Nightmare with transaction on another forum

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Perfect Imposter

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Looking for a little advice here. I've had only great experiences buying and selling with people on this forum, as well as ebay. Yesterday it all went wrong though.

My main hobby is drums. Recently through some strange kijiji luck I ended up with a drum kit from the 50s. So I ended up on a forum where people talk about vintage kits and there's a marketplace. So I bought $150 worth of parts from this guy who is well established on that forum, and also has a perfect ebay record. I got the box from him yesterday, and it's empty. That's right, empty. The box is a standard USPS box, it was closed but there was no tape used whatsoever. I have opened a ticket with Canada Post, and he is going to do the same with USPS. I don't hold out much hope that my stuff will ever be found though.

So here's the question. In my eyes, this goes beyond poor packing. This is negligent packing. The box can be opened and closed easily. As much as someone from the postal service shouldn't have taken the contents, writing on a box that there's $150 worth of stuff inside and then not sealing with at least a bit of packing tape is asking for trouble. So am I right in going after a full refund? What are my chances?
 
Both top & bottom untaped? Any signs of torn paper on the box? Was it dropped off with a clerk at a P.O. or does it have a PayPal printed label on it?
Whatever
I'd go for a full refund
 
It's a small flat rate box purchased from USPS. He's trying to tell me that the post office told him he's not allowed to tape it. I guess I'll have to try and figure out if there's any truth to that. I'll try and post a picture later, but it's the sides that can be opened, they have the little tongue thing that goes in the slot. I can open it with one hand though!

There were no signs of damage, and no packaging inside the box. The parts were made of nickel and would have been pretty heavy. If they shook around enough the box might have opened without any tampering whatsoever.

Edit:Just found the answer. USPS does allow tape.

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/flat-rate-reference.htm
 
Perfect Imposter said:
It's a small flat rate box purchased from USPS. He's trying to tell me that the post office told him he's not allowed to tape it. I guess I'll have to try and figure out if there's any truth to that. I'll try and post a picture later, but it's the sides that can be opened, they have the little tongue thing that goes in the slot. I can open it with one hand though!

There were no signs of damage, and no packaging inside the box. The parts were made of nickel and would have been pretty heavy. If they shook around enough the box might have opened without any tampering whatsoever.

Edit:Just found the answer. USPS does allow tape.

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/flat-rate-reference.htm
Click to expand...

Bull****. I sell on Ebay and send with priority mail and it is always taped. The guy is a scammer no matter what is status is on that other forum. For someone to come up with a blatant lie like that tells you more than the empty box he sent. How much postage was on the box ? And the PO does not like boxes that rattle. They would have said something about that before it was mailed.
 
Years ago when all that security fluff rised I sold some cameras and local PO (not USA, that is, but arrives through USPS into USA) did want to see contents of package. If I would bring taped box they would open it to see what's inside (no, really, who sends a bomb in a mail ?!?).

Needless to say after inspection they allowed me to wrap everything and clerk taped box from all sides.

This is strangest case I've read on not received goods. Hope you'll be able to recover either money or parts.
 
Thanks guys. I know it was a while ago but just to update. The guy did actually send me the parts free of charge, without me having to ask. I gave him time to put in a claim with his post office which actually required a bit of paperwork and some photos from me. As soon as he was done he said he assumed we would never see those parts and sent me replacements. In a taped box. Considering the effort he put in and the fact that he paid $20 shipping on the replacements, I think it may be possible he was actually getting the run around at his post office and they may have told him not to use tape.
 
Perfect Imposter said:
It's a small flat rate box purchased from USPS. He's trying to tell me that the post office told him he's not allowed to tape it. I guess I'll have to try and figure out if there's any truth to that. I'll try and post a picture later, but it's the sides that can be opened, they have the little tongue thing that goes in the slot. I can open it with one hand though!

There were no signs of damage, and no packaging inside the box. The parts were made of nickel and would have been pretty heavy. If they shook around enough the box might have opened without any tampering whatsoever.

Edit:Just found the answer. USPS does allow tape.

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/flat-rate-reference.htm
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's utter horsepucky. The folks at the post office near my GAVE me a roll of "Priority Mail" embossed tape to seal up two packages I had pulled flat rate boxes off the shelf for. They said, "keep it, use it!" when I was done. I still have half of it...

G
 
I feel like the smallest flat rate box actually has adhesive on the flaps that are supposed to glue themselves shut when you peel the paper off. They also have a tab on the top specifically to rip the box open, kind of like those padded envelopes. I remember the one time I used one it was darn near impossible to get the flap to stay glued shut since there's no way you can apply pressure to the flap without crushing the box... of course there's no rule against taping the thing shut.
 
US post office to Canada. In between is CUSTOMS. You have to declare what is in the package and what it is worth. Custom routinely opens packages. If your going to accuse someone of thief I'd look at Canadian Customs.

I will not ship anything to Canada. I don' think I ever had a problem shipping to Europe, Russian, China, Japan, Austrialia but not Canada. The Canadian PO is ran by contractors who are terrible.

Won't buy anything from Canada either for the same reason. Few times I did the package came badly damaged and it took over a year both times to collect the insurance.

My two cents.
 
Interesting. I've shipped and received hundreds of packages into and out of Canada, and this is the first issue I've ever had. I don't believe Canada Post or Canada Customs are to blame, or USPS for that matter. The parts in this box were heavy, because it wasn't taped I'm willing to bet everything just fell out. Like I said in my original post. The seller is to blame, this was negligence on his part.

Sorry, I feel the need to defend Canada Post. Unless you're ordering from a huge company, they're the only people who are predictable in duty charges. And like I said, I've never had an issue.




Beemermark said:
US post office to Canada. In between is CUSTOMS. You have to declare what is in the package and what it is worth. Custom routinely opens packages. If your going to accuse someone of thief I'd look at Canadian Customs.

I will not ship anything to Canada. I don' think I ever had a problem shipping to Europe, Russian, China, Japan, Austrialia but not Canada. The Canadian PO is ran by contractors who are terrible.

Won't buy anything from Canada either for the same reason. Few times I did the package came badly damaged and it took over a year both times to collect the insurance.

My two cents.
Click to expand...
 
Years ago I had the same issue with the post office not wanting me to tape the box. It was extra postage if I taped the box. Normal postage was closed with a string. But that is at least 10 years ago.

With customs anything goes. I have had parcels pass through without check, completely opened and repacked in another package (that I had to pay for!) and opened just enough to see what was in it (a Fuji G690BL).

I once got the inverse happen. Received the goods without the box 5 months later on my doorstep.
 
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