I shipped it FedEx. Why FedEx? I love their rates for large boxes, and as you can see those are some crazy wings on the costume and I didnt want to risk folding them up and ruining the costume.
-If you have something LARGE to ship, go FedEx.
So I packaged the costume up and went to a local satalite postage center. I believe alot of towns have these little franchises around. Its a little store that has UPS, USPS, FEDEX, DHL all in one place. Its the closest thing to my house, so I almost always ship packages out here... especially if I am going Fedex. That day I shipped out the above Peacock costume via FedEx and 3 other USPS packages. These were all prepaid Ebay labels, so all I had to do was hand the packages to the worker.
Now fast forward a few days. I recieve an email from the buyer of the Peacock costume saying that she has not received the package and there is no tracking information available. I quickly find the tracking information and sure enough there were no timestamps. Not even one for the pick up at the location I dropped the package off at. I called FedEx. Filed a claim. I then call the postage satalite center, the owner swears up and down he would never misplace a package and was very insulted I even insenuated that he or his employees might have. (Whatever). I then email the buyer and let her know what is going on. I told her that if Fedex does not find the package in 2 days I would refund her.
2 Days pass. Package is still MIA, and I refund the buyer. She is SUPER nice about this luckily and is totally understanding.
The day after I refund the buyer she writes me, "USPS just showed up at my door with the package. The package has the FedEx label on it. My postman said it somehow ended up with their stuff. I paid $13 to my postman for the shipping, and I can send you $12 for the costume."
At this point I am really annoyed with my postal center. Obviously they sent it off with the wrong carrier. I reply to the buyer and tell her that she doesnt need to pay anything and can keep the refund still. I then call the postage center and ask for the defensive manager I spoke to last time. I explained to him what REALLY happened and he told me it was my fault that I did not tell the employee which package went to certain carriers. Really? They dont check the labels over there?
ugh. I was really frustrated with this. I told him because of their mistake I lost money, and wouldnt ship anymore packages through them. After this he became very apologetic and said it wouldnt happen again.....
So what have I learned? 1. I cant assume postal workers know where to put packages, or even check labels. 2. I need to give directions to everyone that handles my packages... take no risks! 3. USPS will steal a package to make an extra buck $$ (policy is that they are supposed to return the item to its original carrier) 4. There are some good buyers on eBay that dont want to leave you negative feedback for fun.
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i had that with usps last week too. I had a $100.00 american girl furniture seat I sent out. the tracking said visibly damaged (I spent over 20.00 on packing peanuts and bubble wrap i know it wasnt damaged even if the box was dinged) the postmaster told me if it says visible damaged they have the option of not delivering it to buyer or back to me (what did i pay them for then????) it never got there i told the buyer to open a case they got the money back I called ebay and appealed it and thankfully ebay bit the bullet and gave me the $ back too since its been a super tight month. goes to show you cant trust anybody. I talked to the wonderful buyers on the phone a couple times they were super gracious but they thought USPS stole it too. :/
ReplyDeleteWait. So you never got the package back??? THATS NOT RIGHT! If they are able to track it and mark it as damaged, they are able to return it to the sender... I cant believe that.
DeleteExactly. I call it theft I would rather it come vp back broken
DeleteThis is so disappointing. I am sorry :(
DeleteAnother example of customer no-service. If we treated our ebay customers the way that postal worker treated you, we would be out of business. I had more than one instance of items not getting scanned in at the branch that I dropped them off at. Now I stand there and watch them scan every package and get a receipt proving they were accepted.
ReplyDeleteI agree Kimberly! And I think I need to start following you and watching to make sure my packages get scanned
DeleteSo sorry about the shipping problem. I know that this time of the year more mistakes happen then the rest of the year combined. I only ship USPS and large packages go parcel select, but at this time of the year, that can mean they can take a long time. Frustration but it is all a part of our business. Good luck with shipping in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! It is part of our business! There is always something new to learn :)
DeleteThis is so crazy! I have had issues with the USPS in the past as well. Now I live in a pretty safe neighborhood on a pretty good street (knock on wood that it continues to be this way) and I have started doing the USPS pickup. I can request them to come to my door to pick up my packages before 2am the day of the pick up and they give me an approximate time for them to come. I have the option of having them knock on my door or if I'm going to be out I leave them in a safe, unseen spot on my porch and give instructions on where to find the packages when I make my request. Our postman (or woman depending on the day) scans the packages before he even walks them to his truck so I know they are picked up. I haven't had any issues with this going wrong yet - never know especially with the busy holiday insaneness but maybe worth the extra couple of bucks for shipping through USPS to have them come get it directly from you.
ReplyDeleteSide note: I never use the Pony Express people, too untrustworthy, they are not part of the companies that they are shipping through and are all out for profit.