Beware--getting burned by USPS plus RANT
 

Apparently, if you send something international with priority mail, and it's in a flat rate envelope or small flat rate box, USPS has no way to trace it, no way to verify you sent it and no way to verify they ever even got it!

I sold something on ebay to a person in the UK. A small item that would fit in a flat rate, but shipping is expensive, so i also offer regular mail. They paid for priority, and I wondered why bc it's so expensive. Oh well, I got the payment almost immediately and i sent out the next day. then I get a notice from paypal saying this buyers account was hacked and payment was sent fraudulently, so they take back my funds, but i had already shipped!

So they ask for proof of shipment, I upload my shipping reciept i get when i print from my computer, but apparently that number isn't linked to anything except the shipper was notified to except a package for shipping. I shipped it out on Oct 4 and there is still no record. So now I am out my merchandise and my shipping costs. Plus my final value fees, listing fees, paypal fees. I called usps directly and bc there is no proof that the item was actually shipped, they won't refund at least my shipping costs due to services not rendered. Their system shows it hasn't shipped so they can't refund until it's shipped? Well why hasn't it shipped yet? there's just no record at all. :thumbdown

There are so many safeguards for buyers, but not enough against sellers! Now i am weary of all international orders, and the past week has been nothing but international orders!

On another note, a last minute halloween shopper wanted to get an item by halloween but they didn't order until Wed. and only paid priority. the only way it would get there is express, so me being so trusting went ahead an paid the upgrade of $19 to make she she got it on time, and she swore she would pay the upgrade afterward, and now guess who is ignoring me. And no way for me to appeal either. that's what I get for trying to give customer service.

then another girl, waits and waits and waits to pay when she's bugging me if she'll get it by halloween. Well i won't ship until I get payment. She gets it and says it smells dusty and therefore is not as described and will send it back wants her moeny back. i say i will refund minus shipping. Now she has her moeny back and I'm still waiting to get my item back. :mad: Nothing I can do there either, she alrady accepted the refund so now the dispute is closed.

So sorry that happened. You have to pay extra for delivery confirmation and then you get tracking info. It is 70 cents here in the US not sure what it would be to the UK.

And I agree about no safeguards for sellers. I sent 80.00 worth of bully sticks awhile back and had to re send them because they were lost. Ugh...

I thought priority mail automatically came with tracking??? If it does..theres gotta be record of it somewhere going to another U.S. station. when i sell something on ebay....the only way i ship it is flat rate. Also if theres ever a return...i make sure i get the product before refunding the funds. As far as Paypal taking back the funds cause someone else was hacked....i dont think its really fair. I mean you did send the product to the person's address..was it verified? It seems weird that someone would hack into someone's account..buy something..and then have it sent to the person they are hacking?:confused:

From what I understood from the hacked person, the hacker changed the address, so it was not a confirm address, but people have unconfirmed addresses all the time and I've never had a problem, just lucky then i guess.

the tracking for international priority on a flat rate is just a customs number, not an actual tracking number. USPS cannot track internationally like how UPS and Fedex can. Well they can, but we would have to pay more for it.

Most of the time packages will get held up in customs. You must write the correct discription and value of your package.

I did, they were two pairs of earrings, that's it.

Just wanted to say sorry to hear about your problems. I would be frustrated too. I do not trust people to be honest. Good luck.

Sorry to hear you are having problems :(
I know when I bought my mad hatter hat from you that you gave great customer service and the package arrived really quickly. :) 5 stars from me!!
I hope you can get this sorted out soon.

You are saying that you have a USPS.com account and paid for and printed an international label Priority mail label from your home computer? It should indeed come with a tracking number. I ship Priority internationally quite often and receive a tracking number every single time. Can you log into your USPS.com account and view the transaction?

I guess you're going to have to stop being so trusting! You need to pretend that every overseas customer is a scammer from Cameroon, and do whatever you can to protect yourself. Dishonest people learn pretty fast how to abuse the system, and it may take awhile before there are safeguards to protect you. If you lose a customer because of increased shipping costs, you have to wonder if they were a legitimate customer. So sorry this happened to you.

I agree with all of this. Most of my international customers pay via credit card. However international + paypal = be very careful.

But do you need a Commercial Invoice for that specific country. Each country has its own rule. We have International specialist that assist customers with these type of problems.

It was to the UK. I always send it the same way and never had a problem. I think part of it was bc the address was changed and not confirmed, so I was not covered by seller protection.

The strange thing is, why does usps not show any record of this item being accepted into their system? It just shows that electronic notification received of the package being ready to be sent.

Yes, that's exactly what i did. This is what comes up whem I try to track that number:

http://trkcnfrm1.smi.usps.com/PTSInt...ges/spacer.gif" Label/Receipt Number: LJ53 4518 742U S
Class: Priority Mail International Parcels
Service(s): International Letter
Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on October 02, 2010 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. No further information is available for this item. "


USPS calls this number a customs label number and they say it is not the same as tracking. So the last thing I can do is dispute the payment I sent to USPS via Paypal. Let's see what happens. :rolleyes:

Looks like usps missed a scan. That happens. Next time you need to Fedex. lol

This is a very unlucky series of events. The package is currently lost. What are the chances of that, plus a fraudulent buyer? Ugh..

I had that status on a package of mine for 2 weeks. It wasn't an international package. I called USPS and they were able to place a trace on the package ONLY if it was done by the recipient, which she did. Soon after it was delivered.

What did you do with the package? Did you bring it to the post office or hand it to your mail carrier. Did you visit the local office or call customer service? I believe someone should be able to give you a little more information. I am almost positive this is not a customs label number. This is a tracking number. A customs label number is different. I'd call USPS again or visit your local post office. It's probably sitting in a corner somewhere.

It's definitley the customs label number. I drop the packages off at the PO counter just as I always do. It may be a fraudulent buyer, but they claimed hacked. It may be held up in customs, but i don't know how customs would know that particular package was paid fraudulently?

I'm trying to get thorugh with ebay chat to see if I can at least get my fees back, at the very least, sheesh!

This stinks. Sorry this all happened. I would think if it's held up in customs there would be more info in the tracking:confused: Maybe ebay can at least help a little.

i'm on chat with ebay now and so far they are at least refund my fvf fees whoo hoo! I'm rich again! they are also fliling a complaint with USPS. a lot of good that'll do, but I'll take anything at this point.

If it was held up in customs, the label number would have at least said the item was scanned and accepted over here, but nothing. that's why I think susps lost it before it even went out.

Good for you for complaining to ebay, maybe they'll change some of the policies.

I feel your pain. I had a bow order go missing on it's way to Italy (which I later found out is the worst country to ship to).

International priority mail doesn't operate like domestic mail does. It is not trackable and there is no delivery confirmation. The only way to track international packages is to either send them registered mail ($11.50 extra, but that only reimburses up to $45.62 if the package is lost) or Express mail or Global Mail, which is very expensive.

I have since heard that international buyers will scam sellers by only paying for first class/priority untrackable mail, then filing a Paypal dispute 30 days later claiming they did not receive the package when they really did. Unless you have proof of delivery, Paypal will refund the buyer's money.

I have gotten very picky about which countries I will ship to. I also prefer to ship small bow orders of $25-$30. That amount usually isn't subject to duty tax so most of my customers are okay with it. I now require orders over $50 be shipped registered mail and who wants to pay $18 shipping on $50 worth of bows sent and then have to pay duty on top of that?

I really hate international orders. :thumbdown

As a mail mans wife he has told me time and time again once it leaves the US they don't really have any control over the packages. They rely on the other countries basic mail services as their fees.
We have always gone with fed-ex for over seas as well as UPS. We have several friends in the military that live off base that we mail things too. Altho some have gotten smart and gotten a APO shipping address on base to keep the cost down at bit.

As for the lack of being scanned lots of times offices just shuffle around large carts of mail that are being shipped over seas and it doesn't get scanned till its being loaded for flight. I believe they have the option to stop a package with notification, I say that b/c my husband was about to make a drop off of a package but when he scanned it he had a "hold" message pop up on his scanner.

You also may want to seriously think about your international shipping orders and if you benefit greatly for the sales. And stop being "nice" and start following a solid rule plan of you get what you pay for. People always take advantage of the nice ones.

This makes more sense to me now. But wouldn't you think they'd send it back to me at least? Feels like they stole it from me now. :(

Just this past week was seriously like 80% international. I get worried, but I need to make the sales. esp when it's something that hasn't moved in a while.

I guess from what I've learned form this is do NOT ship to an unconfirmed address, and do not use the flat rate envelopes or small flat rate boxes.

Yeah italy is the worst. Have you ever read through their prohibited items lists? It's pretty much everything.

Yup, Italy doesn't allow any sewn items to be imported into their country. That pretty much rules out dog clothes or dog bows!

I think a lot of the merchandise is confiscated.