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New USPS carrier lost my ring, might lose her job...

S

sisxixon

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
25
I'm so sad and heartsick about this -- I'm not sure if RT is the right forum for this, but I thought I'd try here first because I know you ladies would understand.

I recently got a massive raise at work and to celebrate I splurged on this RHR from a well regarded seller on eBay. His name didn't come up here at Pricescope, but given his stellar ratings I was (and still very much am) confident about doing business with him. Here's the a picture of the ring attached.

s-l1600_4.jpg

I know it's not a perfect ring by any means, but it was perfect for ME -- 2 cttw of FIVE well matched and graduated ovals, yellow gold, already the perfect size so I could wear it right away. Knowing how hard it would be to independently source those stones alone and still beat the price it was going for, I made an offer on eBay and to my surprise, it was accepted!

The seller sent it through USPS registered mail with signature confirmation, fully insured. Everything was business as usual, like all the other times I've received jewelry through USPS before, until last Saturday morning when it arrived at my local post office and went out for delivery.

To my surprise, when the mail showed up that day my package wasn't there. I had ordered some books off of eBay as well, and those were supposed to have come that day, too, according to tracking. No ring, no books. No big deal, I thought -- maybe the carrier hadn't gotten around to delivering it that day and needed to come back another day. The tracking showed that it was delayed and will be re-delivered another day, but the system would not let me reschedule delivery. No delivery slip was left in my apartment mailbox, either.

Strangely, the box with my books showed up Sunday on my porch (in my neighborhood only Amazon packages get delivered on Sundays). No ring, though.

I went to the post office yesterday after it failed to show up Monday and Tuesday -- the supervisor basically turned the place upside down looking for it and wasn't able to find it. He called the carrier and she got upset, insisting that she DID deliver the packages Saturday but just didn't scan them as delivered. This is nuts because 1) she's not supposed to do that and 2) the seller paid for signature confirmation.

This morning she knocked on my door clearly distraught and asking if I got packages on Sunday. I said I did, just one and not the one I'm looking for. She starts to get upset and said that this will be docked from her pay, and she's afraid of losing her job. She was really upset at me for reporting her.

Later today, the supervisor called me and told me that since the tracking said it was never delivered, the sender could file a claim and would likely have it settled.

The seller is very calm and reasonable about this-- I've kept him informed of what I've done and we're working together to find the most optimal solution for the both of us. It's the mail carrier I'm heartsick about. I don't want her to lose her job -- she's very young and based on our conversation she doesn't come across as that bright or responsible, but I'm not going after HER and didn't even know that it was at all related to her when I reported this package missing. I was honestly hoping it was stuck in some bin at the Post Office, and now that it's not and the PO is pointing their fingers at her, I don't know what to do.

I wish I could take this all back somehow... I'm still swooning over the ring but wish I'd never ordered the stupid thing and started this whole mess. ;(
 
she's very young and based on our conversation she doesn't come across as that bright or responsible,
______________________________________________________

Then she should not be working there if she cannot handle the responsibility.

Just know if it were not you, then it would have been probably someone else reporting her.

You did nothing wrong, as you had no choice but to report what happened.
 
A couple of things stand out to me here.
1. Why would the carrier tell her supervisor that she delivered them on Saturday but didn't scan them?
2. Why would she show up at your door asking you if you got your items on Sunday? Didn't she tell her supervisor she delivered the items on Saturday?
Big inconsistencies here. Not to mention showing up at your door scolding you for jeopardizing her job. Makes her look less than innocent Imo. Perhaps she should lose her job. Such a pretty ring. Sorry this happened. I hope it shows up.
 
I had a UPS driver threaten me once after I reported a package missing.

He basically accused me of lying that the package was missing, of costing him money, and said that he would refuse to deliver any packages to my home if the package wasn't found and that I'd be responsible if he lost his job. He insinuated that obviously he knew where I lived.

Turned out my MIL had picked up the package and put it in my garage, but I didn't know that at the time. When it was found, I cancelled the claim. I called UPS and reported that the driver had rung my doorbell and threatened me over the missing package, which was only worth about $200. I don't know who is delivering here anymore, but I sure hope it isn't that guy.
 
Good grief, don't these people realize that they are jeopardizing their own jobs when they threaten customers? :wall:
 
The reason these packages are scanned and signed for is security. Not doing those things negates the whole system. The whole story from the Post Office and the carrier sounds fishy but that is on them. You can't feel badly for a situation where you were the true victim and none of it was attributable to you in any way. Purchasing an item does not make you responsible for anyone's job.

It does look like a beautiful ring and I hope you and the seller are able to work out a suitable solution. I'm sorry this happened but I don't think you need to feel guilty over this person's job. No one likes to know of anyone losing their job but you making a claim about something you didn't receive does not make you responsible for it.
 
Oh my. I'm so sorry your beautiful new ring was "lost." The carrier seems a might too defensive IMO. It's so sad to think someone who is not trustworthy likely has your ring now. Once I had a ring delivered to a neighbor up the road with a similar house number. Thankfully, I was anxioulsy waiting and was able to stop the substitute carrier and ask about it. He went back to my neighbor and retrieved the ring. Thank goodness the neighbor was either honest or not home yet.
Again I'm so sorry, I truly hope it turns up, but don't think you should feel bad at All!! Btw congrats on your raise!
 
Just a little worried when you said she was "young" that maybe she was led astray or got mixed up in something. It's NOT your fault, you did everything right.
 
This is why I have all jewelry sent to me via Fed Ex and held at local Fed Ex office for me to pick up. Then there is little chance of this happening.
 
None of this is your fault - delivery parcels is not 'difficult' - and there are clear processes for when someone isn't home, doesn't have ID etc etc etc. Like, there is literally a "if this happens, do that" direction for every step!

I hope that USPS uses this as an opportunity to train this your woman (rather than fire her), but turning up at your place after the fact is completely unprofessional!

Hopefully your ring also finds its way home soon!
 
It's a beautiful ring and hopefully it will turn up. I'm not sure how it is the young girls problem, if it's not showing as delivered it must still be somewhere in the pipeline. Or is the problem that is been scanned as "in" at the depot and now it's not with you and also nowhere to be found? In any regard it is not your fault and the young girls job situation is nothing to do with you. You are waiting on a valuable parcel and you want to know where it is. If it is "lost or stolen", then you need to know so you and the eBay seller can set about getting the insurance paid out. I'd be telling the supervisor it's a valuable package and they should be "turning everything upside down and looking everywhere in case it's slipped down behind something". It is rare that parcels disappear but it does happen, hopefully in the next few days it will turn up for you. Fingers crossed for you.
 
Thanks for the kind words and sympathy, everyone!

My working theory is she probably got overwhelmed with the deliveries and misplaced it somewhere on her truck, left some to deliver on Sunday and somehow lost mine along the way, or mis-delivered her packages. That's probably why my books turned up on Sunday even though it's not an Amazon Prime delivery-- maybe the neighbor who accidentally received it brought it over.

The seller is an eBay veteran and specializes in jewelry -- I can't imagine he would have labeled the package as from a Jewelry Store to make it a thief magnet. That's why I'm guessing the carrier didn't steal it -- how could she have known grab THAT package out of all the others she was responsible for that day, you know?

I feel really terribly for USPS because it's clear that they are sorely understaffed. At the same time, I'm so disappointed in the runaround I got from the entire chain of command. It makes me nervous to ever have anything shipped through them again...
 
Just piling on with the others to say don't feel bad. Your piece may be lost but perhaps you're saving many others from anguish. If she couldn't cut it as you think, honesty would have been best instead of trying for some cover-up.
 
It's not your fault. Your package went missing and you filed a claim. What were you supposed to do, take the loss yourself? The seller sent it a more secure method with signature confirmation and the postal carrier didn't do their job. Her confrontation and being upset at you is just wrong. Her only conversation with you should be to assist in locating it and a discussion on how to better handle your packages in the future. It's not your fault, you should not even bat an eye, if she loses her job over this. Signature confirmation was required and paid for, she didn't get it, which would have protected her. If you didn't file you'd be out money and your ring. If you don't do your job at your work, you expect some kind of reprimand, warning, discussion or punishment if someone finds out you've been cutting corners, right?

I reported my postal carrier once, a signature required package was delivered to my neighbor. All I could see was that it was marked delivered, I didn't have it, so I filed a claim. My postal carrier apologised and had a conversation with me about who could and could not sign for packages (he was in the wrong - it was a signature confirmation package and he scanned it and dropped in their post box without a signature). We agreed signature required, as it says, and by us or our building manager only. Since then, no problems. I think he was reprimanded by his supervisor for not requiring a signature. He's still very pleasant to me, I have no idea what was said or how it was dealt with, only that I was told that was serious and they'd deal with it. That's how responsible postal carriers should handle it.
 
The whole 'this will be docked from her pay' thing is rubbish. No one's going to dock the value of a package from her pay - while allowing the seller to make an insurance claim on it. 'Insurance' doesn't constitute 'making your employees pay for it'. So when she told you that, she was either exaggerating or flat out lying.

The woman in question only knows your address through her employment at USPS. The fact that she turned up on your doorstep, having used that information (your address) to try to pressure you into doing something to help her is a MASSIVE breach of professional confidentiality. She should definitely be fired, in my opinion. Apart from everything else, if it got onto the truck, but didn't get off, and she was the delivery person, it seems hard to separate her from the package's non-delivery. But turning up on your doorstep, and telling you she'd be asked to pay for it...that was over the line from half a dozen different directions.

I once bought a sizable diamond from a PS vendor and had it delivered via Fedex. It didn't arrive after being listed as 'Out for Delivery' and its tracking simply disappeared when I checked online (but I had taken screen shots - which is a thing I routinely do in case of this specific kind of emergency). After a bunch of calls I got onto one woman who started out nicely enough, then turned really nasty when she worked out that her whole "We'll take care of it, have a nice day" approach wasn't going to work. She told me she'd send the police and 'Fedex security' to take back the package which 'apparently I already had in my possession'. (At that point, I'm figuring her boyfriend was the delivery driver!) She ultimately hung up on me. There was more to this story - equally inflammatory - so I typed it all out and slapped it on the Fedex Facebook page, updating the situation and quoting the various threats and conversations in real time. Fedex called me back - and by Fedex, I mean the head of HR at Fedex! - in about 30 minutes, and the phone worker person WAS fired. Since I'm an older middle aged lady home by myself, the whole 'we're gonna have a bunch of big burly private security guys plus the police come drag you away' approach was pretty unnerving.

However, this doesn't strike me as any more uncomfortable than a USPS person turning up at your house on a Sunday (and why the heck WERE the books delivered on Sunday??) trying to pressure you into retracting a genuine complaint. Sounds to me like she was somehow able to retrieve the books and deliver those from wherever they'd gone 'missing' (and it had to be some place to do with her, since USPS isn't open on a Sunday and there's no way she could have gotten either a key or access to their delivery vehicles, so it had to be some place she was able to access) and she was hoping the book delivery would be enough to pacify you.

Anyway, I'm very sorry this happened to you. I hope the claim goes through smoothly and that you find another piece of jewelry you equally love.

And congratulations on your pay raise! :)

PS The vendor's name and the package's contents might not be on the package, but the insurance amount is, I believe. So if someone wanted to steal a package, a small package insured for a couple thousand dollars is a good place to start.
 
All I can think reading this is she either stole it, lost it or misdelivered it and has no idea where she delivered it because she is probably new in general and forgot to scan it. She probably remembered where she delivered the books/the people who got them gave them back to her OR realized she DIDN'T deliver the books and was able to do that over the weekend, but the other package was MIA at that point and was no longer salvageable.

But I have a huge problem with her giving you grief over this potentially costing her job and trying to basically extort you over the out of pocket. That alone should be a terminable offense and one I would potentially call the Postmaster General's office about. Whatever they've done with the package should get all involved fired, because messing with a postal delivery is a felony, and if they don't get charged they will be lucky. And wherever it turns up is likely another party who should be legally responsible as well.
 
I agree with Ame; the simplest explanation is the most likely--she likely lost the package, delivered it to the wrong address, or stole it. Threatening you is absolutely grounds for termination.

OP, you sound like a really nice person, and that's not necessarily helping you right now--feeling guilt about getting her in trouble is taking too much responsibility for this situation. The responsibility lies entirely with USPS and the carrier. Don't feel too badly if she loses her job over this.
 
I can't imagine why you would or should feel guilty. Sad or upset yes.

If she had simply lost or misplaced it, then I may feel for her. The fact that she came to your house and tried to make you feel bad is absolutely ridiculous. Were you supposed to take the loss of Thousands of dollars? It is terribly unprofessional to show up at your door and act like that. She should be fired for this, not for losing the package, but her behavior afterward.
 
Yes, the worker's behavior (coming to your house, saying that you were threatening her job) is really out of line and completely unprofessional. Unfortunately it is her fault. The package was in her possession, she never scanned or got a signature it was delivered. The buck stops with her. You can be sympathetic, but nothing more. I'm sorry you didn't get your ring, it looks like a nice one (I'm a sucker for graduated 5 stone designs).
 
Thank you again for all of your support and congratulations, everyone!

At this point I'm more than ready to stop thinking about what might have happened and move on. Would anyone happen to know if there's a way to file a claim via USPS earlier than the 21 day window so I can get my money back earlier?

The seller on eBay is asking me to wait until he gets the claim paid out before he refunds me, which I'm also a little queasy about. I know eBay has a 45-day window to resolve issues, and I did pay for this through PayPal with my credit card, so I assume I'll have some protections but don't want to make this resolution process more complicated than it has to be.
 
The seller has to file the claim but you do have the right to demand your money back. It may be hard for him to go 21 days without getting the cash but there's no way you can be sure of that.

BTW, showing up at your door and threatening you was as good as a confession of theft in my book. What did she expect--that you'd eat the cost of the ring and tell the post office you made it all up? She didn't make a mistake--she made a conscious decision to do something she knew was wrong. At best she was too lazy to get the signature and receipt you paid for. Even if that's really what happened, she was cheating, she knew she was cheating, and she was counting on other people not getting robbed.
 
Talk to Paypal about your options. I once filed a grievance with paypal because I had concerns about a seller I was dealing and wanted to preserve my options. I'd convey the details if I could, but I just don't remember them. What I do recall is that folks at Paypal were helpful, and I was comfortable that the path I was using was fair to all concerned.
 
Speak to paypal. In the eyes of the seller it's possible it could still show up. They probably don't want to refund you for you to file a claim, USPS to find it, and the ring to suddenly show up. Then they are out the money and the ring and cannot file a claim with USPS since it turned up. While it's not your fault this happened hopefully paypal can come up with a sensible solution. Paypal allows around 6 months for you to file for an item not received and your credit card would be about the same.
 
Knocked on your door on Sunday? I vote that she stole it. Registered is always something of value and she knew it.
 
sisxixon|1475260780|4082430 said:
Thank you again for all of your support and congratulations, everyone!

At this point I'm more than ready to stop thinking about what might have happened and move on. Would anyone happen to know if there's a way to file a claim via USPS earlier than the 21 day window so I can get my money back earlier?

The seller on eBay is asking me to wait until he gets the claim paid out before he refunds me, which I'm also a little queasy about. I know eBay has a 45-day window to resolve issues, and I did pay for this through PayPal with my credit card, so I assume I'll have some protections but don't want to make this resolution process more complicated than it has to be.
Click to expand...

I don't think there is. And fwiw I have always had packages either show up to me or back to the sender by the end of the 21 days and have never had to file a claim. (UPS and Fedex are a different story... I've lost too many packages with them.) However I also find the actions of the postal carrier very suspicious and unprofessional, and worthy of termination even if losing the package was an honest mistake.
 
Quick update for everyone who is following this:

It didn't sit right with me that the supervisor at my local branch could just shrug and tell me to wait until the 21 day window to have the sender file the claim. If asking the carrier her story and then shrugging is all they do when it comes to insured and registered mail, we would all be insane for continuing to trust their service.

I tried the 1-800 line again and chose "fraud" from the menu option. That got me to a representative IMMEDIATELY, instead of having to wait 30+ minutes like on previous calls. It's clear that they take allegations of fraud seriously-- this woman was the most polite and knowledgeable representative I'd ever spoken to throughout this entire ordeal. She gave me a new case number then escalated this to the San Francisco Consumer Affairs office of USPS. I'll update you once the ball starts moving again, since it's Friday afternoon here and I doubt anything will happen over the weekend.

Thanks again for all of your support!
 
That's great! Well, as great as it can be in this situation. Good to know someone in USPS appears to be handling this seriously.
 
The person that was at the office or the delivery driver could have stolen it or lost it - it happens all the time, hopefully they will pay the claim back to your vendor who will reimburse you the money (that is what should happen going forward). I am sorry I know that it has and is probably causing you a lot of heartache and hassle.
 
Open your PayPal claim for item not received as soon as you can. Don't listen to the seller. Pay attention to deadlines and make sure you escalate or otherwise comply with all the rules and deadlines. PayPal will give you your refund. The seller doesn't want to give back the money, and that is why the seller is advising that you wait. Too bad, so sad, the rules are the rules. You jump through all the PayPal hoops properly, PayPal will refund you, and if the seller doesn't actually have the money in a bank account or he doesn't have a credit card on file for PayPal to charge, PayPal will place a hold on his account and garnish the proceeds of his ebay sales until PayPal is paid back.
 
I agree with AdaBeta. File a PayPal claim.

I once ordered a gold ring that was stolen out of my mailbox the same week several packages were stolen from neighbors. There were tons of workers at the house across the street from our mailboxes, getting the house ready to put on the market. I filed a police report, but the post office wouldn't pay back the money because it had been delivered. The company sent me another ring because they should have insured the package (which would have required a signature), but hadn't. You're in a much better position for getting your money back.
 
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