Need advice regarding lost/stolen package.

[Bird Dog]

I purchased a rather expensive mod about 2 months ago to be delivered from Italy to the US from a Facebook group. In total with shipping it cost me about $385. It was shipped via UPS and arrived about a week later while I was at work. The UPS driver dropped it at my door even though a signature was required. When I got home there was no package.

I contacted the seller and he filed a claim with UPS and I waited. Almost 2 months later now he contacts me and tells me they will only refund $60. The thing is he lied on the customs form and put the total value of my purchase at 50 euros which was something that was never discussed and I would never had agreed to.

I payed him via Paypal F+F with my credit card so I am just curious what are my options here? Can I still file a chargeback considering the way I payed? Should I contact US Customs and Borders and report him? I just really don't know what I should do at this point. He really doesn't seem to care at all about what happened and made no efforts to make things right beyond filing the UPS claim.

I appreciate any insight on this matter. I have only had 2 packages that went missing that I can remember in my entire life and one was replaced and the other refunded within a few days so I don't understand why this seller thinks I should be the one who has to take the loss and not him.

Thanks!

 

[Anise]

I would contact UPS myself. Tell them you never received your package and see what they can do for you. Good luck. I know how frustrating the process can be at times.
You may be able to get your money back from PayPal. Contact them asap. I think you have 90 days to file a claim.

 

[Katmar]

Agree with Anise. Open a complaint with Pay Pal. Do it soon! They are really good at resolving these things. And if your package required a signature, the UPS guy was in the wrong, UNLESS someone else signed and kept the package, which is unlikely.

 

[ENAUD]

I'd first start by reading the terms of service from PayPal regarding friends and family payments and refund policy. Other than that, you might just be in a tight spot on this one. Let's see, Facebook, F&F payment method on a foreign order, not properly documented value so not properly insured, the math does not look good to me looking in from the outside...wish you some turn of luck on this one.

 

[Bird Dog]

Thanks for the replies. The seller ended up refunding me a little over half what I payed so it's not ideal but more than I was expecting back. Still not very happy with the way he runs his business but lesson learned for sending F+F to a stranger I guess.

On a side not does anyone else have issues with alerts lately? I never received any for the responses on this thread and missed out on an item in the classifieds earlier this year because I never received an alert for new messages in my inbox.

 

[denali_41]

Spending that much for an international purchase ,you should doing it as service\items purchase so you are protected

 

[jim_87]

Thanks for the replies. The seller ended up refunding me a little over half what I payed so it's not ideal but more than I was expecting back. Still not very happy with the way he runs his business but lesson learned for sending F+F to a stranger I guess.

On a side not does anyone else have issues with alerts lately? I never received any for the responses on this thread and missed out on an item in the classifieds earlier this year because I never received an alert for new messages in my inbox.

Seems there have been alert issues since the last forum software update.

 

[denali_41]

yuup,i started a thread and have not received any alerts at all
on the good side i been getting alerts from threads i "unwatch'ed

 

[bwh79]

Still not very happy with the way he runs his business but lesson learned for sending F+F to a stranger I guess.

Never ever ever (ever) use PP F&F for a purchase from a stranger. That’s the opposite of what it’s for. Anyone who asks you to is up to no good (trying to weasel their way out of PP’s seller fees, at the very least, and at the cost of your available recourse should the thing go awry.)

 

[stols001]

The only time to use FF paypal (even then, maybe) is if you receive proof that the seller will insure the package to its full value. You don't have much recourse I'm afraid, but I'm glad you got at least some of your money back. I would try USPS too, I mean I've gotten alerts via misinformed delivery that something is arriving (or even HAS arrived) when it just hasn't, and by that I mean USPS has done something creative and I KNOW it wasn't delivered (even though it's been stated it has) etc. To be fair, this was when my regular mailman was on vacation and LAZY, so it's not like it happens all the time, but it does happen. I wouldn't be trusting the guy to notify you if it gets returned to HIM. BUT, USPS can find OUT, and at that case it becomes a fraud situation which you could pursue, potentially, in at least SOME arena, perhaps (although the FF thing and the overseas thing make it less likely).

I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune and the expense of your mistake. I've made similar ones on occasion, although less expensive, and that is how I "learned" etc.

That just reeks, though.

Anna

 

[Opinionated]

I purchased a rather expensive mod about 2 months ago to be delivered from Italy to the US from a Facebook group. In total with shipping it cost me about $385. It was shipped via UPS and arrived about a week later while I was at work. The UPS driver dropped it at my door even though a signature was required. When I got home there was no package.

I contacted the seller and he filed a claim with UPS and I waited. Almost 2 months later now he contacts me and tells me they will only refund $60. The thing is he lied on the customs form and put the total value of my purchase at 50 euros which was something that was never discussed and I would never had agreed to.

I payed him via Paypal F+F with my credit card so I am just curious what are my options here? Can I still file a chargeback considering the way I payed? Should I contact US Customs and Borders and report him? I just really don't know what I should do at this point. He really doesn't seem to care at all about what happened and made no efforts to make things right beyond filing the UPS claim.

I appreciate any insight on this matter. I have only had 2 packages that went missing that I can remember in my entire life and one was replaced and the other refunded within a few days so I don't understand why this seller thinks I should be the one who has to take the loss and not him.

Thanks!

Apparently you screwed yourself out of any recourse.

The only way PayPal helps you with a claim is when you pay people the right way - like they are a business you are paying in return for a product.

Pay via F&F and there is no recourse. According to PayPal you gave a gift - so in the end, that's what you did.

You had to confirm it..so you did it willingly.

 

[Bird Dog]

He only accepted F+F so I had no other choice as I wanted the mod badly. And their is recourse as it turns out. I filed a charge back with my Bank and was able to recoup the remaining amount I was owed. It just really makes me mad that someone most likely stole the package and had no idea what it was and probably just tossed it.

Apparently you screwed yourself out of any recourse.

The only way PayPal helps you with a claim is when you pay people the right way - like they are a business you are paying in return for a product.

Pay via F&F and there is no recourse. According to PayPal you gave a gift - so in the end, that's what you did.

You had to confirm it..so you did it willingly.

 

[HazyShades]

The only time to use FF paypal (even then, maybe) is if you receive proof that the seller will insure the package to its full value. You don't have much recourse I'm afraid, but I'm glad you got at least some of your money back. I would try USPS too, I mean I've gotten alerts via misinformed delivery that something is arriving (or even HAS arrived) when it just hasn't, and by that I mean USPS has done something creative and I KNOW it wasn't delivered (even though it's been stated it has) etc. To be fair, this was when my regular mailman was on vacation and LAZY, so it's not like it happens all the time, but it does happen. I wouldn't be trusting the guy to notify you if it gets returned to HIM. BUT, USPS can find OUT, and at that case it becomes a fraud situation which you could pursue, potentially, in at least SOME arena, perhaps (although the FF thing and the overseas thing make it less likely).

I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune and the expense of your mistake. I've made similar ones on occasion, although less expensive, and that is how I "learned" etc.

That just reeks, though.

Anna

He used UPS not USPS..., BTW, that creative little game USPS plays
got difficult for them 'cause now-a-days they snap a pic on delivery and can trace a package, via satellite, to within a 10 block radius.

However due to issues arising from USPS' insistence that the postal systems of other countries
adhere to the rules of the International Postal Worker's Union tracking packages from overseas, Asia in particular, is often made impossible by USPS.
So even if the Italian mod had been shipped USPS it may have well gotten lost

Some hucksters actually count on UPS leaving packages with neighbors or on porches w/o a sig.
I had a neighbor claim I signed for an iphone he ordered once.
I asked the UPS chick if the signature was legible..she said it was.
I told her that if she could read it, it wasn't my sig.
(the neighbor received the iphone, and sold it)