EBAY should require sellers to use insurance!

[chtho_2181]

I just had my first bad experience with EBAY wherein a package was not delivered to me in my New York City apartment building. It has now been 2 weeks but still no sign of the package.  The tracking report says "delivered" but most of us know that this means little in NYC.  No insurance was purchased by the seller, and since the tracking report marks it as "delivered", I'm now out a bunch of money.  So what really is an EBAY guarantee then?  Is this fair to put the risk of lost packages on the buyer?  Amazon would say no.  I don't want to shop EBAY again, that's for sure.

[deserdog]

Reported delivered to where? do your apartments have a mailroom? Was it possibly left at your door? and in any case, if it is marked delivered, insurance will not pay out.

[kensgiftshop]

Sorry, even if it had insurance, tracking shows the package was delivered, so insurance wouldn't do any good.

You should have contacted the carrier the day it showed delivered and ask where they delivered it.

If it was stolen after delivery, insurance doesn't cover that either.

[whorunbartertown]

What others have written is correct. I'd like to add that on the rare occasions that the USPS pays out on an insurance claim, it goes to the Seller, not the Buyer.

[wastingtime101]

Does your building have security cams @chtho_2181 ? You could ask the building manager to check that way you'll know if the package was stolen.

You can also post a note in the mailbox area for other tenants letting them know you're looking for a package with tracking number XXX addressed to you in apartment X and to contact you if they picked it up by mistake.

As others said, no carrier will pay out an insurance claim for a package marked delivered. If theft is a problem at your address, look into an alternate delivery location such as a PO box or a box at a UPS store. You can also request the post office hold packages for pickup that won't fit in your box since the delivery location isn't secure.

If you have renters' insurance you can file a claim with them, though you probably have a deductible to meet before they'll pay out.

[chtho_2181]

Understood on the insurance and "delivered" status report.  However, EBAY must recognize that USPS "delivered" status is not hard science. Often packages come days after "delivered" status is reported .  Amazon recognizes that "delivered" does not necessarily mean "delivered".   I did contact USPS but that does little good.  This is why Amazon's use of Amazon delivery and UPS is the preferred way to go from now on.  I can no longer depend on USPS.

[chtho_2181]

It says delivered to "front reception desk or mail room"  My doorman denies receipt of any package that day.  The package was small so it would have been delivered directly to my mailbox (one of 150 some mailboxes in the mailroom).

[chtho_2181]

Thanks, I'll ask if there are cameras there, but not sure if they keep them from 2 weeks ago.  

[12345jamesstamps]

Package might have been given to someone else. Depends if package had a written address on it or a ebay Label shipping address on it.  I had a package delivered 5 blocks up Nob Hill by UPS. UPS couldn't read the address correctly...sloppy handwriting by the seller. I got a tracking notification about package delivered and found out exactly where it was being delivered. My package sat outside the apartment building with other packages and I just took my package. I got lucky. Packages usually have have an apartment number written on it by USPS, UPS or Fed Ex. Someone might have written the wrong apartment number. 

If I know my package is "out for delivery" I am home waiting for it...otherwise us neighbors in the Apartment Building will text each other to look for package being delivered. Its a good idea to get to know your neighbors in a apartment building.

[bonjourami]

"  Amazon recognizes that "delivered" does not necessarily mean "delivered".

Hmm, thats news to me, my daughter certainly didnt get a refund from Amazon when her pkg showed 'delivered'.

[deltilogical]

 If the seller had paid for insurance it wouldn't help anyway.   I lived in NYC for 20 years and got a PO Box.  it was its own hassle and got very expensive the last few years, with an proportional reduction in service.  But when a home delivery said delivered, it meant delivered, not Out for Delivery.

[yuzuha]

---

@bonjourami wrote:

"  Amazon recognizes that "delivered" does not necessarily mean "delivered".

Hmm, thats news to me, my daughter certainly didnt get a refund from Amazon when her pkg showed 'delivered'.

---

Neither did my friend.

[theteamsetguy]

@chtho_2181 ,

I have news for you. Amazon use their own drivers in addition to USPS, and UPS. I believe Amazon is still the USPS’s largest customer.

[ms.rodriguez*]

This probably won't be the first theft.  I lived in NYC when I got married.  I didn't receive many items.  The carrier threw them in the hallway. If you were a crook, you could wait a few minutes after the carrier leaves a building, go inside the lobby and help yourself to as many boxes as you wanted.  No guard.  No janitors. No cameras.  It could be Xmas everyday for thieves in NYC (and any other place with apartment buildings.) I say get a PO BOX.  They have gotten pricey but worth it especially if you sell too. ( I pay 220.oo a year but worth every penny.  That was a 40.oo jump from last year.) None of my buyers know where I live and I have never gotten a wet parcel.  It's still possible to not get your item if the carrier puts it the po box  next to yours or above it.  

Sellers this is a tax deduction too if you did not know since it's used for business.

[dogofwar777]

Is there some package drop box at your apartment? Years ago I sent a package to Florida and the buyer said he never got it even though tracking said it was delivered. He asked his mailman about it and the mailman had put his package in a package drop box near the rental office. Anyway, the seller got his package.