Subject:
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Re: What do you do when you never receive your package?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.shipping
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Date:
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Mon, 9 Oct 2000 13:10:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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2638 times
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A mail carrier in another newsgroup clued me in to the mysteries of d.c. and
insurance earlier this year after some misfortune with the USPS I ran into. He told
me that d.c. was designed for the benefit of the sender, as proof that a package was
sent and delivered (however, it is not fail-proof--read on for an example). It does
nothing for the buyer, as it isn't "tracking" per se since the package only shows up
on the USPS system *after* the package has been delivered, unlike UPS which tracks
the package from dropoff to delivery. In cases when an insurance claim needs to be
made, all the paperwork must go through the seller, not the buyer. That is, the
seller, who has the ticket for insurance, must be the one to file the form(s). The
USPS only contacts the buyer to confirm that the package was never received, then
sends the insurance money to the sender. The whole insurance claim process takes a
long time (we're talking months). In the meantime, what should happen (IMO) is that
a reputable seller should have either refunded his or her buyer's money or replaced
the goods in a timely manner, while awaiting the reimbursement for the insurance.
Knowing what is involved with both d.c. and insurance, as a seller I offer insurance
to my buyers (knowing that if a claim must be filed, I'm the one who will be doing
all the work to pursue the claim). As such, I truly don't feel responsible for a
package that is uninsured. I will, however, buy d.c. for almost all my priority mail
packages, and definitely for any package a buyer doesn't insure. That is basically
what happened to me, so I did get my goods: Earlier this year, I had a package that
was sent to me from a small business that had both delivery confirmation and
insurance get lost. It had been scanned in as delivered to some address in my town,
but since priority mail d.c. doesn't require a signature, I have no idea where
exactly it ended up. Your mail carrier has a handheld scanner with him/her, and
he/she just scans the package as delivered when and if it is delivered. Since the
"proof" of delivery afforded by a d.c. isn't absolute (i.e., no signature), my sender
was able to file an insurance claim (don't know if it ever went through, because the
USPS never contacted me about it). I have often had packages just left on my
doorstep by the mail carrier (never my regular mailman who I know by name, since he
knows I'd rather he take the package back to the post office if I'm not home). Many
of these packages had d.c., and yes, they showed up on the USPS website as
"delivered" at such-and-such a time. In some cases, as when there is a known problem
of theft of packages left on the property rather than directly to a person, your mail
carrier can take the package back to the post office and try again the next day (or,
leave a message requiring you to pick up the package from the p.o.). But it seems it
is up to the discretion of your mail carrier, so it really is worth it to get to know
your regular carrier. I remember reading a story about a mail carrier who had been
discovered dumping his bags in a remote area! He had been dumping the mail
regularly, and there were months and months of mail sitting out in the woods...
"Christopher Lindsey" <lindsey@nospam.mallorn.com> wrote in message
news:39E0B8EC.EC79CD1@nospam.mallorn.com...
> john hadd wrote:
>
> > many occasions.(I usually ask different people to see if I get the same answer)
> > I always use Delivery Confirmation or Insurance, even if it is at my own cost.
>
> That does bring up one of my pet peeves. So many people send things
> requiring a signature on delivery without letting me know (I don't know
> if
> Delivery Confirmation falls into this category or not).
>
> Anyhow, they would tell me that a signature was required I would have
> the package
> shipped to my work address instead of my home address so that somebody
> would
> actually be there to receive the package. There have been times when I
> wasn't
> home for delivery and couldn't make it to the post office because my car
> was in
> the shop (our distribution center is way out in the boondocks, so
> there's no chance
> of taking a bus, walking, or cycling).
>
> So... If you're going to require a signature, let me know! Otherwise
> your package
> might just come back to you undeliverable.
>
> Chris
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