US Postal Service eBay auction shipping problem

Complaints.com received the following e-message on October 18, 2001:

From:

RE: US Postal Service

I'm not sure which category this complint goes into but here goes: First, let me just set this situation up, my fiance and I purchased a loose diamond from ebay to replace

the lost center stone in my engagement ring. The new stone was a different shape and size than my original

one, so upon taking the stone to the jeweler, we found that I could not use the stone without comprimising

the other stones in the setting. I decided that to recover the money that we had lost, I would resell the

stone on ebay. The auction winner bid a decent price (I actually made some profit) and this is where it

gets messy. After I received the winner's payment, I went to my local post office (Chapel Hill, NC-Estes

Dr. location) on 10/6 to send the stone. I purchased insurance (insurance receipt # VB 556 169 978 US) and

began to complete an express mail label. The postal employee who sold me the insurance said to me, "It's

not really worth the money to send this express or priority mail. It should be there in a couple days

just using regular, 1st class mail." I said, "Are you sure?". He said, "Yes m'am." So I paid for the

insurance, the padded envelope, and 1st class postage, and left the post office. A few days pass and I get a fairly angry email from the buyer stating that she has not received the

package. I email her stating I will look into it. In the meantime, I tell her that I don't have a tracking

number (as it was not sent priority or express mail) but I do have the insured mail receipt number. I give

her this so that she can check up on it herself and reassure her that I haven't in anyway tried to dupe

her. A couple more days go by, she still hasn't received it and I get an email from her stating that

she is angry that she hasn't received that stone. She says that the post office told her the insurance

number was invalid. At this point, she understandably feels like a victim of internet fraud. I tell her

that the number is definitely valid. It's not like I copied the number from somewhere, I am looking at the

original receipt on my desk. I remind her to to check for an INSURANCE number and not a tracking number.

It's been a full week and I get another VERY ANGRY email from the buyer. She says she has a written

confirmation from the post office stating that the number I gave her is invalid. Now I really hadn't

taken a great deal of initiative in tracking this down because I just figured the mail was slow due to

everything going on in the country, but at this point, I had to do something. On 10/16, I call my local post

office and explain the situation.

She says, 'call the 800# or look it up on the internet'. I reminded her that I didn't have a tracking #, just an insurance #. She said that I could still look it up. I tried both of these methods. The internet, of course, did not recognize the insurance #. The 800# only accepts tracking numbers, and of course I could not get a human on the telephone. I call the local post office back. After being on hold for about 8 minutes, someone comes on the line to help me. There was about another 10 min. of the employee alternately talking to someone else and putting me on hold. She finally say that the only info they have is that it was definitely mailed out on 10/6 and that I needed to contact the Temple, PA post office (it was being shipped to a home address in Temple)to see if it was possibly sitting in the post office because they could not obtain a signature. I said ok and asked if they could give me that telephone number. She said NO. I called the US postal service 800#.

This number gives specific automated instructions on how to get operating hours and telephone numbers for post office locations. I followed these instructions with no luck. I hung up, tried again. This time, I got a customer service employee. I told hime what I needed. He said, "You've reached customer service". I told him that I had pressed the numbers to get a post office tel. number. He said, "Well this is customer service." I

said, "Well, can you give me the number to the Temple, PA post office". He says again, "Well this is

customer service. I can help you." Obviously, I wasn't going to get the direct number to the post

office, so I proceed to tell him my issue. He was supposedly documenting the problem. He asked if I

wanted someone to call me back regarding this issue, as there was nothing he could do about it (why was I

even talking to him). I said yes. He took my name and telephone #. I asked him if he needed the

insurance number and he said no (I wondered how they could investigate this issue without the only piece of

info that would identify the package). I still didn't have the number to the Temple, PA post office.

Finally, I located the area code for Temple on the internet, called directory assistance, and got the

number for the Temple main p.o.. I called them and, after another 2 people and approximately 20 minutes

worth of hold time, I was told that they, in fact, did NOT have the package in their possession.

On 10/17, someone from another customer service department in Raleigh, NC left me a message to call her. I call back several times, only to get voice mail each time. Finally, I left a long, detailed message about what

had happened. At this point, I've explained the situation to 5 or 6 different people. She called me

back sometime later and left a message saying, "Oh, now that I know what happened, you'll need to call the

claims department." Needless to say, I was frustrated, both at the fact that, even though I had

explained in detail to the person who apparently referred my call to her, she did not know what the

problem was before she called the first time, and at the fact that I had to make yet another phone call.

This morning (10/18) I call the claims department twice, only to get voice mail. I leave yet another

long, detailed message explaining the previous sequence of events. The guy calls me back and says

that there is nothing he can do. There is no way to locate the package. I can file an insurance claim, but

only after the package has been missing for 30 days.

He again suggested that maybe the postman could not obtain the recipient's signature and therefore the package was at the Temple post office. I reminded him that I had already contacted the Temple post office and they had no record of it. He proceeded to explain that just because they couldn't find it didn't neccessarily mean that it wasn't there. So I asked him if the postal service recorded any attempted deliveries, and if so, who would have that information. He essentially said that Temple p.o. may have it, but then maybe not. By this time, I am about to hit the roof, and proceed to explain the dilemma that I am in. I explain to him all about the item that was shipped and the fact that I will have to refund money to the buyer without even having the

merchandise back in my possession. I asked him what, at this point, could I do.

He said to wait the thirty days. I asked him, "What if it shows up on the 29th day?" Then not only will I have had to refund the buyer's money, but I will be out of the shipping/insurance costs, and the ebay listing fees.

I ask him one more time if there is any way to locate this package. I mean, I find it hard to beleive that

NO ONE in the entire postal service has a clue as to where this package is. He assures me that the only

thing I can do is call the Temple post office again, but maybe they know if its there and maybe they don't.

Then, to make matters worse, he proceeds to chastise me for not sending it express mail. I of course

remind him that I was advised by a postal employee that it was not worth it to send it express or even

priority, as it would only take a couple days to get there by regular 1st class mail. He completely

ignored that and continued to chastise me for not sending it express mail and ended the converstion by

saying, 'you'll just have to wait thirty days and then go into your post office and file a claim later'. Well, needless to say, I am furious. On top of all this, I go to the US postal service website to try to

file a complaint. There is a link in the 'contact us' section that says 'file an official complaint'. When

you click this link, it takes you to a page that prompts you to enter the location of a post office

(i.e. city/zip code). Well, since I have more than one location to complain about, this wasn't really

what I was looking for, but I type in my zip code anyway, and the only info it gives me is the street

address of the local post office. How exactly does that help me?

So I call the postal service 800# (yet again). None of the automated options fit my situation so I do as instructed and 'press 7 for any other inquiries. I'm thinking this will probably get me an operator or something. WRONG! I am prompted to enter the zip code of the post office about which I would like information. this wasn't what I needed, soI didn't enter any numbers. The system prompts me for a zip code again. After I don't enter one, it disconnects me. I redial, and try all this again...same thing. Now isn't this ironic. When I

wanted post office information, I got a customer service rep. who refused to give me post office info.

Now that I want a customer service rep, I get an automated system that insists on given me post office

info, and refuses to let me speak with someone. I know that the US postal service is pretty much a monopoly, but they certainly owe customers better

service than that which I have received over the past several days. I request that someone from the postal

service contact me, and please, if it is not someone who is ready, willing, and able to help, then just

don't bother. Wiletra Burwell