I'll never ship another package without getting it weighed/scanned at the PO and getting a receipt
Anyone else have this happen to them?
A couple of weeks ago during the Christmas rush I went to the PO with a single package with a prepaid label. 99% of the time I will wait in line to get my packages weighed and scanned so I can get a receipt. On that day, though, there was a huge line of people ahead of me, so I set my package on the end of the counter where you can leave prepaid packages. It was a package that weighed 3 lbs 7 oz. The package was delivered 2 days later by priority mail.
Two days after that, I got a notice from eBay that the USPS said I underpaid for the postage. According to them, the actual weight of the package was 17 lbs 12 oz, which was more than 14 lbs over the weight on my label. In the message it said I needed to call a USPS phone number if I wanted to dispute the claim. Now there is no way that package could have weighed over the 3 lbs 7 oz that was on my label because I always check every package with 2 scales to make sure it's correct. The item itself only weighed about 2 1/2 lbs.
In the meantime, eBay had already taken almost $9 from my account to pay for this alleged underpayment. Had this been going a long distance, it would have been 3 or 4 times that amount.
I called eBay to find out what was going on. The eBay CS woman checked out my listing and agreed there was no on earth that the package could have weighed 17 lbs 12 oz, but she said I had to call the USPS phone number they gave me to dispute the claim, which I did. I told the USPS person that someone must have mistakenly weighed a different package or something because there was no way my package weighed what they said it weighed. That person said it would take between 5 and 15 days before I would get a response from eBay about the dispute. Around 5 days later, I guess it was decided that I won my dispute because eBay refunded me the money they took for the alleged underpayment.
The thing is, the decision could have gone the other way if the difference had only been by a few pounds, rather than 14 lbs that the USPS claimed, because apparently eBay can only determine who is right and who is wrong by looking at the seller's listing. It's not like eBay can weigh the package themselves.
Bottom line, I will never ship another eBay package without getting it weighed and scanned at the PO so I can have a receipt that shows the weight on it. I realize that might be hard for those sellers who ship huge quantities of packages at a time, but for someone like me who might have just a few packages to ship on a given day, I'll wait in line to get them weighed and to get a receipt to prevent any future weight disputes.
dustyoldthings
·3 years agoI find it hard to believe that this is still happening with as many comments as I've seen about this issue (going back 5+ years!). After an almost 20 year leave from selling, I started selling again last year on a small scale.
Approximately 3 weeks ago, I bought the labels for 2 packages through ebay and shipped both items on the same day that the customer paid for them (I have a listed 3 day ship time allowed). Since they had the prepaid label, I dropped them in the Pull Down Parcel Bin at the PO. The items did finally get scanned in...in another location, 7 days later!
I do believe it is time that Ebay revise their selling instructions to new sellers to read: While you may believe that you are shipping on time, you run a risk of receiving a late shipment on your record, or worse, your customer asking for a refund for non receipt. We suggest that you stand in line at the PO and ask the clerk to scan your shipment and provide you with PROOF that you did indeed ship the package on time.
It's sad that this has to be this way.
onefootflipper2
·3 years agoI ship 10,000 orders a year. I had all of 3 USPS adjustments this year, all were wrong and all were actually in my favor.
I haven't given a package to the person at the USPS counter in years. I learned that in all reality that is a great way to have them find a problem with the package. Change in humidity sent that package from exactly 1.00 pounds to 1.01 pounds and now it doesn't have enough postage on it, media mail packages getting opened and inspected in front of me because they think I am cheating for some reason, no thanks.
I wouldn't waste my time worrying about a $9 lightning strike like that which can STILL happen if you hand it over at the counter, which you would then still have to fight against.
adkhighker
OP3 years agoFirst of all, it's not the $9 that worries me. It's the fact that I don't want to have to waste my time in the future disputing mistakes made by the USPS.
Secondly, it cannot still happen if you get it weighed at the counter because you will get a receipt then and there that has the weight on the receipt, a weight that shows that the weight on the label is correct.
Also, the eBay CS woman I talked to, mentioned that if you get two such underpayment strikes it can lower your eBay rating.
Like I said in my post, my way of going about it doesn't mean it's going to be convenient for someone else who mails huge quantities of packages at a time. A few extra minutes of waiting in line at the PO isn't going to kill me.
pburn
·3 years agoFirst time I've read this on the Community discussion boards.
@devon@ebay
@kyle@ebay
@elizabeth@ebay
Is the information this OP got from the CS rep correct?
kyle@ebay
Hey @pburn thanks for bringing this up! Fortunately the info @adkhighker got from that agent was not correct; these USPS underpayment scenarios do not impact your seller performance or your seller metrics.
pburn
·3 years ago@kyle@ebay
Thanks so much for checking on that and getting back to us!