Perils of an auction. (It Finally Came)

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

I generally don't like to bitch, at least in public, but I'm getting a real bad feeling. I won a boxed S&W I've been looking for, at auction, paid for it promptly, sent the FFL, etc. The seller received the auction payment, shipping payment and the FFL on July 3rd.

Three weeks later, I'm still waiting. I called the seller and he replies a day or so later with the contact number of his dealer, no insurance or tracking info or the serial number. He wasn't very helpful.

After several long distance calls to the sporting goods dealer and talking to a fellow who sounded like a confused teenager, I learned that a package was shipped on the 17th. via registered priority mail. It took the seller two weeks to deliver it to the dealer for shipment. As of today, no package. Tracking it only shows it was accepted for shipping from the city of origin and is "enroute". No mention of the destination address either.

I'm fairly disappointed

by the postal service taking more than 7 days, 5 of them business days, at present, to deliver a registered priority mail package from an adjoining state, which is supposed to take no longer than 3 days. I'm also a bit disgusted at the delay, lack of help and absence of concern, from the seller. He was unable to provide any information beyond two pitiful lines in his email reply to my query. In the past, I have had very positive transactions with responsible folks, but I suppose some bad luck has caught up with me on this one.

I'm told that registered mail is the highest form of security provided by the postal service and is used for important documents and high risk valuables, so I'm not exactly beside myself about it's potential loss or theft. I just wanted to share this experience with some of you as a reminder of the risks we sometimes overlook while pursuing this interest. As for the postal service, well, to be fair I should mention that our business ships thousands of holsters each year via insured priority mail. We haven't had more than 1 or 2 lost or pilfered in the past two years, so their reliability is pretty good by my reckoning.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

I generally don't like to bitch, at least in public, but I'm getting a real bad feeling. I won a boxed S&W I've been looking for, at auction, paid for it promptly, sent the FFL, etc. The seller received the auction payment, shipping payment and the FFL on July 3rd.

Three weeks later, I'm still waiting. I called the seller and he replies a day or so later with the contact number of his dealer, no insurance or tracking info or the serial number. He wasn't very helpful.

After several long distance calls to the sporting goods dealer and talking to a fellow who sounded like a confused teenager, I learned that a package was shipped on the 17th. via registered priority mail. It took the seller two weeks to deliver it to the dealer for shipment. As of today, no package. Tracking it only shows it was accepted for shipping from the city of origin and is "enroute". No mention of the destination address either.

I'm fairly disappointed

by the postal service taking more than 7 days, 5 of them business days, at present, to deliver a registered priority mail package from an adjoining state, which is supposed to take no longer than 3 days. I'm also a bit disgusted at the delay, lack of help and absence of concern, from the seller. He was unable to provide any information beyond two pitiful lines in his email reply to my query. In the past, I have had very positive transactions with responsible folks, but I suppose some bad luck has caught up with me on this one.

I'm told that registered mail is the highest form of security provided by the postal service and is used for important documents and high risk valuables, so I'm not exactly beside myself about it's potential loss or theft. I just wanted to share this experience with some of you as a reminder of the risks we sometimes overlook while pursuing this interest. As for the postal service, well, to be fair I should mention that our business ships thousands of holsters each year via insured priority mail. We haven't had more than 1 or 2 lost or pilfered in the past two years, so their reliability is pretty good by my reckoning.

 

[PZ93C]

That's uncool, chief.

Of course, now that you've said something, you'll get it tomorrow.

Brian

 

[Jack Flash]

Sorry to hear about this problem.

It sounds like the seller is the main culprit, for waiting around two weeks before shipping it.

 

[Doc Barranti]

I had a similar experience recently after winning an "Elmer Keith" knife. Paid promptly, seller took several days to get it in the mail and finally shipped to wrong address. Nearly 3 weeks later, I finally received the knife so all is well this time. Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[29-1]

Oldflatfoot, registered mail takes forever but you'll get the package. If you go to the counter at the PO they can/will tell you exactly where the package is at in the system. I sent a rare pre-29 case registered mail last year and it took almost two weeks to go 900 miles. It's the most secure way to ship anything these days, other than carry it yourself, but it does take a long time.
Chuck

Originally posted by oldflatfoot:
I generally don't like to bitch, at least in public, but I'm getting a real bad feeling. I won a boxed S&W I've been looking for, at auction, paid for it promptly, sent the FFL, etc. The seller received the auction payment, shipping payment and the FFL on July 3rd.

Three weeks later, I'm still waiting. I called the seller and he replies a day or so later with the contact number of his dealer, no insurance or tracking info or the serial number. He wasn't very helpful.

After several long distance calls to the sporting goods dealer and talking to a fellow who sounded like a confused teenager, I learned that a package was shipped on the 17th. via registered priority mail. It took the seller two weeks to deliver it to the dealer for shipment. As of today, no package. Tracking it only shows it was accepted for shipping from the city of origin and is "enroute". No mention of the destination address either.

I'm fairly disappointed

by the postal service taking more than 7 days, 5 of them business days, at present, to deliver a registered priority mail package from an adjoining state, which is supposed to take no longer than 3 days. I'm also a bit disgusted at the delay, lack of help and absence of concern, from the seller. He was unable to provide any information beyond two pitiful lines in his email reply to my query. In the past, I have had very positive transactions with responsible folks, but I suppose some bad luck has caught up with me on this one.

I'm told that registered mail is the highest form of security provided by the postal service and is used for important documents and high risk valuables, so I'm not exactly beside myself about it's potential loss or theft. I just wanted to share this experience with some of you as a reminder of the risks we sometimes overlook while pursuing this interest. As for the postal service, well, to be fair I should mention that our business ships thousands of holsters each year via insured priority mail. We haven't had more than 1 or 2 lost or pilfered in the past two years, so their reliability is pretty good by my reckoning.

 

[gpo1956]

That has been my main concern with USPS Priority Mail. The tracking feature is non-existant. By the time it shows anything but "recieved for shipment", you usually have it.

 

[DHENRY]

Lefty,
Just an opinion, but from the details you listed, I would lay most of the blame at the seller's feet.
Amen to that 'tracking' system on Priority...It DOES mean that you read about the final delivery after you've had the gun for two days.
My recent experiences with USPS have sent me back to FedEx, where my experiences have been great.
And the Postal Service wonders why UPS, FedEx and RPS is 'eating their lunch' !!

 

[lonewolf]

Lefty; "forgetting"(yeah right!) about the "slow" mail, I would be PO'd at the seller.

Not "shipping" it for TWO WEEKS, "sucks", and shows his lack of concern for you. Even if he had a valid excuse for the delay(illness etc.) he should have had the decency to notify you WHEN he mailed it(or why he hadn't).

Hell, I even do this for a $25 or so "part", saying that I got your funds today, and that item is going in next days mail.

But then, I was brought up in the 1950's!

Bud

 

[JayCeeNC]

I recently shipped a wristwatch Registered Mail from NC to NJ. It took a week to arrive.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Originally posted by lonewolf:
Lefty; "forgetting"(yeah right!) about the "slow" mail, I would be PO'd at the seller.

Not "shipping" it for TWO WEEKS, "sucks", and shows his lack of concern for you. Even if he had a valid excuse for the delay(illness etc.) he should have had the decency to notify you WHEN he mailed it(or why he hadn't).

Hell, I even do this for a $25 or so "part", saying that I got your funds today, and that item is going in next days mail.

But then, I was brought up in the 1950's!

Bud

Bud;

That's all true. But the delay of the seller (as if that wasn't bad enough) combined with the fact that he hadn't any information to offer, further complicated the postal delay. At this point, I can't even be certain I'm tracking the right package becuase it shows no destination address.

Regardless of the outcome, I don't imagine we'll be doing business again in the future. I have sold a few items through auction myself, and pay careful and strict attention to the same details you mention. I'd go the extra mile like you, to ensure a smooth and prompt transaction. I use a local FFL for transfers, he provides all the information, tracking, insurance receipt, etc. to me immediately upon shipping and in turn, I contact the buyer with that. Having done that, you kinda hope the shipper delivers on time with no issues. If this seller had done that, I'd have no bone to pick with him, aside from the delay he created by not delivering it to his transfer FFL. I don't know how long they held it either, because communication was so poor on this transaction. I suppose it's just a lousy situation all round.

 

[dant]

I too blame it mainly on the 'seller'.... I've mailed 'Priority' parts from here, in the hills of north east Ohio to Oregon and California both, left on Monday and were there on Thursday, them are FAST "ponies" they use

Yes, the 'tracking numbers' do work for us too..

As you said, yes, there are "perils" but they are mainly from dealing with folks you have NO clue , how they operate........
as for ANY auction, unless I can "see it or touch it" and have no idea or trust in the people we are dealing with, I'll "pass"

 

[crofoot629]

It really surprises, no pisses me off, how lame some sellers are.
It's not rocket surgery.
1) Receive payment.
2) Acknowledge receipt of payment.
3) Promptly ship gun insured and tracked and inform buyer of such.

Yea I'm waiting on one too.

Emory

 

[rangemaster]

When all's said and done, I'd leave appropriate feedback for him on the auction site.

 

[Jack Flash]

Originally posted by crofoot629:
It really surprises, no pisses me off, how lame some sellers are.
It's not rocket surgery.
1) Receive payment.
2) Acknowledge receipt of payment.
3) Promptly ship gun insured and tracked and inform buyer of such.

Yea I'm waiting on one too.

Emory

Emory is right. Not to mention that an e-mail costs NOTHING.

Lefty, be sure to let us know how this turns out for you.

 

[mikepriwer]

Lefty

I've used USPS priority mail for parts, but I ALWAYS use Fed Ex
for handguns. Their tracking system is about as near-perfect as it
can be, and they always seem to know where everything is - even if it
went to the wrong address.

I've had bad luck with USPS priority mail. I recently sent a pair of
grips to Keith Brown, with electronic tracking and signature request.
I didnt hear boo for two weeks. So, I went to the Post Office, and
their internal tracking, like my external tracking, had no information.
Then the postmaster asked me if I knew whether or not the package had
been delivered. I said I didn't know, but could find out. I emailed
Keith, and sure enough, he had received it about 2 days after I shipped
it. Thing was - the package was left in his mailbox , and never scanned
by the postman ! So - the electronic tracking failed, and there was
no signed delivery receipt. Turned out that the postman was a temp !

Bottom line - Fed Ex !

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Thank you all for your supportive comments. Still no luck though, and the seller now apparently is not replying to my emails. I'm not a whiner, but geez, he could at least reply to my questions regarding the insurance, after all, I did pay for it for this very reason.

I had a couple of other bids on the auction sites. For the present, I'm not pursuing them any further. I will be outbid on at least two for certain and probably a third as well. Any blind faith in this process I had, was always realistically guarded. I always suspected something like this could, and likely would happen. Kinda makes me yearn nostalgic for the days back when. There were lots of local gunshops and plenty of fodder for my pursuits. I was rarely disappointed and never dealt so badly. The auction sites....well...there just not the same experience. So much for modern technology.

They underestimated the weak link, the human being.

Edited to add:
Just got off the phone with the shipper. Finally spoke to someone intelligent (not the seller) enough to inform me that it was insured properly. Also confirmed that it was sent to the correct address. It seems that it shipped from some kind of department store...who also has an FFL and does some gun trade, but not principally in the retail gun biz. I was a little surprised when the lady who answered the phone said "Womenswear, can I help you?" Sounds like my kind of place....guns and ladies underwear!

 

[Babalooie]

Originally posted by oldflatfoot:
Sounds like my kind of place....guns and ladies underwear!

"I'll take 100 rounds of ammo and a garter belt."

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

Well, an unhappy end to an unhappy story, if you like that sort of stuff.

It finally was delivered three weeks after it was paid for and it actually took 10 days to travel from Philadelphia to Syracuse, NY. I could have walked there and back, stopping to take in the scenery for several hours in that length of time. Simply absurd!

The revolver's condition is not as described. More finish loss and sundry blemishes than the seller stated and the box is neither period correct or original to the piece.

So I'm thinking that the milk of human kindness sometimes sours in the can. Some folks are trustworthy and honorable, others are not. That said, I'm not lamenting my naive belief that there are many good and honest dealers/sellers. Finding out which of those two your dealing with seems to be half the battle.

Cheers!

 

[RobbaBobba]

I agree on the Fed/X.

We have shipped over fifty pistols over the years, thinning the collection from time to time.

Fed/X priority overnight is the way to go. It is also the only ATF approved way for a private party to ship a handgun.