Problem with order from Andy (Empiretecandy) and need advice

vlocci

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I just placed my first order with Andy in early July (just before the 4th)

He was a great guy to work with and promptly shipped my $1800.00 order DHL to the address I provided. I mentioned to him that I live in a rural location (on a small island actually) and he confirmed this would be no problem.

Problems then proceeded, as DHL doesn't deliver to me as they would need to put their truck on a ferry and handed the package to the US Postal Service on the mainland. USPS then barged it here and ultimately sent it to my local rural post office. (which has limited hours, do not deliver mail to you house and have one non-full time employee) Someone at USPS signed for it to receive it from DHL.

I eventually received a USPS call card in my mailbox and headed to the post office to pick this up.

Here is the problem: USPS can't find the box in the rural post office, nor can they locate it in the main post office. They know I don't have it ( I never signed the call car when receiving a package), think they should have it, but can't find it. My local post office is the size of a garden shed, so it is definitely not in there or we would have seen it. To get to the main post office requires an hour ferry and a bunch of driving, so I obviously just can't walk over and poke around.

USPS says the item is lost, and they tell me the shipper should file an insurance claim with DHL as the package has been lost. Since I am the receiver I can't file this claim.

Andy's local rep is claiming I either stole this or the postmaster did, and refuses to assist beyond asking me to email and call USPS and DHL. I've done this on multiple occasions over the last couple days to no avail as neither will deal with me since I'm not the shipper. I've likely spent 10-12 hours sitting on hold and getting transferred to folks that continually tell me this is the shipper's problem.

I've asked Andy to assist, and hope that he does, but don't have a great feeling about this. Realize $1800.00 is A LOT of money to me.

Can anyone offer assistance of the best way forward? I've never had this problem before, but admit I've never ordered something from China via DHL. Neither the post office or DHL will even tell me if there is insurance on this as again, I'm not the shipper. I'm trying to be reasonable but feel like everyone is blaming me.

Looking for advice on what to do next. Anyone work at DHL or USPS and can offer insight?

Andy, please reach out and assist if you read this!

Vin
 

vlocci

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Thanks tony, good to hear I'm not being irrational in my expectations. Quite the learning experience.

Thanks for the link to Andy's section. I should have posted there first but failed to realize he had his own section.

fingers crossed this works out.

Vin
 

bug99

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I don't know what will happen here, but i had a lost package from Denmark a few years ago that i tried to track down. I got no where and was very frustrated. No amount of forms and tracking ever found it. I think it was DHL to USPS forwarded. The amazing thing is that in about 8 weeks, it showed up (USPS) with no explanation or resolution on any tracking request.
 

mat200

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Thanks tony, good to hear I'm not being irrational in my expectations. Quite the learning experience.

Thanks for the link to Andy's section. I should have posted there first but failed to realize he had his own section.

fingers crossed this works out.

Vin
Hi @vlocci

I'm certain Andy will do a good job to assist you.

Remember to always document your contact with DHL / USPS and note the person you spoke to, time / date, the contact you used ( phone, email,.. ) a summary of what they said / did.

Packages do get lost in the system when transitioning. I concur with TonyR - DHL needs to be on top of this.
 

vlocci

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Thanks folks, I hope you are right but expect Andy will assist as his reputation seems stellar.

Hopefully I'm not looking at an 8 week USPS-DHL fight <GRIN>

Vin
 

handinpalm

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If USPS loses your package, your screwed. I have had many a USPS package lost. Packages that I sent to myself at home address, lost, they will not even return your postage, unless you insure the package. Sometimes the package shows up out of the blue, about a month later. Even if you track it to a postal distribution center, that is all you know. . . nothing. Good luck on your package, maybe it will show up later.
 

looney2ns

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If you haven't yet, file a complaint on the USPS's website.
Call your states Attorney Generals office, or most likely you can file a complaint on their web site.
I've just recently had a package "lost" by USPS sent from Amazon 150 miles away. It was USPS all the way.
On the third day, the tracking showing it at a DC. Over the next week, it never moved.
I called Amazon, got a new order in two days from them.
Two weeks later, the original package arrived. so a total of over 3 weeks to make it 150 miles.
To this day, the tracking shows it still sitting in the same spot.
See here: DHL | Claims | English
And here: DHL | Assignment of Rights | English
 

MakeItRain

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I hope the package was insured. $1800 is a big order. The package would be big, difficult to just "lose". DHL shouldn't have given it to USPS. If they couldn't deliver, they should've called you to come pick it up by hold for pick up.

Also, you claimed that the USPS main office barged it over the island to the local USPS. You have proof/confirmation of this? If so, then isn't this USPS's fault? So somehow, the package was lost either along the way over the sea, or somebody stole it at your local office.

I urge you to use the "Hold for Pickup" option next time. Whether it's DHL, FedEx, or UPS. It's the safest option, it seems in your situation.
 
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Not sure what can be expected from Andy. He trusts DHL for the distribution network. Out of 1,000 shipment orders, some are sure to be lost or stolen or swallowed by a wormhole in transit. This would be 100% DHL issue, not related to Andy at all. I wonder what the success rate of UPS or FedEx or even USPS compared to DHL.
But then again, out of 500+ packages shipped to my door... I've never had one to be simply missing. Delayed or shipped elsewhere, yes but not missing.
Andy's reputation is not in danger.
However, I do wonder. If my order was $1800, I would of seriously opted for insurance or such?

Dang it. Maybe I should of read your entire message :) Yep, Andy's local rep is responsible for starting insurance claim. You get better results via USPS due to adding in federal law stuff, as compared to UPS or FedEx tossing it on your porch (not federal).
 
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mat200

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Took sometime to think about this from a root cause and it is very simple ( yeah, still bugs me that this happened - I would be very upset with DHL on this one.. )

Basically the issue:
DHL transfers the responsibility of the package to a 3rd party because it did not wish to complete the delivery ( perhaps not wanting to incur a ding on it's profit ).
 

xtropodx

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Don't know how it works in US, but if I ordered something & it wasn't delivered I'd think the onus would be on seller+courier to prove delivery. Obviously if you don't have it it's either been misplaced or stolen. Either way not your fault or issue & shouldn't be out of pocket. And in many places ownership of goods doesn't legally transfer until you've received them, hence sellers still owns goods & is responsible for any follow up. Incidentally failing this buyer's do have right of dispute, but seller should be given opportunity to resolve first before doing this.
 

vlocci

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Thanks all. I've offered to file a claim with both dhl and USPS, but I'm told this needs to originate with the shipper.

Good news is Andy had stepped in personally and had offered to make this right following some investigating. As much as I'm anxious to get my order I can secure that he needs to do some checking b fore filing his insurance claim.

He has been a true gentleman and I've offered to pay the difference in reshipping costs using FedEx or UPS (both of which reliably deliver to my location) should the package be lost and he needs to reship

Hopefully he can resolve this and find things before needing to reship.

I'll update once Andy has resolved this as he should be commended for making things right

To everyone, thanks for the advice. Sadly it seems like I'm not the only one who has struggled with dhl and USPS.

Vin

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bp2008

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Ouch, this is a bad situation! Everything I get via DHL (which is mostly cameras from Andy, lol) stops one state over and then USPS takes it from there. However for me this has always just meant delays in delivery, not exceeding 3-4 days.

Lost packages suck. My brother once ordered a signed book from a seller who was just 40 miles away in the next town (in Wyoming). It was shipped USPS and it went all the way to California where tracking stopped. So the seller offered my brother his own personal copy of this signed book as a replacement. Hand-delivered. It was a surprise when the original copy showed up in good condition after about 2 months in the void. The seller got his personal copy back after this of course.
 

KKH

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GL, I've recently done about 5 orders with Andy over the last three months or so at a pretty high price tag.

I've had no complaints, sounds like a shipping issue that's not his fault. That sucks... Kudos to Andy for stepping up to help. His customer service is top notch.

I'd like to note... xtropodx, it's not the responsibility of the seller once the item has been received to the shipper with a contract/tracking#. Anything the seller does after that is customer service, NOT onus on them. The whole amazon+ market has skewed the idea the seller is responsible for lost packages. The seller is not resposible once a valid tracking/"contract of carriage"/"bill of lading"/"shipping receipt" is presented.
 

Mike A.

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I'd like to note... xtropodx, it's not the responsibility of the seller once the item has been received to the shipper with a contract/tracking#. Anything the seller does after that is customer service, NOT onus on them. The whole amazon+ market has skewed the idea the seller is responsible for lost packages. The seller is not resposible once a valid tracking/"contract of carriage"/"bill of lading"/"shipping receipt" is presented.
Naaa... Not really true other than maybe technically if defined by specific terms to that effect.

I've run an online business for 20+ years and have to deal with lost/damaged packages all the time. Under any common payment system like PayPal, ebay, or merchant credit card account the seller is bound by the terms of that payment processor independent of any terms specified within the sale itself. In the event that a dispute is filed for non-receipt the seller must provide proof of actual delivery. Typically that will require that you provide evidence of a signature in acceptance. You can bitch and moan all you want as a seller and show delivery confirmations, etc., won't make any difference. In fact, in most cases you won't even be provided an opportunity to bitch and moan, you can either submit something documenting delivery and acceptance or you lose. Period. In some cases PayPal may pick up the cost separately under its seller protections if you meet their required terms but that's between you and PayPal. Standard merchant accounts you're pretty much universally screwed without a signature. Sometimes even when you can you still lose. Whatever money you received from the buyer through that payment processor is going back to them. If you want to pursue payment from the buyer under your specified terms legally beyond that you're free to do so but rarely worth bothering with for general consumer sales. If you're moving something of higher value where you may have a stronger contract and/or buyer-specified carriage, then you might have some recourse but not in the case of typical online sales. Also if you start burning customers over lost items like that then you're probably not going to last long in business. It happens. Just one of those things that you have to eat as a cost of doing business or insure against on your side to the extent that it's worth doing.
 
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IAmATeaf

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Here in the UK it has to be the seller that instigates an insurance claim if the item goes missing, hopefully Andy is now in the case and things will progress.
 

vlocci

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thanks you all for your private questions.

Andy is continuing to work with DHL to see if they can resolve this.

As of yet, still no cameras even though I paid 2+ weeks ago. That said, Andy promised to make good and I have every reason to believe him.

I'll update as soon as something of value happens

Vin
 
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