Author: Saintsteven

Realized $135.03 11/25/7

 

Well, I hit a nut case with this one.

I NEARLY took a photo of how I packed it, because I was pretty proud of my ingenious method.

At my own expense of some seventeen dollars, I divided it into two packages; one custom-made box for the underplate and one box for the cups and bowl. The underplate was packed with two layers of heavy cardboard and wasn’t about to move around in the box. The bowl was in its own form-fitting box and the cups were also in a box of their own, each wrapped in paper with cardboard dividers between each. Those two boxes were packed together in a heavy box.

I didn’t use any styrofoam or bubble wrap or anything of that kind, because I thought the double cardboard and box-in-a-box packing was enough.

I took the packages to the PO by itself since they were awkward and was an armload by themselves. I told Kelly at the PO, “take these off my hands so I never see them again”, somewhat exasperated that it had taken so much time to do this particular shipment. I had a notation in the upper corner of one of the boxes to mark the packages fragile, but did not do so myself (and, as it turns out, neither did Kelly).

Off they went, each insured for half the value of the total shipment. As I mention, this method turned out to be more expensive than my quoted shipping price, $44.00 vs. $27.00, but I was well-compensated by the consignor, and I didn’t get particularly hurt by that.

Here’s the eBay message I got:

Quote:

Dear gnomedplume, BOWL & PLATE CAME SHATTERED. NO PACKING MATERIAl AT ALL! NOTHING? INSURANCE ONLY COVERS PROPERLY PACKED ITEMS. WHY NO PACKING? – rickajohn

Spirit of cooperation, right?

Well, I looked at that, thought uh oh…….and refunded the guy’s money on the spot, missing the correct amount by five dollars and something, which I made up in a second small payment, and told him:

Quote:

Hello, I apologize; obviously I had no business trying to handle an item like that. I’ve reimbursed you for your payment (I made a mistake in my calculations and corrected it with a small second payment), which is all I can do at the moment. I’ll check with the Post Office here for their instructions, since I’m actually not sure how to proceed, and I’ll call you later today to discuss the disposition of the shipment. Regards, steve

That is 100% of our correspondence.

I did call his residence that night, and got the missus. I apologized to her, she graciously told me “well, that’s more than most sellers would do”, and was relieved to hear I had reimbursed everything, including postage and insurance.

Then she gave me a tutorial on how to pack glass. I back-peddled through the entire lesson, silently reassuring myself that I had PLENTY of experience packing breakables, but agreeing with her all the way.

We got to a point where I thought I could broach the topic, and I told her I’d like to salvage what I can, and that we needed to invoke the insurance.

Ha.

Her husband works for the Post Office, and he has decided it was not adequately packed and that insurance would be nullified by that. I said, “well, that may be, but I’m a pretty good customer at my PO, and I think I’d like to take my chances on that.”

Then she disclosed a surprising fact: the boxes appeared to have been thrown or crushed in the load, and the damage was indicative of rough handling, compared to their “regular” experience of receiving broken Things.

Hmmmm, I said, funny way to handle something marked “Fragile”. Oh, no, she said, there were no markings like that. I told her come to think of it, I never DID see Kelly mark it.

I began to muse about the expense of mailing the packages back to the tune of $44.00 versus what kind of settlement I might get.

She would take a photo, she said, and send that to me, maybe my Postmaster could work from that. That’s the last I heard from those folks. No photo, no further correspondence.

I’ve issued my positive feedback, they’ve issued none so far, but I have a feeling I know what it’s going to look like. When I scan the guy’s file, it’s a mantra of his: poor packing, insurance won’t cover it.

He’s not out a nickel, but still has the punch cups. I hear one of them MIGHT be broken too.

Assuming I get the feedback I think I’m going to get, I’ll answer it with the URL to this discussion.

I hope he sleeps soundly at night, sitting there with the punch cups I bought him. This may all be within his rights, though I’d question that, but as standard business procedure, it stinks. A short note saying “thanks for my money back” is probably not overkill, and I cannot for the life of me imagine why they wouldn’t at least explore the possibility that the insurance might cover this deal.

I would suppose this sort of thing might finish off a number of sellers, but of course I have no intention of letting that happen. I might be a little hesitant to do another 20″ round glass Thing, and I certainly have a bad taste in my mouth from the dude’s bad manners and lack of consideration, but I can block him from bidding and reassure myself at least it won’t happen again with the same guy.

I’ve heard other folks say this kind of thing before, but this is a first for me: 9241 good guys, and one Butthead is what my feedback says at this point.

 

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Quote:

HERE ARE THE PICTURES OF THE BROKEN PUNCH BOWL AND UNDERPLATE. I WILL RETURN THE CUPS SEPARATELY. DO YOU WANT THE BROKEN PIECES BACK? JOHN

I answered:

Quote:

Thank you for the photos. May I defer a day or possibly two on the decision to return the pieces? I did not have an opportunity to consult with our Postmaster last Monday, as I had an automobile accident involving a personal injury on my trip to the PO. Additionally, I think I damaged my engine trying to rock the same car out of an icy spot the next day, and I haven’t been able to attend to things like I would like to.Hopefully, the insurance investigator will be here tomorrow morning (finally), and I will be able to finish the preliminaries on that adventure and return to my business without those distractions. I appreciate your understanding, sincerely, steve

reply(s):

Quote:

SORRY TO HEAR THAT. E-MAIL OR CALL (number edited)

followed by:

Quote:

ALSO, FOR REFERENCE, DOMESTIC MAIL MANUAL SECTION 601.2.0, ONLINE, PAGE 3. UNDER 2.1, GENERAL, PACKAGING. IF HE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, HAVE HIM CALL ME. I WORK FOR THE POST OFFICE.

realizing I was going to have a considerable amount of trouble wedged between two Post Office guys, I said:

Quote:

Thank you for that information; I can see I’m going to lose coming and going even though I used boxes actually supplied by the Post Office, because of the absence of the padding.I think for the sake of my own sanity I’d like to move on without attempting the claim. This matter has been terribly troubling to me, my pockets are not very deep, and I’d probably be better off just doing what I do best, which is certainly not dueling with the Post Office. Therefore, the broken pieces are of no use, and I would thank you for disposing of them for me. Again, I sincerely apologize, Sincerely, steve

Why? I hear you asking:

Well, for two reasons, really-first of all, in the time I’d spend trying to undo my customer’s resistance to filing the claim, I can actually make more money than the claim. Among other things it takes about an hour to locate, read, and understand “section 601.2.0”.

AND

a rule I have always used, but I think I have to repost somewhere here in my FAQs:

“I cannot use unhappy or ill-gotten money”

so, end of the story, except for the feedback part.

I don’t necessarily think I made a mistake here, except maybe for dropping the claim, but it just works better if I make it water-over-the-dam and go on to the next little nightmare.