What happens to insurance payoff when lost shipment shows up months later ?

[gps-recovery]

I made an $1100 purchase from a German ebay seller.  He shipped DHL who was going to hand it off to USPS.  DHL could not show any tracking information, so after 5 weeks the seller refunded the purchase. 

A week later I received an affidavit from USPS to sign confirmming I never received the package.  So I signed it.

Then 6 weeks later the package shows up.   I already re-purchased the product from another vendor. 

If USPS paid an insurance claim,  or if DHL paid an insurance claim, are they going to want the product from me ?      The seller just contacted me asking for me to pay him again . . but It seemed USPS may have paid the seller.   Its a heavy package to ship back to Germany.   I will give the package to USPS if they ask for it, but I don't want the seller to be paid twice by me paying him after collecting insurance . .and I don't really want to buy this inventory a year earlier than needed.  

Anyone had any experience with this.   I will give up the drives to a carrier, but I don't want to pay the seller if he has collected on insurance.

[mg152 · Accepted solution]

Contact whomever paid the insurance. They will likely tell you to keep the items. I wouldn't sell them here if I were you.

[postingid2017]

I think the seller is asking for repayment since he refunded you.  I would think that if the item was insured, the seller would be refunded.  If you have not received reimbursement from either DHL/USPS and only received your refund via your seller, then you were made whole.  Perhaps the item was not insured and he/she can now see that the item was delivered, so he/she is requesting repayment.  You could re-pay if you like but are under no obligation to do so.  

I only had one buyer that I refunded because her item somehow got lost traveling over Colorado, just disappeared.  It was not insured so I just refunded her.  I still to this day know if she received it or not because the tracking never showed delivery.  I switched carriers and started back using FedEx as they have far better tracking and if something goes wrong - they handle it ASAP.

[myboardid]

Suggestion - Tell your seller that you no longer need the item since you purchased it from another source but you would be happy to return it to him if he will pay for the return shipping cost. 

[lja440]

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@postingid2017 wrote:

I think the seller is asking for repayment since he refunded you.  I would think that if the item was insured, the seller would be refunded.  If you have not received reimbursement from either DHL/USPS and only received your refund via your seller, then you were made whole.  Perhaps the item was not insured and he/she can now see that the item was delivered, so he/she is requesting repayment.  You could re-pay if you like but are under no obligation to do so.  

I only had one buyer that I refunded because her item somehow got lost traveling over Colorado, just disappeared.  It was not insured so I just refunded her.  I still to this day know if she received it or not because the tracking never showed delivery.  I switched carriers and started back using FedEx as they have far better tracking and if something goes wrong - they handle it ASAP.

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That is not the case here in Ohio. Though I have nothing from USPS or UPS to compare it to, I have had many lost and damaged packages via FedEx and it's always been a real PITA to get through their system.  In fact I am still out over $600 for cell phones that were never seen again without a single scan that I returned using Verizon's pre-paid insurance labels. With no return, delivery I had to pay full price for the phones. The last one I handed the FedEx package to the manager at the Verizon store, got a signed note from him as a receipt. It also entered the Twilight Zone but Verizon covered me. They now ship USPS.

[lja440]

Proceed like this. Contact DHL, they are the ones that the seller had a contract with.

Tell them that a case was opened (include date and any info you have). The package was finally delivered well after the fact (6 weeks later). 

You had received a refund and purchased a replacement from another vendor. You have the items and they either belong to DHL or the sender as you do not know if DHL paid out insurance on the items. Either way, you will make the package available for pick-up by DHL or their contractor for the next 2 weeks. After which you will consider the package abandoned and dispose of it. Give them your contact information and copy to the seller's messages.