- Posts
- 3,184
- Likes
- 7,582
bgrisso
·I've had a few problems with shipping last 6 months, just wanted to point them out here to spare anyone else....
1) I was shipping a watch from northern California to southern California via USPS priority, with full insurance. Was well packed, but I think the watch took a bump, and one of the chrono pushers was not engaging completely right on delivery. These things happen with vintage watches sometimes. Anyhow I refunded the buyer (this was ebay) $500 to do a local repair, and filed for refund of $500 with USPS.
They make the process of filing difficult, and you cannot speak with anyone, at any stage, ever. It is all done online. So I provided all the documentation, then they wanted the buyer to go to a local PO with the original shipping box and materials and item (you have to KEEP them!) for inspection. This was over the holidays and the buyer had to go to 4 different locations to find the correct staff on hand for this process. Eventually this staff person said I needed to show proof the watch was working correctly before shipping. The begs the question, how can you possibly show proof a chrono pusher is working correctly, when the issue was the amount and type of pressure required to depress it. Anyhow, I had documentation to show a full service on the watch had occurred within the past year. During this process the claim was automatically denied, without warning, for exceeding the 30 day limit on the entire process. This was mostly due to the USPS not having staff on hand to do what they required.
In any event I appealed and showed the documentation on the full service, but the appeal was denied. So I am out $500 bucks on this.
Bottom line, I think USPS insurance is probably only useful if the package is lost, good luck trying to get any money out of them for damage in most cases.
2) was doing a return from ebay purchase from seller in Argentina due to undisclosed condition issues that I didn't spot in the photos. Shipped via USPS priority, as soon as item hit customs Paypal refunded the money. Problem is package never made it out of customs. From what seller is telling me, and I have spoken with him extensively and believe he is completely honest person, the customs is somewhere between completely dysfunctional and a scam. They cannot process everything, so it's a random lottery what they try to process on any given day. They say the package is lost in the system, but they want fees paid upfront. These fees are not refunded, regardless of if the package is ever found. Now they want more fees, without any promise of finding the package, or refunding the fees if it cannot be found. Paypal will not do anything for the seller, they just leave this problem up to me to resolve. Has been going on for months, I finally refunded half the money back to the seller, since the item is lost (probably stolen in customs). I didn't have to do this, but I have sold a ton on ebay, and this is a nightmare scenario for sellers, so I am sympathetic as the buyer in this case. Splitting the $$ 50/50 seemed the honest way to go. Who knows, it's possible the watch will eventually turn up on either end, but not holding my breath. So I'm out $700 on this unless the watch resurfaces.
Bottom line, don't ship USPS to Argentina (they also don't offer any insurance to this location). I have to hope something like fedex or UPS might work better but I don't know?
Anyhow these are two transactions are among very many that have gone without a hitch, but still a bummer to lose money, live and learn.......
1) I was shipping a watch from northern California to southern California via USPS priority, with full insurance. Was well packed, but I think the watch took a bump, and one of the chrono pushers was not engaging completely right on delivery. These things happen with vintage watches sometimes. Anyhow I refunded the buyer (this was ebay) $500 to do a local repair, and filed for refund of $500 with USPS.
They make the process of filing difficult, and you cannot speak with anyone, at any stage, ever. It is all done online. So I provided all the documentation, then they wanted the buyer to go to a local PO with the original shipping box and materials and item (you have to KEEP them!) for inspection. This was over the holidays and the buyer had to go to 4 different locations to find the correct staff on hand for this process. Eventually this staff person said I needed to show proof the watch was working correctly before shipping. The begs the question, how can you possibly show proof a chrono pusher is working correctly, when the issue was the amount and type of pressure required to depress it. Anyhow, I had documentation to show a full service on the watch had occurred within the past year. During this process the claim was automatically denied, without warning, for exceeding the 30 day limit on the entire process. This was mostly due to the USPS not having staff on hand to do what they required.
In any event I appealed and showed the documentation on the full service, but the appeal was denied. So I am out $500 bucks on this.
Bottom line, I think USPS insurance is probably only useful if the package is lost, good luck trying to get any money out of them for damage in most cases.
2) was doing a return from ebay purchase from seller in Argentina due to undisclosed condition issues that I didn't spot in the photos. Shipped via USPS priority, as soon as item hit customs Paypal refunded the money. Problem is package never made it out of customs. From what seller is telling me, and I have spoken with him extensively and believe he is completely honest person, the customs is somewhere between completely dysfunctional and a scam. They cannot process everything, so it's a random lottery what they try to process on any given day. They say the package is lost in the system, but they want fees paid upfront. These fees are not refunded, regardless of if the package is ever found. Now they want more fees, without any promise of finding the package, or refunding the fees if it cannot be found. Paypal will not do anything for the seller, they just leave this problem up to me to resolve. Has been going on for months, I finally refunded half the money back to the seller, since the item is lost (probably stolen in customs). I didn't have to do this, but I have sold a ton on ebay, and this is a nightmare scenario for sellers, so I am sympathetic as the buyer in this case. Splitting the $$ 50/50 seemed the honest way to go. Who knows, it's possible the watch will eventually turn up on either end, but not holding my breath. So I'm out $700 on this unless the watch resurfaces.
Bottom line, don't ship USPS to Argentina (they also don't offer any insurance to this location). I have to hope something like fedex or UPS might work better but I don't know?
Anyhow these are two transactions are among very many that have gone without a hitch, but still a bummer to lose money, live and learn.......
Edited:
