USPS Took My Knife

Hi all,
It seems my problem-free streak with USPS Priority packages has finally run out. In the past year, I've probably had a total of over 100 knife related packages sent to & from me without a hitch.

My latest forum purchase seems to have run into a problem. The tracking of a small flat rate box has just stopped upon reaching my local post office. :confused: In a calm and steady manner I've made three follow up calls with the post office.
In my call today to a PO supervisor, he said that he will have the carrier retrace their steps.

I'm not holding my breathe for any good news. In fact, it's quite a busy hub in NYC & I'm had surprised that they even bother to take time to address me over the phone each time. Here is how the tracking looks.

I do have a side question though. When I was once a seller on a moderately priced computer related item (~$70) & it was received by the buyer in damaged condition, I willing & proactively reimbursed the buyer 100% of price even though it wasn't expected (no insurance was involved for that fedex shipment)

In the current case of my "missing" knife, am I expected to absorb the entire loss as a buyer?
Insurance or not, I would have expected the lost to be taken by both parties at least a 50/50. If I had been the shipper & shipment had been lost, I think I would at the very least offered that.

Anyone have thoughts or input on this?

Thanks,
-Scooby

P.S. - I remitted via a cc paypal payment so obviously I have options for a nondelivery (which I would NOT like to presently explore at this time.)
 
Scoobyaz - As a seller, my policy is that I will refund the buyer's money right away if the knife does not show up (even with Delivery Confirmation if the buyer says the box came empty). However, until I am reimbursed insurance wise I will not send that buyer another knife. Even then I think twice about it. I figure most buyers are ethical and that missing knives are usually the result of shipping problems, but there is the occasional bad buyer out there - so unfortunately as the old saying goes, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." Fortunately, I have had only one sticky situation as a seller so far. The buyer did not receive the knife (USPS Priority Insured) for about two weeks. I was ready to refund his money, or send him an identical knife, when the USPS told me it was sitting at the guy's PO. He picked it up and all was well.

I've had a couple of bad situations as a buyer. The latest one involved an EBAY seller. I bought a Spyderco Sage II, Paypaled the money and then didn't receive the knife for over two weeks. When I contacted the seller, I was told they had made a mistake and the knife would go out immediately. Another 10 days goes by and no knife. I ask for tracking information and the seller tells me he just sent it First Class with no tracking and no insurance. When I questioned this practice by a supposed power seller, the jerk says he is making an EBAY/PayPal claim against ME! Now I have a 100% rating as a buyer on EBAY, and the seller suddenly hid his feedback from view, which let's just say was less than 100%. In the end, the PayPal investigation exonerated me and I was refunded all my money. Of course I will never again do business with that EBAY seller, and the funny thing about EBAY is that once a claim is made you can no longer provide feedback, so this seller apparently got off free from negative feedback on this one. Caveat Emptor!
 
Ive shipped and received hundreds of knives over the years with usps and the only lost knives ive received were due to imprpoer packing where the box got crushed and the knife slipped out a opening.From what i understand,the postal service watches for theft quite well and doesnt hesitate to fire employees for just cause.Im sure it occasionally happens,but i still think they are the best option overall.
 
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