Old hat but I have to get it out.... *solved* ;)

[BerryMouse]

First of all I'm sorry this is not new and I bet some of you already dealed with a similar situation.
Be glad if you don't.
(oh and please ignore my badd english - I get problems with grammar while I'm vent my displeasure =( )

This is the "first time" for me and I have to get it out now!

I'm a pony seller/buyer & trader for over 7 years now.
I have 100 % positive feedback here and on ebay as well.
I did over 1000 transactions over ebay and over 400 here on the pony arena.

Why am I telling this?
Go ahead and read

I've shipped stuff to the whole world in the past 7 years to quit foreign countries and NOTHINg (trust me when I say nothing I really mean nothing) got lost within these years.

I offer shipping with tracking - you can read everything in my sales topic (I have a quit detailed shipping information)
so if my buyer is not asking for shipping with tracking I'll ship it the regular way to keep it cheap of course.
Letters to all over the world are automatically shipped priority and stuff normally arrive within two weeks but sometimes in very rare cases shipping took longer.

I do understand that customers might get worried and want to inform their seller that the items not arrived.
I'm not a very patient person myself ...but I would never annoy my seller every week telling him that the item is not there yet... but that's prolly different from person to person.

So like I said none of my mailings got lost so far but NOW I had to deal with a pretty strange situation - at least it's new to me.

A buyer (who told me once a week that the items not arrived yet) waited now almost 4 weeks for the parcel to arrive. (shipped 4th of October one day after a holiday here in Germany - so the mail prolly did'nt went out directly)
I got bored of getting messages once a week and I don't want to discuss it any longer that sometimes items are just slow.
I'm tired of declaring and explaining myself.

I print the stamps myself so if it's shipped the regular way I don't have a receipe or tracking number - so of course no promise that I really shipped....

I do understand when my buyer says "I don't want to lose money on this"
YAH - but it is super fine if the seller lose both, money & the item on these right?
I don't think this is fair at all.

I do offer shipping with tracking (you can read it all in my sales topic!) but if the buyer is not asking for it then the buyer get the stuff with regular mail.
And then, if the buyer is not able to be patient, sending messages once a week, and "moaning" (sorry when I sound round at this point) for losing money.... is this really all my fault?

Like I said I'm tired of it and finally send the money for the item back (cause I'm so bloody rich of ponies and money that this for sure not a big deal for me .... /irony off)
I'm sure the item will make it - it's prolly just slow / stuck somwhere ... how should I know?

I don't expect any suggestions cuz I already made a decision on this whole case.

And I really thinking about offering shipping with tracking for overseas ppl what will prolly scare ppl off from buying but I NEVER want to deal with a similar situation again in the future!

I'm just kinda pissed.... sorry for sounding harsh and rude....

If you want it the safe way then please choose shipping with tracking even if it costs ya $2,50 more ... that would safe some nerves!

[Honeycomb]

So sorry that has happened to you ....
Did they pay with paypal? I am always scared this might happen to me when I sell and accept paypal. I think the only way to avoid this is to make registered shipping a must if people use paypal to pay.
Was it an ebay transaction or here?
I hope they are at least honest and pay you back as soon as the item has arrived.

[pyrodarknessanny]

oh dear! thats no good at all.

id in futrue think aobut putting a disclamer in your sales  about   your refund pollicy.
like if they chose the cheaper shipping method, then  they  void the right for a refund if items get lost in the mail.
where as if they chose  the regestered mail and items get lost then a full refund would be given.

or something simalaur.

i do hope this gets sorted out for you. and all partys can come away  happy with the out come

[NovelNerd]

Honestly I'm unsure but even with a disclaimer someone could open a paypal claim. There is simply no proof of the package being sent. I feel for you Berry. That is why I'm no longer shipping overseas without tracking unless they are a friend.

oh dear! thats no good at all.

id in futrue think aobut putting a disclamer in your sales  about   your refund pollicy.
like if they chose the cheaper shipping method, then  they  void the right for a refund if items get lost in the mail.
where as if they chose  the regestered mail and items get lost then a full refund would be given.

or something simalaur.

i do hope this gets sorted out for you. and all partys can come away  happy with the out come

[banditpony]

Honestly I'm unsure but even with a disclaimer someone could open a paypal claim. There is simply no proof of the package being sent. I feel for you Berry. That is why I'm no longer shipping overseas without tracking unless they are a friend.

oh dear! thats no good at all.

id in futrue think aobut putting a disclamer in your sales  about   your refund pollicy.
like if they chose the cheaper shipping method, then  they  void the right for a refund if items get lost in the mail.
where as if they chose  the regestered mail and items get lost then a full refund would be given.

or something simalaur.

i do hope this gets sorted out for you. and all partys can come away  happy with the out come

This is so true. u___u; Maybe a disclaimer BEFORE they purchase that it could take up to 4 weeks of shipping with international first class. (Especially now since we are starting to get into the holiday season).

[Sebby6]

I'm so sorry that you are in this situation
It is unfortunately a sign of the times - Even Ebay endorses it.

I don't insist on tracking, but I always, always get proof of postage (even if it means the extra hassle of going to the post office when there are easier options) I know it won't stop them doing a chargeback, but then it doesn't stop me either from flaming them on every pony board in the world, should they do so.

You have to be a little bit fair to the buyer also. Maybe they too have been buying and selling ponies for years and nothing ever went wrong, and now the parcel is missing and there isn't even a proof that it was sent.

[BerryMouse]

Already refunded the money so nothing to complain for the buyer ... or anything.

And she's new to the community, this transaction went over the arena and I already made a decision for the future.

Oh and I always treat my buyers & also trader and even the sellers fair....

Like I said I don't expected any suggestions here just wanted to let off steam.

Berry

[Maniah]

If you print your postage yourself, then feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but your postage prints out with a receipt. You have to cut the postage off of the receipt , using effectively half a sheet of paper. Also, if you printed through Paypal, then they should have record of the postage purchase.  Best of luck you you! I know things are different from country to country, but for your sake, I hope these things are the same.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

Yeah, the online buying and selling has changed so much since Ebay has changed their policies. For some reason, because Ebay and Paypal do something one way, everyone thinks that's how the world works. In actuality however, Ebay and Paypal aren't law and the person selling the item aren't always responsible for lost goods. So now if you sell items and use cheap shipping, you have to be ready to randomly eat the cost of both the shipping and the item either due to dishonest people or lost mail.

[kitkatvintage]

Berry, I'm sorry you're having this problem! I know exactly how you feel. I've been shipping internationally with priority shipping only for the last year because it has tracking & gives the tiniest bit of protection to the seller. It's very expensive & I know I've lost international sales because of it, but I can't afford to be out money & items on a problem with the postal service or dishonest buyer. Take care, dear!

[BerryMouse]

If you print your postage yourself, then feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but your postage prints out with a receipt. You have to cut the postage off of the receipt , using effectively half a sheet of paper. Also, if you printed through Paypal, then they should have record of the postage purchase.  Best of luck you you! I know things are different from country to country, but for your sake, I hope these things are the same.

I print out just stamps, stamps and nothing else =(!
Of course  I get a invoice for it yes, but this would also no proof of shipping.

The only way to get a proof is going to the post office paying and getting a receipe - but who tells ya it's for the right item if I ship 10 mailings out that day?
That's also no proof.

The best thing would be a tracking - then you get a slip with a number and the address of the recipient.

=)

[lovesbabysquirmy]

*hugs*  Totally frustrating!  This is why I almost always ship with tracking, even if it's $30 more.  Would I rather spend the shipping funds and get the package there, or do I want to have to track down and re-buy ponies and then ship them again?  Nope... just get it there in the first place!

[Buffy]

I know how you feel and thats why I only send by registered mail, when I was paid with paypal. You can buy "SB-Einschreiben", so you don't have to go to a post office to send items registered.
I hope your buyer is so fair and will send you your money back, when the item arrived.
Was it someone in USA? I'm sure there will be delay because of "Sandy".... *hugs*

[Sea_Breeze]

Sorry to hear that Berrymouse, you've got an outstanding record there especially if this is the first to go missing so well done to you

Personally if the buyer didn't agree to tracking then they're out of pocket not you. Unfortunately we can't control the postal service even with tracking its not 100% full proof   I've been in the buyers situation before, I just sucked it up and moved on, nothing I could do, didn't agree to tracking or insurance. That was many years ago now. I have parcels turning up standard post just fine

[nhal039]

sorry to hear that : ( I know you refunded the money but really I think the buyer should deal with the lost items not you, they had a chance to get it sent tracked and choose not to...