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Please help :/ Tracking info isn't updating? Package got lost?
 

Okay, I'll try to make it short.

I shipped a package to Russia on February 4th.

Today he opened a case and said he didn't get the package.

I looked at the tracking info on ebay and it said it arrived in Chicago, IL on February 6th...and that was the last update.

I shipped it USPS First Class International.


Do you all have any advice for me as to what I should do?

You do know having a package handled by the Russian post office is like playing Russian Roulette.

Well apparently it never even left the country, so screw usps.
Regardless, I'm never shipping out of the country again. This is the 3rd time something crappy has happened. I always seem to get talked into it though.

shipping usps first class international is like asking for trouble. either ship priority or express international. if it's too expensive then do not sell international or understand the risks involved.

It probably did leave the country. USPS is not consistent on posting scans like: depart from international shipping hub. It could mean the next scan was supposed to be arrival in destination country but really might be pocketed by Russian Postal employee.

And this is why I don't ship Internationally. The reason it does not show tracking past the US is because you didn't pay for the extra tracking into Russia. Also note, many Russian Buyers are known to scam people. If you have little or no experience shipping international then I would suggest not to ship International.

The old USPS 1st class international mail way always stopped tracking when the package leaves the US.

The new 1st class mail, they changed it many weeks ago, shows the packages delivered when I ship things to Canada. That is the only international country I ship too. The old 1st class never would say anything further than LA customs.

Russia is a bad country to ship too, lots of things get "lost" in their postal system. Just refund the buyer his/her money and continue selling within the US only or North America.

Okay, so Russians are scammers, don't use USPS First Class International, know the risks, etc.

I'm NEVER shipping out of the country again. I just need advice on what to do about the situation right now. Am I just completely screwed and I should give the guy a refund? ....he already left positive feedback on ebay...long story. Will paypal just refund him without me doing it? So I might as well just refund him?

When you ship to outside of the USA 1st class it won't show up for 2 weeks (sometimes a month) I blocked poor countries like Russia, and all of Africa! I don't need them to open up cases on me and scam me either. with updates as it's passing customs. I shop outside of the US and Canada each week so this is nothing new just sit it out and wait it out. Explain to paypal /ebay that its taking time to deal with customs! That it may take up to 30 days!

call usps and do a tracer on the package, they will get back to you within 24 hours. you can only hope that in a few days you will see an update. you can wait it out and let ebay/paypal decide for you, in that time, there might be a status update. if you just refund them right away, you give yourself no chance. depends on the value of the item

I see it this way, If your refund the buyer you will only be loosing the cost of your item + Ebay/PP Fees + Shipping (if u didn't charge any). The buyer left positive feedback so at least you have that.

Me personally....I would tell the buyer if he can wait maybe 1 week to see if the item arrives...if not you will refund him and throw in an apology.

I guess I'll try that then and give them a call. It can't hurt. The guy seems pretty reasonable, so he'll probably wait a while longer. The total cost of everything was about $150, so it won't kill me, but it's still more than I want to just give away.

Yeah I'll just wait it out and hope it arrives. I'm not counting on it though. Lesson learned I suppose. I won't be talked into shipping internationally again.

Sometimes we gotta learn the hard way my friend, I've refunded a few buyers but made sure I got my positive feedback and i'll be honest, those buyers did buy other items from me so it was not a total lose.

Have had no end of issues with USA -Russia thanks to USPS.

Have you contacted the office where you sent the item from? Show them whatever info you have. Tell them you are filing a claim and get them to do something proactive for you.

(Not to set your mind at rest, but I have just had x4 parcels with the LAST known place as an airport in the USA. Nothing from USPS despite supposed tracking....for 3 1st I knew was the thank you email from the buyer {GRRR}.
Other one, lost....)

Maybe depends a bit on what you're selling too. Scammers are known to target certain products. However your problems seems to be with USPS since they lost the package before it even went to Russia. I ship about 50-60 packages to Russia every month for the past 6 months and never had a single problem or package lost.

I haven't contacted them yet. I may go in tomorrow and see if they can do something for me. (Actually, maybe I shouldn't since the package that I sent didn't have my name on it). I use a family member's info for ebay. I'm not sure if they would help me since my name isn't on the package.
I've never filed a claim, but I'll definitely look into doing that. I assume you can just go to their website and do it.

If I need to sell my item for international. I will ship to UK, French, Germany and Canada only by USPS International Priority Mail

Sending goods by USPS1st class to any international address in the world is a BAD idea! Especially something of value! It's like asking please steal me.

Those packaged are handled like sh!t and a lot of post office monkeys know that tracking is not updated for this type of mail and that there is no real system to fight the lost packages cases.

Post Office monkeys of both sides of the sea know that and if the package didn't get stolen by a monkey here then it will be stolen by a monkey on the other side of the sea lol

Calling monkeys' office to put a trace on an international 1st calss mail is useless! Since those monkey only know how to throw feces at each-other. They will tell you flat-out that there is nothing that you or them can do, end of call and they won't be nice about either!

You can still call, just have the name that you used ready and the address that you mailed to, but I already told you what you are gonna hear when you call!

If the buyer is willing to wait then it is more likely not a scammer, but there is a lot of them there! OF course for certain products.

P.S. GreenBean... as warned before I didn't use the 'N' noun to describe the post office monkeys :)

I ship to Russia as well never had problems

Use only Priority Mail if you ship international with USPS

Many packages bearing USPS labels and stickers are randomly opened by thieves and mail handlers in foreign countries, especially Russia. During Christmas season, I lose about 25% of goods to Russia, so you better be sure you have more than a 25% markup on goods shipped there.

USPS Priority and Express have tracking, but it doesn't protect against thieves. Buy the insurance with USPS, but you'll have to wait up to 90 days to get your money back.

In this case, the package most likely won't arrive in 1 week. A lot of times with First Class International, the countries won't deliver it because they know there's no tracking if it's lost. You could see the package returned to you in about 2 months. I assume it was only worth about $100 if you sent it without tracking, so you shouldn't sweat over it. If your buyer is nice, you can ask for reimbursement if it arrives.

i know packages can be lost and occasionally stolen but these are more exceptions rather than rules. if you ship first class international, you have NO protection. i have shipped many many packages to Russia with priority or express international and never had a problem. also, the priority and express tracking DOES protect you against thieves when you have insurance. express comes with an automatic $100 insurance. so what if you have to wait 90 days to get back your $? you'll get it back. it's better than paypal holding it for 180 days not knowing what's going to happen.