70 replies to this topic

[jphat]

This is an incredible story!

Thank goodness the SHA was not lost!

[phillinley]

I guess it does depend on the envelope - any pictures of the ripped envelope?

I knew there was gonna be trouble when it arrived in a plastic bag with the envelope folded in half. What I'm thinking happened was since it was an envelope it went on the envelope belts instead of the parcel sort belts, got jammed and busted open. Been a long time since I've seen a note like that put on the box: 'unknown if any contents missing', which translates to: 'this stuff sprayed all over the belt and I think we got most of it'

[jkaris]

Yup, that is definitely the post office's fault.

[Strontium Dog]

Yeah, I agree. In the UK, when they do that, they usually send a little apology note and details of how to claim compensation.

[BaltanII]

I would still make a case for some kind of retribution from the seller himself, whether it be a refund or at least a note in the eBay feedback, because shipping the figures is such a way is, quite frankly, idiotic. Even sticking all the figures into a plastic bag first would have made all the more difference.

USPS screwed it up, but they're not going to do anything about it. I only see delivery confirmation, not insurance.

[Strontium Dog]

Are your packages not automatically insured over there for low value amounts? Here you can claim up to £39 (value of 100 postage stamps) for damaged or lost mail without taking out extra insurance

[SmokinGun]

Wow! You got lucky not losing your SR. If it was me, I would have said the hell with it, as long as I have the SR in my hands. Its the main figure in the auction. But dont take my word.

I say it both seller and post office fault. The seller with weak packaging. The post office with bad handling.

[OmegaTraf]

I had a package show up from Australia in a paper envelope. It was full of styrene cards. My delivery lady literally handed me cards from the bottom of her bag. Half of the shipment was lost. It had been opened by Australia customs before it even left their hemisphere. It went all the way to me with a huge gash in the package. My cards must have been spread everywhere in between. Evidently people like to mail small creatures out of australia and customs open almost everything going out. The guy that sent them to me was a Sheriff in his town. You think customs would cut him some slack.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

Who is responsible is debatable. That's why USPS charges for insurance. UPS automatically insures every package for a minimum of $100 bucks. Anything reported to be valued higher must be inspected by UPS.

Sucks either way.

I try to wrap tape around the body of envelopes to strengthen them during transit. However the envelope in question is a USPS envelope. I'd personally hold them responsible, unless the seller over-packed the envelope.

And Phil your absolutely right on what happened. The smalls are intended to be sorted separately. The damage in the photo is consistent with envelopes being thrown onto a sort belt then getting jammed at the end of a belt or under a diverter. A larger package would then bust the envelope open while pushing on it. Smalls would have usually flowed around it, and it wouldn't have gotten damaged.

The "Received Unsealed" sticker is total bull! It's a USPS envelope, and all of them have very strong seals. So unless the seller recycled an already used envelope, I'd call USPS on it. No shipping company is going to accept a package without it being appropriately sealed. They will however gladly sort it after being shipped in any condition.

[phillinley]

Wow! You got lucky not losing your SR. If it was me, I would have said the hell with it, as long as I have the SR in my hands.

I think I'm going with this route. I messaged the seller for the $14 refund, but if I don't get it, I'm not gonna raise heck about it. I still have the only thing I wanted in the lot anyway, so all good in the long run.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I just feel so sorry for those poor 28 muscles who didn't make it. I hope workers picked them up and gave them a good home. If they are fortunate they will be made into belt mascots. We have an old Elmo figure that fell out of an unknown package of Little Rubber Guys that has been taped to the top of one of our chutes for nearly a year now.

[walker13.1]

Yeah but I don't feel right asking $1 a figure when the high price is because of the headless ashuraman who was worth at least half the lot, so I was just going off the regular value on muscles of 50 cents each.

My opinion is I would first see what post office can do, which I'm guessing is nothing. Then make the 50 cent offer to seller. If the seller doesn't want to do anything, get with Paypal customer service at:


1-402-935-2050
(a U.S. telephone number)

4:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST Monday through Friday
6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST Saturday and Sunday

http://contact.ebay....ontactUsNextGen

Edited by vette88, 05 February 2010 - 09:30 PM.

[gilgar]

You can ask, but really, it's the post office's fault that they split the envelope.

Now if it wasn't sealed properly, it would be the sellers fault.

Agreed to a point, however poor packaging is the sellers fault. If a seller sends a breakable object loose in a box and it's broken, that's his fault. If he packs it in bubble wrap, peanuts, double boxed, etc and the box arrives smashed, it's the post office's fault.

If he declines to send a partial refund, you could file a paypal claim however if you won that, you would likely have to send everything back and get a full refund. Ask him for what you think is fair, after all I'm sure the majority of your bid was for the HSHA. The more reasonable you are, the more likely he is to agree.

[jkaris]

Agreed to a point, however poor packaging is the sellers fault. If a seller sends a breakable object loose in a box and it's broken, that's his fault. If he packs it in bubble wrap, peanuts, double boxed, etc and the box arrives smashed, it's the post office's fault.

If he declines to send a partial refund, you could file a paypal claim however if you won that, you would likely have to send everything back and get a full refund. Ask him for what you think is fair, after all I'm sure the majority of your bid was for the HSHA. The more reasonable you are, the more likely he is to agree.

Agreed that he could have packed it a little better, but really, these are MUSCLE's. Other than ripping open the package and losing some, there is not much the post office could have done to damage them.

MUSCLEs are pretty damn indestructible.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I purchased a large lot of little Rubber Guys one time, and when I got them a third of the figures had been written on. The seller said they were mint in the description. Since I wasn't going to be sending them back, I divided the sale price by the number of figures, then requested half of that back in refund for each figure that was written on. They were more than happy to oblige, as it was only like $6.50 or something. So like Gilgar said, just ask for what is fair, a seller will usually be glad to help.

[cassel87]

actually guys.... i was the one that opened the package. i wanted to steal the super rare but the post office security stopped me and chased me through the basement window.

[SmokinGun]

actually guys.... i was the one that opened the package. i wanted to steal the super rare but the post office security stopped me and chased me through the basement window.

IT WAS YOU!

[dankingery]

hehe, that cassel87. when will he ever learn.

[Soupie]

actually guys.... i was the one that opened the package. i wanted to steal the super rare but the post office security stopped me and chased me through the basement window.

[Nyarlathotep]

actually guys.... i was the one that opened the package. i wanted to steal the super rare but the post office security stopped me and chased me through the basement window.

Wow, I'm surprised they didn't follow the trail of MUSCLEs in the snow....