Order I sent was collected by someone other than my buyer-What now???

[MissMischief]

Hi all, I posted an order via the post office, counter to counter, ordinary parcel with tracking number/registered mail and my buyer emailed me to say someone else has collected their item. Has anyone hasd the same problem? It wasn't insured but surely the post office has to be held accountable, the person who collected it didnt have my buyers name or their id. ? Any help?

[lilythepink]

This is most definitely a Post Office problem. Suggest that you AND the buyer make representations to the Post Office - there is an onus on them to ensure that the CORRECT person receives the parcel. I must assume that it is the buyer's Post Office at fault but you can help by providing an affidavit with a certified copy of the parcel slip which you sent. (I just hope that the item wasn't worth too much!) Expect a long, drawn out saga - the Post Office is not the most efficient of places when one has a complaint. Good luck.

[MissMischief]

Thanks, unfortunately it was a R900 product, registered mail is usually good enough, just not this time. :(

[lilythepink]

Yes, but if you have proof of posting and the buyer can confirm that his/her Post Office delivered to the wrong person, then I think the buyer's Post Office is "guilty" as charged and a claim needs to be made by her at her Post Office a.s.a.p.

If you possibly can, go to www.sapo.co.za and print out the info you will get on that particular parcel - it will help you if the buyer decides to rate you negative and you can prove that the parcel was at HER post office and they are to blame.

[wayjen]

eina!! these kinda situations smell of inside jobs to me.

[lilythepink]

But the situation does raise a very interesting legal point as far as selling/buying/delivery is concerned ... I contend that there is no fault on the Seller in a case like this where she can prove she sent the item AND, hopefully, also prove (by way of SAPO: The South African Post Office) that the parcel reached the buyer's Post Office. The poor buyer, in this instance, is the one who will have to do a lot of work getting some reaction when she lodges her complaint about non-receipt of her parcel. (It could very well be an "inside" job!)

[voldermort]

Last year I bought an item off BoB, seller sent me my tracking number, when tracking on the website it continually showed "at CapeMail", after 5 days of this I phoned 0860 111 502 to inquire where it was to be told it had bn sent to the Grand Central Post Office by mistake but was bn held there waiting for me to collect it.
Next day when I went to pick it up I was informed it had bn collected earlier in the day...........by a gentleman with the surname of Salie.
After vigorously flashing my ID card around, asking if I looked anything like the gentleman in question the manager appeared to ask me to leave my details and he will get back to me in the course of the day.
No damn way, said I, if need be I will stay here all day progressively making more & more noise (I should mention I do have quite a loud voice) until either the idiot who imagines my name to be what it is not is found....or the elusive Mr.Salie is tracked down or I am given my parcel & will then be on my way. 20 minutes later my parcel miraculously appeared......apparently it had dropped behind a radiator or some such place.
My point is when you are given a tracking number that is your proof that it was posted, and registered is even better because you have the slip, the onus then falls on the buyer to collect the parcel which is why when sending a tracking number I include the telephone number & the website for track & trace details so that it can be tracked all along it's journey.
If your buyer were to make enough noise I am sure the parcel would be "found".

[Snet]

How did he get hold of your tracking number? I would suggest to all buyers to ask sellers to confirm VIA mail that they have received the item

[Kit W]

It should be the other way around - the Buyer should confirm with the Seller that the items has been received. By the mere fact that you rate a Buyer is to state exactly that - your item has been recived in good condition (in most cases)

Kit W

[SProducts]

I had a similar incident a while back, actually more than once.

I sent a buyer a tracking number, but at the post office they made a mistake and changed tracking numbers, the person posting didnt inform me about it. The item arrived, buyer colelcted and compared tracking numbers and them emailed me looking for their item. I had to go through tons of receipts to check as when I tracked the original tracking number it wasnt working and eventually I found the correct tracking number.
Guess what, someone collected it a week earlier with teh same surname as the buyer. I told the buyer to confirm if they know the person, I included their surname and ID numbers and the buyer disappeared.
Same thing happened again.

I am not implying anything, obviously my situation was different due to tracking numbers.

My suggestion would be the buyer can go and make a statement or something so the post office can track down whoever collected the parcel. There should be ID numbers and initials including surname. It cant be that difficult to track them.

Sipho

[lilythepink]

Last year I bought an item off BoB, seller sent me my tracking number, when tracking on the website it continually showed "at CapeMail", after 5 days of this I phoned 0860 111 502 to inquire where it was to be told it had bn sent to the Grand Central Post Office by mistake but was bn held there waiting for me to collect it.
Next day when I went to pick it up I was informed it had bn collected earlier in the day...........by a gentleman with the surname of Salie.
After vigorously flashing my ID card around, asking if I looked anything like the gentleman in question the manager appeared to ask me to leave my details and he will get back to me in the course of the day.
No damn way, said I, if need be I will stay here all day progressively making more & more noise (I should mention I do have quite a loud voice) until either the idiot who imagines my name to be what it is not is found....or the elusive Mr.Salie is tracked down or I am given my parcel & will then be on my way. 20 minutes later my parcel miraculously appeared......apparently it had dropped behind a radiator or some such place.
My point is when you are given a tracking number that is your proof that it was posted, and registered is even better because you have the slip, the onus then falls on the buyer to collect the parcel which is why when sending a tracking number I include the telephone number & the website for track & trace details so that it can be tracked all along it's journey.
If your buyer were to make enough noise I am sure the parcel would be "found".

You are SO right, voldermort. Even if it means chaining oneself to one of the fixtures in the Post Office and staying overnight, we need to exercise our rights. If more of us do this, then there would be less thieving via the postal system. (Must be lots more of Salie's type working in the Post Office, I assume?)

[geewhizz]

Hi all, I posted an order via the post office, counter to counter, ordinary parcel with tracking number/registered mail and my buyer emailed me to say someone else has collected their item. Has anyone hasd the same problem? It wasn't insured but surely the post office has to be held accountable, the person who collected it didnt have my buyers name or their id. ? Any help?

If a parcel is checked online and has been picked up the id of the person will show online. If, as you say, no id was given then it wont be there but check anyway

[JPBon]

I remember a certain seller arguing with me that this wasnt possible in a discussion about tracking numbers in ratings.

[mellowred]

Our post office in Hermanus won't even allow you to use your driver's license to collect a registered item.

Bar coded ID or you can't collect. Even though they know me, they will not release a thing.

[lilythepink]

If a parcel is checked online and has been picked up the id of the person will show online. If, as you say, no id was given then it wont be there but check anyway

And if it's an "inside job" then there'll no doubt be a false ID number given! What then? I still maintain that that's the Post Office's problem and THEY need to refund the buyer if they can't give her her parcel, no matter what they say about R100 being the maximum they will refund if a parcel is "lost". When it is downright theft then I think the PO should cough up!