Six weeks ago I bought two engines from a very reputable ebay store. The guy also has an actual hobby shop as well. We e-mailed regularly about shipping costs, etc. I contacted him regarding the missing shipment to which I got a prompt reply that they must be hung up in customs ( I’m in Canada and he is in the US ).
IF these engines don’t show up, I don’t want to be out the cash, on the other hand, if I file a non-received item claim, isn’t HE going to be on the hook for them ??? It’s not fair that either one of us gets “screwed” over the missing engines. The engines were shipped airmail letterpost and this service does not provide any tracking information.
Well, depending on the purchase amount, It had better have been shipped insured! If it wasn’t, then I would say that the store is obligated to recoup the cost. He’s the one with all the shipping records and could make a claim to the postal service. Hopefully this guy is more a ‘store’ than he is a guy with junk in his garage…[2c]
The guy IS a legitimate store - I’ve been to the store’s website. His ebay store has a feedback of over 4000 at 99.8%. To me, there’s no red flags anywhere.
Well, check his terms of service, but I would say he is liable. What store was it anyways? Not looking to boycot, but more to expand my knowledge of where to get gear.
Six weeks is not too long for clearing cdn customs esp at this time of the year (that’s assuming it was mailed on the same day you ordered, usually its not and that adds a week or so, esp with smaller vendors). I’d wait another 2 weeks before worrying. That being said, he’d be the one to make a claim since he has the records, but if it’s not insured, the USPS will only say they handed it over to CanPost and wash thier hands.
A while back I asked the clerk at my local PO to explain how the international shipping works. I was primarily interested in how the payments work (who get the revenue from the postage, etc…) I was told that the postal system in the country that the package originates is the only one that gets the revenue. The recieving country has a reciprical agreement to deliver it “free” of charge. The catch to this is how it gets moved once it is in the recieving country. If the truck that is moving the mail that day is full and something has to be left behind, the “free” package is the one left. At this time of the year there is a lot of mail being moved due to the holidays so this may slow things down a bit. Also with the big amount of mail coming over the border I am sure their customs is also swamped. I would imagine that these two situations are conspiring against you. I would give it a couple more weeks.
Also, I would ask the seller what day it was sent. I once had a customer ask this as his package had not show up yet. It turns out that I inadvertantly forgot to ship it. It got put to the side for some reason and got left behind. I did not notice it untill he asked about it. I did send it next day for him.
I would suggest that you look very carefully at the store’s policy regarding non-delivered items. Almost all of the larger ones will state that without shipping insurance, they can’t be liable for non-delivered or damaged items. With all of the scammers and jerks out there, I can see why they would insist on not being held liable. All it takes then is for a dingus (I’d use a stronger word, but it’s a PG rated forum) to get his package, claim he never received it, and they’re out the cash. Personally, I always buy insurance for any items over $30-$40, or any items that I REALLY, REALLy want. I also figure the cost of insurance when I’m setting my maximum bid.
That all being said, I agree that at this time of year, it’ll probably take a while to get packages from the US. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of 4 or 5 packages right now, and delivery time has increased dramatically in the last 2 weeks.
So much misinformation on the Internet, so freely dispensed. The actual definition is “Free on Board” and by itself the phrase means nothing. It only takes on meaning when a point is mentioned, such as FOB Origin or FOB Destination. The term comes from the old days, when the seller was agreeing to deliver the goods “free on board” to a ship, from which point the buyer became responsible.
FOB is a term designating whether the shipper is paying for the transportation, eg: “FOB Company XYZ loading dock”. It means the freight is paid to that point and the consignee is responsible for transporting or arranging transportation of the item beyond that point.
FOB stands for “free on board”. Free means free of encumbrances and leins and released for transport, and on board simply means loaded on the conveyance (truck, railcar, or boat). No implication is made as to which party is responsible for the safety of the cargo, although, once released, it is generally the responsibility of the carrier to get it to it’s destination on time and in one piece.
Just so you know, there is another designation, “FAS” or free along side, in which the shipment is designated as being in a location but not loaded onto the conveyance. This one is generally used by steamship lines, since they are the ones doing the loading, not the customer.
I live in Canada too and I’ve had over 40 U.S. to Canada shipments so far with no complaint about the U.S.P.S./Canada posts combined service.However,two to three weeks delay for shipment is what I call “most usual”.Then you don’t say if you paid right away (meaning Paypal and/or credit card) as many if not all sellers will wait for a check to clear before shipping (usually ten days or so) and will do the same with a money order.Also,if you did send a check,it did take up a week or so to reach the seller.Finally,it is likely that the package was indeed sent right away as some sellers have scheduled shipping days in the week.Add to this the likely overload this time of the year…well it all adds up.To make matters worse,customs probably are overloaded also.I wouldn’t worry yet as it is likely the worst time to have packages shipped.
I live in Canada too and I’ve had 3 ebay shipments “lost” over the years. All I’m sure were legit. The first one the shipper gave me the tracking # and I traced it, last point Toronto. When I called Canada Post they told me it was in customs and they could not tell me when I would receive it. That was over a year ago and I never got it. Luckily all I paid was $34.00. The other 2 were from the another seller, “Plugdoor” who sold alot of HO scale parts and I bought alot of items from him. I bought the first order worth about $15.00, paid for it and never received it. I emailed him and he promptly sent me a replacement item, good seller. The next time I ordered from him he insisted on insurance, so I paid and never received the items. He dropped me like a bad cold, wouldn’t respond to emails. My guess is someone along the chain was a croocked HO scale modeler.
I’ve bought a number of items from sellers up in Canada that came in within two weeks.
If I were you I wouldn’t worry about whether I ticked the guy off or not, but would be out to get my engines or money back by what ever means were available to me…
I have stopped using any sort of mail myself…just got sick and tired of all the headache that goes with it…bought something from Germany and sent by Airmail in September…something suppose to take only one week end just receiving it 2 weeks ago…so I got myself a FedEx account and just pay for the extra’s for a piece of mind.
Now back to your problem, your best bet is keep calling the Post’s customer service and speak nicely and ask for the supervisor or the manager. I made a few ‘complaint’ and all of a sudden, things like that parcel from Germany start to turn up…well, sort of after I threaten to call the cops for fraud because I had another sent by EMS and then 3 weeks later, it says delivered and someone signed for it?! I am suppose to get EMS in 4 days?!
I’ve bought over 200 items off of Ebay that were shipped from the US. I’ve had items delivered anywhere from 4 days up to 1 month. Six weeks is way to long. You might want to be quick in complaining to Paypal, after 45 days they won’t help you either. Air Mail from the States has a tracking number so either he didn’t write it down, save the receipt or somehow he lost it.
Always one anti ebayer in the crowd and if it was a yahoo auction there be one for it too . There’s nothing wrong with eBay if you ask questions and check ratings before you bid . I’ve had a couple of bad trades but usually because i didn’t read all the seller stated or check his ratings. Also didn’t ask questions that might have helped the sale yes even if you do all this you can have a bad sale I have over 700 sales/buys on eBay and 99.9 % are great ones. I can think of one bad that I did the correct checking and my point he was just out for the buck didn’t care he mislead.
Now back to your deal I agree with others give it a couple of more weeks as being holiday time it can get stuck in transit .