Delivery Situation

Frank Hunter

Frank Hunter

Well-Known Member
Things have been going really well lately. However, this afternoon while I'm down at the shop, my wife received a call from a knife gallery/gift shop that I'd supplied earlier in the month. The manager is stating that they've been trying to contact me via email repeatedly with no answer, that the two knives that they had paid for have not arrived at the store. They're wanting a refund. This has really got potential to be a triple-threat as per USPS website the knives arrived two days after I shipped them, on the 18th. I gave 72 hours after arrival and pulled the money from PayPal. The confirmed address was a P.O.Box, they're a legitimate company with a large following. My only thought is that there's been a miscommunication and the knives are still at the post office.
I'm possibly out my labor, the time spent in communications so far, and a slice of my reputation with this. Not to mention that I'd been very pleased to have a new gallery to sell from.
There is some fishy stuff here, I assure you all that I've received no emails as the manager is stating. Also, USPS is showing that the knives did arrive. The name on the address is different than the contact with their company I have been speaking with, so there are at least 3 different individuals on their end. I'm thinking that this is going to go poorly.
I did not use signature confirmation, and this is likely to be what nails me on this as PayPal will not support the seller unless you pay for that additional service.
Any advice would be welcome, I've had some people be easier customers than others but nothing like this.
 
Hmmm?
Can you talk with the person that place the order with you? It that this Manager or someone else? Also, Ask what email they have been sending too? Perhaps one person, Manager has the knives and the other doesn't know it?

I hope this works out for you. I always use Delivery Con. It's a $1.00 or $2.00? That way that can't come up with story's very easily.

best of luck on this one!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
Yeah, I suspect that maybe they're still at the post office. I did choose delivery confirmation for the 2.00 extra, but not "Signature". I don't remember being offered this option with this shipment. Maybe because it's going to a P.O.Box and then has to be handed over the counter. I may be wrong, the option might have got missed this time because I usually *do* select for the buyer to sign for the knives. Seems like this one time I didn't do it I got bit. I think the whole thing is a little ridiculous, for a P.O.Box someone there had to receive them that has access to the box key to get the "Package Pickup" notice. That and waiting two weeks before calling. And PayPal sends tracking automatically. And claiming to have sent several emails when I have logs of what's been received for the last year. Or, I think someone might have liked the knives when they showed up a little too much...I dunno, but even though things have been going pretty well this is a real double-dip into my progress. Thanks for the advice.
 
Well Hold on, You haven't had to kiss the money away just yet? Have you?

Double check the email address they have? As for dated copies of the emails?

Asked them if they have been to the Post office? Get proactive on this.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
Rather than Delivery Confirmation get the Insurance.
As to PayPal if the issue comes up give them evidence of the delivery confirmation.
Let customers know, and put it on your web-site that "All shipments are FOB the shipper." After you put it in the PO you have lost all control.
 
I've already emailed the manager that I worked on the order with, forwarding the usps tracking showing shipping and delivery. I'll be calling them this morning at 9:00 their time. I am willing to admit that perhaps the knives went missing due to me not choosing to have to sign for delivery, that would be my screwup. However, waiting two weeks to call, the shenanigans about "repeatedly emailing" me, and that the knives went to P.O.Box where mail theft is a non-issue makes me wonder. Going to be a small price increase for future orders that I'll communicate is due to the only shipments being insured from here on out.
 
An update here. Sorry for the double post. I spoke with the manager again and the address on the invoice wasn't the one they were wanting. I have to ship via the address PayPal gives me that's confirmed and it was to the owners P.O. Box. So it looks like the knives are likely on their way back to me via the USPS service, or depending on how many days they've actually been there, they're still at the P.O. I'm still pretty disappointed that the situation went south like this, thank you all for your advice.
 
You covered your butt by shipping to the paypal address.

It's their fault if they wanted it shipped somewhere else. They need to enter that address with paypal.

The bit about the emails is most likely someone trying to cover theirs. The knives should be at the P.O. Box.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I received a short email stating that the package has been found and is on the way to them. This message came with a "Click to confirm you've read this" box. Leaning towards there being some butt-covering going on with them too, yeah. I think the manager's attitude is soured for dealing with me in the future but in the same hand if their operations have regular stuff like this happen maybe I don't mind. This situation has shown some of the weaker points of my sales and shipping, so thankfully it looks like I can toughen up my disclaimer without having to take a big loss. Thanks again for following this.
 
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Alright. I'll finish this off with a summary. When using PayPal, make absolutely sure that it confirms that the shipping recipient's address is "Confirmed" or "Registered". Even a P. O. Box. And, every time, spring for the little additional cost for "Signature Confirmation" so whoever is handed the package has to write something down to receive it. That way there are no excuses of "It must have been left at the door and then stolen." PayPal will not support you as a seller unless you purchase the "Signature Confirmation", and without it you're likely to have to give a refund.
 
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