Should I try it again?

[iamalwaysright]

Weird. I have a repeat buyer with an issue with their local Postmaster. She ordered 3 times from me separately. Two of them were addressed to a PO box number. The last one was addressed to that exact same box, but this time was not noted as a PO box but rather the street number and name of the post office and a "unit number" to indicate the PO box.

That last one has been tagged as no such number and its being returned to me. The buyer claims it's because of the "difficult post office manager" who refuses to accept that unit number address as a PO box. Buyer claims that's ONLY a problem when the postmaster is in the office, otherwise all the other clerks are fine with it. 

Obviously the buyer still wants their package. I said fine, I'll have to charge you to re-ship it though. But then I wondered, since it technically IS the same address should I ask the buyer if they want me to just send it back into the mailstream and have them "try again"? I get the feeling the buyer doesn't want to pay anything else out of pocket for this.

[krazzykats]

Make sure the address is in the correct format for street addressing and try again.

[iamalwaysright]

The address is in the correct street address format with "unit" written before the #. The buyer says their postmaster doesn't like the term "unit".

What's a Premium PO Box Service location? Is it possible that my buyer doesn't have this? Or are they correct that their postmaster is looney tunes?

[krazzykats]

Unit isn't listed as part of the specific format, remove it. 

Use PO Box or the # sign as it shows.  

Street address for their post office where the po box is located followed by the# and box number (not unit), or PO Box followed by the box number (not unit).

[nobody*s_perfect]

 The Street Addressing registration form linked below specifically states, "Please note that you must use the address format shown in No. 1 above. The address must include both the # sign and your PO Box number. For example, you may not use “Suite” or “Apt.” Mail sent to your PO Box that does not use address format shown in No. 1 above may be returned to sender."  Perhaps your buyer hasn't even filed the form, or this service is not available at their PO.  Finally, there's no reason to use street addressing if the sender is sending via USPS.

https://www.usps.com/pobox/customer-agreement-for-premium-po-box-service-enhancements.pdf

[profitweb]

I would call that zip code's local Post Office to confirm what the right address is AND have the buyer update it in their eBay shipping address.

Otherwise, you chance it getting returned again. That's wasteful and costly.

The "Postmaster" is the manager of that Post Office location. Maybe they mean a post office worker, not the actual Postmaster. Otherwise, address it the way the Postmaster tells them to.

Buyer can also call that local Post Office and talk to the Postmaster about the issue. They will get it straightened out (either by letting buyer know how to address it or telling the person they need to process it).

I recommend NOT sending to the same "bad" address again.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

I don't understand why the buyer changed the address in eBay. 

Could your buyer be a drop shipper? 

Are we talking the same zip code on all three packages?

the buyer comment of "difficult post office manager" seems a little extreme. 

[12345jamesstamps]

"unit number address as a PO Box"....from what I hear while waiting in line at the post office many times...

People try doing this to getting around a physical address...some have done this using it as a means of obtaining a driver's license and such...so instead of P O Box 2233 it would be Unit 2233 or Apt 2233.

The post office caught on to this years ago, This also will show as a physical address on their credit report.

If it's a P O Box it should be written as such. Otherwise, this buyer is saying they live in the post office. LOL.

[iamalwaysright]

---

@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

I don't understand why the buyer changed the address in eBay. 

Could your buyer be a drop shipper? 

Are we talking the same zip code on all three packages?

the buyer comment of "difficult post office manager" seems a little extreme. 

---

Yea, not sure why too. Just to overcomplicate things I guess or just to spite their Postmaster?

All three packages were addressed to the same location. Just one out of the three (the one in the middle surprisingly) the buyer decided to change her address from PO Box XXX to the street number and name of the PO and "unit XXX".

Hm, great. Now the buyer is asking me for a full refund because "it's not my fault. it's that stupid postmaster."