of making sure the buyer gets the item is still on them either way.

Honestly, the few times I still use usps, I don’t purchase additional insurance anymore. Had one package where I had to try and file a claim, and I said never again. I’d be surprised if usps ever pays out an insurance claim.

 

[Wheels]

I had an issue with a set of golf clubs that I shipped to the buyer. They sat at a distribution hub for 3 weeks and I spoke with the postmaster about it. He said that the seller cannot file a claim until 30 days after the post office has them in their possession, and as long as they are still in the system the insurance will not be paid. USPS uses a 3rd party for insurance and was told they will do everything in their power to not pay an insurance claim.
I re-imbursed the buyer after a couple weeks and did a return to sender request with the post office, got the clubs back on day 30. The $45 I spent on shipping and insurance was not refunded by USPS, they said the package was going to be delivered but I asked for return to sender...

 

[Reburn]

3-4 weeks around this time of year for USPS for sure. They are absolutely horrible.

Instead of figuring out who and what it would probably be good for y’all BOTH to just call and bug USPS.

 

[TaperPin]

The frustrating thing right now is that two of the three items have made it to witching 30 miles of my home, then show going cross country, then just sit there with no updates. I’m not placing any blame on the seller. They did what you expect them to do and quickly, but at some point I may have to contact them and see how they want to move forward. After having been on the seller end myself, I feel like the transaction is on me until the tracking shows delivery. I usually follow up with buyer and confirm that he did receive the item, it was in good condition and was what he expected.

This time of year the entire system is a mess. Tracking info around here doesn’t mean much, some things that have arrived show never delivered, some show delivered and never make it for a few weeks. So many things get damaged and sit in limbo I’ve stopped buying used stuff unless it’s through eBay, which isn’t perfect either. The last thing of mine that went missing just never showed up correctly in online tracking, so I went to the local branch and begged a nice gal for assistance. Her information was much more detailed than what we see on the consumer end. My item was sent to the wrong location and got stuck in a queue to be returned to sender, but hadn’t been yet. After reviewing why it was sent to the wrong place, an address I haven’t used in 10 years was somehow added to the shipping label from an unknown glitch between myself and the shipper. Weird. Long way of saying I’m glad to have gone down in person and ask for their guidance and direction.

 

[Choupique]

Usps is reliable, their tracking system just sucks.

 

[Dos XX]

I have some powder bushings for my MEC shotgun reloader that were shipped USPS. They have been to my town's mail center 3 times so far. They keep coming to the local center then going back out to other centers and back to the one here. It arrived at the local center again today. Maybe I will get them tomorrow. We will see.

I would let the sellers know what is going on. I am betting they get delivered, though.

 

[tak]

I shipped a scope to a member on here Dec 3, still not there.
The first 13 days tracking didn't update at all and it finally showed it was in Fort Worth (30 minutes away). Now it shows it's at the distribution center in the recipient state, so hopefully it's getting closer. At least tracking is updating, but from Dec 3 to Dec 16 there weren't any updates.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I sent a letter to one of my partners (landowners) in WI from WA last year and it took a month to get there. My wife dropped a package off yesterday from here in WA and it showed up in Salt Lake City today. Go figure. We have had more problems than not with USPS lately.

 

[CCooper]

OP, it seems to me everything you outlined in your original post is logical.
1) USPS can be good or bad- this time of year who knows. I exchanged items with a member last week, I shipped UPS- they used USPS. The USPS package arrived a day earlier than the UPS package .
2) As a member who has sold a bunch on here- If I were the seller, I would refund you the payment for the item. You seem like a stand-up guy from your post, and I bet you would issue payment again once the package arrived or return the item. My opinion when I'm selling is shipping is always a gamble and 100% on me until the purchaser receives the package and is happy with item and its description. It's a chance we all take shipping items, and am I'm always prepared to issue a refund to a purchaser if needed.