keziak
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posted on September 1, 2001 02:30:21 PM
I have here TWO boxes mailed in July and August, both were just returned to me. Both have DC. I checked the one and it says it was delivered to the right post office [apparently]. Both boxes say they were unclaimed.
I have emailed the buyers to tell them the deal, but I am concerned: am I supposed to pay to ship these AGAIN out of my own pocket? With the DC, both are over $3 and my profit margins aren't that high to comfortably absorb that. Do I say they have to pay postage again?
I did ask if they have alternative addresses, like at work, where someone could claim the packages. I assume the PO on their end sent those little brown notices and noone picked up in 2-3 weeks or whatever.
Advice appreciated!!
Keziak
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buggery
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posted on September 1, 2001 02:36:30 PM
if they are addressed correctly to the address provided i would ask for the buyer to pay for the reship BUT if they make a big deal out of it i would suck it up and eat the 6 bucks, heck its only 6 bucks how uncomfortable can that make your profits. if 6 bucks will shut you down its time ot close anyway..so you break even on this deal, so what. personally if i were only making 3 bucks per sale i would not even waste my time with selling it.
[ edited by buggery on Sep 1, 2001 02:37 PM ]
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dman3
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posted on September 1, 2001 02:37:23 PM
I had an Item I shipped out a while back returned back after 30 days unclaimed when I finly got a hold of the buyer it turns out there post office never sent them a pick up card they just held it 28 days and returned it .
I did end up paying shipping again..
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
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keziak
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posted on September 1, 2001 04:43:14 PM
No, I generally make quite a bit more than $3 a sale, but like any refund situation, when should I volunteer to pay if it's not my fault? I also don't understand why people aren't picking up their packages. These were both largish, square boxes rather than my usual flat boxes or padded envelopes, wonder if that makes some difference??
keziak
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outoftheblue
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posted on September 1, 2001 06:11:14 PM
keziak
We have had 3 unclaimed packages. We emailed the buyers and told them we would resend the item if they sent us the cost of shipping.
1 buyer responded and sent the additional shipping charges and we shipped the item. The other two we never heard back from after several emails.
We relisted the items and forgot about it.
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Microbes
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posted on September 1, 2001 06:17:28 PM
I had one package come back like this... Emails to the buyer bounced, and the package sat here for a year. I finally re-sold it.
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gravid
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posted on September 1, 2001 06:18:34 PM
I don't understand. My postman leaves the packages here at my door even if they have delivery confirmation on them. You don't have to sign for them so why wouldn't they leave them? If they scan them that's all that is required.
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blueyes29
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posted on September 1, 2001 07:11:13 PM
Last year, I had a large heavy box of books returned to me with the "unclaimed" stamp. I e-mailed the buyers...turned out they had the books shipped to Montana and, because of the awful fires out there, were unable to pick the box up. And, with all of the other things they were worrying about, an eBay purchase was pretty much at the bottom of the list! In their responding e-mail, they apologized and paid for re-shipping to another address. An unusual situation but Iguess it shows that there are sometimes valid reasons for not picking up a package!
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mballai
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posted on September 1, 2001 07:18:28 PM
If they want their stuff, they can pay for reshipment. If they don't, you will return the item price via mail or PayPal. These bidders are irresponsible and make sure you set a time limit "if I don't receive the payment amount by..., I will consider the transaction void..."
There's no need to coddle people who do not fulfill their end of the bargain.
Personally, I'd just return the payment amount with DC and be done with it and file for FVF credit: a returned package being the item was returned with the customer's express consent.
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AuctionIdeasDotCom
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posted on September 1, 2001 07:24:47 PM
What a nuisance. An absolute mess!!! Returned packages are one of the most troublesome things to deal with. 
"Anything the mind of man can believe and conceive, it CAN ACHIEVE!"
http://www.auctionideas.com
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keziak
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posted on September 1, 2001 07:28:09 PM
I guess I'll see if they reply to the email I sent today. They could be out of town right now.
It's been a real spate of "closure" difficulties lately. I have one book sitting here that I can't mail because the buyer never sent his address. I did look it up on ebay but it wasn't a complete address. I guess I could phone, but am reluctant to - why doesn't he just send me an email so I can mail his book?
keziak
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wbbell
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posted on September 1, 2001 07:54:15 PM
I have had a few packages returned to me as unclaimed or no such addressee. I have taken them back to the post office and they accepted them (with corrected info) and did not charge me.
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outoftheblue
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posted on September 1, 2001 09:31:31 PM
gravid
I don't understand. My postman leaves the packages here at my door even if they have delivery confirmation on them. You don't have to sign for them so why wouldn't they leave them?
Here's what happens in the apartment complex we live in. We went on a trip to Spokane and we were gone 1 week. When we returned there was a notice that we had 2 packages at the office. There was no packages when I went in to check. I later heard from the company who had sent the packages that they were unclaimed and returned to sender.
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avaloncourt
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posted on September 1, 2001 11:04:40 PM
I had a situation like this recently. I had an item come back to me after more than a month and it was marked "Moved. No forwarding address." I ran the Delivery Confirmation number and it actually said the package was delivered even though I had it in my hands. The post office guessed that the carrier (which they aren't supposed to do) sat in his vehicle and scanned all of the DC for the building and then discovered this person had moved.
I then emailed the person. Waited a week and nothing. I tried pulling the info and the phone number was disconnected. At the two month point from the original date of mailing I got an email from the person apologizing because he had to move suddenly from Colorado to New Hampshire. I resent the item and asked the person to send me the amount of the reshipment costs. He said he would and I have yet to see any reimbursement. Oh well.
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darrelll
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posted on September 2, 2001 02:39:16 AM
This topic gives me an idea. I use Endicia postage on line and it confirms the address before it allows me to ship an item. On occasion, it will not recognize an address and I've reconfirmed the address with the buyer.
I think I will modify my purchase confirmation letter that if they give me a wrong address that they will have to pay for reshipment.
Sheesh... my letter is already pretty long... Argh is right!
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keziak
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posted on September 2, 2001 04:44:09 AM
But....there is no evidence in my 2 cases that the address IS wrong. I double-checked the addresses I was originally sent. Of course there could have been a typo in the original email. I did re-send one package recently at my experse when I copied down an address wrong, but this doesn't seem to be the same situation.
Sure hope the buyers email me. Mostly I don't like a lot of loose ends because then I forget what needs to be done.
keziak
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mballai
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posted on September 2, 2001 05:15:00 AM
keziak
I have a gentle, but persistent, hounding of my bidders for their address. Even in my auctions it is one of two terms that I request:email me their complete shipping address when they get my EOA notice and send full payment. That's my essential TOS--if they do that in a timely fashion, I can do the rest. I will email them several times to get the address if need be. This all but eliminates any "unknown" payments (have never had one to date, but....) or inability to ship on receipt of the money.
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BJGrolle
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posted on September 2, 2001 05:23:26 AM
If the shipping addresses are taken directly from the info. the buyers gave you (and you didn't make a typo yourself  ), then the buyers should have to pay to have them reshipped. I'd say if you haven't heard from them in a week, refund and relist.
http://bjgrolle.freehomepage.com
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keziak
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posted on September 4, 2001 10:05:05 AM
Update: I heard from one buyer who verified the address I used, a P.O. box. He did give me his work address, and said he never got a notice that it had arrived.
Meanwhile, my postal clerk says I'm SOL because I opened the box up. Note to myself: don't do that next time, if it comes back saying "not picked up".
The other one was to go to a home, but I am told that if there is DC on it, the postal carrier won't leave it. And if they don't leave a notice, back it comes to me...
keziak
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katiyana
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posted on September 4, 2001 11:34:56 AM
keziak - If you have a phone # and name, you can do a Reverse Lookup on any number of websites and get an address that way...
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keziak
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posted on September 4, 2001 02:00:59 PM
HI Katiyana -
I may need to do that for another problem customer, but in this case the address I used was correct, and it was received at the correct Post Office according to the DC. But the buyer says he never got a notice that it was there.
keziak
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katiyana
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posted on September 4, 2001 02:48:03 PM
Yes, I was offering that idea for your OTHER problem customer... I've done that before, get the info from Ebay and doing reverse lookup.. fortunately most of my buyers are responding to my EOA with email and providing their address so that helps a lot.
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