As much as I like Signature Confirmation and appreciate the sellers who use Signature Confirmaiton, Signature Confirmation is not perfect: the flaw is the postal workers involved in delivery. To explain this, I will share a negative experience I had a few years ago with Signature Confirmation.
I purchased an expensive pen set on eBay and the seller sent the pen set using USPS Priority Mail insured with Signature Confirmation. I tracked the delivery of the pen set to my Post Office and, of course, planned to pick up the pen set on my way home at the end of the day. A few hours after my having noted the arrival of the pen set at the Post Office, I received a call from someone at my place of work asking if I was the person who had a particular Post Office Box number at my Post Office. Except that the person had identified himself as the man in charge of the mail room at my place of work and that I was familiar with his name, I would not have answered his inquiry. He stated that he had my pen set. This surprised me greatly as my pen set was addressed to my Post Office Box, not my place of work.
As we spoke, it came out that he had opened my package and “discovered” the pen set; he gave no justification for opening a package which was definitely not addressed to him. Not wanting to antagonize the person who had my pen set but wanting to know why/how it was that he had my pen set, I casually asked him how he had obtained my pen set when it was not addressed to my place of work. He stated that my package had been included with the mail when he picked it up at the Post Office (my place of work has mail held at the same Post Office) and he stated that he had signed for it; I still wonder why he signed for a package which was not addressed to our place of work when signing for the package made him responsible for it.
The good thing was that the seller had included a packing slip generated using the eBay system which included my name and address as well as the amount that I had paid for the pen set. This man’s having signed as the recipient of the package made him responsible for this expensive pen set — his name and signature were on the record as the person who took possession of the pen set from the Post Office. The amount on the packing slip informed him that he would be in great trouble with the Law if he failed to give the pen set to its rightful owner as he had signed for the pen set at the Post Office. Whether it was his guilt at having opened the package or his fear of being charged wtih stealing the pen set, he brought the pen set to me in my building (he works in a different building across campus), with the packing slip but minus the original shipping package. I believe that it was the amount on the packing slip as well as his having signed for the package which caused the guilt or fear that made him give the pen set to me.
What bothers me to this day is that he had been allowed to sign for my package! He signed his name — he did not attempt to sign my name. He should not have been given my package or allowed to sign for my package.
As you might imagine, I stopped at the Post Office on my way home to “inquire” about my package being diverted to the work mail and this man’s being allowed to sign for my package. Excuses were made and a lame apology was given. After this happened a second time, I changed my Post Office Box to another branch; although the new branch is the main Post Office in my city, they are truly no better and I continue to experience delivery problems.
When Signature Confirmation is properly executed, it is great. However, Signature Confirmation does not eliminate all delivery issues. In comparison with Delivery Confirmation, I would perfer and am always willing to pay for Signature Confirmation.
Delivery Confirmation would not have made this man to give me my pen set. However, his having signed for the pen set as part of Signature Confirmation, made his responsible for it and trackable as the recipient.
