Problem with lost mail, what to do?

[marisolmckee]

I had a recent problem with the delivery of one of my ACEO prints. I had mailed it out on May 25th using regular first class mail. The buyer never received it. They contacted me wanting another one. This time to make sure that it was delivered I mailed it in a bubble mailer and added delivery confirmation. This made it a lot more expensive (since the original only sold for $1.25 with free shipping). But they were a repeat customer, so I figured I would go ahead and bite the bullet on the shipping cost. My question is has anyone else had this problem? And what if this happens again, what should I do? Thanks to all for answering. Marisol

[formwithfunction]

Sandrine, looks like you've had more than your share of delivery problems. Thankfully it turned out OK. I used to send with DC also, and had the same experience that it was not always reliable. I've since stopped using DC, but there's a lot more at stake when sending originals. And I bet you were probably to nice to complain about the item you never received. -- ~ Charlie imagesbycharlie

[poozybear]

Excellent Photoshop job, Charlie! It looks like some kind of prehistoric pre-mammal. I thought it was the rat that Mick kept smelling. -- Kathy

[poozybear]

The problem with DC is that they scan the package if they feel like it. Yup. DC is pretty useless. I routinely get packages delivered to me with DC on it, and oops, someone's else's address. Items with DC get misdelivered just like everything else. The mailman scans it and throws it in the wrong mailbox. And as you said, they often don't bother scanning the item at all. I have checked the status of more than one item I've shipped, and it says "in transit." Meanwhile, the buyer leaves me feedback saying that they love the item, while the PO still says it's in transit. ?:| This is why I'd like to choke the snot out of the person at eBay/PayPal who decided that they would side with a buyer on an "item not received" claim, based on the DC status. DC is meaningless. Ebay has that policy in place for no other reason than to force us to pay the extra charge (which BTW, they changed from 18¢ to 19¢ without notice.) -- Kathy -- Edited by poozybear at 07/22/2009 7:38 AM PDT

[poozybear]

What? "Misdelivered" is not a word? -- Kathy

[formwithfunction]

I thought it was the rat that Mick kept smelling. This one is fragrant... in a good way. So maybe that's what Mick smells. :) Actually, I was ready to list the original when I saw this thread. This guy hardly had any fur on his tail to begin with, so it was easy to PS. Now I will never see the original the same way. ;) -- ~ Charlie imagesbycharlie

[poozybear]

Kinda like this gal: -- Kathy

[poozybear]

She's fragrant, in a menthol kind of way. -- Kathy

[formwithfunction]

LOL!!! :^O That's hilarious!!! Great Photoshop work. :) -- ~ Charlie imagesbycharlie -- Edited by imagesbycharlie at 07/22/2009 9:13 PM PDT

[sandrinesgallery]

:^O:^O:^O -- Sandrine

[poozybear]

Great Photoshop work. Photoshop? Are you saying that you don't believe in Walgreen's for Squirrels? I was thinking of making a greeting card out of that squirrel, some kind of old age joke birthday card, but I couldn't decide on what she should be holding. Beauty cream, maybe? -- Kathy

[formwithfunction]

Beauty cream, maybe? If you do that, you might want to add a few curlers or maybe put one of those night bonnets on her head. ;-) -- ~ Charlie imagesbycharlie

[poozybear]

Oh, EXCELLENT! :^O -- Kathy

[pinkpingpongballs]

How about some breast reduction cream??? My Gawd! Or a Wonderbra??:-p Great pic, tho, Kathy!!

[beanster_goods]

I deliver mail part time as a substitute as well I own an ebay store. There is really nothing you can do if you do not buy delivery onfirmation or insurance as far as Paypal and the usps is concerned. There are a lot of reasons mail can be lost or misdelivered. About 10 people handle a letter before it reaches the recipient. Human error is usually the reason. If a mail substitute is working that day they may not know all the recent forwards or that someone moved in several days before. Plus, when women put forwards in sometimes they do not include their maiden name or they may have had several last names. If I dont recognize a name I still attempt to deliver it. Some people get angry if the person does not live there. But it is frustrating because I do not know if they just moved in or maybe their children might have different last names. Plus my route alone has 400 mail boxes and they give you hundreds of pieces of mail to sort in just a few hours. So dont be too mean to your mail person if they make a mistake, unless its a huge mistake. 🙂 Now when I sell an item over $50 dollars I check the buyers feedback. If they have any negatives I include shipping insurance to cover myself. -Tina

[poozybear]

Thanks for the info, Tina. And definitely true that the regular carrier has a lot more info than a substitute. Just a funny story, but my mailman in L.A. had been on the same route for 40 years, so he new everything about every person who had ever lived there. There was this egomaniac contractor who lived a few streets down. This guy had at one time petitioned the city to rename his street after himself, because he had built most of the houses on that particular street. City told him to shove it, but years later, this guy still used the address "Monroe Circle," named after himself. (The actual street name was Beckman Drive). The regular mailman knew that he was dealing with a nutcase, and just humored him, but fill-in carriers had no idea what was going on, and would often ask me where the heck Monroe Circle was. So yeah, some mail carriers have a lot to deal with. -- Kathy