Recieved package with insufficient postage sticker

[ploni_almoni]

Hi,

I bought some (well, a lot, got a bit carried away!) stuff on eBay last week, and one of the packages in my letter box had an insufficient  postage sticker on it ($7.10 extra, was already $2 of stamps on there).  There was an address on the back (well, sort of, the 1st digit of the street number is hard to read).  Do they get charged for the extra postage, or am I expected to pay it? It was just strange as I would have thought if I had to pay it they wouldn't have delivered it to me in the first place.

If I do get a bill from Australia Post, shouldn't it be the sellers expense and not mine?

In all my time buying stuff from eBay I have never had this before.

Thanks in advance!

[twyngwyn]

Yes, seller's problem...if AP can read their address they will be sent a bill

[jellybirddesigns]

If the seller sent it through the PO they would have charge them the correct postage, although it's possible a stamp may have come off in transit. 

It's also possible the seller just whacked some stamps on and put it in the mail box without weighing.

I would contact the seller and advise them. Send a snapshot of the package with the request for additional postage.

[lyndal1838]

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@cushioncovers wrote:

I would contact the seller and advise them. Send a snapshot of the package with the request for additional postage.

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That is pretty unethical....the buyer did not pay any extra postage so why ask the seller for it?

I have always found that if a package is actually delivered with a notification of underpaid postage then the receiver (the buyer) is not going to be asked to pay anything more.

If the PO is going to hit you for the shortfall they will card the item and get you to pick it up from the PO.  It gives you the chance to refuse to take the package and pay the extra postage.

I have had several underpaid items over the years and have never had to pay the extra from my own pocket.

[jellybirddesigns]

Sorry Lyndal, I didn't to imply that the buyer should do something unethical.

It seemed there was some confusion about if there would be any fee payable, so I just thougt the buyer should notify the seller, probably more of a courtesy than anything else.

I realise that the word "request" could be implied in 2 ways - I meant so that the seller could see there was an underpayment, not that the buyer should reqest money from the seller.

Never had one of these or seen an underpaid notification, but I probably didn't word it very well though!

[imastawka]

Cushions, if the return address was on the parcel,  don't worry, the seller will already

have the bill from AP, with a nice bonus fine to go with it.

[phorum_junkie*]

Looks like the seller has tried to get away with letter post by putting it in the box to avoid it being questioned by PO staff and it is thicker than the minimum allowed so extr has been charged for parcel post.

If you had to pay the extra you would have been carded and have had to pay before you could pick it up. They are either charging the seller or they are letting it slide.

If they have done this before then AP will bbe over tham like a rash.

If it happened again and they tried to charge you I would refuse to take the parcel. 

[padi*0409]

I had a case a couple of months ago where a seller had used stamps that had already been franked (albeit very faintly) and covered them with clear tape. The PO spotted it and I had to pay the postage to get the parcel, when I contacted the seller with the postal receipt they vehemently denied using franked stamps but did refund my postage.

AP were very keen on following up with the seller and taking action for fraud, especially if other instances had been uncovered by them.

[*tippy*toes*]

Some of my items go via large letter, but I always make sure the stamps are cancelled. If I have nothing else to take to the PO I leave stamps off and buy them there. They stamp them after they put them on. If I have parcels to post too, I stamp them and ask them to cancel them. 

I've had plenty of letters arrive where it doesn't look like there's a post mark on them. I still wouldn't risk it. It would be just my luck that I'd use one where the mark was really faint. Plus I have a conscience that wouldn't let me do it. To prevent anyone else getting any ideas, I tear through the stamps before I throw the envelope out. Probably overkill, but it helps me sleep at night.

[davewil1964]

I have had a couple of attempted AP cons for underpaid postage.

The first was marginal, but their database was using US dates and translated the date into 6 months prior. After 20 minutes on the phone AP and I agreed that my wasted time trying to find an item 6 months away from where it was, plus my time on the phone warranted a cancellation of the alleged amount due.

The 2nd one was even better. A large letter with allegedly no postage, so they hit me for parcel rate. After explaining to them, after only a 10 minute wait, that ALL my large letters without fail go in prepaid envelopes, so no chance of no postage, they decided I didn't owe them anything. My promise to involve the PIO might have swayed them. Or maybe it was my pointing out the amount I spend with them. Or the fact that I considered their systems defective as they couldn't provide a pic of the offending item.

Bottom line - an un- or underpaid postage notice is not necessarily true. And AP will bill the seller, or not deliver if the seller is not identifiable.

Certainly nothing a recipient needs to worry about if they have the item.