eBay

rainbowcolorz · ‎04-03-2018

The other day I mentioned I shipped a buyer her package on 3/27 and as of yesterday (and still today) it shows Still In Transit to Next Facility.

I did a case research claim and the clerk from the buyer's P.O. called me yesterday to say the clerk inside the P.O. where I shipped it from in my city entered the weight of the 4 OZ package as 14.50 ounces.

Needless to say I am quite upset. I sent my buyer updates so she knows I haven't forgotten about her.

I plan to get into my car and drive back to that P.O. this morning with my eBay Online Label Record and the scan receipt the clerk gave me on 3/27 with the wrong weight to find out how they can correct this problem.

My question is, I would like them to take this hit and not me so if I can get that P.O. to write something on their letterhead accepting responsibility for their error, if eBay dings my account for late delivery, will I be able to scan the letter from the P.O. into my computer and if necessary, the Online Label Record (that shows it was only 4 OZS and not 14.50 OZS) and their receipt that shows the clerk entered the wrong weight, into somewhere so eBay or an eBay employee can see it?

My wonderful buyer has not opened a case.

Thanks.

kattinsanity · ‎04-03-2018

Since I ship over the counter I'm not familliar with what they do when you print your own labels. Do they really put your items on the scale to give you a receipt for your packages? I thought they might just scan them. If that is the case, the OP's package would have to have postage on it for 14 ounces and not 4 ounces if the label on the package was scanned. Maybe the wrong labels were put on the wrong packages?

a_c_green · ‎04-03-2018

@kattinsanity wrote:
Since I ship over the counter I'm not familliar with what they do when you print your own labels. Do they really put your items on the scale to give you a receipt for your packages? I thought they might just scan them. If that is the case, the OP's package would have to have postage on it for 14 ounces and not 4 ounces if the label on the package was scanned. Maybe the wrong labels were put on the wrong packages?

Okay, for a Pre-Paid Acceptance at the counter (i.e. the package is already carrying a Shipping label printed at home), the clerk can scan it in using either a hand-held scanner or the POS terminal, which is scale-equipped.

The hand-held scanner will only scan it in; there is no weight measurement. A receipt for the package can still be printed via an accompanying wireless printer. The POS terminal will weigh the package as part of the Acceptance procedure, regardless of whether it's pre-paid, and the package weight will be noted on the receipt (if one is printed). (The receipt is to show acceptance of the package, not the payment. The postage was paid for on-line with a payment receipt issued there; the one being printed in the post office is for the package itself, listing its weight and its destination.)

If buying postage over the counter, the procedure will be similar, except that the customer will have to pay for the postage by weight (for First Class Package). That apparently did not happen in this case, because the on-line reporting says that it was 14+ ounces, and the retail counter weight limit is 13.0.

kattinsanity · ‎04-03-2018

The OP printed her own label so her 1st class limit was 16 ounces. She said her receipt shows 14.8 ounces and she printed a 4 ounce label for the package. So~~couldn't insufficient postage be the reason it's hung up in her area yet, showing delayed and not showing any movement on to the buyer?

a_c_green · ‎04-03-2018

@kattinsanitywrote:
The OP printed her own label so her 1st class limit was 16 ounces. She said her receipt shows 14.8 ounces and she printed a 4 ounce label for the package. So~~couldn't insufficient postage be the reason it's hung up in her area yet, showing delayed and not showing any movement on to the buyer?

No, I would take the filler scan of In Transit to be accurate unless or until some other entry comes along to supersede it. If the origin sort facility really had turned it around for some reason, that would have shown an on-line Exception record of some kind, and it would probably have gotten back to the origin post office by now.

In other words, I don't think it's hung up anywhere; I think it's just in routine transit. After all, a sort facility isn't going to hold on to anything; they're either going to send it on, or send it back, because there's no public interface at that facility that would let either the sender or the recipient come in and sort out the problem, if there is one.

kattinsanity · ‎04-03-2018

I'm going by what the OP posted on another thread on 4/2. She said she mailed it 3/27 and on 4/2 it shows it is still in her area instead of on its way over 2,000 miles away. Op said she called the buyers post office and they said the package showed it was 14 ounces and not the 4 ounces she paid postage for. She said she has proof from her receipt when she printed her labels that it was 4 ounces. Just because you only print a 4 ounce label doesn't mean the correct weight wasn't actually 14 ounces. She even asked the clerk at the buyers post office to write a note on the package that the delay wasn't her fault~~it was the fault of the USPS redirecting her package. I highly doubt that clerk is going to do that.

lovtaco0 · ‎04-03-2018

Kattinsanity, if you scroll up you will see where the OP posted some tracking details. The tracking information is very normal and does not show any red flags. The last scan was on 3/30 so I expect a new scan would show up any day now.

If there is a weight discrepancy then the OP would be charged through the APV system or the package would arrive postage due to the buyer. One way or another the seller would have to deal with that error. The package would not be held up during transit because of a weight issue.

If there is no weight discrepancy and the PO clerk had another package or their hand on the scale by mistake then the weight on the receipt would be inconsequential. The package would be delivered to the buyer with no postage due and no charge through APV.

Basically there is no issue we can see at this point. If the item does not receive a scan within a few days or if the package is delivered postage due THEN there would be cause for the OP to take action. They jumped the gun on this one.

rainbowcolorz · ‎04-04-2018

@a_c_greenwrote:
@rainbowcolorz wrote:
Here is what I copied from my eBay sold page tracking info and saved to my computer as of 3/31. I have X'd out some information so as to stay within the Community Rules.
There is nothing in the tracking info you posted to indicate that there's a problem of any kind. At all. The gap in scans is likely due to the package traveling on a slow truck or similar. It will probably resurface anytime today or tomorrow.

The clerk does not enter a weight manually; they just place it on the scale and scan the barcode. I agree that there's a pretty big discrepancy between the actual weight of four ounces and the on-line reported weight of 14-plus, but no one is going to hold up the package. (If it was significantly overweight, they'll either bill you on-line via their new system, or bill it as Postage Due to the recipient.) One weighing error at Acceptance time is not going to change the actual weight of the package as measured everywhere else, so don't worry about that.

If you want to relieve your own worrying about the package, get a tracking update for your package on the usps.com website, and on its results page there you will find an option for having text or email updates sent to you whenever there's a new scan to report. Note that this will not get your package "unstuck" or un-lost or any such thing like that, but it will get you an immediate notification whenever your package is next seen, which as I said should be any day now. Keep us informed!

Thanks @a_c_green, and everyone else who responded, as soon as I saw there was a delay in shipment several days ago I went to USPS & requested all available info be emailed to me.

At the P.O. yesterday the clerk who entered the wrong weight told me that has nothing to do with the delay.

Today my buyer finally responded to my messages (specifically the one where I included the clerk's name, the one in her P.O. who called me) and told me she lives in a very small town and she happens to know that clerk and I shouldn't worry.

Today there is no detailed status info - no movement info, it simply says as of yesterday 4/3, it was in her town.

rainbowcolorz · ‎04-04-2018

@kattinsanitywrote:
Today is only the 4th business day since it was shipped. Did you ship over the counter or did you print your own label with 4 ounces as the weight? Maybe the higher weight was correct and you underpaid the postage if you printed your own label?

I ship over the counter and the item is placed on the scale and the scale enters the correct weight and that is the weight that is printed on my label. The clerk physically has nothing to do with entering a weight.

Thanks @kattinsanity, I weigh every item in the gift box and in the envelope before I print my label and always round it off to the next highest ounce.

I noticed when the clerk put the package on her scale she hesitated for a minute and I asked her if there was any problem and she said no. I think she just messed up and entered the wrong weight.

a_c_green · ‎04-04-2018

@rainbowcolorz wrote:
I noticed when the clerk put the package on her scale she hesitated for a minute and I asked her if there was any problem and she said no. I think she just messed up and entered the wrong weight.

Actually the scale feeds its weight reading directly into the POS terminal; they don't have to enter it manually. HOWEVER... , I've noticed a lot of them will rest their hand on the scale while they're zapping the barcode with the terminal's scanner, and I betcha something like that happened in this case, before the weight reading was sent to the terminal. But it doesn't look like any harm was done, fortunately.

rainbowcolorz · ‎04-04-2018

@a_c_greenwrote:
@rainbowcolorz wrote:
I noticed when the clerk put the package on her scale she hesitated for a minute and I asked her if there was any problem and she said no. I think she just messed up and entered the wrong weight.
Actually the scale feeds its weight reading directly into the POS terminal; they don't have to enter it manually. HOWEVER... , I've noticed a lot of them will rest their hand on the scale while they're zapping the barcode with the terminal's scanner, and I betcha something like that happened in this case, before the weight reading was sent to the terminal. But it doesn't look like any harm was done, fortunately.

Yes, that's quite possible. I'm sure in the future she (and I) will be more careful and at least I will look at the weight on the receipt for each one I receive just to make she they did their job properly.