I was Abe's buyer in the story below and while things basically
happened the way he describes them there is one important detail
missing:
When I tried to track the package online, the tracking number he
had given was "unknown" to the Fedex system.
In the days to follow I spoke to several Fedex employees, and the
bottom line was there was no record THAT THEY HAD EVEN PICKED IT
UP.
Fedex normally scans anything immediately upon pickup, so this
was most unusual.
So there I was: With $800 at stake (and no chance to ever see any
of it back once Paypal's "30 days to file a complaint" were
over), a seller I had never dealt with before and didn't know anything
about, who couldn't show a valid tracking number, yet denied any
responsibility.
What was I supposed to do? What would you have done?
Fortunately, after three weeks the poster showed up out of
nowhere and of course I dropped the Paypal claim immediately and he
got his money.
Again, if you were me, what would you have done in this
situation?
Helmut
----- Original Message -----From: Abe AllenTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 12:17Subject: Re: [MOPO] PaypalIndeed. It was over a year ago when I sold a poster for around $800 to
someone in Germany. The buyer asked that I ship the item via Fedex (I
usually just ship via Airmail). So I obliged by shipping it Fedex, which of
course had a tracking number. Only problem was, Fedex lost the package for
three weeks! I had the tracking number.... but that doesn't matter to
Paypal; you have to have a tracking # that proves the package was delivered.
So if the courier fucks up, the seller bites the bullet. Amazingly, the
buyer then insisted that I refund his money (remember it was his courier of
choice that caused the problem). I told him: not my problem; your courier
lost it; sorry. He filed the complaint with paypal, and they took the $800
out of my account promptly. There was nothing I could do even though I could
prove that I shipped it. You can't talk to anybody at paypal; you can't
plead your case; you can't write them a letter; it's either a tracking #
that shows delivered or bye bye cash! Fedex found the package 3 weeks after
I shipped it, finally delivered it; and the buyer at least had the decency
to drop the claim; so I ended up getting my money. I have never been more
pissed off in regards to an eBay transaction.
-abe
