EBAY, FED-EX, and bad luck.

[Farmwithjunk]

Looking for advice from frequent EBAY-ers, and/or shippers who use FED-EX.

I bought an item on EBAY. Seller had near perfect rating, with over 50 sales in last 6 months. Shouldn't be a worry. One "red flag" though.(albiet not a bad one) He won't take PAY PAL, nor personal checks either. Money Orders ONLY.

Item shipped Sept 21st. Shipper is only 175 miles from me, so it wasn't like it's shipping around the world. Allowing for no movement on day one,and throw in one sunday (Sept 24th) I reasonably expected package to arrive tuesday or at the latest wed. of last week. (Sept26th or 27th) It's a no-show.

I called shipper thursday. (28th) No answer. Emailed that same day. No reply. I emailed yesterday morning (Sept 29th) and got a short reply. "It shipped FED-EX on Sept 21st. I don't have a tracking #. Lost it"

There was/is no insurance on item shipped.

Seller isn't going to be much help.

FED-EX needs a tracking number to do ANYTHING according to my first (and only so far) contact with them.

Item is something I've spent YEARS looking for. (Not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, $87, but that's not the issue)

Any words of advice? Any way to track shipping route with FED-EX without tracking #?

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!

 

[SimS]

Farm;

You're right, FEDEX can't help you unless they have the tracking number. I recently had a problem with FEDEX and it turned out that they contract with local shipping/delivery services in my area. My shipper had all the documentation and the item was finally "found" and shipped to me 14 days later. Did your shipper use a FEDEX office to ship the item? You might try and check with their records to see if your seller actually shipped it. Just a thought. Good Luck.

SimS

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Farm;

You're right, FEDEX can't help you unless they have the tracking number. I recently had a problem with FEDEX and it turned out that they contract with local shipping/delivery services in my area. My shipper had all the documentation and the item was finally "found" and shipped to me 14 days later. Did your shipper use a FEDEX office to ship the item? You might try and check with their records to see if your seller actually shipped it. Just a thought. Good Luck.

SimS

Local shipping/delivery service! Now that may just be the answer. I haven't ever seen a FED EX truck in this immediate area.

I'm calling shipper in a bit to put some pressure on him to get that tracking # for me.

Shipper claims FED EX did a pick up at his address/shipping point. I'm not believing he doesn't have the tracking number though. He seems rather irritated that I'm asking questions. Cross this cat off my EBAY list.

 

[Hakim]

IF the seller used FedEx, there WILL be a record of the transaction. If he claims it was shipped from a pickup at his location, he is just lying that he can't find a record of it. It is all done online, and he can track it in seconds.

Every package shipped with FedEx carries a "default" insurance of $100 per package. More value than that, you have to purchase coverage at a higher value amount. It can take a month or longer to get reimbursed for a lost package. But the shipper has to file any claim; you cannot.

If he shipped it from a "service" location, it would be more trouble for him. I presume this is his situation.

In my expeirence, the best way to deal with a flaky seller is to use the eBay process.

"Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process

Disputes over items not received or received but significantly not as described can usually be resolved by direct communication between buyers and sellers. eBay provides an online process to help facilitate communication. eBay’s User Agreement state that sellers must deliver the items that buyers purchase from them.

Typically, there are five steps in the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described process:

Step 1: The buyer opens a dispute.
Step 2: eBay contacts the seller.
Step 3: The seller responds.
Step 4: The buyer and seller communicate.
Step 5: The dispute is closed.

Do it all from here:

Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process

Hope this helps.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Hakim, you just summed up my next course of action. I'm getting ready to contact EBAY next. I'm going to assume there will be no delivery this weekend. If no delivery is made by close of normal business hours monday, the gloves come off and the brawl begins. I'm getting the distinct impression the seller is not shooting straight with me. I try to be "more than honest" with everyone I deal with. I expect people to honor THEIR commitment with me. A mans word is his bond.

 

[scesnick]

I would contact E-bay for sure. Then if by some miracle your package FINALLY arrives I would hammer the seller in his feedback and decribe on there what you decribed to us. E-bay has been getting pretty bad about things like this. I am a yamaha rhino owner/enthusiast and I see scams on there for rhinos on a daily basis.

 

[dgl24087]

I have a niece who worked for FedEx in Claims. She says they deny, deny, deny and never pay if the item isn't insured.

 

[RayH]

Ive bought a few things through Ebay and have been very lucky so far. I had one incident where the seller took an extended time to ship the item. He also did not want to furnish a tracking number then when he finally did, it was invalid. I eventually got the item after about 3 weeks of pestering him. I left him bad feedback and didnt think twice about it.
I would continue sending emails and calling until you pi$$ him off or get your item. Ive sold several items over the internet, Ebay as well as message boards, and I ALWAYS communicate and furnish a tracking #. Theres no excuse not to.

 

[jwnge]

I think with e-bay you have to wait for a month. and as for tracking #'s if you ship USPS there is no real tracking #, just receipt of delivery. I do some ebay and amazon and I find UPS and FedX and tend to handle things pretty rough. JohnJ

 

[randy41]

i would do the ebay complaint thing and email the seller and tell him you will slam him with a bad rating. if you get no reaction from him about that then slam him by telling your story. this will affect his ability to sell.
i have had good luck with ebay's sellers and my only complaint is with paypal. they make money on the float and that causes shipping delays.