Items lost in mail!!! what should I do?

kahnjar1 · 7th January 2018, 06:10 AM

If you paid using Paypal you have 180 days after paying to lodge a claim for non receipt of item. This in no way affects any other investigation.

drac2k · 7th January 2018, 03:07 PM

As a fellow collector, I feel your pain; especially when the prize you won far exceeds the cost!
When dealing with the USPS, I always send the item by Priority and I fully insure it, as well as ask for a signature confirmation if any significant amount of value is involved; they seem to pay much better attention to the package when they are monetarily responsible.
Since you are in Malaysia, my next possible solution may not be cost effective for you, but I have found that it sometimes works; call the USPS Service center with the tracking number.You will have to wait for many minutes on hold before you will be able to talk to a human being and prior to that agree to participate in the short survey after you have talked to the USPS representative.They must be graded on their performance as I have found them to be very, very helpful and call more than once if you do not get the answers that you want, as a different operator may have new information or different insights.
My guess is that your hold up would be with Customs.
Good Luck and I hope that your items will come to you.

Green · 7th January 2018, 08:20 PM

drac2k,

Many thanks for your suggestion. I have checked with Malaysian custom and the local post office and they confirmed that the package has not arrived in Malaysia yet.

Green · 16th February 2018, 04:52 AM

A happy update.

I have finally received the lost items!
Early this month the USPS managed to trace the whereabout of the items and resent back to the sender. It was unclear what went wrong but apparently the main reason I gathered from the communication was due to the custom declaration form was lost and the package was not shipped but sent to 'Dead mail center'.

To make sure it was not lost in the mail again I requested the auction house to resend to me using fedex (which I had to pay additional shipment fees) and it duly arrived last week.

To be fair I've not lost any shipment from USPS before and not sure whose fault it was in this case.

drac2k · 17th February 2018, 03:00 PM

Great news and congratulations; after a long lapse of time, the results are usually negative.

mariusgmioc · 18th February 2018, 05:52 PM

I am very happy to hear that you got your kerises!

Unfortunately, it seems there are more incidents like this (not necessarily with happy end) lately. I had two similar incidents (both with PostNL - Dutch post) during last few months.

The quality of services is free falling.

shayde78 · 21st February 2018, 04:43 AM

Happy to hear your situation had been resolved
As a tip for others, I have found that filing a claim with USPS often triggers a sudden delivery of 'stalled' items. In my opinion, always is a good idea to file a claim.
I'm glad your kerises ultimately found their way home and have earned even greater appreciation due to their journey.

18th February 2018, 05:52 PM	#6
mariusgmioc Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Austria Posts: 1,906	I am very happy to hear that you got your kerises! Unfortunately, it seems there are more incidents like this (not necessarily with happy end) lately. I had two similar incidents (both with PostNL - Dutch post) during last few months. The quality of services is free falling. Last edited by mariusgmioc; 18th February 2018 at 06:23 PM.

7th January 2018, 06:10 AM	#1
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,786	If you paid using Paypal you have 180 days after paying to lodge a claim for non receipt of item. This in no way affects any other investigation.

7th January 2018, 03:07 PM	#2
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,255	As a fellow collector, I feel your pain; especially when the prize you won far exceeds the cost! When dealing with the USPS, I always send the item by Priority and I fully insure it, as well as ask for a signature confirmation if any significant amount of value is involved; they seem to pay much better attention to the package when they are monetarily responsible. Since you are in Malaysia, my next possible solution may not be cost effective for you, but I have found that it sometimes works; call the USPS Service center with the tracking number.You will have to wait for many minutes on hold before you will be able to talk to a human being and prior to that agree to participate in the short survey after you have talked to the USPS representative.They must be graded on their performance as I have found them to be very, very helpful and call more than once if you do not get the answers that you want, as a different operator may have new information or different insights. My guess is that your hold up would be with Customs. Good Luck and I hope that your items will come to you.

7th January 2018, 08:20 PM	#3
Green Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Malaysia Posts: 320	drac2k, Many thanks for your suggestion. I have checked with Malaysian custom and the local post office and they confirmed that the package has not arrived in Malaysia yet.

16th February 2018, 04:52 AM	#4
Green Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Malaysia Posts: 320	A happy update. I have finally received the lost items! Early this month the USPS managed to trace the whereabout of the items and resent back to the sender. It was unclear what went wrong but apparently the main reason I gathered from the communication was due to the custom declaration form was lost and the package was not shipped but sent to 'Dead mail center'. To make sure it was not lost in the mail again I requested the auction house to resend to me using fedex (which I had to pay additional shipment fees) and it duly arrived last week. To be fair I've not lost any shipment from USPS before and not sure whose fault it was in this case.

17th February 2018, 03:00 PM	#5
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,255	Great news and congratulations; after a long lapse of time, the results are usually negative.

21st February 2018, 04:43 AM	#7
shayde78 Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 445	Happy to hear your situation had been resolved As a tip for others, I have found that filing a claim with USPS often triggers a sudden delivery of 'stalled' items. In my opinion, always is a good idea to file a claim. I'm glad your kerises ultimately found their way home and have earned even greater appreciation due to their journey.