Getting over this...

[Marlin]

I am dealing with what is becoming an increasingly frustrating situation.

So, I won an auction off ebay (6 dec USA time 05.48). First off, the listing said expedited shipping (which I assume is the fastest?) of which there was little choice in the matter, and it said $12.10 (I think it was, maybe a slight difference in cents) but when I went to pay, it had mysteriously risen to $14.10. A bit pissed off, but I went with it. But I will come back to the shipping later.

Now, because it was expedited delivery, I was a little confused when a couple days passed and there was no notice of despatch. So I politely emailed the seller (8 Dec, morning) apologising for troubling them, but to ask whether it had been and perhaps the details had not been updated.

The response I got was "I believe I may have sent the package to a different buyer. Please accept 3 additional vintage ponies as my apology and I will sort this out and correct the mistake"

WT?

The message was then followed by another: "So I actually think you are getting a package with someone else's ponies. I have yours addressed and shipping out today priority mail. Will you please return the other at my expense? I will also send you a gift of d.so,e free ponies for the trouble and delay"

 

Ok, so mistakes happen. I get it. But the problem is, the address this person sent to is a US shipping warehouse (whereby I get parcels consolidated and then sent to me in my country). So since the seller did not send any other details, I asked for the tracking numbers (because mine wasn't loaded onto ebay) and a forwarding address (this is after having to spend time finding out what the heck to do about returning a parcel that is not mine from the warehouse. Turns out I am going to have to fork out half of what the international shipping cost would be). This info I also relayed onto the seller, stating that in good faith, I would ask them to pay me what the postage would cost (when I find out) before I ship back to them. The reply I got? "Thank you very much for your assistance on this little situation of mine"

No tracking numbers... nothing.

 

So I messaged them AGAIN, asking for some manner of IDing these two parcels that are coming to me (tell me the tracking, the weight, or what the packaging looks like?! SOMETHING! PLEASE!), since the warehouse only tells me who it's from, the weight, and the tracking number - (which I don't have - so how am I to know which parcel is which?) 

FINALLY I get two photos of two different receipts. They apologised saying that part of their earlier message didn't get through, but whether or not to believe that at this point I'm not sure. Anyway, do you think this person told me which tracking number one is which?   
There are two different estimated delivery dates, but at this point that still doesn't help me - I'm assuming that the latter one is mine but what If I'm wrong? FURTHER - I then see on the receipts, that each parcel only cost them $6.45 to ship!! (remember on ebay I got charged $14.10!?) (and also remember that they posted late, with priority mail - not expedited shipping?)

So I message them AGAIN. Asking can they clarify which tracking number is MY parcel, so that I know which one to return (and, I still need an address to return to). And then I also asked them about being overcharged for shipping, asking politely if they would refund the difference.

This time the lacking reply I got was that my parcel is 'the photo on the right'.

OK... well at least I now know which tracking number is mine. But wait folks, do I have an address yet, to which to forward the incorrect parcel? Or an acknowledgement over my being charged more than double in shipping than they paid?

 

I am having a hard time remaining nice. This is NOT my F**k up. And I am doing all the running around, being overcharged, and being provided with the most uninformative replies.

So this all not resolved yet. According to the tracking parcel one has arrived but the warehouse hasn't notified me yet. I guess I just needed to vent my frustration. Perhaps ask what your next course of action would be if this was happening to you?

Of course I intend to return the other parcel (goodness knows how the other buyer in this situation is coping - are they getting the same vague responses I am?). But I've still no address to forward to (the warehouse won't say where it's come from - they probably would if I asked but that's just going to delay things further with emails/timezones etc) and I'm out $6.45 shipping, not to mention that I am supposed to trust that this seller will pay the return shipping of the other parcel. I certainly don't intend to return it until I have the funds.

Am I over-reacting to all this? Probably. It's just stressful. I can only hope that this all works out smoothly and that the four frikken ponies I bought were worth it 

*pulls pillow to face and screams*

[Taffeta]

How often do you have items shipped on to you at your location, and how difficult would it be for you to ship something directly out from that location?

I ask because it might be the smallest headache if you had them sent to you and then manually sent the other parcel back.

But I would not consider this seller reliable in providing information and thus refunds or compensation for any shipping cost for redirection. I don't think they sound like a bad person, but just maybe swamped with too much stuff (it is Christmas) and are pushing it onto you to handle because of that.

This is their mess, though. They have sent both parcels to you. They shouldn't expect you to deal with all the issue. The buyer of the other lot is also a victim in this. As for the overcharged shipping, that's something else you can take up with ebay I think. I wonder if the reluctance to send you those images might relate to that, but I really think it sounds like they have swamped themselves. And also they don't understand the complexity of your situation.

I would set it all out to them that way and make it clear that you can't do anything else until they give you accurate detail and information. And that you won't be doing anything until they give you that information. And if they don't, then I would get the ponies all to your location, and then figure it out after that.

[Marlin]

Thanks, Taffeta, for your response. Yes, I do ship frequently to this address - it's like an alternative to the GSP, only I have more control and can ship several items together (all in one big parcel, instead of individually to me in my NZ location) and it's usually more economical in most cases. So yes, I agree that had the parcel been sent directly NZ it might have been easier to manage, but unfortunately that's not what's happened here 

And the seller was made aware that they'd sent to a warehouse location; I explained that to them from the onset in order to help them understand why I needed all the info... so perhaps you can see why their responses and lack of information within them only got me more vexed!


Having said all this, I have just returned home to find a reply from them to my last message, which of course makes me regretful of having such a verbal blat!
They've just expressed their appreciation and advised that they will refund the overcharged shipping as well as reimburse for the cost of shipping the other persons parcel (putting it all through at once).
It feels much better to have that acknowledgement, but I won't count chickens just yet after all that's happened so far (esp. since they still haven't given me an address to forward the incorrect parcel to!). I will take on advice however that I shall take no further action until I have all that I need in order to perform required actions!

Taking a deep breath....!

[Taxel]

Do not pay out of pocket to ship the other parcel. Ask for a prepaid label or the money up front.

[Marlin]

Thank you, Taxel - will do!

I was intending on asking for payment up front (once I know what the total cost to send back to them is), but what are these pre-paid labels, please?

[goddessofpeep]

What a confusing mess.  I'm sorry you're dealing with this!  However, I don't think things are as bad as you think!

I had to read your post a few times to really figure out what was going on.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not live in the USA, but you have packages shipped to a warehouse in the USA, and then they in turn ship everything out to you.  I assume you pay for this service, and the shipping.  The seller accidentally sent you someone else's items as well as your own(eventually), but is being difficult about getting you the information needed to sort this out.  And you think that you got overcharged with shipping for your package.  Is that correct? Hopefully I have it figured out because my advice is for that situation:p

It's not as bad as it looks.  First of all, the seller has already promised to reimburse you for any shipping costs involving that incorrect package.  You might have to front them at first, but you should get them all back.  So that's not a problem(yet).  The seller has also been apologetic, and even offered you a bonus pony for the hassle, so that's a good sign.  The seller is a bit of a mess, but she's at least trying.  Some don't.  So far, she seems to be just confused, not dishonest.  That could change later, but for now it seems like an honest mistake, and a seller who is at least trying a little.  Maybe not as much as she could be, but she's responding to emails(eventually), and at least gives the appearance of being sorry for the mess. 

Second, Priority Mail IS expedited mail.  The alternative is called something like First Class or package rate or something(they keep changing it - I can't keep up).  Priority Mail is supposed to be 2-3 days vs. "First Class" Mail's 3-7 days(average).  The fastest mail in the USA is called Express, and no seller uses that unless the buyer specifically requests it.  That's next day delivery guaranteed, and starts at about $30 or so for letters, and you don't even want to know for packages!   So the seller did deliver on the "expedited" mail. The rest of the shipping cost may or may not be legitimate.  If the seller added extra insurance to the package, the extra insurance costs are not included on the label with the rest of the postage.  Priority gets an automatic $50 worth - if the pony was more than that, it's extra to insure it.  Also, some sellers charge for packing materials(bubble wrap, boxes, etc).  It is possible the overcharge may not be that bad, or you may not have been overcharged at all.  Or the shipping calculator screwed up(again), and the seller will fix this without a fight.  You can always take it up with the seller once you get the package in, or during your negotiations for the shipping costs on the incorrect package.

I think the big problem might be that the seller doesn't understand the full situation here.  Your package warehouse situation is confusing, and it's very possible you've got a decent seller who just doesn't get what's going on. If you've got a confused seller,  it's probably best to keep things as simple as possible when dealing with her. Don't send walls of text, and keep things as short and simple as possible. I've dealt with more than a few confused sellers, and the more you throw at them, the more confused they get.  I think you need to explain to her the following things:
1) The package is not coming directly to you.  It's going to a shipping warehouse that will send it on to you.
2) This service costs a lot of money, and if you can't get that package turned around at the warehouse, then the seller is going to have to pay A LOT of money in international shipping(twice!) to fix this mess.
3) Explain what you need to get that package turned around.  I'd put it in the following format since lists are a lot easier to deal with complex information for a lot of people:

"I use a mail forwarding service since I do not live in the USA. The service can send the other buyer's package directly out to her, but only if I have all the information I need to identify it.  If the other buyer's package gets sent on to me in [home country], it's going to cost you a lot of extra money in international shipping both to and from me. To get that package sent to the correct buyer without incurring a huge international postage bill, I need the following information from you:

1) The tracking numbers for both packages, and confirmation of which package is mine, and which is the other buyer's
2) The weights of both packages, and which package is which
3) The return address you put on the package(including your name)
4) The other buyer's address to send the package to
5) [and whatever else you're trying to get from her]

I need it by [date], or the package may be sent to me automatically, and you'll have to pay for the expensive international shipping.

Thank you."

Once you get the package turned around and sorted, then you can start in on getting your costs back, and addressing the shipping overcharge.

I hope this helps:)  I'm sorry it's so long, but you've got yourself a complicated mess to deal with:(  Good luck!

[Marlin]

Hi Goddessofpeep! Thanks for your reply! I know, it is a mess, isn't it! 

I had to read your post a few times to really figure out what was going on.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not live in the USA, but you have packages shipped to a warehouse in the USA, and then they in turn ship everything out to you.  I assume you pay for this service, and the shipping.  The seller accidentally sent you someone else's items as well as your own(eventually), but is being difficult about getting you the information needed to sort this out.  And you think that you got overcharged with shipping for your package.  Is that correct?

Yup - correct! *hands you cookies!*

I appreciate all the advice you gave. And thank you for clarifying the Priority/Expedited shipping for me - that was very helpful! (I'm in New Zealand, so the US postal system is a bit foreign to me!). And it appears I was indeed overcharged - the seller acknowledged this in their last message to me (received after I had written this post here) and advised they discovered the 'flat rate' options after they had put my items up for sale. Anyhoo, they have advised they will refund the excess amount charged which is very decent of them.

The seller is aware of the situation (re the warehouse and that I'm not in the US; and that I need to get the warehouse to return the parcel). I made that very clear right from my first comms with them - which I was I was getting very frustrated having to go back to them all the time for info.

I'm hoping since my last comms with them (which I received subsequent to having ranted here!) that we are now on the home straight (fingers crossed). So long as they get me that address to forward the parcel to (and a name - good point!) then hopefully this mess can be put away!

[nhal039]

Oh i need to pm ya but youshop will open the parcels and take a photo for u. Just message them ans let them know what happened.
I messaged them once when they said a parcel arrived and marked it as gardening goods (it was a toy pony). I said i wasnt sure if it was mine. They took a photo straight away

If the seller has a return addy they could properly just mark it return to sender

Post Merge: December 11, 2016, 08:07:58 PM

And trust me if u want a head ache story i have a worse one... i can pm ya the details of a 2-3 month saga over a undisclosed rehair from a well known seller and yet still i have no refund and hours and hours of my life lost sorting out this mess, at leastvyr seller replies. There are worse

[Marlin]

Hey nhal   Yeah, youshop did that for me once, too - my pony parcel was marked as shoes, lol!

I'd certainly rather avoid having to do that, though. The back and forth between just takes so long, and you wouldn't believe the trouble I had getting youshop to actually attach their photo to an email - oii! 

And yeah - the return to sender would be the easy option for sure. But apparently I can forward it to the correct buyer, which would save the seller receiving and shipping all over again, so we'll aim for that option for now - unless things get really ridiculous of course!

You're right, it certainly could be worse. And I do feel a tad guilty of being rash with my first post. I was just so bloody annoyed. That will teach me for being curt of quill (or rather, chaotic of keyboard). The last message I got from the seller gives me the impression that they seem genuine, so I am just hoping that's the case and it works out for all.

Bummer about your situation though - that sounds painful!

[nhal039]

I think on forwarding to a different addy will complicate things for you. I am not sure youshop will be to keen on that and they will still have to open the box to verify the contents. Just flick them a message explaining as for pics, it will be 2 days and they will reply. At least u will know what box is what. Youshop has always anwsered promtly to my requests giving the time difference

If the seller sells alot and made a geninue mistake recalling details can be hard at times and with christmas madness i can see how mistakes happen.

[Taxel]

Thank you, Taxel - will do!

I was intending on asking for payment up front (once I know what the total cost to send back to them is), but what are these pre-paid labels, please?

You can buy labels through USPS and UPS (probably FedEx too) online and email or link them to whoever needs to use them. I would never, ever trust a seller to reimburse me for a label after the fact, especially some random person on eBay. A real business, like an Etsy store, I might trust more if the owner was professional.

If you're not actually going to be given the package that probably won't work. I misunderstood what was happening a bit I guess! But if there's a fee to fix the seller's mess, I would require it up front. Its unreasonable for the seller to expect you to shell out for this with no guarantee they'll actually reimburse you.

[bluerose9978]

Since it's the seller's whoops, I think they are able to send you pre-paid labels through eBay to send the item back or to the other buyer. So, do not shell money out of your own pocket. Just keep in contact with your seller and with eBay about this so that you're not paying any of your money for their mistake.

[Marlin]

Thanks, guys for the advice re the prepaid labels. I think I will investigate this further, and perhaps it is the best thing to get the parcel returned direct to seller, just to be safe. Taking this all on board, thank you!

[Haruna]

Ack, what a mess! I'd be pulling my hair out, too. Hope you can get it all sorted

[Marlin]

Ack, what a mess! I'd be pulling my hair out, too. Hope you can get it all sorted

Thanks, Haruna

Well, I thought I'd provide a little bit of an update as to the whole mess...

The good news is, that eventually, the parcels arrived at my US warehouse, but even that was not without its dramas. They took flippin forever to arrive (well, for the warehouse to process them, anyway). My one was notified first, and I then had to enter into a tedious dialogue with the warehouse to find the other (the other person's parcel) which according to the tracking, had arrived two days earlier!
Turns out that that even though the ebay seller had addressed the parcel to me, they had not put my warehouse ID on the parcel, so it ended up in the 'waiting to be claimed' bin - how helpful, huh? The warehouse I felt could have done more to match the parcel to me using my name, I thought, so both of these events just made for another unnecessary delay drawing all this out!

Anyway, after successfully IDing each of these parcels to confirm which was which, I then heard from the seller who was getting panicky about the fact that the parcel that they'd sent to me in error, wouldn't be with the correct person in time for Christmas. They put through a refund (for both my overcharged shipping and extra to cover the shipping to the other person) saying that if I needed more they would put it through. The timing all worked out quite well in that regard as at that point, I was able to start processing the return of the incorrect parcel, and as it also turns out, the $20US they refunded me worked out almost exactly what was owed to me - only .20c out which I wasn't about to quibble about (they opted for sending to alt. US address (aka correct buyer), which they knew was going to cost them pretty much double to ship).

The next delay I then encountered during my returns processing what that the warehouse then needed to know the value of the (incorrect) parcel. So had to go back to the seller for that. Then, the warehouse needed a contact ph number. FFS! If only all these requirements were said up front! So had to go back to the seller again.... but at least I got the info quickly and to the best of my knowledge the parcel is now on its way to the correct buyer!!! 

 

I have since been able to consolidate my parcels at the warehouse and they should hopefully be with me in the the New Year sometime.

I never heard back from the ebay seller after my last message saying that I had finally been able to return the incorrect parcel (providing them with screenshots as proof etc). I thought that a bit weird so I hope it all works out ok.
Unfortunately for them I don't think things are working out terribly well.... I have been watching their ebay feedback and the buyer of the mis-sent parcel has planted a negative on them stating items still not received. I wonder if the communications between that person and the ebay seller have been poorly, too? I would have thought that maybe the ebay seller would have let them know the situation and that their parcel was finally on its way to them, but who knows, and at the end of the day I have done all I can. And the fact that the warehouse was slow owing to the snowstorm in portland and the postal rush right before Christmas didn't help any of us, either. It all really has been quite unfortunate a situation.
I noticed the ebay seller also had another neg slapped on them over another ebay pony auction, saying that marks and vinyl cuts were undisclosed. Things are definitely not going well for them at all     Provided the ponies I bought from them turn up unscathed and not disastrously not as described I won't be leaving a neg or a neutral. They'll get a positive from me. At the end of the day they did send me my parcel, and all other factors I've had to go through, despite how exhausting and time consuming, aren't connected to what will be my end product.

What an ordeal. I can only hope it ends well for the seller and the correct buyer of that mis-sent parcel. It's all such a shame, really.