International registered mail from Europe no longer scanned on entry to US or tracked within the US.

[malolo]

I buy from Stamps category, mostly envelopes [postal history] and post cards. These items fit fine in regular first class envelopes and can be mailed by the sellers from Europe to the US as Firtst Class letters or as some prefer Registered letters.

Recently I have been paying some sellers for registered mail. The sellers are going to their post offices and mailing my purchases in Registered letters. They are entered into the international bar code registration sytem, but they aren't being scanned after leaving the European country, and are no longer scanned when entering the US.

It's worse now than just a couple of years ago. Saturday a registerd letter was left in my street side mail box with a customs declaration showing it to be worth €54.00. Last year the carrier would have got my signature, and if I wasn't home would have left a note for me to go to the post office to get the letter.

Apparently the USPS no longer recognizes Registered mail from other countries and mixes it all in with normal first class mail, and doesn't bother any more to scan on delivery. This means Registered International mail is no longer signature required delivery.

Does eBay consider this a problem? Is Registered mail no longer safe for international purchases? Does eBay still consider International registered letters as meeting the seller's signature delivery requirement? 

In previous years the only letters going missing have been registeerd letters from other countries. Even when scanned on arrival in the US. Something is wrong with the postal system for registered letters to be mixed in with regular first class mail and no longer require signatures of the addressee.

[ekbustad]

Registered mail from other countries is placed in the First Class mailstream, but they are still supposed to get a signature on delivery. However it is easy for the mail carrier to overlook a registered letter if it is mixed in with other mail. And there have been cases of postal employees stealing registered items, which is made easier because there is no chain of custody as it the case with domestic registered mail.

BTW, it is the same in most, if not all, other countries, registered mail from other countries gets special handing only at the point of delivery.

[malolo]

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

I went to my PO today and the supervisor scanned my envelope from Germany and said it didnt require signature. The only tracking information showed it was accepted into the system in Germany, but nothing after that.

It would be a lot easier if the receiver could follow-up when something doesn't arrive, but it is required the sender apply for an inquiry about missing tracked letters. That's puts it out of the buiyers's hands.

II wish there was a way of convincing sellers that the securist way of mailing items in the Stamps category is first class business looking letter. Though pretty I sometimes wonder if gaudy covers are more likely to be stolen, but of course will never know since they don't arrive!

[oggilby]

My registered mail from Poppe Stamps just shows up in my mailbox now,

the post person no longer rings my bell and asks for a signature.

USPS has been a pain in my rear since February, late bills ( I now pay

must by the internet), five stamp packets from the UK which never showed

up and a registered packet from Poppe Stamps which never showed up.

USPS blames it all on the Customs at JFK, the Goodfellas must be at work again!

[ekbustad]

Well, it seems to me that generally the PO required a signature when I receive an register item, but perhaps this was something less than registered? In any case, it is certainly true that registered mail from other countries is handled with much less care that domestic registered mail. In most countries, not just the US.

[jimbo]

I had an interesting experience with international registration earlier this year.

I won three lots on January 23rd from a seller in Germany.  Two lots were cheap and one lot, in particular, was a quite attractive 1¢ Columbian stamped envelope with a World's Fair Station cancellation and a Sonneberg, Germany, destination.  I paid about $40 promptly using PayPal and the three items were sent promptly.  Very promptly thereafter (January 26) the lot was tracked to the New York Customs office. 

It sat there for a while and I tried to start a followup through eBay.  The seller was helpful but couldn't offer a solution.  I tried after several weeks to query eBay about delivery problems.  They cautioned patience and that I ought to wait some more for such items from abroad.  The items didn't show up and I queried eBay again and again was told to be patient.  The seller suggested that I should file for reimbursement and then he could go to Deutsche Post and get a refund for his loss.  Nothing moved the item beyond the New York Customs office.

I did try to get some help from the USPS.  I told them what had happened and asked them if they could either help or suggest a way to contact the New York Customs office.  The USPS sent the responsibility for the reply to the local post office.  Their answer to me just repeated what I already knew and had noted in my email to them.  They didn't even acknowledge my request for contact help with the Customs people.  This was a disappointment but not a surprise. 

I finally gave up and tried to get eBay to provide their refund for guaranteed delivery.  However, despite my explanation that three lots were involved in the shipment, they only refunded the first item on the list which, with shipping they valued at only $1.74 and that was what they refunded.  As soon as I saw the paperwork on this item I called eBay to get them to correct the error.  The answer I got was that because it was beyond the 30 days during which they would refund the price, I would have to go through PayPal to get their help.  Note that this occurred despite eBay's advice to wait for several weeks before giving up on an overseas shipment!

I then talked to someone at PayPal and was pleased to at least get an understanding service person.  He went through an extended exercise to confirm the loss in the mail (despite the tracking number which ended up at the New York Customs office).  I feared for a while that he might be trying to figure out why I was trying to cheat them out of the $1.74 already refunded.  Fortunately after about 3 weeks he got it straightened out and I received a note that I would receive a refund for the balance within 4 weeks.  I did get the refund sooner than that - April 7.

Subsequently, the USPS audit forces sent me a letter asking if I had received the merchandise.  I faxed them an answer (they didn't provide an email).  "No, I hadn't received the merchandise and as far as I know it was last seen in the New York Customs office."

Lessons:  1) don't be so patient.  2) hope the seller doesn't use a broken registration system. 

I have a friend who has been selling philatelic material on eBay for 15 years and sends out 30 to 50 lots with a minimum value of $9.95 most every day.  Much goes overseas.  His policy is simple.  He charges low rates for shipping to any country where he sells, uses discount postage, insures/registers nothing, pays claims promptly, and blacklists any claimant (he thinks most of his claims are for items which really did arrive).  He loses less than ½% of sales and has almost no hassles.

The end result is that I spent a lot of extra time trying to get this item which I really wanted to because of the leaks in the mail system in New York City.