USPS

[paradise5253]

Anyone else getting tired of being responsible for USPS's failure to deliver and or their damaging of goods?

Up until about 18 months ago never had an issue with USPS paying a claim for damaged items.

Now, every single claim is being denied. 

And with ebay doing away with the top seller level and going to top seller + their rules for that level holds you the buyer responsible responsible for late shipments even though you the seller did everything right and on time resulting in penalties to the seller.

Why are we being held responsible for the failures of USPS,?

We have absolutely no -0- control over what happens to that package after it is scanned into their (USPS's) system.

It seems by me not agreeing to the terms of becoming a top rated seller+ by being responsible for the post office's failures, my sales were cut in half.

I still pays the same selling fees, postal rates, promoted listing fees and monthly store fees for half the sales.

Yes, they control the algorithms by which your sales potential is based.

[whattheactualfox]

Did you make sure your item's were packed by USPS packaging guidelines? Sometimes if they determine if an item was not packaged correctly, or not protected from damage in the packaging, it is concluded it was seller negligence. And I'm not blaming you, im just saying in general.

[donsdetour]

Why is you have a Choice of which service to ship through> if USPS no longer is working for you try a different one.

[katzrul15]

Others have posted that USPS has became very difficult to prevail with regarding an insurance claim for damage.

They paid ours in May.  Box looked ran over (I think a herd of something sat on it).

I have not used e-Bay's insurance, but others reported good things.

Maybe post also on the shipping board?  The regulars there might have insights for you.

[whattheactualfox]

Shipcover is good. It's cheaper

[katzrul15]

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@whattheactualfox wrote:

Shipcover is good. It's cheaper

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@paradise5253 

There you go!!

[cstpos]

@paradise5253We don't offer free returns, so we never qualify as Top Rated +. The benefits compared to the potential cost just isn't worth it. We used to use USPS for about 70% of our orders, now we try to ship Fedex whenever we can. We offer USPS as some buyers ask. It is aggravating that the sellers end up out-of-pocket because they did everything correctly.

Our USPS carrier is great. He always scans our packages before he leaves our office. Other carriers who fill in when he's gone say they could get fired if the USPS management sees that they scanned it in while on their route - that they should scan all packages when their route is done. Just another way to avoid taking responsibility. Our opinion is that they should scan it once it is in their possession, not 6 hours later. As suggested, you can choose not to use USPS if their service is causing you problems. Best of Luck to you!

[paradise5253]

Thanks for the response. If there is anyone out there that packs and better cares for their orders/shipments I'd like to meet them.

I do understand what your saying though being a buyer on ebay and Amazon (sparingly) I wonder how the item survived 5 minutes?

[itscalledapostingid]

I pack everything so it can withstand being kicked up three flights of stairs in the dark.

[paradise5253]

Actually I don't really have a choice.

We live rural and though the other services do come out this way, I wouldn't trust their timeline and our gate is about 1/4 mile from the house, so leaving items at the gate for pick-up not an option.

I deliver all orders to our local P.O. which is open from 8am until noon Monday thru Friday and personally see each item scanned and received.

[paradise5253]

Hello, yes it never ceases to amaze me what they (USPS) can do to a package.

File online claims and follow all procedures as always with copies of the sell along with photos from the customer as well to no avail.

Until about 18 months or so ago after filing a claim and providing said information within two weeks a check would arrive in the mail.

Now they want me to bring the item to them (customer has it)  and reshipping the item is costly and not allowed anyway.

Even with the couple of times the customer was gracious enough to take it to their local PO for inspection it was still denied  for some other reason.

Must be nice not to be responsible for your failures. 

[oldwestgold]

Well, with egg on my face as a recently retired Postmaster of 33 yrs, I too am sick of the screw-ups the USPS continues to do. My most recent is a Priority box shipped from Toledo to NM that went through the incompetent and infamous Detroit Processing Center. They sent it to Loveland FL, who then sent it to PR. It has sat in PR for the past 15 days. Put it in the wrong container. I couldn't begin to tell you the problems the Detroit Plant has had for the past 20+ years. Another was a 1st class coming to me that sat up in Detroit for over 5 weeks. And believe you me, I have contacts and phone numbers in almost every USPS facility and to be frank, all these people could not help me. Even District Mgrs ad Plant Mgrs. So I truly pity the general public with any USPS problems. Most field employees and Postmasters really care and will go the extra mile, as I know I always did including my employees at the 3 Post Offices I was responsible for. The failure is at the processing Plants. Supervisors and Managers get promoted there when they screw-up. They have no other place to put them and firing them takes an act of Congress. They are too incompetent to place in the field because they would be directly responsible for something. Even retired this disgusts me to hear of these continued failures.  FYI - I am trying out mailing FedEx. I have a business to run, with loyalty running second. I wish you all well. And FYI - If I would have printed the above while still employed, I would have been kicked to the sidewalk in hours.

[yuzuha]

If you are having frequent problems with items being damaged, that tells me you are not packing them well enough. You need to remember that 99% of package handling is done by machines and that your packages will be dropped multiple feet onto conveyor belts, have 40+ lb boxes land on top of them, etc. You need to pack them well enough to be able to dropkick them down a flight of stairs without suffering any damage. If you can't do that, they aren't packed properly.

[whattheactualfox]

Wait are you....So 5 minutes after delivery the buyer said it was damaged or something like that?

[pennymincher]

I am in the exact same boat here and so frustrated!!  Just got denied on a box that was ripped and crushed saying the post office did not do the damage.  One time the USPS even put a label on the package saying that they are sorry that THEY damaged it and it was denied!

I do not do free returns and I cannot afford for the packages to get shipped back to me.  I package very well.  

I am jut glad that I am not the only one having issues.