[MrGatsby]

Hi all,

on 11/30/18 I came across a company that makes custom carbon fiber parts. They are prominent on Ebay with great ratings and lots of sales so I assumed all would be okay. Due to my custom order, I did not purchase through Ebay directly, rather paypal'd the seller the funds upon order. He stated the parts would take about a month to make, which I was fine with.

Now on January 9th, I received a tracking number which showed, "pre shipment" on USPS. a few days went by and it still stated, "pre shipment". I figured i'd give him a few more days.

Now 8 days later, it still shows as, "pre shipment". A bit concerned, I first contacted the seller, and his response was as follows,

"Hi, yes it looks like it was picked up thursday 1.10. Due to the size it went oversize parcel, delivery normally takes 7-12 days for oversize parcels depending on your location. you should see tracking update when it reaches its destination city and gets handed off to usps for final delivery."

That put my mind at ease.

However, I called USPS and was told by the manager of the sellers local post office that the label was created online, but nothing was ever picked up nor dropped off at USPS, and they do not have the package.

Now I'm stuck with the seller saying its shipped, and USPS saying it's not. With well over a thousand dollars worth of parts, I am starting to get concerned but will not escalate a dispute just yet with paypal or ebay, as the seller has been communicative and great up until now.

Anyone have some insight into my best course of action from here?

Thanks,

Gatsby

[fatalelement]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

Hi all,

on 11/30/18 I came across a company that makes custom carbon fiber parts. They are prominent on Ebay with great ratings and lots of sales so I assumed all would be okay. Due to my custom order, I did not purchase through Ebay directly, rather paypal'd the seller the funds upon order. He stated the parts would take about a month to make, which I was fine with.

Now on January 9th, I received a tracking number which showed, "pre shipment" on USPS. a few days went by and it still stated, "pre shipment". I figured i'd give him a few more days.

Now 8 days later, it still shows as, "pre shipment". A bit concerned, I first contacted the seller, and his response was as follows,

"Hi, yes it looks like it was picked up thursday 1.10. Due to the size it went oversize parcel, delivery normally takes 7-12 days for oversize parcels depending on your location. you should see tracking update when it reaches its destination city and gets handed off to usps for final delivery."

That put my mind at ease.

However, I called USPS and was told by the manager of the sellers local post office that the label was created online, but nothing was ever picked up nor dropped off at USPS, and they do not have the package.

Now I'm stuck with the seller saying its shipped, and USPS saying it's not. With well over a thousand dollars worth of parts, I am starting to get concerned but will not escalate a dispute just yet with paypal or ebay, as the seller has been communicative and great up until now.

Anyone have some insight into my best course of action from here?

Thanks,

Gatsby

I'd probably just tell him you called USPS to get a delivery timetable, and they informed you that no one had dropped off anything to them and they don't have the package at all.

I would not be accusatory at all, and instead frame it as "can you give me any information to give USPS so that they can locate the package?" rather than "can you disprove what USPS says because they say you're lying," as the latter probably won't help.

It's not likely, but it's certainly possible that USPS is wrong, since I've had them mark items as delivered (a twin-exit headerback exhaust for an FR-S, which is far from small) and gone to my local post office to see it sitting in the back behind the desk. I've also had things delivered and USPS mark them as in St. Louis, or something crazy, while I'm in SF. This is a very small fraction of a percentage of the packages I've had delivered by USPS, but it happens.

[MrGatsby]

Originally Posted by fatalelement

I'd probably just tell him you called USPS to get a delivery timetable, and they informed you that no one had dropped off anything to them and they don't have the package at all.

I would not be accusatory at all, and instead frame it as "can you give me any information to give USPS so that they can locate the package?" rather than "can you disprove what USPS says because they say you're lying," as the latter probably won't help.

It's not likely, but it's certainly possible that USPS is wrong, since I've had them mark items as delivered (a twin-exit headerback exhaust for an FR-S, which is far from small) and gone to my local post office to see it sitting in the back behind the desk. I've also had things delivered and USPS mark them as in St. Louis, or something crazy, while I'm in SF. This is a very small fraction of a percentage of the packages I've had delivered by USPS, but it happens.

Thanks for your response! I'll certainly steer clear of accusations. As of right now, I don't believe the seller did anything intentional to deceive.

You might be right on looking towards USPS. Perhaps they didn't make the initial scan into the system, but still shipped the package. I could give it a few more days I suppose.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

Now I'm stuck with the seller saying its shipped, and USPS saying it's not. With well over a thousand dollars worth of parts, I am starting to get concerned but will not escalate a dispute just yet with paypal or ebay, as the seller has been communicative and great up until now.

Anyone have some insight into my best course of action from here?

It takes a day or two for shipments to show up in the USPS system, but not usually this long. Ask the guy to confirm one more time that it was shipped. If the tracking doesn't show that it was delivered you won't have any trouble getting your money back from PayPal. Hell, if he didn't request Signature Confirmation on a package over $750, you can get your money back.

eBay won't do anything if it wasn't purchased through their system.

[fatalelement]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

It takes a day or two for shipments to show up in the USPS system, but not usually this long. Ask the guy to confirm one more time that it was shipped. If the tracking doesn't show that it was delivered you won't have any trouble getting your money back from PayPal. Hell, if he didn't request Signature Confirmation on a package over $750, you can get your money back.

eBay won't do anything if it wasn't purchased through their system.

I certainly agree - it's vaguely possible this is USPS' mistake, but after a week, I think it's pretty unlikely. I'd want some confirmation from him - if it says picked up on 1/10, I'd wanna know how he made that determination.

In any case, just prodding him to get some more info to see what his story is (i.e. oh there was an issue USPS is picking it up today blah blah) might be useful. I think it's reasonable to ask for a lot of information when you're shipping something worth a lot of money.

[MrGatsby]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

It takes a day or two for shipments to show up in the USPS system, but not usually this long. Ask the guy to confirm one more time that it was shipped. If the tracking doesn't show that it was delivered you won't have any trouble getting your money back from PayPal. Hell, if he didn't request Signature Confirmation on a package over $750, you can get your money back.

eBay won't do anything if it wasn't purchased through their system.

My only concern is the time frame: will PayPal still cover me if nearly 2 months have gone by since I sent funds?

Hopefully it wont come to that, as these are all custom made to order parts that we put a lot of time into design/dimensions.

But it's definitely good to know that isn't money wasted if the package is a no-show.

[MrGatsby]

As discussed, I sent him this message,

"Hi, I called USPS to get a delivery timetable, and they informed me that no one had dropped off anything to them and they don't have the package. Just figured i'd give you a heads up.

Could you give me some information to give USPS so that they can locate the package? Like who picked up the package and where?

Thanks!"

I'll report back with his response. Thanks to all for the help.

[MrGatsby]

He responded with,

"Hi due to the size of our full kits we can not actually ship parcel select they are too large we have to ship using an oversize parcel service. you should see tracking update when the package reaches the destination city and gets handed off to usps for final delivery. which can take up to 12 business days from date shipped which was 1.10.2019 so it should be over to you somewhere between 1.23.2019 - 1.25.2019. if you ave any questions after receiving your kit please write anytime and we would be happy to assist.
Thanks"

I think I understand what he is saying. That they used an oversized parcel company (probably to save money) which doesn't provide tracking, then the oversize parcel company will give to usps in my hometown for delivery, and only then will the tracking update?

[fatalelement]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

He responded with,

"Hi due to the size of our full kits we can not actually ship parcel select they are too large we have to ship using an oversize parcel service. you should see tracking update when the package reaches the destination city and gets handed off to usps for final delivery. which can take up to 12 business days from date shipped which was 1.10.2019 so it should be over to you somewhere between 1.23.2019 - 1.25.2019. if you ave any questions after receiving your kit please write anytime and we would be happy to assist.
Thanks"

I think I understand what he is saying. That they used an oversized parcel company (probably to save money) which doesn't provide tracking, then the oversize parcel company will give to usps in my hometown for delivery, and only then will the tracking update?

Ah - yeah, that's probably what he means. Some places will do that, they hand off to USPS for the final leg. Once USPS has it, they deliver, and it's usually the day of delivery or the day before that it's given to USPS. I've had that happen with one thing in the past.

[MrGatsby]

Originally Posted by fatalelement

Ah - yeah, that's probably what he means. Some places will do that, they hand off to USPS for the final leg. Once USPS has it, they deliver, and it's usually the day of delivery or the day before that it's given to USPS. I've had that happen with one thing in the past.

Im just surprised that he would cheap out on shipping for such a high value package. I paid a good $80 for shipping alone. That should afford me a tracking number.

I digress, it seems as though all is well and I should be receiving my package in a few days.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

My only concern is the time frame: will PayPal still cover me if nearly 2 months have gone by since I sent funds?

Yes, you have 180 days from the date of the payment to make a claim.

[thkfast]

MrGatsby, tomorrow is the day. Keep us informed!

[Mvy]

Though it takes forever to get them to refund you, Paypal will do that if you can show no delivery. If your shipment does not arrive by the 27th start the process with them. You can always call them off if the parts arrive. Rest assured you wont be out all your money when this is said and done.

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by MrGatsby

I digress, it seems as though all is well and I should be receiving my package in a few days.

Status?

[pwrdbym]

Keep in mind you can also dispute the charge with your credit card company and it will be an easy determination if you have tracking that shows it was never delivered.

Sounds like you're going to be fine though as what he says makes sense.

[amrazM]

It’s coming with a courier, just hang tight.

[MrGatsby]

Good news, I was just informed of delivery through tracking! I will be heading home shortly to retrieve the package. Will post some pics.

[Mvy]

Originally Posted by pwrdbym

Keep in mind you can also dispute the charge with your credit card company and it will be an easy determination if you have tracking that shows it was never delivered.

Sounds like you're going to be fine though as what he says makes sense.

Glad the shipment is coming!

Be aware that if you use the CC dispute process when you have paid through paypal, you might get banned from paypal as you by default agree to use their service for disputes as part of the ts and cs.

[MrGatsby]

It seems as though I spoke too soon. Package that was delivered was not my carbon fiber parts. Still stuck in pre shipment.

[BzsBimmer]

I had almost the exact same thing happen but through amazon. Seller claimed to have shipped and we could never track it etc.

We finally filed a disputed with amazon. The seller was pretty upset but after three months almost of waiting, what would you do?

The package arrived two days after we filed the claim but the carbon fiber parts had cracks in the clear and looked like crap so we didn’t contact the seller.

[MrGatsby]

Patience is a virtue I greatly lack when it comes to car parts.

[MrGatsby]

He stated he shipped on the 10th, and it would be 12 days for shipping. Also said that latest it should be arriving is today, the 25th.

Tracking still shows as "pre-shipment" and USPS still says they have received nothing from the seller.

Should I give him a few more days?