USPS Worker Stole Package Contents, What to do?

[jr_hype]

Hello,

I recently sold a big lot of sports cards, they were individually boxed so it was 15 sealed boxes inside the main shipping box. The total value was around $2,000. I sent the package via priority mail and purchased my label straight through Ebay as I normally do. Then I dropped it off at the post office. 

The package was delivered and signed for yesterday. Then I received a return request for item doesn't math description or photos. The buyer is stating the box was empty and the buyer said it looked as though something had happened with the postal service. They uploaded photos of the box and the bottom looked to have been torn open and re-taped very poorly with USPS Priority mail tape.  No stamp or note or anything was provided claiming the box had been opened. 

Now I have had an experience to this similar before where the buyer tried to scam me by sending an empty box back and I have dealt with that and won the case. So I would expect this to be a similar circumstance.

However, the buyer in this case has over 1.5k feedback with 98% positive. In the section where other sellers leave them feedback there are no mentions of them trying to scam or anything like this as there was with the previous experience I had. As well as the buyer has been cooperative with providing photos and other info I've asked for which inclines me to believe them and that a postal service employee may have taken the contents. 

I know I can submit a claim with the USPS Inspector general, is this going to get me anywhere? I know that Ebay will side with the buyer as they always do in Item not described cases, am I just going to be out of this $2,000?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated, thanks. 

[a_c_green]

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@masim5393 wrote:

tomboleware wrote:

Do you have proof you put it in the box?  They will want to know. 

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No, they don't. All the photos and videos in the world won't prove anything because they can be edited

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For what it's worth, the USPS in-house intranet system does log the weight of the package at Acceptance time if presented over the counter; this is why you see them putting it on the scale during the transaction. (Some of my items weigh just a few ounces, forcing the clerk to actually drop the item on the scale once or twice to get it to notice.) If the Acceptance is done with a hand-held scanner, then obviously the weight is not recorded at that point, but later automated handling does include weighing, and their automated weight assurance program compares that with the paid weight to make sure the package is not over.

All that aside, the USPS is going to be on the OP's side on this point, because their tracking records will show that the box was clearly not empty. The carrier who delivered what must have been a fairly large and heavy box would say the same thing. The OP's real problem here is that if the buyer files a Not As Described dispute over this allegedly empty box, eBay's system is geared towards awarding a full refund unless there's some sort of Divine Intervention instead, and I'm not going to stand on one foot waiting for that to happen.

Acting pre-emptively to get the USPS on notice that a recipient is alleging an empty-box delivery of a $2K package, and maybe getting him to keep his purchase without drawing more attention to himself as a result, may be more successful than hoping eBay will get some sort of clear thinking about who is more likely to be fibbing here.

[isaiah53-57]

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@jr_hype wrote:

Hello,

I recently sold a big lot of sports cards, they were individually boxed so it was 15 sealed boxes inside the main shipping box. The total value was around $2,000. I sent the package via priority mail and purchased my label straight through Ebay as I normally do. Then I dropped it off at the post office. 

The package was delivered and signed for yesterday. Then I received a return request for item doesn't math description or photos. The buyer is stating the box was empty and the buyer said it looked as though something had happened with the postal service. They uploaded photos of the box and the bottom looked to have been torn open and re-taped very poorly with USPS Priority mail tape.  No stamp or note or anything was provided claiming the box had been opened. 

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Ummm - Why Would a Someone Sign for an Empty Box? I believe if you did, you would be taking full responsibility for the item - I personally would not have signed for the package in the condition stated...

Something seems very wrong...

[chapeau-noir]

I doubt insuring it for $2000 would have done anything about vanishing contents when there's no internal USPS documentation of damage to a package, content loss or external damage that also damages content. 

[heyyoufoundit]

Postal employees convicted of theft tend to get sentenced to probation, home detention, that sort of thing.

https://www.pilotonline.com/news/crime/article_60848311-5bc3-581a-9252-4665a6a3a284.html
https://www.postaltimes.com/postalnews/postal-worker-from-fitchburg-stole-from-customers-and-smoked-...
https://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/wisconsin-postal-worker-sentenced-for-stealing-mail/
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/08/29/postal-worker-stealing-mail-englewood/
https://kotaku.com/postal-worker-caught-stealing-playstation-and-nintendo-1846054192

[tomboleware]

I agree, he can't prove he put it in the box to start with. The buyer wins. 

[trbl13]

Your Original USPS Receipt from when you Shipped the Package has the Weight of the Package on

it....so it will be Much Heavier than the weight of the Empty Box that the buyer claims he received....

I hope you know that you Need to Save all your USPS Mailing Receipts..the ones you get from the Post Office...just in case of a claim like this one...

[timc6565]

Why would the buyer win? He can't prove the seller didn't put items in shipping box. Seller also has pre shipment weight take at drop off location proving something was in that box. 

[timc6565]

Exactly if the buyer is claiming the box is empty, then the pre weighted shipment would be a huge discrepancy and give the seller more leverage to win his case. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

Necro thread is over a year old.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.