OK, so I sell an item on ebay. Get paid quickly via paypal, and ship the item the next day via USPS priority mail with delivery confirmation. The buyer did not wish to buy insurance.
The tracking # the post office gave me is only valid IF and when the post office delivers the item. So here it is 3 weeks later and the item has still not been delivered. I talk with the guys at the post office to find out what I can do.
#1 Wait another week and see if it shows up. If it doesn't show up then I can file paperwork for them to "look for the item in their non-deliverable mail facility (well Its been that week so now I get to file that paperwork on behalf of the buyer).
#2 if the item isn't found within a reasonable amount of time (he never told me what reasonable was) I could file for a refund of the cost of DELIVERY CONFIRMATION.....but hey thats free with priority shipping when you buy shipping through paypal...so you don't get anything back.
So here is the real dilemma. Who is responsible for the lost part besides the USPS. Do I give the guy his money back, and eat the cost? Should I tell him he should have bought insurance and let him eat the cost?
The main reason this sucks so bad and the reason I don't have a leg to stand on is becasue the USPS doesn't always scan a delivery confirmation item until it is delivered. So the tracking number I have is useless because all it says is the the package has been electronically processed for shipping. It doesn't show that I dropped it off for shipping, just that I purchased postage and printed a label. So the USPS lost my package somewhere between here and timbuktu and has no idea where it is. Nor can they show that I even dropped the package off with them for delivery.
I wonder how many people who have purchased delivery confirmation have been taken to the cleaners this way by the USPS. I know that no matter what happens I'll be out a hundred bucks and there is nothing I can do about it.
I am thinking that in the future I'll be shipping with UPS where a tracking # actually means something.
The USPS another great government run program that screws people on a daily basis!
I'm open to your thoughts or suggestions on how to handle this.