Sweet Scoops charm problem?

[Haruna]

I freaked out a little just now when I saw this very polite message from the winner of my Sweet Scoops charm auction (the charm has been paid for and delivered):

"Hello! Could you please refund me the excess shipping i was charged? I don't mind at all, but you didn't send this signed for or insured. I just want the $5 i was overcharged. Thanks for the help!"

Shipping was $9.99 for the charm because I included insurance and signature confirmation. I am positive that I did; my reasons are in my response below. I just wonder what happened! Does the post office sometimes mess up and not do signature confirmation or something??

"Thank you for messaging us! As a pony collector myself, I would also be upset to be overcharged so much and understand your concerns. I want to reassure you that the item was sent insured and with signature confirmation. Since this was such an expensive item, I was extremely careful as I prepared the item for shipment. I made sure to purchase insurance and signature confirmation from Ebay. As you can see in the screenshot I've attached, shipping actually cost us $13.08 because of these additional services (it would normally be only $2.99 or less for such a light item). If you put the tracking number into the USPS website, you can also see that the item was sent with insurance and signature confirmation (I've included a screenshot of that as well). The same page says that ---------------- signed for the item at 9:39 a.m. on Feb. 6; is this a family member, perhaps? Could someone else have signed for your item? Please rest assured that the item was sent insured and with signature confirmation. Please let us know if that alleviates your concerns or if you have any further questions."

I also have pictures of the package before it was sent, which has the Ebay shipping label that says "Insured" on it; I can't get to it at the moment because my sister has that camera. So I can send that if need be, I guess. I just wonder what happened! I don't like having problems on such an expensive item. But I hope everything smooths over.

[kellyponyfeathers]

I've actually been having a lot of problems over the last few years with getting items that were supposed to have insurance and signature, but they've been delivered without.  It usually doesn't seem to be the sender's fault, but some sort of glitch in the mail system when service are purchased online.  I had a huge problem with shipping services bought from stamps.com; the item was supposed to be insured for a lot, but wasn't.  It had something to do with the sender hitting the back button at the wrong time, so he thought he was getting insurance, but wasn't.  So I'd like to know what's going on too.  Right now my only advice is to go to the PO when shipping expensive packages that need additional services.  Things seem to go awry when paying online for shipping.

[ponylady]

  What in the world is going on with USPS these days?  They downright are screwing up left and right!

Haruna I am so glad to hear that you have pretty much all the proof you need to prove to your buyer what you paid. It's definitely not your fault that we have an incompetent postal service. Hopefully they will understand 

[Ringlets]

What in the world is going on with USPS these days?  They downright are screwing up left and right!

Haruna I am so glad to hear that you have pretty much all the proof you need to prove to your buyer what you paid. It's definitely not your fault that we have an incompetent postal service. Hopefully they will understand 

My thoughts exactly PL ! ^^   
good thing you have all the evidence Haruna!     your message to the buyer was good too!

[goddessofpeep]

You can expect more of this to start happening throughout the system.  Congress is gutting the USPS, and lost packages, packages taking detours to faraway states, and other mailing problems are probably going to become the norm.  The latest round of cutbacks are just starting to happen now.

That said, I have had packages that were supposed to be signed for just left on my doorstep before.  It happens.  I have one good mail man, and when he's on vacation or off, it happens a lot more frequently.  You have the receipt to prove how much you paid.  Hopefully that'll be enough for your buyer.

[Haruna]

Thank you guys! I heard back from my buyer soon and she was very nice. Sounds like everything will be okay, whew! That is weird about the signature confirmation. She confirmed that she lives alone and never signed for anything. I guess I'll have to keep in mind that the signature confirmation stuff can be weird sometimes! 

[CupidStrikes]

Sometimes the postman will sign for the parcel. It happens here semi-frequently. They're not supposed to do it, but many of them do for whatever reason.

[bluerose9978]

We had an item that was supposed to come signed for from UPS yesterday and, as usual, the UPS guy just did a ring and run. So I don't think it's just USPS that's signing for it themselves....