Had two Nintendo DS games I wanted to sell. First one the buyer claims she never received. Issued a refund. A few months later and I just sold the second. Buyer emailed me claiming he received the envelope with a tear in it and no game. I suggested he visit his post office and show them the envelope and if they cant be of assistance I would issue a refund (only $5 no big deal). He emailed me again today with this...

I stopped by Kennewick postal office, I took the envelop with me to show them, they told me that game card in the envelop is non machinable, and shouldn't be considered as a letter. They explain how letters envelop differ from objects envelop goes through a machine to pass very quickly, and it is most possibly to jamed and ripped in the machine's rotating cylenders. Again they said it shouldn't be sent like a letter, to avoid sort it by a machine, also they were looks very familiar with problems like this.
Sorry for your game loss, and I appreciate a refund.
Thanks for your prompt response.

I did ship both of the games in letter sized envelopes with a stamp being that they are so small. If what he is saying is true, wouldnt the envelope be returned to me with the game? What are the chances of this happening twice with two different buyers? Can anyone verify what he is saying?

What he is stating is true. I sent out several Christmas cards with a lot of pictures inside the envelope and it was too thick to pass through the machine. The people never received them and I never got them back either. I asked at the post office and I got the same response as you did.

Sucks, but seems to be true. Letter envelopes are for letters only apparently. And not thick ones at that. Did you take the game to the post office, or just put a stamp on it and drop it in a box? If you handed it to a counter peson, or your mail man picked it up from your home mail box, they never should have taken it from you.

I left it in my mailbox and my carrier picked it up. Oh well looks like im issuing a regunf. Thanks for the input.

Yes, that's correct. You shouldn't be mailing bulky, non-flexible objects like that in letter envelopes. Here are the guidelines for letters:

http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/qsg300/Q201.pdf

I can only add that in a previous life, when we had a company install a fancy postage type meter thing (real descriptive??) they had a nifty cardboard thing with a slot cut in it. Basically they said if it didn't fit in the opening it wasn't considered a "letter" and could not be mailed as such.

I took notice since I was always mailing smallish things to various offices (computer parts and the like) and would often have to place them in small boxes and affix postage as such. With that said, I seem to have been buying more stuff from eBay vendors and it's amazing how some of the items are mailed. So far, items have arrived intact however.

Rick

Thing is, I wouldnt call a Nintendo DS game bulky. Its probably just as thick as a letter.

But it's rigid, non-flexible. That's a no-no for letters.

I also like how the post office doesn't take responsibility for anything. They can do whatever they want with your package, and it's not their fault.

My return address was on the envelope both times. Why wouldnt it just be sent back to me?

Pretty much. That's what you agree to when you ship it with them. No guarantees. If you value something and want to protect against its loss or damage, you have to purchase insurance.

Probably because once your games were ripped out of the envelopes by the machines, they were able to sort and deliver it automatically without any problems

If the carrier gave a shit, he shouldn't have taken it after realizeing what was in the envelope.

You forgot to give your carrier an Xmas present I suspect!

Without opening a new thread, I figured I'd post my latest issue. I recently sold a brand new set of books/DVDs to someone that helps children learn to read for $200. The set sat in my apt for a couple of weeks before it sold and so the seller told me she was returning it due to the fact that it smelled like cigarette smoke and when she touched it her hand "smelled heavily of cigarette smoke" and she doesn't want her child touching it. This seemed a little ridiculous to me being that it was a sealed set and the only thing that could've smelled like smoke was the box holding all the books and DVDs and she couldve easily just wiped it down before opening it up. Anyway, partial refund or full refund?

If she's returning it, full refund.

I recently received used DVD box sets from GoHastings that had been resealed to hide the fact that they reeked of cigar smoke. I can sympathize with your buyer in her reluctance to accept a smoke smelling item, even if it's just the outer packaging. Fair or unfair, It can make the item seem tainted.

You can charge her a restocking fee of up to 20%, but she will probably leave you negative feedback. Next time keep the items and box away from the smoke or you will likely run into this problem again.

I suspect most smokers don't notice just HOW badly things from their homes can reek of smoke. I've gotten discs over the years that reeked of smokes for weeks and sometimes months and made whole rooms in my house smell like smoke as well.

^ Yep. I never buy anything used unless the description states that it came from a smoke-free home.

Pretty much this. The smoke smell makes me nauseous.

I started adding this to all my descriptions on sale items about a year ago. I think many people agree with you and prefer not to buy smoke smelling items. I won't sell any because I don't like to get them and I treat my buyers the same way I like to be treated as a buyer.

I'm going to have to start adding this to my eBay ads. Thanks!