posted on August 28, 2005 07:05:40 AM new
We’ve had a terrible string of bad luck receiving several pieces of jewelry purchased overseas. Two pieces were purchased in April at one time from a large auction house in Germany and the third was purchased in June from an eBay seller in France. Each piece cost us roughly $1000. The package from Germany was shipped through some partner of DHL and the French shipment went through Chronopost. Both were supposed to be delivered by the USPS to our home, signature required. I’ll add that both were insured, neither arrived, and even though one went by a partner of DHL, neither had a tracking number. Though we got hammered on the exchange rates, we ultimately received about 80% back from insurance. A cost of doing business I guess, but now the weird part begins.
On the next street over from us, same house number, three families were having a garage sale. We never go to garage sales but I was out of town and my girlfriend was bored. She walked over, dug through a bowl of cheap jewelry and almost passed out. All three pendants were in the bowl at $35 each and in mint condition. These are period 1900 art nouveau and jugendstil necklaces - one plique-a-jour and another signed Fahrner and unmistakable. She asked the kids working there to hold them, ran home as fast as she could, returned with $105 and bought them. Now we’re not sure what we should do.
I don’t understand how these people got our jewelry (Is it even our jewelry now even though insurance paid us off?). The kids gave a story about them belonging to a grandparent or some such nonsense. Both of these items had to be delivered with a signature. I can’t say our mail carrier knows us well but we do get other mail correctly delivered to our house. Why would she mistake our address and deliver it to a neighbor and why would they sign for it. Or, why would she put it in our mailbox without a signature, enabling someone to steal them? In addition, the package from the auction house would certainly have an invoice indicating these pieces are worth more than $35 apiece. Why then would someone put them in a bowl for that amount?
We always ship to our P.O. box except for items shipped by companies that require a street address. Not any more. No one gets our street address anymore and everything will now be marked “Hold for Pickup.” Would it make sense to talk to the postmaster at our local post office? How about the police? Do we run the risk of the insurance carriers (in France & Germany) asking for the items if we disclose this? Should we ask our neighbors, whom we don’t know, not to accept mistaken delivery of our packages? Somehow I don’t think we want to approach the neighbors. Or should we just leave well enough alone?
posted on August 28, 2005 07:11:49 AM new
We have gotten mail for people on the next street over on several occasions. This mainly happens when our regular carrier is off. IMO, since you were paid by the insurance carrier, these pieces no longer belong to you and instead belong to the insurance company. You are probably better off leaving well enough alone when it comes to this. OTOH, you can turn them over to the insurance company and turn in your neighbors at the same time. The insurance company may go after them, they may not. To keep the peace (they sound like nuts anyway), I'd just make sure your deliveries are more secure from now on.
posted on August 28, 2005 07:32:12 AM new
Wow that is a strange story ... i would think "case closed" with the insurance claim being all wrapped up. Then, the sheer 'luck' of finding them again and being able to purchase them at a much less cost.
Cheryl, last month when we were to receive the Cleveland Indian box seat tickets donation, for little Ryan's fund raiser, the donor had had them 'overnited' to us (unbeknownst to us at the time), via FedEx. The tickets were valued at about $200.
Two days after the donor "shipped" 'em to us, a guy living at 2852 my-street, (our address is 2752 my-street), came to my door and said he was sorry he had opened this, thinking it was something for him. He said "have fun at the ballgame". LOL, of course I told him the tickets werent' for us blah blah ......
(btw, I wonder how Bob Rosen is doing with his fundraiser; Ryan's "1st Pitch" auction is for the ball being thrown out at this Wednesday nite's ballgame)
ArtNouveau, I would be elated if your incidents happened to me.
Marcia/Ohio
edited to add, ArtNouveau; were the 3 pendants all you had bought, from both the Germany and France sellers? ... so you retrieved all of what you originally bought, which had come thru 2 different delivery-carriers?! ... if so, double-wow!
[ edited by EstateSaleStuff on Aug 28, 2005 07:35 AM ]
posted on August 28, 2005 08:32:35 AM new
When I was in New Orleans,my mailman told me the weirdest thing about registered mail.He said every one knows registered mail contains valuable content ,so theft is rampant.
One day he went to the post office to pick up his mail and the clerk showed him a registered envelope addressed to me from Singapore,it was slit open with a sharp razor blade,the clerk said I am not going to let you deliver this letter as is,I am going to tape it with a note saying it arrived at new orleans office slit open so if recipient complains,you would not lose your job!
It turned out that The New Orleans office was firing mailmen left and right -one complaint that registered mail is not received from the customers,and the mailman of that route is fired!!
This particular registered mail contains cash from Singapore but there is no way to know who did it,it could be anyone in Singapore or anyone in USA.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 28, 2005 09:18:23 AM new
EstateSaleStuff,
Double wow indeed!!
Yes, two pendants were in one shipment from Germany and a month or so later, another pendant was shipped from France. Completely unrelated transactions from different sellers using different carriers. All found in a neighbors yard sale bowl at one time a few months later
This has to be one of the weirdest things to ever happen to us.
The equally good news is that shipping insurance works.
posted on August 28, 2005 09:43:49 AM new
Absolutely Art! ... If I were in your shoes, I'd be one happy camper.
But Lord, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES of that whole scenario happening to anyone else, ever?!!
I'll bet you'll start poppin' in at yard sales once in awhile. Thank God your girlfriend "was drawn to" strolling over there that day! What a twilight zone story.
posted on August 28, 2005 09:47:16 AM new
What happens if anyone investigating the theft sees your auction for the jewelry? Or did you buy it for your own personal use?
posted on August 28, 2005 10:13:19 AM new
If this were a made-for-TV story, that neighbor a block over would be in cahoots with a mail carrier to drop off at her place registered mail. TOOOOOOO weird.
posted on August 28, 2005 10:20:32 AM new
before Paypal,most payments are mailed thru the post office,if your postman or someone in your neigborhood notice you are getting a lot of mail-whether packages or checks,they may have some ideas of sharing your wealth.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 28, 2005 10:29:54 AM new
The person conducting the yard sale was probably a seasonal employee at the post office where he pilfered them. Probably a lot more of the stuff he was selling that day was stolen from the back room over the summer.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on August 28, 2005 11:48:19 AM new
Twilight Zone is right. How bizarre.
Maybe the packing slip didn't have a price on it or it was in German/French???
I would be afraid to even have it in my possession if I were you.
Can't you check with some legal authorities (anonymously of course) and see what would happen if you report these people?
posted on August 28, 2005 12:00:47 PM new
report to the USPS fraud investigation unit,you can do so online at their site.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on August 28, 2005 02:53:19 PM new
Art has done nothing illegal. He purchased these piecesat a yard sale. Unless these were one of a kind pieces, then Art can put them on eBay w/o a worry.
posted on August 28, 2005 03:04:00 PM new
true true sanmar. there's nothing to say that these are the "same" pieces - except the coincidence. I would say that they are theirs legally. They paid to have their pieces shipped to them insured - they did not arrive and they collected on the insurance. It's just their luck that they found some identical pieces that matched the ones they bought but did not receive.
on one hand it makes you want to bust their a** doesn't it? The ones that sold the jewelry? on the other hand - you collected on a purchase you made in good faith and you had the extreme luck to end up with some that are just like them. it's all to your good karma I guess - I think if you were lying about it you sure wouldn't be over here bragging about it!! It's your windfall - enjoy.
posted on August 28, 2005 03:15:27 PM new
OTOH if you really want to have some fun with these people - show up at their house with a black car with very dark tinted windows and antenna's out the wahzoo.
Tell them it's the oddest thing that you purchased some jewelry from them that exactlly matched some that was stolen from your postal address. And that you're sorry but that you know that the jewelry is really worth $xxxx. and that you don't feel right knowing that you only paid them $35.00 a piece.
posted on August 28, 2005 03:58:35 PM new
Could the possibility exist that the address was incorrectoy written on the boxes.
For example, 12th ave instead of 13th ave.
If so, then the person on the next block did receive them legally. There is a law stating, "If you receive something in the mail that you did not order, it is yours to keep for free"
In your case, I would be tempted to contact the authorities simply to keep an eye on those people on the next block. It does smell of wrong doing, but right now, too tough to prove.
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Alive in 2005
They would have had to sign artnouveau's name since both packages required signatures. That's fraud. It would have been stupid of them to sign their own names.
artnouveau
Did they sign your name or theirs?
sanmar
I would agree with you. However, my experience on the RT tells me that there are a large number of lurkers on this board. The cat's out of the bag now, so to speak. If it were me, I'd delete the OP and forget I mentioned it.
Cheryl
[ edited by cblev65252 on Aug 28, 2005 04:05 PM ]
posted on August 28, 2005 04:18:19 PM new
If it were me, I'd contact the insurance company and see what they suggest. But then again- if it's possible to be honest to a fault - that's me.
