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.

Information

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[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.

[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?

USPS - Domestic Extra Services

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.

[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.

[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

[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!!!!