Tracking Shows Delivered But Box Not There

If it was shipped with a signature requirement, you can usually see who signed for it as part of the tracking info, which can be very helpful in figuring out where the box went. It also means that the box would not have been left on the recipient's porch, from which it may have been stolen.

If it it was shipped without a signature requirement...well...I think about the best you can do is ask the intended recipient to check with his neighbors to see if it was delivered to one of them, and hope that if that's the case they're honest enough to admit to it and hand over the box.

(This kind of situation is why I always ship w/ a signature requirement unless specifically asked not to.)

 

I had a box that FedEx delivered to the wrong address, call FedEx and let them know the box was not delivered to the correct address. They will contact the driver to see if they can locate the box. It's not guaranteed but it worked out in my situation.

Also, this is probably common sense but don't mention you have beer in the box. Good luck!

 

I believe this community adheres to a rule that the shipper hasn't fulfilled the trade until the other person gets the beer safely. I used to do signature required but people complained so ive gotten relaxed on it. Luckily in over a hundred trades it hasn't been a problem (major knock on wood)

Lotta variables that could effect this (repeat trade partner, feedback/reputation of recipient, ability to recreate the box) but ultimately if this happened to me I'd be offering to send something to the person... Either a replacement of agreed upon substitutes.

He could also just ship back the other guys half and call off the trade. Hell of a loss but might be the only way to keep his own reputation and ability to trade intact. That's gotta be worth more than $200 to most traders.

 

It is my understanding that the sender is only responsible to ensure the package gets there safely, which tracking can verify. If the recipient needs signature required it is their responsibility to say so. I need signature required because I live in an apartment near a main street close to a freeway so I'd rather not have my packages sitting outside my front door. I make sure to let my trading partner know when giving them my address that I need signature required. The one time I forgot to mention this, my package was left at my front door around 5pm in the middle of summer when it was getting over 100 degrees regularly. I got a text notification it was delivered and immediately went home to get my package inside. I haven't made that mistake again, but if I did so it would be my fault, not the senders. If I need signature required, for whatever reason, it's my responsibility to say so.

Just my 2 cents OP, take with it what you will.

 

Personally, when the box is shown "Delivered" on tracking, my trade partner (and in turn, me as well) is off the hook. There's no way to say for sure that the box was actually stolen/misdelivered or if the partner isn't truthful no matter how unlikely it is. I can't reasonably expect my trade partner to send another box due to the nature of that uncertainty. I actually have the "delivered" condition specifically stated, along with asking my trade partner to ask me to request signature if needed, all spelled out in my profile and ask every new trade partner to view my profile before committing to a trade with me. I think communicating this ahead of time is the only way to make it clear. I did this after I had a box shown "Delivered", but the recipient didn't get it. Turned out it was delivered to a similar building 1 block away. Luckily, the person called FedEx, who came picked it up and delivered to my trader.

 

It has been the bolded way for years. Before the feedback system. Before the forum had to be re-booted (I forget when, 2012? 2013?)

All due respect to @mythaeus, I think this marked as Delivered may work for him, but is only his rule b/c it's his rule in his profile, and his partners agree to it. This thread is the first time I recall hearing this Delivered = Done mindset.

In this case, the sender is still on the hook unfortunately. It is OK to consider the trustworthiness of the recipient, which we all assume as trustworthy when entering into the trade (and in my experience, people are good!). See if he or she has an Untappd, Instagram, etc. that would refute the missing claim. Has the sender asked recipient if things go missing from the porch or area? Has recipient asked neighbors? Was the address double-checked (e.g. Elm St vs. Elm Ave)? Is it an Apt complex and maybe the office got it?

The situation sucks, but it's important to chase all leads and stay in communication.

P.S. In my trading experience, and those of my friends, requiring a Signature is very rare. That's something someone needs to specify to me on their end. It also irks me when they change delivery to Hold at Fedex without telling me-- I can set that from the get go, but now my box is, surprise, sitting in Fedex-- not cool.

 

Well, I might as well chime in here since I'm the recipient.

The box was marked "delivered" at 9:14 am, which is extremely unusual. As you might guess given my 200+ trade feedback here, FedEx comes to my place a lot. A LOT. And my usual driver typically arrived early to mid afternoon. So I found it pretty unusual that it was marked "delivered" so early. That's a first.

My initial thought was that it was either mis-scanned or put on a different truck/route that might be unfamiliar with my area. As it was mentioned above, I went around to my neighbors' front doors and checked, but found nothing. then I called FedEx immediately and had them start a trace. They got back to me within 48 hours and said "the driver said he delivered it and you'll need to contact your sender to file a claim". I'm doubting much effort was actually put into the process, which is frustrating.

We've had hundreds of packages delivered safely to our place between beer trades, Amazon Prime, etc and haven't had an issue before. It's difficult to explain, but we have an extremely private deck/front door with no visibility from any foot traffic. So that's why I'm assuming it was mis-delivered. Also we checked and verified that the address that I gave/he used was correct.

My trading partner has been awesome with communication thus far, and I'm sure we'll figure something out. He's pursuing the $100 standard insurance at least, and we're taking it from there. It a bummer for sure, but there's no blame to place on him. Like I told him, if this is the first time something like this has happened in the past 5 years of trading, maybe I should consider myself fortunate. But as the OP mentioned, it was a very difficult bottle to replace, so that sucks.

I appreciate all of the comments here, and I figured I might as well chime in when I saw this thread and thought "Hmm...well this sounds familiar". Hopefully my comments have helped clarify some of the questions that were raised.

EDIT: @nsheehan That should cover most of the issues you brought up!

 

I think it does. I'd tend to agree the box was delivered wrong. Maybe you can contact a Fedex supervisor. Or have a friendly talk with your Fedex person. He should be able to recall one recent odd-day he came by four hours early. Maybe there was a sub-driver covering his own ass. GL!

Still curious about the delivered = done mindset though...

 

I think this makes more sense than the alternative. A person's responsibility should not extend to something they have absolutely no control over whatsoever. The sender's job is to make sure the package is safely delivered, and the recipient's job is to make sure the package is safely recieved.

 

I 100% agree with this. There is no logical reason why the sender should be responsible for the package anymore once it has been delivered to your doorstep. If it gets stolen, that is completely out of my control and has nothing to do with how I packaged or sent the beer. I'm not going to take responsibility for what goes on in your neighborhood. Now, if you asked for it to be delivered "signature required" and I did not do that and the box disappears then that is a different story. If it is some sort of error by the carrier and it went to the wrong place that is also a different situation. I'm not saying that I would just leave someone hanging because I would likely try to work something out with my trading partner in that situation because it is an unfortunate one that is neither party's fault. However, to say that until the box is LITERALLY in the recipient's hands it is the sender's responsibility does not sit well with me.

 

It's mindblowing that in the US apparently they just leave packages sitting somewhere outside your home and consider them 'delivered'. If that would be the norm here I'd never recieve a box ever again.

 

I should emphasize that "Done" doesn't mean you don't do everything else within your power to help, including calling FedEx, filing claim for lost box, or whatever else that could be helpful to find out what happened to the box. What I don't expect my trade partner to be responsible for is to replace the box if it's stolen off my porch or vice versa. In my case, my trade partner was really upset but had no expectation of my replacing the box (this was before I communicated in my profile my scope of responsibility); however, I was actually gathering some bottles and was going to send him a consolation box.

The "rule" I set is simply communication of expectation of which I feel is reasonable. It delineates end of responsibility, in term of replacing the beer, for BOTH sides.

 

Folks who trade regularly should look into installing a camera which records the area outside their front door. I would think a decent one is fairly inexpensive and easy to set up these days as well. Would certainly give evidence/peace of mind in instances like this.

 

I ALWAYS ask my trading targets if they want a signature upon delivery.

If they say "no signature needed", and then it is stolen, I view it as my end is "technically" finished. That said, I've spent HOURS on the phone with FedEx before trying to find the box and thankfully they've always been successful.

I always tell my trading partners that no signature is needed for my box. I would never hold them responsible for what could possibly be stolen from my front porch nor would I expect them to make good on another box. And the same thing has happened more than a few times in 350+ boxes over the years... A box says "delivered", even when I have been sitting watching TV 20 feet from my front door. I immediately get on the horn to FedEx and ask them to run a trace... Then I call the local hub and ask them to have the driver call me directly. Again, thankfully they've always been successful and only ever lost one box and that was because a growler leaked (and even that time, I was able to go and pick up the extras ) //knocking on wood//

 

It's pretty simple, really. I am almost never home to take delivery and work at a school, so alcohol can't be shipped there. I have yet to have anything stolen off my porch but if it is then so be it. Pretty sure life will go on. I have always asked my traders to not request signature and made it clear that I accept responsibility on my end.

Totally agree with talking to the driver, can't hurt.

 

This is interesting as I am now encountering this for the first time. The "delivery" occurred yesterday, I contacted fedex on behalf of the recipient and the driver responded stating that the package was actually delivered and he described the driveway and the home. At this point it is looking like the package was actually delivered and it may have been stolen from the porch. The package contained a Scooop and a WAIM, both of which are irreplaceable at this point. The trade was done with a new member of the forum with 0 trade feedback, I asked him to ship first which he did and we've been in touch with each other through out the whole process. I am still waiting until the end of day to hopefully hear that it actually wasn't delivered yesterday and it will be today. I'm contacting FedEx further and will most definitely file a claim if it isn't resolved. Now my question is where to go from here?

 

You 'll probably need to either:

• A) negotiate with the other trader to see if there's something else you can send that he would feel to be suitable replacements for the Scoop and WAIM, or
• B) send him back his beers.

As always, I'd like to note that this wouldn't have happened if the box had been shipped with a signature requirement.

 

Well, follow through with the claim for sure. Now, it's up to you on to handle the situation with the other trader and there are really a lot of routes you can go here. If I were in the situation, I would offer to send something to ease the pain, he is a new member after all. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the level of what you already sent, but receiving something would be nice.

I disagree with @Yohann, in that I don't think it's your responsibility to ship signature required unless your trading partner requests it. I need it so I request it from everyone sending me packages. It is not your responsibility to just do it when you haven't been asked to.