eBay

sacrux · ‎10-16-2019

Hey all. I recently had a mix up using FedEx SmartPost and the item I shipped says "USPS Currently Awaiting Package" for 13 days now.

The issue was I went to FedEx to ship the SmartPost package and the guy working the counter tried to scan it and told me it wouldn't scan. So he reads the label and says it needs to go to USPS. I bring it to USPS and I'm told to leave it on the counter and I leave it. Since that day it's had no tracking or acknowledgement of any kind.

I made a post on the reddit of USPS here: https://www.reddit.com/r/USPS/comments/dh29kr/ideas_why_after_8_days_smart_post_has_no_tracking/ for much more detail. I listed the tracking #'s as well.

Someone on that reddit told me it should have went to FedEx instead of USPS and that the person who was working at FedEx was wrong.

I just recently had funds released to my paypal and I wish they were not released until the package is actually delivered. The issue is I have nothing to go off of since there's no tracking of any kind. Just the shipping label info.

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them? I feel so lost right now.

What happens if the money is refunded and it ends up getting delivered? Does the customer get their money back and the product? I wish there was an option to put funds in holding of some sort. Having funds for this when the item doesn't show any tracking puts me in a messed up position.

johnrj1226 · ‎10-16-2019

When two parties are involved in delivering an item nothing good will come of it when a problem arises except a that good game of "finger pointing time" breaks out. Guess that is what you get when you buy on the cheap - I don't buy carp from Chinese sellers either. Personally, I like USPS First Class package. One shipper, quicker delivery, higher level of customer service & satisfaction - not all that expensive.

"I have the right to remain silent but I didn't have the ability." Ron White, Fritch, Texas
"Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution." A. Einstein
"The Devil made me do it!" - Flip Wilson
"If the band can only play loud - they ain't no good - peps too!" J.R. Johnson

sacrux · ‎10-16-2019

I'm not a Chinese seller. I'm from Oklahoma. The product was scheduled to head to California.

johnrj1226 · ‎10-16-2019

@sacrux wrote:
I'm not a Chinese seller. I'm from Oklahoma. The product was scheduled to head to California.

Didn't say you were just drawing an analogy of buying a cheap shipping label & cheap stuff from China. They both often lead to dissatisfaction. That is why I avoid both.

"I have the right to remain silent but I didn't have the ability." Ron White, Fritch, Texas
"Stay away from negative people, they have a problem for every solution." A. Einstein
"The Devil made me do it!" - Flip Wilson
"If the band can only play loud - they ain't no good - peps too!" J.R. Johnson

no_zero369 · ‎10-16-2019

Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them? I feel so lost right now.

Yes, it has happened to me several times both as a buyer and a seller! FedEx SmartPost is not a smart choice as stories like yours are all too frequent. It is so bad that I would NEVER impose an experience like that on any of my buyers! Also, I watch the shipping on anything I am buying and avoid SmartPost completely!

If the last estimated delivery date has passed, then the buyer can file and win an INR claim. If that happens, you should file a Package Intercept and pay the $14.01 to hopefully stop the item from being delivered.

What happens if the money is refunded and it ends up getting delivered? Does the customer get their money back and the product?

If it gets delivered after an INR refund is issued, then you are at the mercy of the buyer to return it. You would need to issue a return label to the buyer. But it would be up to their conscience whether they returned the item or not.

sacrux · ‎10-16-2019

Yes, it has happened to me several times both as a buyer and a seller! FedEx SmartPost is not a smart choice as stories like yours are all too frequent. It is so bad that I would NEVER impose an experience like that on any of my buyers! Also, I watch the shipping on anything I am buying and avoid SmartPost completely!

I dug into smartpost shipments after I knew this package was going to be a problem and did read a lot of horror stories. I'm not 100% sure my issue falls on smartpost because the package started being shipped by USPS instead of FedEx. The person working the counter at FedEx told me it should go to USPS and someone in the reddit USPS section told me it needed to start shipping under FedEx. So that's where my issue began. I kind of want to print out all this stuff I'm dealing with and bring it to the FedEx guy that sent me on a path through hell and say "Good Job" and let out a big fart on the way out.

I just wish there was some type of acknowledgement that USPS is shipping it. I have no idea where it's at. Hell, the package could be in Antarctica getting ate by a polar bear and I wouldn't even know.

I would have much rather USPS sent me a slip saying to pick my shipment up at their location rather than start shipping it while offering zero tracking what-so-ever.
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If the last estimated delivery date has passed, then the buyer can file and win an INR claim. If that happens, you should file a Package Intercept and pay the $14.01 to hopefully stop the item from being delivered.

Would I be charged if they lost it? I have no idea if they lost it or if someone stole it outright. I don't really want to pay anything if there's no hope that I'm getting my shipment back.

I'm tempted to just issue a refund outright and get my package back. The item was only $56 and shipping was around $14-15. I can't say for certain that I will get any shipment at this point. No idea where the shipment is.
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If it gets delivered after an INR refund is issued, then you are at the mercy of the buyer to return it. You would need to issue a return label to the buyer. But it would be up to their conscience whether they returned the item or not.

That's what I'm worried about. I don't want to be out the product, shipping costs, and get a negative review in the process all due to an issue at USPS. The issue began with me taking it to the wrong place (even though I was told by a FedEx employee that it was the way it's done), but still no tracking at all is insane. If USPS contacted me saying I needed to pay $XX amount to continue the shipment, I would be fine as long as I'm getting some result rather than no result. Having no tracking makes me look like I didn't even attempt to ship the product. I'm looking like a fraud right now and I have zero evidence to prove I'm not.
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Thank you so much for the reply!

sacrux · ‎10-16-2019

Didn't say you were just drawing an analogy of buying a cheap shipping label & cheap stuff from China. They both often lead to dissatisfaction. That is why I avoid both.

Okay. I understood your point on having two parties doing the delivery. I haven't even got that far yet. There doesn't even look to be any parties doing any deliveries because there's no tracking 😞 .

It's funny because I did order something from aliexpress just a month ago (china post then USPS) and it got to me within 17 days.

martoutlet · ‎10-17-2019

smartpost is a sister company of fedex.

smartpost just owns hubs.fedex delivers to the hub and then hands over to USPS.

should have asked for supervisor at fedex.

it could be sitting at your post office waiting to be claimed.

i would use the contact form on the USPS website,a supervisor will call you.

sacrux · ‎10-17-2019

I just got back from USPS after reading your post.

I talked with a lady up there and told her I brought the package to fedex hoping to ship it and the guy at fedex told me it needed to go to USPS. Then told her I've been told by a number of people that it should have went to fedex all along.

She told me they're wrong, that it was correct to come to USPS first.

This is one big OMFG moment. I have no idea who to trust.
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I brought up if it was sitting in USPS and she says no packages stay there and if there was a package to pick up, that they would send a mailer out notifying me of a package to be signed for or something along those lines.
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She also told me I couldn't do an intercept because there's no information for the anyone to go off from because nobody would know where to look for the package in order to be able to do an intercept.

I also checked if I'm eligible for an intercept and I'm not. As it's not in the system in any way.
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She also made mention of the label being obscured in some way that would prevent tracking all together. I thought about this and am seriously doubting it because all I did was print out the default size slip and place clear packing tape over the top. There were no crinkles or blotched bars of any kind. The label was printed by a printing company because I don't have a printer.

She said in a situation like that, I wouldn't even get delivery confirmation unless the shipper punched in the code manually to confirm delivery.

I also made mention of it being stolen off the counter and she scoffed at the idea, but everything makes since when there's no tracking what so ever.
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I think I'm screwed.

I'm just going to have to wait it out and wait for the refund process to take place. Not sure when the buyer will eventually get **bleep** off enough to do this. I would have done it by now, but it seems they're more patient than I am. I've told them the situation play-by-play and they've yet to respond other than an initial message they sent asking if the package has been sent. I'll also have to eat the negative review.

I just really hope I don't have to pay ebay for the shipping label as nothing technically has been shipped. I'll see if this can be disputed in some way.

Will never under any circumstance use that fedex or USPS for any reason.

geobra-5125 · ‎10-17-2019

FedEx gets the package first and does the majority of the transportation. They hand it off to USPS for the final delivery.

So the FedEx guy and the USPS person were both mistaken.

I hate to break it to you but chances are the package is lost.

You probably will not be able to get the cost of the shipping label refunded.

I don't want to pour on but you really need to research your shipping methods before you print the label.

geobra-5125 · ‎10-17-2019

Will never under any circumstance use that fedex or USPS for any reason.
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That's just plain silly. YOU are ultimately at fault for not understanding how to use a shipping method to begin with, and standing your ground with FedEx

sacrux · ‎10-17-2019

So the FedEx guy and the USPS person were both mistaken.

Sadly.
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You probably will not be able to get the cost of the shipping label refunded.

I will try my best. Would suck to be charged for a service when there was technically no service. It's not like I used resources of fedex or USPS as there's no proof resources were used. There's zero tracking, therefore no gas used or time vested from any employees. The only resource that was used was ebay having to put something into their system and register it using whatever means they use to register it with their affiliated shipping partners.
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I don't want to pour on but you really need to research your shipping methods before you print the label.

I was under the impression that I bring the item to fedex to be shipped and they would take care of the rest. I did my job correctly and only wished that others have done the same. We don't live in a perfect world though.

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That's just plain silly. YOU are ultimately at fault for not understanding how to use a shipping method to begin with, and standing your ground with FedEx

I was under the impression that these employees were competent enough to not give me bad information. I'm not a shipping employee at the end of the day. Am I to be blamed for some of this? Sure. I'm at fault for even wanting to ship a product to begin with. Had I never wanted to ship anything none of this would have happened.

Due diligence goes a long way and while I've read stories prior to me opting for smartpost, I never seen a story such like this.

I don't think find it silly to not use 2 facilities that both gave me bad information. It's silly for me to imo.

Now had I went out of my way to deliberately proceed to ship something initially by USPS when directed otherwise, then yeah, there would be a much more compelling argument to be had there. I'm not entirely void of fault, but when I now have 2 differing companies agreeing with the premise that the package shipment needed to start at USPS all along, I'm not going to take full blame. I did what I was told to do and now I'm eating the bullet.

I'm not going to avoid fedex or USPS entirely, just those 2 facilities.

kensgiftshop · ‎10-17-2019

@sacrux wrote:

What happens if the money is refunded and it ends up getting delivered? Does the customer get their money back and the product?

If buyer files an INR, not much you can do but refund, since there is no tracking.

Hopefully, the package has been delivered, just not scanned.

If you have to refund, and the package gets delivered,not much you can do to get the package or money back.

Have a great day.

sacrux · ‎10-17-2019

If buyer files an INR, not much you can do but refund, since there is no tracking.

Hopefully, the package has been delivered, just not scanned.

If you have to refund, and the package gets delivered,not much you can do to get the package or money back.

Thanks for the comfort. Hopefully it's just not being scanned. It's all russian roulette at this point I believe.

Seems someone took issue with my last post and it got deleted. Lol. Wow.

sacrux · ‎10-17-2019

That's just plain silly. YOU are ultimately at fault for not understanding how to use a shipping method to begin with, and standing your ground with FedEx

Being told by fedex to take it to USPS then just today USPS telling me I was in the right all along.

Given what's happening I'm going to assume both of these facilities are incompetent and I will use different facilities from here on.