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Trader & Shipping Support / Trade Problem with Moonstorm
« on: June 01, 2012, 12:19:16 PM »
I really didn't want to start this thread, because honestly, I don't like confrontation and also because I didn't want to falsely accuse anyone of anything, but I think at this point, I don't have much choice. Just in case I have indeed been scammed like I now think I have, I wanted to warn others and hopefully prevent this from happening to other members.
Way back towards the end of February, I got a PM from Moonstorm asking if I'd trade some of my blind bag figures I had listed in my trade topic (I had a bunch of them back then) for a Rainbow Dash with bangs or a G4 Star Swirl. I was thrilled since I was just getting over the flu at the time and could have used good news and Star Swirl was my grail (still is) so I said I wanted Star Swirl. So Moonstorm messaged me back, saying that the set with Star Swirl cost $24 and wanted to be sure the trade was fair, so I offered 8 blind bags for her and asked which ones she wanted. She picked out nine, but said I could choose which of the last two to send since she couldn't decide. I was so happy I'd be getting Star Swirl at the time, that I just ended up throwing all nine in the bubble mailer to send out. I sent out the package on March 3rd and Moonstorm claimed to have shipped my package on the 5th.
So on March 28th, I decided to send Moonstorm a PM since neither of us had received our packages at this point, and I had figured out that the customs declaration number could be entered into the USPS tracking site and be tracked until it left the country and asked if there was something like that in Belgium. The tracking at the time showed it left Chicago for Belgium on March 4th. Moonstorm claimed they didn't have any kind of tracking system and while I don't know how true that is, I accepted it at the time and just kept waiting and hoping the packages would show. I knew it didn't seem possible that both of our packages would go missing, but I was still really worried. I'd done several international trades before and never had any problems with packages not showing or even taking longer than 2 weeks.
So towards the end of April, I sent another PM to Moonstorm asking if she got my package yet and to let her know that I still haven't received mine. I also asked for the customs declaration number from the package (which should be on the receipt) so I could try and track it to see if it ever arrived in the US. On April 25th, I got a PM back saying she did get the package several days ago and it was heavily damaged. She then said that they don't have customs declaration numbers, but said she'd try to find the receipt.
So there were a few things at this point that made me really suspicious. First off, at this point, it had been like two months since the packages were shipped and she knew I was freaking out about my package not showing up, so why wait until several days later to tell me it arrived? Then, if it was "heavily damaged" like she claimed, why not go into more detail about how it was damaged or even take pics to prove it? I know I would have. It just seemed off since I shipped in one of those really strong plastic bubble mailers. I ship in those all the time (and receive lots of packages in them) and I've never seen them rip open at all. And while I really didn't believe that she wouldn't have to fill out a customs declaration form (I've never gotten a package from outside the US without one) I couldn't really prove otherwise at the time so I dropped it. But like a week later, I received a PS3 game I ordered from a site called Zavvi and it was shipped from Belgium and had a customs declaration form on the package. So that proved that they did use them.
On May 2nd, once again, I sent Moonstorm another PM and said I'd really feel better about the whole thing if she would just show some proof that she held up her end of the trade. Her response, instead of proving anything, was to say she never filled out any customs forms and instead listed a few members she'd done transactions with and said I could ask them if they had them on their packages. I was getting tired of the excuses and avoidance of showing any proof at this point, so I had a mod (I had been in contact with a mod for advice on how to handle this from about the 8 week mark) contact her and ask for proof. She still didn't submit any proof so I was advised to start this topic.
At this point, it's now been 3 months. I'm now out the cost of the 9 blind bags and the $6 I paid for shipping. And worst of all, I'm out my grail, Star Swirl. I'll probably never get her now because besides her no longer being in stores (or at least not as common as she was) I can't afford to pay another $25-30 for another one, because at that point, I'd have put too much money into getting Star Swirl and I can't justify spending more than $25 on a single pony. I'd never completely given up hope that she might arrive until I had to write this, but now after going over the whole thing again, I'm positive she won't show up now which is making me feel like crying, so I guess this is all I can write for now.
Way back towards the end of February, I got a PM from Moonstorm asking if I'd trade some of my blind bag figures I had listed in my trade topic (I had a bunch of them back then) for a Rainbow Dash with bangs or a G4 Star Swirl. I was thrilled since I was just getting over the flu at the time and could have used good news and Star Swirl was my grail (still is) so I said I wanted Star Swirl. So Moonstorm messaged me back, saying that the set with Star Swirl cost $24 and wanted to be sure the trade was fair, so I offered 8 blind bags for her and asked which ones she wanted. She picked out nine, but said I could choose which of the last two to send since she couldn't decide. I was so happy I'd be getting Star Swirl at the time, that I just ended up throwing all nine in the bubble mailer to send out. I sent out the package on March 3rd and Moonstorm claimed to have shipped my package on the 5th.
So on March 28th, I decided to send Moonstorm a PM since neither of us had received our packages at this point, and I had figured out that the customs declaration number could be entered into the USPS tracking site and be tracked until it left the country and asked if there was something like that in Belgium. The tracking at the time showed it left Chicago for Belgium on March 4th. Moonstorm claimed they didn't have any kind of tracking system and while I don't know how true that is, I accepted it at the time and just kept waiting and hoping the packages would show. I knew it didn't seem possible that both of our packages would go missing, but I was still really worried. I'd done several international trades before and never had any problems with packages not showing or even taking longer than 2 weeks.
So towards the end of April, I sent another PM to Moonstorm asking if she got my package yet and to let her know that I still haven't received mine. I also asked for the customs declaration number from the package (which should be on the receipt) so I could try and track it to see if it ever arrived in the US. On April 25th, I got a PM back saying she did get the package several days ago and it was heavily damaged. She then said that they don't have customs declaration numbers, but said she'd try to find the receipt.
So there were a few things at this point that made me really suspicious. First off, at this point, it had been like two months since the packages were shipped and she knew I was freaking out about my package not showing up, so why wait until several days later to tell me it arrived? Then, if it was "heavily damaged" like she claimed, why not go into more detail about how it was damaged or even take pics to prove it? I know I would have. It just seemed off since I shipped in one of those really strong plastic bubble mailers. I ship in those all the time (and receive lots of packages in them) and I've never seen them rip open at all. And while I really didn't believe that she wouldn't have to fill out a customs declaration form (I've never gotten a package from outside the US without one) I couldn't really prove otherwise at the time so I dropped it. But like a week later, I received a PS3 game I ordered from a site called Zavvi and it was shipped from Belgium and had a customs declaration form on the package. So that proved that they did use them.
On May 2nd, once again, I sent Moonstorm another PM and said I'd really feel better about the whole thing if she would just show some proof that she held up her end of the trade. Her response, instead of proving anything, was to say she never filled out any customs forms and instead listed a few members she'd done transactions with and said I could ask them if they had them on their packages. I was getting tired of the excuses and avoidance of showing any proof at this point, so I had a mod (I had been in contact with a mod for advice on how to handle this from about the 8 week mark) contact her and ask for proof. She still didn't submit any proof so I was advised to start this topic.
At this point, it's now been 3 months. I'm now out the cost of the 9 blind bags and the $6 I paid for shipping. And worst of all, I'm out my grail, Star Swirl. I'll probably never get her now because besides her no longer being in stores (or at least not as common as she was) I can't afford to pay another $25-30 for another one, because at that point, I'd have put too much money into getting Star Swirl and I can't justify spending more than $25 on a single pony. I'd never completely given up hope that she might arrive until I had to write this, but now after going over the whole thing again, I'm positive she won't show up now which is making me feel like crying, so I guess this is all I can write for now.