Buyers Not Receiving Shipments

Mark Rosenberg

This discussion was created from comments split from: Can someone tell me what Hipstamp's policy is for handling buyers disputes?.

David Rueppel

Okay I usually never bother with this but now I'm going to weigh in because it's costing me money. I had a customer, actually a few now, that have contacted me telling me they have not received their items, all including this recent one in Canada. I have it clearly stated on my listings that we are no longer refund items in the mail, registered and insured at your cost. This individual has sent me several requests for a refund and I sent him to Paypal, which of course was a mistake because guess what? he gets a refund anyway and I get screwed for my stamps and my money! And these days I suppose that's how it is supposed to work.

\Now I have a store on Delcampe, as well as Ebay and never ever have this nonsense happening, never lose items etc but it IS a reoccurring theme here as it was in all of this sites previous incarnations. Could be a sign to move on.....Just thinking

kitty Rueppel.

Luree Hughes

Just a couple of questions about your situation.
Where are you located?
Is it the same repeated customer telling you they have not received their order?
What is their location?

Luree

David Rueppel

Lititz Pa
This customer is a first

Ottawa canada

David Rueppel

I should have said this is his first time

Luree Hughes

Very strange indeed. I do mail to Canada and knock on wood, I have had no problems. It might take a length of time, but it does get there eventually. In fact I have a timer going now with a super customer in Montreal. We are seeing just how long it takes from my Post Office to her mailbox.

Which brings up the next question, how long has it been since you dropped it at the Post Office?

David Rueppel

2 1/2 months. I think the thing that rolls me and my husband so much it that if you clearly state that if you want to make sure you get your item then at your cost I will send it registered and insured. If I covered the cost I would not make a profit, at any rate, Paypal freezes my (our) account and then bullies us into giving the money back. Now if the stamp fairy just dropped collections off here for us to sell then no harm no foul. But we pay hard cash for our inventory and this site doesn't offer a way to protect it's sellers such as blocking the buyer.

What would that do? A lot more than the response Hipstamp support just gave me. This rep told me if this guy comes back, just cancel his sale, refund him thru Paypal and he will refund the fees. Now me and mark (Sure he doesn't remember me) had a very ugly exchange when I cancelled the sale of an individual, one of his friends as it goes who called me a stupid B@#ch which was why I cancelled his sale and mark threatened to kick David & I off of the site (stampwants at the time) because cancelling a sale was illegal and he had a obligation to suspend me and or toss me of the site for cancelling a sale. Now his rep tells me next time to just cancel the sale..........seriously?

David Rueppel

And 4 of the very few negative feedback's I've received in my 15 years selling online came because of this buyer and I was told I probably deserved them and they would not be removed. You can see them for yourself at Rueppel Philatelics

Luree Hughes

The operation of StampWants and HipStamp are very different. Same Mark but different company. If the Rep you chatted with suggested to cancel this customers order if they place another order with you, I would do just that. And then open a ticket about this customer and tell the Staff what and why you are cancelling the order and request a refund on the fees. Several of the bigger sellers here have done just that with no repercussion. This is the work around for blocking buyers.

Are all the orders going to Canada that you are having a situation? My thought would be to state you do not ship to Canada and that might help alleviate the stress. Just a random thought there.

David Rueppel

I actually sell far more outside of the lower 48 than I do in the U.S . By the way, Hello Luree, I am Kitty Rueppel. I guess my response to that would be we only have a hair under 19,000 items on this site so unlike the "Big" sellers they can dump us and make no dent in their wallets if we violate the rules, and like I said, I've experienced first hand the treatment as a female seller by the ownership. If you want to protect the seller, who you are making a profit off of then don't hide the ability to block a buyer under this or that, just offer it, seems simple enough to me. And I fail to see if it was illegal before how it miraculously became legal. Hmm. Just another random thought.

David Rueppel

Oh let me ask you this, do you have any issues with PayPal as to the sale of Cuba, Iran, French Sudan, Syria? I see many sellers offer this material and they all obviously accept PayPal. I ask because we were told by PayPal that if e offered this material they would close us as violating federal embargo law. Just wondering if anyone else has heard that from PayPal. They are somewhat difficult to try and have them get back to you as far as their policies.

Thanks

K

Luree Hughes

Kitty, you might want to check out this thread about your above question. "Iran Forgeries... There is NO excuse"

David Rueppel

Cool, Thanks! didn't see that one. Have a happy!

Mark Rosenberg

David / Kitty,

I've taken a quick look at your recent transactions, as well as the support tickets which you've sent in. I do see two buyers who had indicated to you that they did not receive the items you sent. In both cases, it appears that you informed the buyers that you take 7-14 days to mail out orders. I would recommend that you look for a way to speed up this time, as it's much longer than most Sellers would take to ship items, and may have a large part to due with the issue. In any case, you should at least indicate this clearly in your Shipping Details.

With regards to one of the above orders in question, and I assume the one you are referring to where a buyer filed a PayPal claim against you, I can see that the buyer simply sent you an update that the item had not yet arrived, and then indicated they would follow-up with you the following week. However, it appears that you then immediately responded to them and told them to file a claim with PayPal since you are no longer responsible for any items lost in the mail. I'm not sure why you would have done this, when the buyer indicated they would follow back up with you as they were waiting for the item to arrive?

At this time, we do not offer the ability to block a buyer, and in general, when a sale is made, both parties are responsible for completing the sale. There are a few exceptions to this, per our terms and conditions, and our staff will use appropriate discretion to help both buyers and sellers as appropriate.

With regards to clearly stating that you are simply not responsible for items lost in the mail - unfortunately that's explicitly against PayPal's terms and conditions. As a Seller, when you accept PayPal, which is the default method of payment on HipStamp, you are responsible for providing proof that you've shipped an item in the event of a dispute. Any text you include in your item description, or otherwise would not be valid, and will be ignored by PayPal. I would recommend that if you are having an issue with this, you review your overall process; shipping, insurance, etc.

michael j park

I sent a registered (at my expense) to Italy,arrived in Italy in 5 days & then 2 months to get through customs.It was only an expensive FDC not a big box.