Advice needed for eBay mini-nightmare...

I'm not ready to upgrade it to full-fledged nightmare yet, but it's getting pretty close.

As I posted here, I recently made the decision to shift to KM/Sony as a DSLR system, and picked up a 5D. Even before actually going out and buying the camera, though, I successfully bid on a Minolta 75-300mm lens (a.k.a. the "big beercan") on eBay. The price was right, the seller had a good rating, and the lens was supposed to ship Priority Mail (2-3 days), insured. To make sure it got here right away, I sent payment via PayPal within five minutes of winning the auction. That was a week ago last Saturday.

Although it would have been nice had the lens showed up in 2-3 days, I was at least hoping I'd have it by that Friday, but no such luck. Nor was I bothered when the postal carrier came on Saturday without the lens. However, that afternoon, I checked the tracking number the seller had sent to me on the USPS web site, and was informed that the package "had been delivered" that day. Strange, since I was there to pick up the mail when it arrived, and there was certainly no lens!

Since then, I've been going through the levels at the local post office (growing more "disgruntled" by the minute ;-) ), and have finally gotten an answer. When the web site indicated that the package had been delivered, it only meant that it had been delivered to the local post office, not to the recipient. But it gets worse...it also only meant that the "drop shipment" (large shrink-wrapped pallet filled with packages) that had arrived that day from the regional center was supposed to contain that package, according to the bill of lading. However, the package itself was missing from the shipment. According to the supervisor there, that is a common problem, with virtually every drop shipment being "incomplete" (i.e. with items missing). Apparently, the USPS "tracking number," unlike those at other shipping companies, isn't physically linked or attached to the item itself, merely to the paperwork (bill of lading) on the overall drop shipment. If the package and the paperwork part company, there's no way to figure out where in the acutal package is in the system. I translate that to mean "it's lost, but it might turn up eventually."

No problem, anyway, because the package was insured. Right? Well...yes and no. Even though it was insured, you can't file a claim with the USPS for loss until after thirty days have passed since the item was mailed. That puts me near the end of July before I can even begin the paperwork.

So, it seems like I have the following options: I can simply wait for the lens for thirty days, meaning that I'm stuck for most of this area's best shooting times of the year with only an 18-70 kit lens. Or, I bite the bullet and buy another telephoto zoom (prices for new lenses of that size starting at $400) so that I'm not crippled during key shooting opportunities. However, after I buy the other lens, if the lost-in-the-mail lens finally shows up, even twenty-nine days later, I'll be unable to make an insurance claim and will have to honor the eBay contract, thus winding up stuck with having shelled out for two non-returnable lenses with identical ranges.

It seems like I'm likely to lose either way. In any event, the longer I take to make a decision, the more shooting time I lose.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm thinking someone here must have gone through some eBay weirdness before me.

:shrug:

But I do want to note two things:

a) shooting with one limited lens could be a way to stretch your creativity.

b) having two lenses with the same range could save your ass if one breaks.

I have experience both these scenarios, and so vouch for their worth.

And if it makes you feel better, I am totally without camera for 2-3 weeks because my camera's in the shop. %#$&* auto-flash refuses to play nice with my external flash unit, so I haven't been able to use either since March. :grr:

you should check with the vendor. I had a similar problem. The vendor was big enough to be able to enter its own electronic shipping order so it looked as if the shipper it was in the system, but the vendor had dropped the shipment off at a new store in the wrong corner of the store. I discovered the problem when it didn't arrive on the projected delivery date.

I contacted the vendor several times but finally after I had checked with the shipper to find out exactly what needed to be done (and what magic words to use) the vendor was able to initiate a trace which dragged an investigation squad out to the drop-off site, which found the box and sent it on its way.

You may have options through PayPal, as well. There is a guarantee up to a certain dollar amount - but I don't know the details. I had begun exploration of that option when the package was located.

Finally - because the problem was on the vendor's end you might be able to convince the vendor to cancel the deal and at least be able to buy a second lens without worrying about being stuck with two.

...the "vendor" seems to be some guy selling stuff out of his house. The only contact I have for him is his e-mail address.

I sent him an e-mail yesterday afternoon, informing him of the situation. So far, I haven't heard a thing in return. Of course, I can't help thinking that, since he's already got my money, he probably doesn't have much impetus to do anything. :-(

then, if the item show up 29 days later, you can expect to re-sell it at something close. And if it never arrives eBay or the insurance will see that you get your money back. If you need that kind of lens 'now' and the shipment potential remains a mystery, look at whatever cost you might incur by getting another lens and re-selling the late arrival as a rental cost. Or, for that matter, just rent what you need at Glazers until the situation is resolved.

Unless I'm willing to risk whatever money I'm sending I only buy from folks with a 98% or better positive rating with a good number of sales - and I look at any negative comments to make sure the problems were something I could tolerate - or looked like a cranky buyer.

Works pretty well for me - even the guys selling out of their houses with that kind of criteria have been reliable for me. I've had the one shipping problem that was resolved, and one cranky seller (I gave him a positive rating accompanied by a comment that his unstated shipping costs were, indeed, reasonable. He had failed to respond to inquiries ahead of time - and I had searched the ratings to see if anyone had complained without finding anything so I decided to be nice and reassure anyone else looking for advice. Seller didn't think I was being nice.)

...If you want to get his attention you could provide a neutral or negative rating (but that's generally considered pretty mean)

Check your paypal guarantee - that might offer you some hope.

...but not before a great deal of craziness transpired.

Yesterday, I called the post office, and got the previous supervisor's supervisor. He looked up the tracking info, and informed me that the package had, indeed, shown up there, but had been delivered to an unknown individual over the counter on 6/27 (i.e. after I had reported it missing). He also told me that the seller had not insured the package (even though insurance was part of the purchase price), so they had not requested I.D. or a signature from the person who picked it up, and they had no way of identifying who it was.

So, I filed a dispute with PayPal. In the process of checking to make sure the payment receipt for the item included insurance (it did), I printed out a copy. Looking at the printout, I noticed something I'd never seen before -- the "confirmed address" PayPal had for me was wrong! Instead of the usual, generic

Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip

it had added its own "address 2" line, so that it now read

Name
Street Address
P.O. Box 66
City, State, Zip.

It didn't take too long to figure out what happened -- the people at the post office, seeing the additional line, didn't even bother trying to deliver the item to my street address, but simply left a pickup notice in Box 66 at the post office.

This morning, I reported the matter to the post office once again. They made a call to the owner of Box 66, who was himself trying to figure out why he had received a package addressed to "Raven Falls Photography." Within a half-hour, he came in to pick up his mail, and was able to hand the package over to me.

I should also note that it took quite a bit of time with PayPal's customer support line last night to get my address corrected. They have no idea how the extra line got into my address.

At any rate, it appears that the matter is resolved. (Although I would personally recommend that everyone with a PayPal account occasionally check their profile, to make sure the info there is correct.)