Lost in transit

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princa

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May 28, 1999
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Figured this is good place as any to get some feedback. Situation:I shipped a 350.00 MT to a guy. Itold him 5.00 shipping. He didn't offer to step it up to fed ex or to insure it. The parcel is currently in limbo. A kicker is he gave me an address of 2208 instead of 2204 in a large office building. At any rate give me some feedback on resolution.First time in several hundred transactions for me. thanks Tim
 
I personally expect the party that I sold to to be responsible for the money until it is in my hands. I am responsible for the knife until it reaches theirs. When I am selling something in the range of what you sold, I include shipping and insurance in the price. If I ship $100 knife and don't get insurance, I would refund their money if something happened. The best example of why I feel this is the correct procedure to use is that when you buy a custom online, the dealers always include a charge for shipping AND insurance. They know it is their responsibility to get the knife to you.

What makes this one tough is the fact that you were given the wrong address. If I gave someone the wrong address I would not hold the seller responsible for the knife not showing up. In this case even if it was insured, the carrier most likely would not cover the claim as it was delivered to the location specified. In this case, you have really not done anything wrong.
 
Though I consider it an unwritten rule that if I ship someone something that does not arrive it is my responsibility to refund the money and then make a claim against the shippers insurance, this situation could be an exception. If you were asked to ship the knife to the wrong address, I do not think the responsibility to refund the money is applicable here. It is not your fault or even the shippers fault that the knife went missing.

Even though it is doubtful that under these circumstances the shipper would pay, never ship anything of value without it being insured. Also, if sending by post, send by registered mail. This requires a sigature, which is proof of delivery. Never leave it up to the other guy as to whether he wants to pay for these services. Always include the cost of these services in the price you quote for the item. At that point, if the other person asks if he/she can get a better price if it is shipped without these services tell him/her; "Sure, but I will not refund your money if it gets lost or damaged in shipping." Make this perfectly clear and keep all your correspondence.
 
You really would think that people could take enough time to make absolutely sure they give you the correct address, but quite often this is not the case.

I include the cost of insurance in my selling price, but if it was not included in yours, and the buyer did not want to pay for it, I would say it's the buyers problem. Add in the wrong address, and it is most certainly the buyers fault.

I would feel bad for the buyer, but I would not be refunding any money.
 
I shipped priority w/delivery conf. The guy lowrolled me on the knife to begin with & everybody breathing knows that 5.00 doesn't buy insurance or anymore than usps priority mail.I prefer fed ex & would have gladly shipped but not for the quoted 5.00. If I'm receiving a piece of any value, if I have to I just give the person my fed ex number. Its worth the 5.00 xtra for 2nd day. Fed ex has never goosed it yet.so much for my unsolicited testimonial!
 
I agree with princa's last reply.Never use post office. Last package I had sent to me by priority shippng with tracking # was lost in space for four days. As far as feeling responsible,DONT. You were given an address and sent it to that address. It's not your fault you were given the wrong address. Perhaps the receipient could try to track down where the knife ended up and hopefully is in the hands of an honest person.
 
Originally posted by princa
It was never scanned in as delivered. Had del. conf. on it.
Click to expand...

Don't let that throw you, as some of the time, Delivery Confirmation doesn't mean much. I have had many packages delivered, and the Delivery Confirmation never did show delivery.

...And the wrong address thing...That was his bad, not yours. You sent the knife to the address that HE gave to you, so I would think that is up to HIM to locate his package.
 
IMO, the buyer is responsible for getting payment to the seller, and the seller is responsible for getting the item to the buyer.
Insurance is paid for by the shipper, for the shipper's protection, just like a buyer can buy a money order for his protection, instead of sending cash.
Insurance also gives an added degree of security because it requires a signature, where delivery confirmation does not, IIRC.
When selling, I always ship priority, and always buy insurance and delivery confirmation. Not for the buyer's peace of mind, but my own.
Much as I hate to see you in this situation, I think you brought it on yourself by choosing not to insure your package, and that the responsibility is ultimately yours.
I regret to see this happen, but shipping without insuring is gambling with your stuff, and when you gamble, sometimes you lose.
Maybe since both of you contributed to the problem, you can meet in the middle, split the loss, and both learn a lesson about being more careful. Or, (hopefully) the package was not deliverable because of the bad address or something, and you will eventually get it back.
 
imho nothing wrong w/USPS priority, have done 4 swaps/buys in the last 2 weeks, literally from coast to coast, all delivered in 2-3 days, no prob at all - what can i say?????

greg
 
The knives I sold and shipped to Yiterp were stuck in limbo for one week. I shipped USPS and luckily this is a small State with a Small airport and I have a bud who handles USPS mail going via airplane. The package initially contained ten knives, but I got it with eight. No, I could not file a complaint and I will not post why, but needless to say the box got crushed somehow and two knives fell out and vaporized.

The eight were reshipped and arrived within three days. This is the very first time I have had a serious problem with the USPS. I once stuck a set of thumbstuds in an envelope and the envelope with a corner torn off arrived to GLOCKMAN, minus the studs. I also mailed a belt clip to Australia and that is "somewhere".

But, anything I ship I maintain ownership of until it arrives and the party is happy with the deal. if someone buys a knife and I ship it and it "gets lost", I refund the money. I do not know of a "fairer" way to handle a deal......ira
 
I usually ship USPS priority (from the US), ALWAYS with insurance and usually delivery confirmation.
I had a piece of the cardboard box (with the address on it) come back to me once. It arrived with a note saying the box broke, could I describe the contents, incase the item was in the "lost mail center". It was a lockback folder. I described it on the form, and sent it in, mentally planning my insurance claim. Would you believe that 3 days later I got a call saying the knife had arrived? ...:eek:...Neither did I! But it did...
...I usually ship USPS priority (from the US), ALWAYS with insurance and usually delivery confirmation.
 
Although it is not your fault that the package was not received (bad address, no insurance, etc). I would contact the 800 number for Customer Service on the usps.com site and they can get you in contact with your local customer service rep. at the branch where the package was shipped. That person can ensure that it was delivered (even though delivery confirmation didn't show it - it probably wasn't scanned).

Once you have confirmation that the package was indeed delivered, then you can provide that information to the buyer and he can attempt to physically track down the package in the wrong address.

If the address doesn't exist, it should be sent back "Return To Sender, Address Unknown".

I wouldn't start addressing who's fault it is and financial responsibility until all measures of recovering the package have been attempted and there really is no hope.

I have had situations with the PO where packages were late or lost. But, eventually, they showed up.

Good Luck..
 
Tim, good luck on your package, hopefully it will either get to the other guy or get returned to you soon. I sent a money order to someone priority mail with delivery confirmation a few years ago and it took 30 days to get to them. I just knew it was lost. Anyway, maybe your package isn't lost.
michael
 
Update! finally showed back up at my place exactly 1 month after shipping. Said "Not deliverable as addressed." I was really getting tired of this ******* buggin me after he gave me the wrong address.
 
That was the autocensor routine -- it replaces certain words with asterisks so Bladeforums doesn't get placed off limits for people using computers with net nanny-type software. I guess most of the members aren't aware of the autocensor; most of us don't use those words in posts anyway....
 
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