Hey all,
I can certainly see both sides of the coin here, but I have to
say, I would have done exactly what Helmut did. The problem is that the Fedex
tracking number was nowhere in the system to follow. If I had never done
business with Abe as a seller before, I would have been worried that I was being
taken. I have customers that have their own accounts with Fedex and UPS and,
while I use Fedex, if they ask me to send it on their UPS account, I obliged
them. If the package disappears and there is no record on the system of me
having shipped the item, I would be extremely frustrated, but could certainly
understand the customers skepticism. I would assume that Abe would
have some kind of paperwork to show the shipment, so he could prove to
Fedex that it was indeed shipped and certainly the item would have had a
declared value of $800 which if you could provide paperwork to verify the
shipment, even if the tracking number wasn't showing up in the
computer system, Fedex would have had to pay for that shipment. I would
certainly ask Abe, if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn't you do exactly
what Helmut did?
In this case, everything worked out. Unfortunately
it doesn't always and sometimes it is just the cost of doing business.
That's why there is insurance of all kinds available.
Sue Heim
(800) 463-2994
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 9:34
AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] PayPal
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 Allen
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 12:17
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Paypal
Indeed. 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
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