movieguru

I just had this problem as the seller last month. Delivery confirmation showed that it as delivered. The buyer claimed it wasn't. she filed a Paypal claim. Paypal had proof it was delivered so they sided with me.

The sellers responsibilty ends when the item is delivered. If there is rampant theft in your neighborhood and the item is stolen after its delivered it's not the seller fault.

The best thing to do when buying from Ebay is ask the seller if the item can be insured or if they can ad signature confirmation for an additional charge even if they don't have it listed in their auctions. I offer insurance in mine. If a buyer wanted signature confirmation for an additional charge I would have no problem doing. All I have to do is make one extra mouseclick before I print out the label.

Bu as someone said above a p.O. box solves most of these problems as well.

ESG927

I didn't read this whole thread so I apologize if any of this has been said. I had a package stolen from my porch last summer (not DVDs). I knew it had been delivered (tracking number, visual confirmation by my MIL who moved package to a bin on my porch).

I filed a police report and also a report with the USPS online. My husband later found parts of the package and products in my neighbor's trash and police were called again. It's a long story but I didn't get any satisfaction from our police department. The company I ordered from replaced my package free of charge (wow, so impressed with them). My neighbor will rot in hell eventually and someday we'll get our revenge. I still need to write a letter to our NEW chief of police regarding the unprofessional conduct of one of his detectives who threatened my husband.

I live on a walking mail route and my regular mailman Larry knows about the theft (he did not deliver the stolen package however). He WILL NOT leave anything that doesn't fit in the mailbox. If he misses us on a weekend, he'll even make a second trip in his truck to see if we're home. Otherwise I pick up packages at the post office now.

Hopefully you'll have better luck with a police report. Make sure your mail carrier knows about the theft too.

DVD Josh

ESG that really sucks. My guitar forum had a post about a guy who had a custom built guitar sent to him (waiting 18 months for it) and when he got home, it was not there. Calls to UPS uncovered that it was given to a neighbor, a neighbor who he was in a 5 year battle with. Well you can see where this is going. Neighbor claims to have no idea, UPS signature is a made up name. Guy KNOWS the neighbor has it (claims to have seen it through a window), police won't even go knock on the guy's door to ask about it. Builder is being less than helpful. Guitar was paid in full with a money order, no recourse there. Builder is seven states over, so small claims court not viable either.

We've been spending the better part of today convincing this guy not to break into his house to steal it back, which he is seriously considering. His best hope is to keep fighting UPS for an insurance claim or for the police to actually do something (they keep calling it a neighbor dispute and not a crime, which it is).

Guy did everything right - insist on hold for signature, proper insurance, monitoring UPS site, and still gets fucked.

Gambit

I've had many boxes left on my doorstep and only had a problem once. I had an order from drugstore.com (nothing of any significant value) that was supposedly delivered, but it wasn't on my doorstep.

It just so happens that I had rented some tables/chairs from a party rental place a couple of days before and they had come by to pick them up on that day as well. So when I was looking through my backyard to make sure they had picked up everything and didn't damage anything, I noticed an open box in my bushes.

It was my drugstore.com order with some things still in the box and some missing. I wasn't there so I couldn't prove anything, but needless to say that party rental place never got my business again.

DVDho78DTS

I can confirm this as a long time seller on eBay except in my case I didn't use delivery confirmation so PAYPAL sided with the buyer since I couldn't prove it was delivered even though I had a receipt showing it was shipped. The buyer soon after was no longer registered with eBay.

Also, I think sellers need to have signature confirmation for higher end merchandise in order to win a claim since delivery confirmation will only win out for smaller claims.

I would have recommended contacting the Post Office the day it was shown as delivered since the driver would likely remember if he/she delivered it to the wrong location by mistake or they could at least question them while it was still fresh in their mind.

Basically, you're screwed.

jackson2006

"stolen" is a strong word, Did you file a police report to report this. Also, most areas from Ups do not require a signature. Did they file a Ups tracer. If you did not file a police report, you canot say"stolen"

DVD Josh

Bullshit.

bunkaroo

OP,

You said the last tracking said "Arrived", correct?

Typically USPS tracking will say "Your item was delivered" when it has actually been left at the recipient's address. I've seen many scans that say the item "Arrived at Unit", which means the local depot.

In fact, last November, I had a Priority Mail package take two weeks to get to me. It showed an "Arrival at Unit" scan on 11/21, then nothing for 9 days, when it again showed an "Arrival at Unit scan" on 11/30. I got it a couple days later. It obviously got stuck somewhere or was routed somewhere it wasn't supposed to go.

Can you post the full tracking history from the USPS website? I'd be interested to see it.

RonG617

I would contact the post office. If the item was scanned at 8:00 am, then it was scanned delivered before it ever left the post office. That is a big no no and the person who scanned it will be in trouble. The post office is really cracking down on the scans(I am a mail carrier). As an organization we were only getting 90% of the scans at all with 10% just being delivered without ever having getting scanned. My own mailman has twice delivered a package to the wrong house and my Fedex guy did it once. There is a real good chance it got scanned before the guy left the office, then on the route he delivered it to the wrong house. Most likely the right house number wrong street. When you don't scan your stuff on the street you make mistakes like that because you don't take a close look at the stuff. The carrier is at fault. If you call he or she will get in trouble, but the post office will give you a "sorry", but there is nothing they will do for you.

NoirFan

"Arrival at Unit, January 17, 2008, 8:04 am, BOSTON, MA 02116
Bullet Electronic Shipping Info Received, January 15, 2008".

I'm going to go by the local post office tomorrow after work and check in with them. I didn't contact the buyer sooner to check on the status of my order because I just assumed the package was taking a little longer to get here, which has happened before. I emailed the seller back last night and didn't receive an answer. Should I go ahead and file a claim with Paypal? I want to get the ball moving on this one. I already filed a missing package report online with the post office.

bunkaroo

Yeah if that's the last entry, they haven't delivered yet. Definitely get a hold of your local PO.

The seller would also not have proof of delivery in this case, although it seems the seller did in fact ship.

The seller needs to have the PO he shipped from initiate what they call a trace on the package. If you don't hear from the seller after another day, it's definitely Paypal claim time.

porieux

The guy should absolutely break in and get his guitar back.
Too bad he already got the police involved, he will have to cover his tracks well.

TheBang

Yes, continue to pursue with USPS. Yes, file the claim with PayPal. It doesn't hurt to file it. If you don't get satisfaction at the end of USPS' and PayPal's investigations, then file a dispute with your credit card company. The credit card company can then chargeback directly to PayPal to get your money back, or in many cases under $100 or so, I've often seen credit card companies just eat it and refund you the charge.

TheNightFlier

Wow, that really pisses me off just by reading it. As soon as that asshat left, I'd get a pair of gloves, smash a window and take the guitar back.

Peep

Hey, if that guy was even a half-decent guitar player, he should be getting laid enough so that losing a custom guitar here and there still puts him ahead of the game.

cc21392

What part of boston do you live in. I'm from southie and i have never had a problem getting a package. hopefully its just a mix up. good luck

DVD Josh

At first we thought he was joking, but he started asking about how to do it and how he had been taking notes of their comings and goings, what tools to pick a lock, how to break down a door or through a window, etc, pulling up websites.

Mods kept deleting his threads since he was getting some real responses. I'd post the threads but they are all deleted. The last one he said that he decided just to let things run their course.

macnorton

I really hate reading stuff like that. But that is the nature of things being stolen. Reality is, somethings don't have value, and sadly the police don't seem to get that.

Years ago, when I was a baby, my parents were robbed and my father lost a military medal that belong to his grandfather (my great grandfather, you died in 1975). My dad found out who stole it, because the guy tried to sell it at a trade show and the buyer knew my father. Because my dad had no documentation of it (I recall my dad saying all the papers about his grandfather were long gone by that point, 1983) they could do nothing. I guess in an ironic way, this same guy tried to rob the house next to ours and slipped on the ice and suffered some permanent brain damage, which he sued for and won.

Although I don't condone theft, what are you left to do at this point? I feel for the guy...but that is life I suppose.

Lastdaysofrain

I live in Somerville and usually the PO leaves packages for me inside my door, but on the occasion we have a fill in mail person who is leaving packages on my stairs or porch I've had things stolen, especially around the holidays. The metro Boston area (like most major cities) has a lot of scumbags

NoirFan

Great success! Turns out it was at my local post office all along. I feel a bit silly, but at least now I know the difference between "arrived" and "delivered". Thanks to all for their input.

bunkaroo

Awesome.

So did they not even attempt delivery, or would they not leave it if no one was home? If the latter, they should have left a notice, and the tracking should have reflected it was being held.

porieux

Yeah the thing is if you are going to do something like that you have to not post evidence all over the place.

NoirFan

They claim they did, but there was definitely no notice, or mention in the tracking that the item was being held. I was so just so relieved to get the package in one piece (it was two OOP dvds that were very inexpensive) that I didn't cause a fuss.

ESG927

glad this all worked out for you NoirFan. I still suggest you talk to your mail carrier (hopefully you have the same person most of the time) and ask him/her not to leave packages that won't fit in your mailbox. I got rid of the small mailbox beside my door and installed a regular rural type mailbox beside my porch to make things easier. Also, your mail carrier should be leaving a notice of pickup when a package isn't delivered.

And to the poster with the guitar dude neighbor....I am soooo with that guy. Police just writing these things off as neighbor disputes (we have had issues with our theiving neighbor bitch) and don't get involved. Our neighbor also vandalized our yard as the same time. Prior to that she had reported one of street-parked vehicles as "abandoned" in an attempt to get it towed. She's done that more than once. She also vandalized the license plate. The police and code enforcement ignore her now. Someday, probably right after we move, her lawn will become dead, very dead, maybe for repeated summers. Hey, she sprayed Round-Up on our lawn when she stole the package. I bought a Super-Soaker for when we do hers.....

I understand the concept of vigiliant justice a bit better after being repeatedly ignored by the police.

jeffbrown

my neighbors dogs frequently shit in my yard. my neighbors cars are frequently covered in shit. funny how life works.