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 Replies: 34 / Views: 3,717 |
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Moderator
 United States
16677 Posts |
I was on vacation in Arizona when my cell phone rang with a number I did not recognize. When I listened to the voicemail subsequently left, it was an ecrater customer from Colorado that I sold an IHC to. He stated that he received the 000 bubble mailer with my business card inside, but no coin. He also stated the mailer was torn open  This gentleman was the salt of the Earth and just plainly speaking, a very nice older man. I stated my frustration as well as apologies, and told him I would issue him a refund. He told me that was not necessary as we should just consider this a loss. I refunded his money and now have stipulations in place for ANY coin I sell on ebay that I am not responsible for lost coins in the mail if insurance is not purchased. I never offered insurance for any coins under $20...which this was. Here is my question. Should I pursue this as a criminal investigation? I know this would be next to impossible to prove who stole this coin but, he told me on the phone how the mail goes through the Denver sorting facility and he has had 3 coin packages not get to him this year alone! Thoughts? Here is the 000 he sent back to me. Notice the stamps are not cancelled either.   swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
Is there any indication on your package that a coin, or something of value might be inside? Also, do you ever talk about what you are sending with people at your post office? It is also possible that his letter carrier may be dishonest and knows this guy gets coins on a regular business. If none of those apply, you probably just got hit with some bad luck.
It might be worth creating a report with the post office. Chances are they may not find your coin, but it is possible they have had similar complaints and with enough reports may be able to root out the thief. Something along the lines of "we have an unusually high number reports of missing goods coming from XYZ facility, let's investigate the employees there".
Edited by Saruma
10/06/2011 02:57 am
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Moderator
 United States
16677 Posts |
Quote:
"we have an unusually high number reports of missing goods coming from XYZ facility, let's investigate the employees there".
My thoughts exactly. I also thought about a thief after the package was delivered...one of those mail boxes down the driveway near the street  swcoin.ecrater.com
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
I think you should report it so there is a record of the loss. I don't think you will ever get the stolen coin back though  John1  |
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Valued Member
United States
341 Posts |
I've sold alot of different types of items on ebay over the years. Only a few package never made it to the destinations. All of them were coin sales. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:I refunded his money and now have stipulations in place for ANY coin I sell on ebay that I am not responsible for lost coins in the mail if insurance is not purchased. You can state that but if it doesn't arrive and they file a claim with paypal they will probably still get their money back from your account. Especially if you don't have delivery confirmation. Even if you do have it and they claim the coin was missing from the package they may still get reimbursed. ebay takes the position that it is the sellers responsibility to make sure the item gets to the buyer. Postal insurance is to protect the seller not to buyer. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
It is really a more common accurance than most think. This is due to so few do report them happening. Many people say it was to small an amount to get all involved with the paper work. Unfortuately this is exactly what criminals count on happening. Not sure if in the post office but as you may have heard over the years even the post office has hired some not so honest individuals.
If everyone would report all such things happening, there would just have to be some investigations made and possible arrests.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19930 Posts |
Gone, not worth the trouble, write it off.
When using paper mailers like this, ALWAYS, tape all the edges and put a couple strips across each side to prevent tears. I've lost a couple shipments where the paper was torn. Once I use up the 1000 lot of paper mailers I bought, I'm switching to the poly type.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Do you think putting some sort of marked tape over the portion that gets sealed may help as a deterrent? With the type of envelope you used, it can be easy to peel back the flap, remove contents, and seal it back up as if nothing happened. Maybe some tamper proof type tape will be enough of a deterrent where the theives will not bother and concentrate on easier targets? Just something I was thinking that may or may not help.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5818 Posts |
The seal from those bubble wrap envelope aren't strong enough, I use wide tapes even after its sealed.
But sorry to hear about the incident, report it anyway and see if you can also get a tax break at year end?
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Valued Member
United States
458 Posts |
This has happened to me as well. The ONE time I sold a coin on ebay, the poor guy I sold it to emails me saying that he received my envelope and the piece of paper I had included saying thanks for the purchase etc etc, but that there was no coin. At first I was suspicious, but after a few emails it was obvious this guy really didnt have the coin. Gave him his refund and forgot about it. Wasnt more than 10 dollars anyway :P |
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Valued Member
United States
81 Posts |
These are the stories that have scared me away from buying coins online. I know it is not a common occurrence but the thought is still scary. Not to mention, I live in a low-income neighborhood, so lots of desperate people. Lets hope my first two online purchases come through unscathed. Good thing I kept them both around 20 bucks so no big loss if something does happen.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
Its happened to me a few times as a seller. I have refunded every time. Once I had a buyer not receive a coin, it was relatively cheap, like $5 or so and I refunded immediately. Same buyer later claims a package I sent was received by him, but nothing was in it. That one was more like $30. I sent that thing wrapped up real tight with mailing tape and had delivery confirmation. I checked the guys feedback left for others and it became obvious this was his scam. I called his bluff, he opened a paypal dispute, my side of the story was worth zero, he won the dispute and got everything back, then he gave me a negative. About 2 months later, for no apparant reason, the money was returned to my paypal account and the negative was removed.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3278 Posts |
I definitely think you should report it to the US postal service.
The stamps not being cancelled adds to the mystery. (Nice Ronald Reagan's by the way)
Mail theft is serious and carries a big punishment.
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Valued Member
United States
187 Posts |
I also think you should report it to the U.S.P.S so at least it is on record and if a pattern of this develops investigators will have another piece of the puzzle.Although I doubt you will ever recover this lost coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
I don't think that reporting it will get you very far. You may as well consider it a loss. Quote:
I'm switching to the poly type. We use these at work because it is virtually impossible to open them by accident. The adhesive seals so tight that you basically destroy the envelope when you open it. Another plus is that they are more weather resistant. Also, I think the price difference is less than ten cents per mailer. |
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Replies: 34 / Views: 3,717 |
Posted 10/06/2011 03:07 am
