Item not received- tracking says delivered

[aeolianmdoe]

Hello,

I know this is a common question and I have found many questions that have solutions, but for my own peace of mind I must ask it again, so I apologize in advance. 

I purchased an item ($215) and paid with Goods and Services. Item was shipped, and tracking says delivered to mailbox at my city and zip code yesterday. However, I honestly did not get the package. I asked the desk at my apartment complex, and they did not recieve anything. I asked a few neighbors if perhaps the key to the community lock box was placed in their mailbox by accident and it was not. I will visit the post office as soon as it opens tomorrow to inqure further.

In the event that I just never get my package, what can I do? Do I have a case here? From my research it seems like I would be out of luck, as the tracking says delivered and to my city and zip. I really hope this isn't the case. 

Thank you for your input. 

[sharpiemarker]

Yes, technically you would be out of luck in terms of a PayPal dispute.  Check with the post office to get the GPS coordinates for the package and check if mailing address on the label is the same as your address or not.  They won't tell you the actual address but they can say whether it was the same address.  Now if seller scammed and the address used is not the same as yours, and you paid by credit card at PayPal, file a credit card chargeback for item not received.  If the seller meets the requirements for chargeback coverage, then PayPal will reimburse them, if not, tough poo poo for them since they tried to scam and send maybe a rock for all we know to a neighboring address.  You supply the card issuer your evidence from the PO that the address they used to ship was not the one you provided at checkout and the card company should cover your loss if they want to keep your custom.

[aeolianmdoe]

Thank you for your advice, I will keep this in mind today!

[DPCreations]

You are responsible for security of mail at your delivery point; that is the responsibility of the seller nor responsibility of the postal service.

Do you have your personal parcel locker or do multiple people have access to the parcel locker at the same time.  Does your appartment office handle parcels?

As the buyer you are the one responsible for the research.

[aeolianmdoe]

I'm not sure what this has to do with security. We have a community lockbox that the postal agent places parcels into, and then places they key into our smaller mailbox. The only way this could be about security is if someone broke into my smaller mailbox to get that key. Or, the postal agent placed the key into the wrong mailbox. I cannot possibly be responsible for that. This parcel was not delivered to my door as the tracking says "in mailbox" which no one should have access to but me. Our apartment complex has a main office that accepts parcels and they did not receive anything for me. I am surprised that this is the stance of PayPal. Amazon holds the position that only a signature is proof of delivery. The buyer is not "responsible for security" as you accused me of. If I end up losing this package I will count it as a 200 dollar lesson on the differences between customer service of PayPal/eBay and Amazon. Irregardless I will not be using PayPal for any transaction in the future as it clearly does not have the buyer protection it advertises, nor will I be shopping on eBay again.

[sharpiemarker]

PayPal has purchase protection but it is not 100%. They never claimed it was and people need to read up on what it doesn't cover and not assume they're covered.

For Item Not Received claims:

"If the seller presents evidence that they delivered the goods to your address, PayPal may find in favor of the seller for an Item Not Received claim even if you did not receive the goods."

Why is that folks know the terms of other payment processors and not PayPal?  The terms are not that hard to find. I'm bemused. 

[Whac-A-Mole]

If your package is placed in a communal lock box and the key to that box is misplaced in one of your neighbor mailbox,then it is up to honesty of your neighbor to either return the package to you,to the apt building front desk or take it home and CELEBRATE!

Or if you have a tricky seller who just cant locate the item or item has already been sold,then he/she could send an empty package to an address with same zipcode as yours,but they would usually send an empty envelope ,it sounds like your seller did ship a box which is too big for your mail box.

if you lose,file chargeback as Sharpie suggested and Paypal/Ebay will have t o pick up the loss as it qualifies for seller protection     

[DPCreations]

@aeolianmdoe

The reason for the comments was that your description of delivery point was confusing as you mentioned a community and someone else managing mail.

As I understand now, no one else at all is involved in your mail pickup.  As I now understand you have your own USPS-provided locked mail slot.   When a parcel is too large for your your mail slot, the postal carrier places the parcel into a single locked parcel box and then places the key into your locked mail slot, so that you are the only one with access.  That's the way it works in our community where we have pedestal mail boxes.

Does someone else have a key to your mailbox?  If the answer is "no", then security is well covered and the missing parcel would more likely be a case of mis-delivery.  In that case you would need to contact your local PO and ask for research.

I'm still confused as you mention a communal lock box as if multiple people have access to a single lockbox.  You also mention your appartment complex handles parces.   With communal access to boxes and appartment complex managing parcels, then that's where you need to investigate the security of your appartment management.

[aeolianmdoe]

Thank you very much for your response. I appretiate your comment.  Im sorry, this is my first apartment and I have never exerienced a mailbox setup like this, so my terminology is all derived from reading these forums and other research. 

I do not have a communal lock box, I have a single lock box that parcels are placed into and then the key is placed into our individual lock boxs, exactly as you described. 

I am in contact with the usps who have agreed that based on the photos and weight of the item, it could not have fit into the mailbox. They have informed me that the tracking should have read "left in parcel box" although I don't know if there really is a distinction for them between parcel and mailbox. They are running an investigation now. 

In this instance, if the usps cannot find my package, what can I do? As I understand it I am basically out of luck as far as paypal goes. 

[DPCreations]

@aeolianmdoe

Many people now have cluster mailboxes, each small one locked.  Below the small boxes are individual locked parcel boxes.  An item actually placed in an individual locked parcel box would have only been available to the recipient with a key.