Weird Canada Post problem...

[chicweb]

Here is the story:

Sent some comic books the 7th with tracking from Quebec to Ontario. Been to the post office, everything went well.

Tracking updated later "Item processed". Good... it's taking care of.

Later: "Item in Transit". Nice...

Next day? Nothing. Day after? Nothing.. Mmm... Something is wrong. I waited for the weekend. Still the same monday. Tuesday, "Cannot be delivered, will try next day". What? Weird...

I double checked the customer's address. Nothing special. A house. Cannot be a mistake. It shouldn't be a problem. I then decided to contact Canada Post on phone.

The agent, right away after 30 seconds of checking, asks us if we want to be refunded. What? No Investigation? No questions... ? Something must have been wrong on their side. He already knew he had to refund us.

We asked if we will get the items back. Nope. "The envelop was emptied". ?! 

I mean... Comic books in a Gemini Box within a bubble envelop... For a Gemini Box packed with comic books to disappear... Normally, the Gemini Box would have be en enough for protection, the Bubble envelop is an extra touch from us to make 100% sure everything is right.

Any idea what could have happened?

By the way, cancelled the order for the customer... sent messages telling them we were very sorry (and we are still angry, to be honest).

I guess we will take a hit on our "Top Seller" ? But, we tried refunding the total amount with the Refund tool... cannot refund unless we remove a cent... The customer doesn't have to pay for this... not even a cent.. So we prefer to take the hit.

[recped]

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@chicweb wrote:

Any idea what could have happened?

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My first guess.....bubble envelope gor sliced open during processing,  the contents fell out and could not be matched up with the remnants of the bubble envelope.

The tracking number presuming you had tracking might show that it was empty in CP's internal tracking info which has more information than the public tracking page.

[reallynicestamps]

Slow down.

You are the Seller?

What was the last estimated date for delivery?

Has the customer complained?

If the delivery date has not passed, the buyer cannot open a Claim.

If the buyer has not complained to you or to eBay, there is no problem.

Why do you think the package is lost/damaged/destroyed?

The word of a minimum wage call centre clerk in Utah?

You mailed on Wednesday the 7th. You are posting on Wednesday the 14th.

Take a deep breath.

There is no problem until the customer complains.

Aaaaand.

You cancelled the order.

So you are out the books that the customer has not yet received because they are in transit.

And you are out the payment that the customer did not ask to have refunded.

Don't watch tracking.

Don't invent problems.

If the customer has a problem they will tell you.

[chicweb]

yes, I am the seller.

Last date for delivery was yesterday. Regular service date was estimated the 9th. So it was already late. Quebec to Ontario with Expedited shipping is usually fast.

I agree that we should have waited a bit. Next time, we will, to be sure to not create problems.

But, in this case, we called Canada Post and were issued a refund. They confirmed the item was not found, just the envelop.

Waiting for the check, but they issued me a refund confirmation number for the payment.

At this point, we will simply print the label 2 times. One on the bubble envelop, one on the Gemini Box inside. That way, we eliminate one possible problem.

[chicweb]

I think we will print two times the label. One on the envelop, one on the Gemini Box inside.

It doesnt cost more, really... Using a thermal printer. The cost of the paper we use is really cheap. That will eliminate that possible problem.

[flipistics]

In the future you may wish to have the buyer open an INR before refunding.  Unless something has changed, I believe refunding without a case being opened will result in an out of stock defect. I'm pretty sure an INR is less punishing. Someone may wish to correct me on that.

[reallynicestamps]

And if the customer, who again, had not complained, gets the item late, they have both their money and their purchase.

When tracking shows delivery, you can contact the buyer, apologize for the delay (even though it was neither your fault nor your responsibility) and ask for their Paypal address or etransfer number so you can bill them for the goods they received.  This works about half the time.

[chicweb]

Yes, that is what was in my mind yesterday. So I contacted an eBay agent to discuss about it. After verification, they said I would not get a defect because it was damaged in transit. 

But I will keep an eye on this. I'm not that trusting on eBay agents, unfortunately. If I still get a defect, I will contact them again and re-explain everything. Next time (if it happens again, let's hope not), for sure, we will wait for the customer to open a case. Way less hassles.

Still a learning process. 😉 That's the fun part of it, even if loosing the books is infuriating.

[chicweb]

Yes true. I can see how this would cause more problems, just because I've been too fast.

Having waited would have been better.

[intimewithmusic]

I may have misread this.  Items go missing in transit all the time while the outer packaging still gets delivered.  When I had the music store it wasn't unusual to receive a carton sent from Ontario to BC and find a neatly cut out and repaired hole in the bottom of the box. Most of the theft was small electronics like guitar tuners, a microphone etc so the package weght wouldn't vary much. 

On another occasion I ordered an inexpensive jewelry item from Sephora for my daughter. the package came as expected with the ring box in it. No ring. "Item Delivered" means the package was delivered not necessarily with a product inside.

A case of a discovered internal employee thief might explain the CSRs quick response. 

[chicweb]

Yes, that was in my mind too. Someone knows about their internal tracking? I'm just curious about it.

I guess, when a package is scanned, they know which employee scanned it, from the postal office all the way to the delivery?

It could be more complicated at the sorting facilities, but even there, they should have things in place? Postal services are very important all around the world... A lot of packages of values flow through it and businesses relies on it.

I'm guessing if that would have been the case, they would not tell us. 😉 That's OK, I can understand that. But, that's still a possibility.

[chicweb]

Sooooo, we have a defect in our account.

We contacted eBay about it. Funny thing (really not funny tho), this order had 5 items in it.... They removed one of the defect, but kept the other 4.

We contacted them again since they removed the defect on one item in the order, why not removing the others ? It's the same exact problem... Canada Post destroyed the item (or lost it or whatever).

Received an email this morning, they won't remove the other 4... what ?!!?!

Why?!? They agreed with me on one item, but not the other 4 of the same order/package ? They all have the exact same tracking number.

Wow... Weird. Very very weird.

I have already received my refund from Canada Post.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@chicweb wrote:

Sooooo, we have a defect in our account.

We contacted eBay about it. Funny thing (really not funny tho), this order had 5 items in it.... They removed one of the defect, but kept the other 4.

We contacted them again since they removed the defect on one item in the order, why not removing the others ? It's the same exact problem... Canada Post destroyed the item (or lost it or whatever).

Received an email this morning, they won't remove the other 4... what ?!!?!

Why?!? They agreed with me on one item, but not the other 4 of the same order/package ? They all have the exact same tracking number.

Wow... Weird. Very very weird.

I have already received my refund from Canada Post.

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@chicweb 

More weird stuff for the collection. A seller I am aware of in wpg sent out 2 parcels to the USA approx. 3.5 weeks ago. ! parcel made it to Chicago and then poofed off the radar. With some pushing finally got it moving again. Then scans said delivery attemped. turned out buyer received that day. It got updated to following day. Closing case...fortunately. 2nd parcel showed as scanned in Wpg. but has never actually moved. Is moving now and from the case that was opened with no major urgency. 

As a side for all the naysayers regarding tracking whenever anyone spots "hinky" tracking details it is well worth the time to maybe do a little investigating. From personal experience and not 1 ofs, usually when I have suddenly those parcels magically start moving to their destination. In the meantime it would be good to know what is going on internally with these packages that DO NOT ARRIVE as they left and why eBay cannot addess this as something out of a sellers control when dealing with dings.

-Lotz

PS. As a side it's great that US orders include a customs invoice providing the value. Canadian orders on the other hand do not. Becomes a case of shipper trying to prove what they actually sent to get credit for money owing when stuff goes poof in the night. 

[needsmorerobots]

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@chicweb wrote:

Sooooo, we have a defect in our account.

We contacted eBay about it. Funny thing (really not funny tho), this order had 5 items in it.... They removed one of the defect, but kept the other 4.

We contacted them again since they removed the defect on one item in the order, why not removing the others ? It's the same exact problem... Canada Post destroyed the item (or lost it or whatever).

Received an email this morning, they won't remove the other 4... what ?!!?!

Why?!? They agreed with me on one item, but not the other 4 of the same order/package ? They all have the exact same tracking number.

Wow... Weird. Very very weird.

I have already received my refund from Canada Post.

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I'm sorry this happened to you.

I had the same defect and more than one.

I complained to Ebay til I was blue in the face. It changed nothing.

From the experience, I learned to let the customer open an INR. Taking care of an issue on your own will just get your hand slapped.

You'll be waiting a year for those defects to disappear.

I sympathize. 

[pjcdn2005]

@chicweb 

What sort of defect did you get?

Are referring to the sellers metric because an item not received claim was opened or another type?

[chicweb]

Hello,

It's because I cancelled the order and chose Out of stock/Damaged... Thinking "damaged" would also work for Damaged in Transit.

Nope. A big No No. I learned to never do that again. 😉

But good news, the defects are now gone after explainint over and over and getting very annoyed and angry.

One morning, they were gone.

So now, couple of lessons learned:
1. Always wait for customer claim (or make them fill a claim if there's a problem)

2. Nevet ever choose Out of stock/Damaged (unless its on our fault directly... If WE damaged it before sending or if we have a stock problem... Which should never happen).