eBay

mccamira · ‎09-09-2019

I am a buyer. I ordered an item from an ebay seller a couple weeks ago. Seller shipped promptly. It was scanned as delivered on 28 August. But I didn't receive the package. At first I thought it had been left on the truck and would arrive the next day. Or the substitute mail carrier doesn't like to carry packages so often scans them as delivered. They usually arrive the next day.

But it never arrived. The mail carrier said to check the rental office because people sometimes leave misdelivered packages there (this is an apartment). No luck there. I spoke to my local post office on the phone. They told me that the package was scanned somewhere between my address and two addresses up the street (apartment buildings) but couldn't be more specific. I checked around the mailboxes in those buildings and also the hallways. No package. I went to the post office and spoke to the supervisor. I asked for a printout of the delivery scan showing the GPS coordinates. He wouldn't give it to me. He said to file a claim. I don't know if the package is insured, so I asked the seller (no reply yet).

I think ebay will cover this if the package wasn't insured, but not unless I can prove that I didn't receive it. Does anyone have experience with a similar situation? Or are there any USPS employees out there with any advice?

Thank you for any help.

martoutlet · ‎09-09-2019

insurance won't cover it.

seller has protection.

...because it was scanned delivered in your zip code.

pretty much,you did what you could and that's it.

ed8108 · ‎09-09-2019

Contact USPS at their 800 number & request written documentation of the GPS coordinates be provided to you.

The issue will likely be submitted to your local post office, perhaps to someone who will be more accommodating.

mccamira · ‎09-09-2019

Thanks, I will do that. When I asked at the post office for a printout of the scan with GPS coordinates, the supervisor told me that they're not allowed to give out that information. I don't think that's true.

I heard back from the seller, who confirmed that the package was not insured. So I don't think I can file a claim.

I'll try calling USPS Consumer Affairs.

ed8108 · ‎09-09-2019

At the very least you should be provided with a statement that states the gps was not taken directly at your delivery location.

Anonymous · ‎09-09-2019

The seller should look into it not the buyer... I had this happen to me last month, Even though My post office said they never even had the package to delivery to me...It said delivered... My post office said they would tell the seller, If she would call them...She did not and just used the tracking number to close the case... Real good Seller... I am a seller and If I had a Buyer not receive a package that scanned delivered , I would at the very least Try to locate it and call their post office...... What happened to eBay Money Back Guarantee ?

I think it is sad when a Buyer never receives a package and seller says oh well... I am a long time buyer and Seller and have never had a lost package to me... And even though my post office and my delivery drivers knows I didn't get the package..( how do you prove it) Seller did not care, Did not even look into it... It was a small First class package worth about 5 dollars. I am just out my package and shipping cost and Seller still gets their money.. Not right at all... And I could not even leave feed back ...

lja440 · ‎09-10-2019

@mccamira wrote:
Thanks, I will do that. When I asked at the post office for a printout of the scan with GPS coordinates, the supervisor told me that they're not allowed to give out that information. I don't think that's true.

I heard back from the seller, who confirmed that the package was not insured. So I don't think I can file a claim.

I'll try calling USPS Consumer Affairs.

I have been with USPS for 19 years. The Postmaster sure as heck can give out the GPS location. Mine does all the time as some people will complain that we never came to the door with their package or certified letter to be signed for. GPS will be accurate within around 5 feet. That package should have been scanned at your apt door or parcel locker.

monster-deals · ‎09-10-2019

@mccamira wrote:
ply yet).

I think ebay will cover this if the package wasn't insured, but not unless I can prove that I didn't receive it. Does anyone have experience with a similar situation? Or are there any USPS employees out there with any advice?

Thank you for any help.

You are unlikely to hear from your seller. This is really the only protection sellers have and they would be crazy to give it up.

Ebay will not automatically cover you though it is possible to get a courtesy refund from them if you press the issue.

mccamira · ‎09-10-2019

I've read on this forum of cases where ebay's Money Back Guarantee covered a misdelivered package (without penalizing the seller) if the buyer could prove he/she didn't receive it. So I'm hoping that GPS coordinates will be proof enough, but I don't know.

I called USPS Consumer Affairs and they opened a case. They said they couldn't give me the GPS location either, but I might be able to get that information if the case is escalated, which I can't do for 2-3 days.

I'm not pleased with the service from my local post office because they haven't made any effort to find the package. They just tell me to look here or there or to file a claim. I suppose that opening a case will get them to do something, but it's unlikely that the package can be retrieved at this late date. And I had to call Consumer Affairs to open the case which should have been opened by the local post office. When I've had a misdelivered package in the past, they've been able to track it down. That's because they tried.

mccamira · ‎09-13-2019

The Post Office emailed me the GPS coordinates for the scan of my package. The problem is, they didn't give me any official documentation (I need a print-out of the actual information from the scanner) so I don't think I could use this as evidence of where the package was delivered. The person at the post office tried to tell me that she put the coordinates into Google and it said it was my address. Google doesn't do that. It gives a general location, which, in this case encompasses 4 addresses.

So I took my phone to all four of these addresses, stood outside the same apartment number at each address, and got the GPS coordinates. But it didn't help because the Compass app on my phone does not give fractions of a second. It displays in degrees, minutes, seconds in whole numbers. The coordinates the post office gave me have a fraction. The seconds of longitude are 7.7". When I walked around with my phone, two addresses had seconds longitude of 8 and two addresses have seconds longitude of 7.

The mail carrier could find the location if he wanted to. His scanner displays in fractions of a second. But no one at the post office will try to figure out where the package was delivered.

Does anyone know of an app for iPhone that displays fractions of a second? I have not been able to find one in the app store. Most compass or GPS apps don't show how they display.

no_zero369 · ‎09-13-2019

What I don't understand is why you are running around doing the USPS job and now looking for an app that does that too?

If it were me I would go back to the PM and insist he give me the GPS coordinates. When he tells you he isn't allowed to give those to you, ask him what citation of law (US Code) or regulations (CFR) prohibits him from providing that information. Me thinks if one is insistent enough in a polite way, you will get the information.

If not call up your Congressional representative and ask them for help. Give them the citations the PM dropped on you. Every Congressional office has a staffer dedicated to constituent advocacy in dealing with the government. If that fails, there are ombudsmen at newspapers and TV stations. Government will move mountains in order to stay out of the news in a negative way. You just need stick-to- it-ness to get the USPS to do their job.

Point is that this same thing happened to me. I went to the PO got the Delivery Supervisor to print out the GPS coordinates AND the address associated with the address. I had to be firm, but polite, to get the USPS to do their job.

THEN I sent the GPS data to the seller who issued a refund. But be clear, if the GPS data is sufficient for eBay to find an INR claim in your favor.

So don't give up, take another run at the USPS, with a Congressional chaser if need be!

mccamira · ‎09-13-2019

I will have to go back to the post office and ask them to print out the scan information directly, but I don't know if it will help. This post office is awful. I don't even go there to mail things because of bad experiences. I go to another post office. But, when I have a problem with delivery, I have no choice. No one at the post office has been willing to determine where the package was delivered. If they can see the GPS with tenths of a second, they can tell where is was delivered. I think it was one address up the street from me, based on the way the GPS coordinates run on my street.

If I had a decent mail carrier, he might have sorted it out, but my regular mail carrier recently retired. This neighborhood has had a string of mail carriers since then (and a lot of misdelivered mail). The current one does not understand English. He understands very little, so it's impossible to communicate with him about the GPS data. But he says his scanner does not show the GPS, only the tracking number. Could be, but the post office has the GPS coordinates for scans in all the buildings on my street.

The people who work at the post office just make things up. They want the case to go away, but they don't want to look for the package or determine where it was delivered. It's just a bad post office. I've had some good post offices in the (distant) past, but this one was always bad.

nh7235 · ‎09-13-2019

You don't have to go to your own post office, @mccamira. The postmaster at another post office can access the same GPS information and help you.

I wasn't getting the answers I needed at a 2-person post office; they mentioned their mail comes from another post office. I misunderstood and went to the main post office instead; the postmaster there immediately printed the internal tracking report (giving that to me later) then called the other postmaster, personal phone to personal phone, to get the answers for me.

mccamira · ‎09-14-2019

That's an interesting idea. Post Offices around here are so busy that I hate to impose on the one in the adjoining zip code. But I could try it as a last resort. Thanks for the tip.

parkersparrow · ‎09-14-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
The seller should look into it not the buyer... I had this happen to me last month, Even though My post office said they never even had the package to delivery to me...It said delivered... My post office said they would tell the seller, If she would call them...She did not and just used the tracking number to close the case... Real good Seller... I am a seller and If I had a Buyer not receive a package that scanned delivered , I would at the very least Try to locate it and call their post office...... What happened to eBay Money Back Guarantee ?

I think it is sad when a Buyer never receives a package and seller says oh well... I am a long time buyer and Seller and have never had a lost package to me... And even though my post office and my delivery drivers knows I didn't get the package..( how do you prove it) Seller did not care, Did not even look into it... It was a small First class package worth about 5 dollars. I am just out my package and shipping cost and Seller still gets their money.. Not right at all... And I could not even leave feed back ...

After the package is scan as delivered what do you think a seller is able to do besides call the post office and ask the same questions you as the receiver could ask? You have a much better chance of getting results being able to speak to someone in person. Your local post office is the last ones to have handled the package.