So Today I Receive an EMPTY Xpresspost Envelope...

[Zetterchuk]

Now what the heck should I do?

Today I received what was supposed to be my last 2 Cup patch/auto RCs (Woywitka and Perezhogin) that I traded for recently, and were sent to me via Xpresspost on 8/20. I had been sick today, so a family member had picked up the mail for me, and recently stopped by to drop this off...

A nice, empty Xpresspost envelope which had obviously been opened, and resealed only by a piece of shipping tape and a sticker stating "RECEIVED WITHOUT CONTENTS"!?!? I figured I had better leave the envelope as/is and not open it...I held it up to the light, and it is obvious that there is nothing inside.

There's no identification at all on this sticker to indicate whether it was placed on the envelope by Customs (which would indicate the cards were lost/stolen prior to making the border), or if it was placed on the envelope by my own post office (which would indicate the cards were possibly lost/stolen between Customs and my p/o).

Has this ever happened to anyone else here? I will contact my p/o in the morning to see what they have to say, and I have already been in contact person who sent the cards. I have no reason to call shenanigans on him for any of this, and he seems very much willing to work with me on making this right...but this has never happened to either one of us, so we're just looking for some advice.

Thanks for your time and any comments.

 

[nrcanada]

Joshua, sorry to hear about the problem. Was the package insured? Also, is there a weight amount listed?

 

[dherm360]

The sticker on the package acknowledges they know nothing was in the package, so that helps.

I received a package from UD without contents from DHL, never received anything back and UD stated they were the ones to have to file the claim. So I waited and waited and nothing--kind of forgot about it until I saw your situation

 

[Zetterchuk]

Hey guys, thanks for the posts.

Nick-I believe the trader told me that Canada Post insures xpresspost packages for no more than $100 USD. Also, I do not see any indication of a weight amount anywhere on the package, but I'll run the tracking number again, and see if that says anything.

 

[nrcanada]

Joshua - expresspost insures packages up to $100, and then the seller/trader pays, I think its .80 cents per $100. Therefore, lets assume, the trade bv was $300.00. The first $100 is free and if the seller insures he pays .80 cents times 2 - 1.60 extra to get the extra $200 insurance to equal total insurance of $300. Hope this make sense.

Also, was there a bubble mailer in there? The reason I ask is because, the seller/trader would have gone to the PO box with the card already in the bubblemailer in hand and then he most likely purchased the xpresspost envelope at the counter and then he would physically place the item in the package. I am not saying that he didn't place it in the envelope but as you can see the envelope is "prepaid" meaning he purchased the envelope at the counter and he can then place whatever he wants in there (I believe as long as its under 100 grams) and its a flat charge.

The better route that I take, is that I get them to weight the parcel and place a Canada Post sticker / stamp which says this package is Xpresspost-USA and they place the sticker on the orignal mailer which says "xpresspost" and then they fill out the weight of the package, etc etc. This probably sounds foreign but I can send you a sample of what Im talking about.

I can also speak to my PO as to the exact information to confirm if :

A- Seller/Trader is fraudelent , i.e. does the sticker on the envelope mean that when the 1st mailer depot received the package they noticed it had nothing inside and slip the note on

B- package was opened in transit by a post office worker

C- and how it works and any other questions you want me to ask

 

[CrosbyFan8787]

Hi guys, like to add something here. I am the trader who sent this to Joshua. It was sent from Ontario, Canada to Michigan, USA. Yes, Expresspost covers $100. I will be contacting Canada Post on Tuesday (as Monday is a holiday here) and try to resolve this.

nrcanada, you are correct in assuming the cards were in a bubble mailer that was inserted into the expresspost envelope.

The cards that were sent include:

05/06 The Cup Auto Patch Rcs:
Jeff Woywitka #155/199
Alexander Perezhogin #118/199

Along with two, lower end cards.

Clearly these disappeared en route to Michigan, so if you guys happen to come across these serial numbers, please let one of us know!

Here is the latest from tracking:

Canada Post:
Date of Event Time of Event Location Description Retail Location Signatory Name
2007/08/23 00:38 International shipment has arrived in the destination country
2007/08/22 14:05 International item has left Canada and is en route to destination

USPS:
Your item was delivered at 8:23 AM on August 31, 2007 in OSSEO, MI 49266.

Also, I happen to have two more of these cards (Perezhogin #120/199, Woywitka 069/199), so if worst comes to worst, I'll personally take the hit and send those cards to Joshua.

Sorry for the long read, but that's as much info as I have... I can't say enough good things about Joshua, an excellent trader, so I'm looking forward resolving this!

Cheers,
Brad

 

[nrcanada]

Hey Brad - wish all traders/sellers were like you. I am sure the both of you will work this out. If they lost it, get them to at least reimburse you the amount insures ($100) so you take less of a hit.

Also, if you put the actual value of the cards on the form, I would push for them to give you full value.

Good Luck.

BTW - go to USPS and type in the tracking #, because it crossed customs they will show the route it took (which may or may not be different from Canada Post)

 

[CrosbyFan8787]

Oh for sure, we'll work it out. I am hoping to get the $100, to make the hit a lot less painful... hindsight I should have splurged as spent the extra $1.20 or whatever for an additional $100 insurance, oh well, hindsight is always 20/20. I've never heard of anything like this with expresspost!
Thanks for the reply.
Cheers,
Brad

 

[Zetterchuk]

Lol, I was about to submit a huge long post in response to Nick's questions, but then realized that Brad joined in and answered most of them...thanks, Brad!

Anywho...I know that when I send to Canada (via Priority International or faster), I always fill out a green and white Customs form for the package's weight/value/description info. Half of the form is detached and kept on file at my p/o for 30 days, while the other half is attached to the Priority envelope. Does the CP also require such forms to be filled out, and keep them on file?

It may or may not matter either way, but I noticed that the xpresspost envelope was not "torn" open along the tear line, but rather appears to have been opened (or perhaps never completely sealed) along the glue strip. It appears the only thing holding the envelope shut is the piece of shipping tape in the middle...both ends are wide open. Doesn't Customs usually cut the packages? Also, In my experiences in the past when receiving a package that has been opened by Customs...they typically place a stamp on the envelope, indicating that it has been resealed by them.

Thanks again for the posts, guys...and thanks for the kind words, Brad! You've been very pleasant to deal with as well!

 

[TanguayFan]

Ouch.

Not to be a downer Brad, but you may not get anything back from Canada Post. You are technically not allowed to send anything of commercial value via ExpressPost, and sportscards are considered goods of commercial value. That is why you don't fill out any customs ppwk when you send. Canada Post assumes it is just documents or papers. So therefore, you may not be entitled to anything.

I may be wrong though, but if you look carefully at the slip, it states "Sender warrants envelope does not contain commercial goods" or something to that effect. Hope it works out for both of yas...

Rob

 

[troyjk]

best of luck with your deal guys! It sucks to see something like this happen. Brutal luck. I know Josh and have dealt with him,, he is the man and he seems like he only deals with good people so I am sure Josh and the trader will work it out.. Hopefully both of you get this figured out with the post office.

take care guys

 

[Magootz]

Expresspost only has insurance for within Canada, no insurance for anything going to the US, hence the reason we are not really permitted to use the prepaid envelopes for cards, although I use them all the time. The prepaids are only suppose to be used to send "documents"....having said this, I did fight it one time and won. The sent me the cost of the card, the process went like this. Sir, who much was the card? I replied $80, they said ok we'll send a cheque. I got the cheque!

Good luck, sorry to hear about this.