Should I take the postal service to a small claims court?

mcmx · #1 07-13-2012

I shipped a brand new pair of shoes I sold for $2,300 on eBay, to a buyer in the USA. I'm in Canada and shipped it with Canada Post. I have pictures of the shoes before I shipped them & after, showing the damage that occurred. I packaged them extremely well and yet they were definitely tampered with (A FELONY) since they arrived to the buyer with a small scuff on the tip of one shoe. Absolutely unexplainable on Canada Post's part. I double boxed the shoes and used an entire $8 roll of bubble wrap for extra protection. Note: I've also had something else tampered with before, unexplainably. (It was a keychain wallet thing, and it arrived to the buyer with the chain torn off the wallet.)

Anyway, PayPal took & held my money ($2,300) immediately after the buyer opened a dispute against me. I eventually lost and the buyer had to send the shoes back.

So I got them back and I opened a claim with Canada Post back in March.. and it just ended today. They told me it was denied after dealing with them for THIS long (4+ months). By the way, the claim was only for $1,000 (their max. insurance that they allow for international shipments) instead of $2,300 which I sold the shoes for. I paid extra to place that insurance on there anyway. I couldn't imagine something would even happen to my item. Anyway, I'll have to take it to the "ombudsman" next, for a final and unbiased decision from them...but I am truly thinking of taking this to a small claims court next.

Over the past 4 months, I've had absolutely NO money (I'm a student, no job. This was the start of me re-selling some shoes for some money, since I live in a low-key city/area where line-ups for limited, popular sneakers aren't like 2 weeks). This $2,300 was supposed to do a LOT for me. I couldn't even buy myself a new computer for school like I was going to do, and I've only bought 1 little t-shirt all year. Nothing else. I've lacked money for the past 4 months and this has affected me negatively. It has also caused me tons of stress. And most of all, it's cost me TONS of time. I've spent HOURS of my time writing & submitting long written documents to PayPal & Canada Post + talking on the phone with eBay, PayPal, Canada Post + messaging with an upset buyer, and more. I want to take them to a small claims court for such an inconvenience they've caused me.

Their lack of communication throughout the past 4 months, the unfair, unreasonable things they've asked me to provide, the rude and unethical customer service just makes me even more angry.

Should I take them (Canada Post) to a small claims court? I'm not trying to blow this out of proportion to suck money out them. I just want the money I deserved to have 4 months ago + at least a bit more for all of the time I've had to spend. It's stressful and absolutely ridiculous.

***EDIT: BY THE WAY - I bought the shoes for just $200. I knew I'd turn a big profit in re-selling these so in case you're wondering why I have a "$2,300" pair of shoes, that's why.

jeffweico · #2 07-13-2012

You might want to speak with a lswyer, but I think you would be better off re-selling them - listing them with pictures of the scuff - if you can get a significant amount of money that way.

I am NOT a lawyer, but if their insurance limit is $1,000 I don't see a judge forcing them to pay you $2,300 in any case.

You seem to have done everything right here and the situation sucks. Next time, if it were me, I would try to find a different carrier with a higher insurance limit. FedEx, UPS, etc.

mcmx · #3 07-13-2012

Yeah unfortunately FedEx or UPS would have charged $180 to ship them fully insured.

All I was asking was for the $1,000 insurance I paid extra for + the shoes back. I'd be lucky to get $800-900 for them right now since they came out over 4 months ago, so prices have gone down + the scuff lowers the price even more. I was also charged $70 in duty,tax, etc. when the shoes were delivered back to me. I HAD to pay it in order for them to give me my package. It's absolutely unbelievable. All I have next is to take this to the "ombudsman" who will give me a final & unbiased decision on my case.

AmazonStealth · #4 07-13-2012

I have a few questions.....

1. How is it possible for the shoes to get scuffed? Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't the shoes be in a box, which were then shipped in a box, and you also said you wrapped the original box in bubble wrap.

2. Is there any reason that the buyer may have damaged them? I know it sounds off, but given your demographic, they may have scuffed them, as they could not afford them, or else they could possibly be committing return fraud (exhange scuffed for new).

mcmx · #5 07-13-2012

1) I said that they were seemingly tampered with. It wouldn't surprise me since I've had it happen before.. As I said, I shipped a keychain wallet to a city just 4 hours away from me once. The wallet was actually in a box, inside another box just like my shoes were. It was brand new by the way. And how did it arrive? It arrived with the keychain torn off & detached from the wallet. Clearly, only a human force could rip the chain off a wallet like that. Someone definitely tampered with my package that time.

They absolutely cannot explain the scuff on my shoes though! I have clear pictures of the shoes in perfect condition before I ever shipped them & everything. I double boxed them and I LITERALLY used an entire roll of bubble wrap for extra protection.

2) I would HIGHLY doubt the buyer would damage them himself. It would just be a waste of his time. I've seen his feedback and he has bought & sold several sneakers before with all 100% positive feedback. Even if I bought something that expensive, I wouldn't even try to risk damaging it in case I got stuck with it or was denied returning it or something.

AmazonStealth · #6 07-13-2012

You may want to look into small claims court, as I am sure the cost of entering is not very much, and the evidence supporting your case should be strong. Here is the evidence you would want to use, and keep in mind you want to bring everything possible:

- Full eBay listing when auction ended.
- Clear before and after pictures, and pics of the box after if possible
- Evidence of contacting the USPS and Canada Post about the issue
- Written statement from your buyer, with as much info as possible
- Any paypal, usps, canda post that supports yourself

I am sure you want to possibly rehearse a little bit, and look professional as well as organized. I am not saying I am a legal professional, but closing in on 3K would most likely be something I would pursue in small claims court.

Another thought I had was to relist the the item as the cost you sold it, and prove it will not sell, and maybe list again a couple hundred dollars less, and just prove it will not sell for the price it should have if it was not damaged.

The only issue I have with this and possibly the small claims would be.... How can you prove the damage was USPS or Canada Post? Does that matter which postal carrier was at fault?

mcmx · #7 07-13-2012

True, I don't think you can really know who's fault it was. But I think the original carrier is always held responsible. I guess it goes both ways for when items from USA are damaged on their way to Canada, and when items from Canada are damaged on their way to USA.

All I know is that the post office doesn't really have an explanation for what happened! The person dealing with my case was being very unreasonable and even asked me to provide her the ORIGINAL shipping label. Yes, the original one that I taped to the box to ship to my buyer who lives miles and miles away. I couldn't believe they wanted that. Obviously the buyer would have taken the label off or used a different box when they returned the shoes. I was even asked to send the damaged shoe into Canada Post and she tried telling me that there was no damage at all! I couldn't believe it. I can take photos with my camera and in the regular daylight, the scuff is visible. I even tried to get it fixed up a little bit but it didn't do much. Fact of the matter is: it's not in 100% perfect condition anymore.

Also, what's so dismaying about this whole thing, is that I waited 17 hours in line, overnight, downtown in my city, in the freezing cold back in March. Just to get the shoes because I knew the re-sale value was going to be high enough to make a profit of well over $1,000. Call me crazy for waiting 17 hours but there was people waiting for 7 days in cities like New York.

I'm definitely going to look into taking it to a small claims court though.

GreenBean · #8 07-13-2012

You want legal advice not forum advice.