Postal advice needed

[SPEEDGUNNER]

I returned an item I purchased on one of the boards (not here) and got delivery confirmation that the package was delivered. It has been a month and no refund, no contact from the seller, no response to e-mails, what do I do? Is there an avenue through the USPS I can pursue this? How much of a pain is it, will they make me jump through hoops? Anyone else have experience with a situation like this one?

Thanks.

[U.S.G.I.]

Try and get the person's phone number and give them a call. Tell them if money isn't returned you will be taking it to the local police and the postal inspectors and they can deal with them. Keep all you documentation you will need it if you take it to court.
Myself I wouldn't have waited a whole month without any contact from the seller.

Good Luck...

[CTMC(ret)]

If you did not purchase insurance or send it registered, there is nothing the PO can do to help you, once the parcel is shown as "Delivered", other than see if you can turn it over to the postal inspectors. You can always contact the police where the package was delivered, explain the situation and ask that they go by the address to see "What's up". If no response, I would contact the State's Attorneys office where the delivery was made - when the recipient gets a visit from the SA's office - magical things happen! Best of luck to you!

[Johnny Peppers]

Mail is insured in case of loss or damage. The delivery confirmation shows that the package was delivered, so neither would apply.

[Jim K]

Do you have a name and an address other than a PO Box? If so, write a letter, stating that the item has been returned and that there is a record of its being delivered. Request an immediate refund or you will take further steps. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested. No guarantee, but it might work.

The trouble is that unless the item is very valuable, it is just not going to be worth pursuing in civil court against someone in another state, which is exactly what the scammers depend on. (Can YOU afford to spend thousands of dollars on lawyer's fees, plus court costs, plus depositions, plus maybe witness travel costs, to recover, say, $100?)

Jim

[CTMC(ret)]

Mail is insured in case of loss or damage. The delivery confirmation shows that the package was delivered, so neither would apply.

Sorry, sir, USPS mail is not insured unless you purchase insurance. Otherwise, why would anyone purchase the insurance? :confused:

USPS - Domestic Extra Services (http://www.usps.com/shipping/specialservices.htm)

Now, UPS does have a certain amount of automatic insurance on shipments, I believe, but not the USPS.

[conductor]

Insurance is not the issue here. The recipient got the package, and the sender has proof of that. Now the recipient is refusing to refund the senders original payment. USPS insurance does not cover situations like this. It only covers loss or damage, and the package was neither lost nor damaged.

So far, the best advice has been given by Jim K. Send the guy a letter, certified mail, return receipt requested, demanding payment and advising him that you will refer this matter to his local police department if he does not pay. I had a similar situation come up in an eBay deal. The guy lived in Maine, way the heck out in the boonies. I contacted the Maine State Police, which has a computer crimes section. They sent a trooper around to the guy's house, and things got settled the next day.

[w4rf]

Recently I ordered some gun parts and the seller provided me with the delivery confirmation tracking number. I never did get the parts even though the USPS website showed it was delivered. It was delivered somewhere just not to my address. The local Post Office couldn't help because it was "delivered". The seller was a standup guy and resent the parts at no charge but I learned that "delivery confirmation" doesn't necessarily mean delivered to the correct address.:dunno:

[0311Shooter]

I lean on the USPS as being at fault here because I have had many problems with them. In fact, I send nothing "Priority Mail" anymore because that's the mail I have most of the problems with.

They cut corners, overwork the good postal workers, the deadbeats have jobs for life so they don't work up a sweat. When something doesn't show up even a day late, it's impossible to get any information "until it is 5 days late". I have had packages sitting on their shelf, I KNEW it was there, the post office on the shipping end said it was there, but could not get anyone to look for it.

And they expect the government to handle healthcare? MY GOD!!!!

[Capt Quahog]

I lean on the USPS as being at fault here because

How the heck does a person "lean" on the postal service? That would be something like trying to lean on a wall of sulfuric acid jello. Or better yet, Jabba the Hut's stomach. ... . . :madsmile: ..... Both are stupid analogies, but they sort of work.

The U.S. Postal Service is a total clusterfrigg. Best to send stuff the fastest way possible that's most affordable. Less time that an article has in the hands of the USPS goons, the better chance it's got for survival and delivery.

They can't track anything even with Delivery Confirmation. The article can only be located to the point just before it disappeared. Then the mail piece going into Postal Oblivion which at this stage of the game is probably someplace between Hawaii and Kenya. That's it! :beerchug:

[limazulu]

Insurance is not the issue here. The recipient got the package, and the sender has proof of that. Now the recipient is refusing to refund the senders original payment. USPS insurance does not cover situations like this.

What you're saying as far as insurance goes is true but I think this comes under the heading of postal fraud. If you use the mails to defraud someone they have a department that handles that. You can go to your local postmaster to make an inquiry.

Having said that, depending on the locale, the local police (detectives) might get quicker results.

[Neal Myers]

In the same situation, I was able to help someone get $500 for a stock he had returned.

I did some Internet "detective work" of public records, & identified the forgetful seller & his family. (2 sons were LEO's.) I then had the person seeking the refund phone a son's house, & inquire as to the health of his father. Within a week, the refund check was received, along with a list of excuses.

[TDH]

Postal oblivion that must be where those golf balls are. I sent my dad a dozen golf balls from England back in 71. I'm still waiting.Imagine that.

[smokey]

speedgunner, I hope the person you are having trouble with isn't located in Jacksonville, Arkansas.If he is, pm me through your regular server.[not through this sight].I'll tell you what finally moved him off of the "dime". Nick

[Bill F]

I got burned for a cnote by a board member on the old jouster,scumbags are all over.This guy was on the east coast if I remember rite.Dont spend too much time on ****ants.That being said most of the many,many deals I did on there went off without a hitch.One guy sent the item before I paid him.