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Help! Stolen Sadowsky...

Brian K

Brian K

May 21, 2004
361
28
Toronto, ON
#1
In August I bought a Sadowsky UV70 5 String Sunburst/Rosewood on eBay from someone in Glendale, AZ. It never made it to Toronto, and never made it into the USPS shipping system. The seller swears it was sent. Has anyone seen this bass? M1729 is the serial number.
 
#5
The seller assures me they didn't get a tracking number, just a Customs Sheet number (CP949568193US).

USPS says that could be a tracking number, but it's not one that was ever logged in their system.

eBay or PayPal won't give me my money back because I asked the seller to send it with a diminished declared value to save on taxes and duty, thus violating their user agreement and voiding me of Buyer Protection or any rights in their Resolution Centre.

Please don't turn this into a discussion of eBay's policies, because this isn't a forum in which I care to have that discussion... I'm just trying to find the bass. If anyone has any insight to the USPS tracking number/customs sheet number issue, that could be helpful.

Thanks.
 
#6
Wow, sorry to hear about the bass. In my experience, USPS tracking numbers are worthless. It's been two months already so I'm not sure what to tell you, unless we can find someone who lives close to where the bass was sent from and have them go check it out. Have you tried calling the person?
 
#8
In my experience, tracking a package to Canada isn't something you can really do. The customs number is something you can check out with your local customs agency, if it was sent there should be a record, although you open yourself up to potential penalties for fraud, so tread lightly with that.

Other than that, you're sol most likely. Tough break.
 
#9
Good luck to you. I've bought big ticket/heavy items from Canada (shipped to me in the US) where they got hung up in customs and no one seemingly knew where they were at any given time; fortunately things worked out in the end after a very long wait, I'm talking a month plus of having no idea where an amp was as the worst example.

Hopefully this will all work out in the end for you. It's a terrible feeling I know.
 
#12
Last package I shipped to Canada was rather large and weighed close to 18 pounds. We thought it went missing but it turned out to be one of the packages selected at random for closer scrutiny. That added several days to the ship time and there was no way to know where it was while customs prodded and poked.

I know you said you didn't want to get into a discussion on the relative merits of undervaluing something, but that could be the very reason the package has gone missing.

Customs may have it on hold and based on my experience with that, Canadian customs is not obligated to inform anyone the item is being held.
 
#15
Was it your idea to undervalue it or the sellers? You may very well be getting scammed, him knowing full well you're not gonna travel from Toronto to AZ (and if you did, he'd just say he sent it.) Very odd he couldnt give you tracking numbers, if he truly DID send it he could go back to the place he dropped it off and retrieve the tracking number. I call BS on the seller, but you may be SOL since you broke eBay rules and they washed their hands of the incident.
 
#16
I only use usps for lower value items as you cannot insure the item for its full value. And the "tracking" system is not even close to what fedex has in place. Sorry but a hard lesson learned. Hope it was just lost in the system and it shows up one day.
 
#17
I've also noticed in the past that USPS and Canada Post do not always share their tracking numbers with each other, which makes international tracking numbers basically useless.

Also, bear in mind that Canadian Customs (or any other country's customs office) has the right to open and inspect the instrument before forwarding it to you. In the case of an Ashbory I purchased in January, I actually had a useful tracking number. It noticed that Customs held it for almost a full 2 weeks before releasing it to Canada Post for delivery to me.

I understand your purchase was in August, so I can't imagine Customs holding it this long. At the very least, they would have sent it back if there was a problem. Maybe follow the other TBer's advice & consult eBay/PayPal. If the bass eventually shows up, then repay the seller in good faith.

Another consideration, which I really hope did not happen to you, and I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy... An unfortunate story happened to my family many years ago around Christmas time. My parents sent gifts to us with a tracking number but did not request a signature for delivery. The package seemed to be unusually late arriving, so we checked the tracking number & it was labelled as successful delivery the prior week but we hadn't received anything.

if no one's home, at the discretion of the postal carrier, they may leave the package somewhere on your doorstep. They call it a "Safe Drop." The person(s) must have watched the postal carrier or maybe they simply snooped around our door. Either way, someone stole our package. When my parents called Canada Post, they suggested to always request a signature. Also, you may put a note near your mailbox stating "No Safe Drops at this Address". That way, they'll leave a parcel card & drop it off at your pickup location.
 
#18
Brian K said:
I've had dozens, maybe 100+ packages shipped USA to Canada, always trackable, never went missing, never took more than a week to clear customs. Almost always a couple days at most.
Click to expand...

+1. I have revieved dozens of basses through USPS to Toronto and they were all trackable. Not as detailed as Fedex or UPS, but you should be able to determine which processing plant it got to/left and/or if it hit the border. I HAVE seen a bass sit at the border for 2-3 weeks though 2-3 days is the norm.

Ask the seller to email you a scan of their documentation. There HAS to be a tracking # unless they just covered the box with $0.50 stamps!

Sucks if it's lost though!:crying:
 

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