PO opened my box and lost contents?

[skyrocketneko]

I sold a doll to a girl on eBay. Sent Priority.  Here's what she messaged me. 



Hello,
I received an empty box today, I don't know what happened but-- USPS put stamps all over the box saying "received unsealed" and "received without contents" and "received in damaged condition". I'm including a photo. I really wanted that doll so I'm clearly disappointed. Can you please refund my money, Thank you,


This was their box, which I sealed carefully. I hope I can get insurance back from this because I already spent the money. I don't know why it's my fault, because it's their fault!

It looks like she has to file for insurance, correct?  So I just give her the website and she does it?

[ponylady]

I believe either one of you can file the claim if insurance was purchased. This is from USP's website.

Who May File a Claim:
Damage or Missing Contents: Mailer or addressee.
Note: The addressee should retain the items (the mailing container, including wrapping, packaging, and any contents) and should not return or remail the items to the mailer, as this might void payment of the claim. The addressee may be asked to make the items available to the local Post Office for inspection, retention, and disposition.
Lost Article: Mailer or addressee (whoever has the original mailing receipt or the original sales receipt).

[skyrocketneko]

Oh, thank you Ponylady.  I just filed a claim to send the money to her. So that means it's in the Post Office's hands at this point, correct? I do not need to send a refund.

[ponylady]

I would not at this point. I would though email her and let her know that you have filed a claim and you will keep her posted and could she please be patient.

[skyrocketneko]

Sigh.. I spent my morning scanning in stuff and making the claim for her, and I get this back...

Thank you, but what you should have done as a seller is refunded my money in PayPal, and had the USPS claim go to you. I cannot ever check the status of the claim because it's under your USPS account. I hope you included photos and everything they ask for so it's approved. They're not going to email/tell you if they approve it or not, you have to keep re-checking the status over the next few weeks. If the claim doesn't get approved you will have to refund me thru PayPal or I'll have to file an eBay dispute. I will tell you when/if I get the USPS check in the next few weeks, hopefully soon!

I really wanted Lady Lovely Locks, I grew up loving her :-( And worse is that I was in Boulder all weekend- had I known you were in Lyons I would have happily picked it up. (your location on the auction said Conneticuit)

Ok, well thank you, let's hope things work out for the better! This situation sucks.




I could not open the claim to give me a refund because she has the package.  I am so upset. And I'm not in Lyons. I was evacuated months ago and live with my parents temporarily. I just don't have a permanent address right now, so I put the Lyons one there.  I don't even know how to respond about this- I'm doing this the way I'm supposed to be doing this, and it's not my fault. 

[STLGusty]

....Sounds like she has quite some experience in mail insurance claims...makes you wonder..hm...

Hope it all works out for you

[Shenanigans]

I hope everything turns out ok Keep us updated

[coinoperatedgirl]

....Sounds like she has quite some experience in mail insurance claims...makes you wonder..hm...

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who had the exact same thought!

[skyrocketneko]

Well, she has lots of feedback which is all positive. I know what I did was right. I just hope she is patient about this. I am doing the best I can.

[Prixton]

Well, she has lots of feedback which is all positive. I know what I did was right. I just hope she is patient about this. I am doing the best I can.

I agree, don't beat yourself up! This is just a bad situation all around, and if I were you I wouldn't have refunded her either! If you can't do anything without the box and if she refuses to take the box to the PO herself to help get this sorted out, then I would contact ebay and/or Paypal yourself and try to explain the situation; perhaps they can be of some help? In the end she may still leave a negative but I don't think she's entitled to any money from you; you've held up your end of the deal and are doing the best you can to get this resolved.

[NoDivision]

I think it's incredibly unfair that she expects you to refund her out of pocket when you've done nothing wrong. You are absolutely going about it the right way and she is being unreasonable - in fact with her little insert about how badly she wanted the doll she's basically bullying you with that attempt to make you feel guilty, which is not cool at all.

[HawaiianRain]

Actually since this is through ebay, I would have as the seller done the claim myself. Asked for the photos etc..

This directly off the ebay site:

Even if the item was not insured, you're still responsible for the item until the buyer receives it.

Contact the buyer to work out a solution. If you file an insurance claim, the shipping company or the insurance company may need to contact the buyer to verify the claim and inspect the item and its packaging before resolving your claim.

I would say that if this was handled OFF of ebay, either of you could have filed a claim but since this is *sigh ebay's playground and thus ebay's rules* You responsible that the buyer gets their item or their money back. At this point, they I can believe, open a claim against you for the missing item and get their refund that way.

It's not about who is right, it's about who is ebay going to side with if things go wrong. As a seller you're pretty much screwed and need to protect yourself.

[NoDivision]

I don't think skyrocketneko did anything wrong per ebay though. She's doing just as that says and working with the buyer to reach a solution. She has filed an insurance claim, she just selected for the payment to be sent directly to the buyer.

[Galactica]

I've had this happen to me- I can tell you that ebay will make you refund the buyer- or take money out of your account.

I'm not sure what you should do at this point if you've already directed the funds to be sent to her- maybe contact the post office and explain the situation and change the refund to you ? (if you can).  Otherwise you will have to count on her honesty to refund you when she gets the check from the post office.

[skyrocketneko]

I had to set it up for the funds to be sent to her as she has the empty box. If I wanted the funds sent to me, I'd have to ask her to send the empty box back to me. Seems silly.