Advice please.

[ainterne]

I recently bought a pen from someone and broke one of my own rules paying by Bank Card and not using PayPay. To cut a long story short, the seller mailed me today to say that the pen had gone missing in the post and she had received a note from USPS that the parcel was found open with nothing in it.

Before I had a chance to reply, she then told me that she had put a claim in to USPS and that they would be sending me a check for the value of the pen. I replied and pointed out that her claim for the pens value had nothing to do with me and that I wanted a refund and gave her option to deposit the refund.

She replied and told me that this is USPS's policy and that it was normal for USPS to take the buyers details and issue a check to the purchaser? She also told me that it would likely be withing 10 days.

My question, is this correct? Is that really USPS policy. Is it to protect them against false claims or something? I find it hard to accept what she is saying because it throws the responsibility to USPS to refund me my money and I didn't pay them in the first place.

Any advice would be appreciated from anyone that's been through this process before. I have certainly had occasions of pens not arriving, but normally the vendor refunds me pretty much immediately. I can accept it if it's normal process for USPS but just not sure...

Thanks Phil.

[mhosea]

Phil, I think you have it right, i.e. that insurance covers the shipper, not the recipient, which is why I always thought it was strange when sellers offer the option of purchasing insurance. I think they're confused about their responsibilities (they should roll the insurance cost in to their s/h charge if they want it--what the buyer wants has nothing to do with it). Just call the USPS to be sure. You'll just need the tracking number. I don't expect that the seller is correct because that would cause headaches for sellers if buyers opened a case with PayPal and/or eBay. Seems like the seller would have to prove that you received the check and that you were fully refunded in order to settle the case.

[jar]

I recently bought a pen from someone and broke one of my own rules paying by Bank Card and not using PayPay.
Thanks Phil.

Is it a credit or debit card?

[gbryal]

I think this is the relevant page:

pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/609.htm

[ainterne]

I recently bought a pen from someone and broke one of my own rules paying by Bank Card and not using PayPay.
Thanks Phil.

Is it a credit or debit card?

Debit...Bank Card.

[tandaina]

Actually when I had a package destroyed the USPS would deal only with me. I filled out a claim, provex the value and they cut me a check. They did not talk to the seller at all.

It was delivered to me destroyed and empty. Maybe that made the difference, but it was me who was responsible for filing insurance.

[mhosea]

Maybe that made the difference

Well, you signed for it, or somebody else signed for you, and you were in possession of the evidence. But note that if it was an eBay transaction, then eBay's rules place more responsibility on the seller no matter what:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/shipping-problems.html

"Even if you didn't insure the item, you're still responsible for the item until the buyer receives it."

The word "item" here refers to the item sold on eBay, of course, not the box that it was shipped in.

[jar]

I recently bought a pen from someone and broke one of my own rules paying by Bank Card and not using PayPay.
Thanks Phil.

Is it a credit or debit card?

Debit...Bank Card.

Bummer. When possble use a credit card; I don't think you have much recourse with a debit card.

[ainterne]

I want to thank you all for the advice, I really appreciate your input and help......

I wrote a mail to the vendor after reading the rules gbryal (pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/609.htm) . I wrote just the facts and was quite stern but fair. The vendor refunded the money immediately


This was not a purchase from Ebay and so I didn't have that support either.


I have learned another lesson, never to break my own rules and purchase without using PayPal. In this case the vendor sent me the pen initially and had forgotten half the address (which I found strange), then when they got the package back, send it again, only to have it returned with the pen missing.


At least I have a refund I can go shopping with :-).... I mean the urge never stops to buy pens..lol......

[Chrissy]

I'm glad it has already worked out well for you.

I would have thought that how USPS would proceed would depend on who has the damaged package, and you didn't, nor had you ever signed for it. In any case you are correct that your contract was with the vendor not the shipper/insurer, and it would always be the vendor's responsibility to give you a full refund, then get the value of the shipped item back from the shipper themselves.