This is a situation I haven't encountered yet, and just wanted to get the community's opinion on something. I worked out a trade with a guy with whom I'd never traded before. We both shipped either on the same day or a day apart. The stuff he sent me arrived no problem. I got a message from him the day I received that there was an exception on the box I'd sent him. I called FedEx to ask them not to turn the box around (instead to send it to him, so I could just send him whatever was missing after he received it), but as often happens with FedEx, it didn't work. I received the box back, replaced the beers that had broken or otherwise vanished, and added in some "sorry for the delay" beer. I then sent that box along, and it tracked as being received. I've asked him to confirm that everything go there intact, but haven't heard from the guy since the day I received my box (now more than three weeks ago). He's logged in fairly regularly since then, and is definitely still reading the conversation thread where I've asked twice for confirmation that everything got there. Anyway, here's my question... according to FedEx, the box I sent was delivered on July 6, and I have no reason to think he didn't receive it... so I should just treat this trade as completed, right?
I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me a while back, and it got to the point where I literally had to hound the guy with texts just to get a confirmation that he actually received the box (so I could go ahead and start drinking the beers he had sent me!). Just be patient - some people, for whatever reason, either don't take the time to confirm receipt of a box, or take a long time to do so.
If the box has shown as received, then IMO, it's off your plate. It'd be great if he responded, but if he does respond, at this point, to say he didn't get it, then it's now his fault.
I think you should fly/drive to your trade partner's residence and bang loudly on the door while loudly demanding that he show you the beer he received in the trade. Feel free to shout ominous threats if he doesn't open the door. That's what a really good trading partner would do. Really though, i think you should treat it as trade completed.
If I don't hear from someone and I see the box has delivered, I just send a note thanking them again for the trade and say something to the effect of "I trust everything made it to you safely." Then I forget about it. It's on them to contact me at that point if there are issues. I'm not gonna chase after someone.
If he had not received the box, you would have heard from him...or he would have posted a thread about not receiving your box.
You should definitely call his parents' house and tell them how rude their son is for not letting you know that he received the box. It's all about good fucking manners, isn't it?
Feel free to use the fed ex options available at the time you send the beer. I live in an apartment and have untrustworthy neighbors so, a direct signature is a good thing. If I know I am sending to person who lives in apartments, an apartment number in the address, I require an indirect signature. That means a neighbor can sign for it but fed ex will keep a record of where they left it and who signed for it. An ounce of prevention.
I would treat it as a completed trade. On a side note, FedEX is the worst. The one exception I had, not only did they confiscate the entire package, they also sent me a nasty-gram letter about how I had violated their shipping policy. Haven't used FedEX for a single thing since.
