posted on April 30, 2002 08:32:31 PM
Last week I sold a product to a customer who bid $6.99. This customer has the most religious-sounding e-mail address which I believe makes her sound trustworthy. She e-mailed me to find out if I offered DC reciepts or insurance. I told her that insurance would be $1.10 more. I never heard from her again except for the PalPal payment, she didn't include the Insurance. Since the package was small and being mailed First Class, I opted to add the Insurance out of my own pocket, I can't tell you why, just a hunch. Today I got a telephone call from the buyer. She told me she recieved the package, but it was sliced open at one end, the contents removed, yet the reciept was still there. She said that she noted the Insured Stamp on the package and wanted to file a claim. I offered to mail her the reciept after I copied it. She was sweet as apple pie, reminding me of her e-mail name. I am now going to e-mail her and offer her the insurance slip for the price of Return Reciept mail. I warned her that these postal claims take a long time to complete and she was really concerned to have to wait so long. No mention anytime of buying the product again.
I really believe that this buyer is out to scam the Postal Service out of money for insurance claims. How would you handle this?
posted on April 30, 2002 09:46:15 PM
but that really is LOTS of work for such a small sum, let her do all the work
if she really wants it, you only have to sign a slip from them when they investigate.
$100.00 I would understand, for $7.00
to go through all the trouble it's just isnt worth your time (nor would I say the post office will care too much, but maybe that's
her scheme, few small priced items
could rank up to some nice cash if she is scaming for real)
posted on May 1, 2002 02:41:00 AM
Does USPS pay what was paid for the item or replacement value of the item?
I won the bid on a price guide at a grand total of $8.00. The seller said he shipped it and it was lost in the mail. He refunded my bid and shipping fees about a month later.
I then received a form from USPS where he was claiming a value of $40.00 for the loss of 2 books! When I questioned this, he told me that they pay replacement value, not purchase price!!!
I filled the form out including a printed copy of the auction and a couple of months later they sent me another form asking if I had received the book or not. I guess they paid him the $40.00.
posted on May 1, 2002 07:52:51 AM
usps pays the price you paid for the item up to the insured amount.
not replacement value,and not ebay high bid if the bid price is way out of line of what they think the item is worth.
they also do not reimburse you on shipping
posted on May 1, 2002 08:38:31 AM"they also do not reimburse you on shipping"
I have seen people say this several times. I have only had one package lost (as a buyer) and it took a little over 60 days for me to get a check from the USPS (the seller filed the claim and put my name in as the one to send payment to). The check was in the amount of my bid + the PRIORITY POSTAGE. I didn't get back the $2.00 Insurance fee or the $1.50 "handling fee", but I was surprised to get any allowance on the mailing.
If I were you, I'd email the buyer that you will start the claim by taking the insurance receipt to the PO and filing out the form and they will be notifing her so she can fill out her part, but she should take the package to the USPS immediately and let them know that someone tampered with the item and removed the contents.
If she responds that the package has already been thrown away, just tell her that you will notify the USPS of the tampering anyway and so should she and if they USPS is willing to accept the claim without the package then she'll have a pretty good chance to get her bid price + the 1st class postage back in about 60 days.
If she then wants you to refund or replace, I'd nicely tell her that you purchased the insurance out of your own pocket because you really couldn't afford to refund or replace the item in the event it was lost or damaged in shipment. So she'll need to wait for the USPS to pay the claim.
If she is legite, she'll do her part. If she's not, she'll probably just drop it provided you never make any indication that you will be refunding/replacing out of your own pocket.
posted on May 1, 2002 08:53:21 AM
this has happened to me TWICE when sending a birthday present.....turned out the post office I was using someone was opening up ther packages and taking what looked good to them .
when sending a birthday present.....turned out the post office I was using someone was opening up ther packages and taking what looked good to them