Retailer Ghosting Incident

I’m having an uncomfortable shipping-delivery issue with a retailer and want to get the right perspective on it. In sum, after a shipping SNAFU, in which the shipment was inadvertently returned to its origin, the retailer at first indicated he would re-ship it, then, during the subsequent five weeks, hasn’t answered my calls or returned any messages.

Details:

The retailer is a known New York seller, albeit – in his words – a one-man operation. I’m a minor buyer at this address, but have purchased from the seller several times without a hitch. Like many sellers, this one allows buyers to assembling full cases piecemeal – a few bottles here, a few there – before shipping. This is a courtesy I acknowledge and appreciate. During 2018, I assembled a case and, in December, I invited him to ship immediately, so he could get the order out of his warehouse. The seller agreed, but stopped the shipment at the last moment because of sudden extreme cold – again, kudos to him – the point being that he is generally a decent, professional guy. We held the package and shipped in May 2019 instead.

In the past, the seller had shipped by UPS, and my address of record with him was a local UPS transshipment center, where I can pick up and sign for packages. Since my last order with him, however, the retailer had changed to a third-party shipper. Unbeknownst to me, the third-party company morphs into Fedex once the package enters my state, and the UPS address would not accept the Fedex package, so it was returned to the shipment center in NY.

A week later, I asked the retailer if package had been re-shipped, and received this response:

“Hope to get it back by today/tomorrow and have to [sic] inspected and make sure it’s all ok.”

After this, I called or wrote him once a week asking how things stood. In the fourth week after the original shipping date, I left messages several days running, expressing my discomfort with the lack of response.

This is the end of week five since the original shipment date, and I’ve heard nothing since the message above. I’m beginning to wonder if the shipment was lost or damaged, and his way of dealing with it is to ghost me, but who knows? In any event, it seems fair I feel to put me in the picture, rather than leaving me hanging.

Both sellers and buyers read here, and it would be great to hear thoughts from each group before drawing a conclusion. A cordial resolution would be my first choice.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or insights.

If you haven’t already, I’d let him know that if he doesn’t resolve the situation in the next week you will initiate a charge-back with your credit card company. And if I didn’t hear anything or get the resolution I wanted, I would then initiate said charge-back.

Will cc companies do charge back for purchases from last year?

Why the 5 month wait from December to May to ship? Maybe he is busy or traveling or figured you weren’t in a real rush. Now you want to ship in the summer?

George

If we are talking about the same retailer, my experience with returning an erroneously represented item was not fun.

The third party shipper did not catch the UPS address? Rookie or careless error, it is partially their fault. Anybody in the shipping biz knows UPS and FedEx to not deliver to each other, nor to the USPS.

Did you have a working tracking number for that shipment to verify a package was actually sent? That info may prove important to get a credit card refund after 180 days from purchase;do not delay your credit card refund option.

Did you get email responses to your shipping questions?

It appears one or more asses are being covered here!

Thanks for the responses.

Jason and Karl - I’m considering the charge-back route, but the transactions were executed long enough ago that it will not be an easy lift with my CC company.

George - not really relevant, but I am close enough that shipping in winter and summer in styro is not an issue, except in extreme conditions. Five month wait, because that’s when we got around to it again after the first delay.

Victor, feel free to tell me about yours in a PM; I’ll respect any request for confidentiality. Or refer me, if it’s a past thread on the board.

Richard - no responses to either email or voice mail, since the message quoted. I kept messages with tracking number, invoices, etc.; everything is well-documented.

Thank you all again.

I would call my credit card company and explain the situation. At least you’ll know if there’s anything they can do.

Is the retailer in Pound Ridge, NY?

If you want thoughts or insights, why not name the retailer? I never understand peoples reticence over outting problem merchants. That naming will help you gain better results.

Jeff, the wording of your question largely answers it. Why not? Because having a problem with a merchant does not necessarily mean that person is a “problem merchant.”

I think consumers are smart enough to tell if one person had a bad experience or if there’s a pattern of bad experiences. But if no one posts about it, then all that information is hidden.

First, I’m on one side of the transaction, and might be overlooking something visible from another angle. I’ve read numerous posts by retailers from which I’ve learned things about their operations I would never have arrived at on my own.

Second, calling someone out publicly is basically retaliation and torches any remaining opportunity for civil resolution. I’m a fan of second chances.

Which is the point. If this is an isolated example, others will let you know they’ve had positive experiences. If there a pattern of poor service, I’m certain those posters will chime in as well.

I would agree on waiting and seeing how the merchant will resolve the issue. Hold back on the name of the shop to keep good relations. However, it’s week 5 now and merchant has not reached out to the buyer. Buyer should not have to chase after his items. Name the shop so others with experience at this shop can chime in and potential buyers can decide on their own if to avoid or wait.

I believe you believe that, but I find it a bit disingenuous, as was your original “I never understand people’s reticence.” Of course you understand it, you are smart and have an imagination. You just don’t agree with it, which is certainly a legitimate position, one I can respect even without agreeing myself.

The evidence from many past such situations shows, though, that the naming of names ends up tarnishing the merchant’s reputation, regardless of how many people chime in with positive stories. The negative is what gets remembered and repeated. Some merchants assuredly deserve it, others do not. The world, especially the internet, including this board sometimes, sadly, is like this - too often the crowd salivates at trashing others and lots of people want to know the names because they enjoy having nasty dirt on others. It isn’t fair and measured, as your post says it should be, very often that I’ve seen, though I am sure there’s a host of folks who would be fair as well as those who wouldn’t. For my part, I respect Ian for choosing the approach he did.

Sorry Sarah but we don’t agree on this. In fact, the outing of a merchants name is usually what gets the deserved results.

The recent issue of non delivery from a merchant of 2015 VCC was solved by the store being named in the thread.

It would be interesting to see the numbers on this question, Jeff; I’ve seen quite a few disputes settled without the naming of stores or individuals.

I dont think theres only 1 way. We should consider the method of approach case by case.

Just a little insight from a retailer: UPS and FedEx have been pressured by the various states to stop all shipping not following that state’s laws. Hence many retailers are turning to third party shippers who aren’t hamstrung by some of the states’ laws. Our third party shipper has been served cease and desist notices from three states that have laws denying them legal shipping into that state, hence those residents can’t buy from us.

There are some issues that have impact when using a third party shipper. We don’t have a fair trade agreement between states and there are those people who want to control sales using tactics to ensure their existence, but not an out of state retailer. There may some frustration on how to get the wine to you if the resources for shipping have been reduced or eliminated.