What if you are given a wrong address?

[hearts48]

I am currently experiencing this and wanted feedback and how best to handle this situation. I mailed my pin out, but received a notice that my package was being returned "undeliverable." I contacted the trader and turns out they gave me an incorrect address. The post office should be returning the package to me, yet I have not received it. I have received their pin from the trade. Since there has been discussion on "lost pins in the mail", I thought to throw this in. Any advice? Is it still my responsibility to see that the other trader receives something in return? Shall I return my pin to them? All comments welcomed!

 

[tiggermickey]

Did you add delivery confirmation?Maybe the Zip Code was wrong and its being redelivered..I have had that happened a couple times

 

[hearts48]

Hi Judy,
Yes, delivery confirmation was made, but I was told by the post office that they do not follow its return route. And, of course, my return address was written on the package. It was actually the street name that was wrong. The house address was correct. It was a simple typo, but in a big city, 30th and 39th St. can be a big difference! I do not know if the postal service goes that much out of their way to figure out by the name and house address, where the street would be! They do good work, but that would seem exceptional!

 

[Spiffie]

If/when it comes back to you, I would probably be nice enough to resend it. However, if it never shows back up, I wouldin't consider that my fault or feel obligated to fix it. The trader should recognize their mistake and chalk it up. I am betting that IF that address - even if it is wrong - exists, they probably delivered it there. IF it wasn't marked "return to sender", I am betting it is "gone".

 

[luvsulley]

Is it still my responsibility to see that the other trader receives something in return? Shall I return my pin to them? All comments welcomed!

I don't think its still your responsibility because they gave you the wrong address. That's their fault, not yours and I don't think you should be out a pin for their mistake. I'll admit though that people who don't know their own address annoy the crap outta me so my opinion might be a little bias :lol:. Hopefully you get your pin back though! That way you can resend it and everyone will be happy .

 

[hearts48]

Thanks everyone! I am hoping with holiday postal madness that it is just delayed getting back to me and not lost. And most certainly, should it return, I would resend it to the correct address. Keeping my fingers crossed...

 

[iamdisneydan]

I had to re-read your post to make sure. I mean seriously, if they gave you the wrong address, shame on them. In good faith they made the mistake not you and it is them who will have to suffer the loss. Or maybe since it's only off by a few blocks, maybe they can go by the house and nicely ask if a package was accidently delivered to them.

I live on Huntington and the next block is Harriman. I get their mail so often and vice versa its crazy but a wrong address given, no excuse.
And I would assume they know their address and made a typo when entering it but still their fault. I am sure if the tables were turned and you gave them the wrong address they would say it was your fault.

Just my 3 cents.......

 

[Rocke01]

I guess I am going to be the odd ball in this posting. The person very likely just had a typo. After all the 9 and 0 are right next to each other. We have all made a typing mistake before, come on. I am of the opinion that when you agree on a trade it is your responsibility to see the trade through. Yes they made a mistake but heck I know I am not perfect and I would bet none of you are either. Complete the trade or send the pin back. That is how trading through the mail works. You take the chance that the pin can get lost when you mail it. If the pin is indeed lost it is not the other persons fault it got lost in the mail even if they did make a mistake in the address. The Post Office notified him that his package was not addressed correctly and would be returned. That sounds like the Post Office is responsible for the loss at this point. How would you feel if you never received a pin after sending yours and knowing it got to the intended receiver. Would you say... their pin was lost in the mail guess I don't get one or would you still expect the trade to be finished. I have had pins disappear after I have mailed them and I have never received pins so I have been on both ends of that stick. In both cases I felt the right thing to do was to work it out with the other party. It is not right nor proper to say sorry Charlie you made a mistake so your bad, guess you loose out.

 

[erudolf]

I completely disagree. She had no chance of completing this trade. If I trade with you and you give me the wrong address, I did my part 100%, I can't help it if you made a typo, be more careful next time. Saying that the person who was not at fault here still has to complete the trade would be opening a whole new fraud can of worms!!! If you took that approach then what would stop people from saying, "oops, I gave the wrong address, give me my pins back" when in fact they actually gave the right one??? No way, no way. It is that person's fault, they should be out the pins they sent (assuming the missing package never surfaces).

 

[erudolf]

How would you feel if you never received a pin after sending yours and knowing it got to the intended receiver. Would you say... their pin was lost in the mail guess I don't get one or would you still expect the trade to be finished.

I'd say, "Well, I'm the nimrod that didn't right my address down right so it isn't their fault." and I'd suck it up and take the loss. I can't expect someone to carry through with a deal when I didn't even give them the opportunity to.

 

[Rocke01]

If the pin was actually delivered to the wrong address and not returned to the Post Office I might see your point. The Post Office informed the sender it was not addressed correctly and would be returned to them. That means that even though the person made a mistake it is not their fault the pin is lost. (BTW... I think it will still get returned to sender, and is just the holiday's that are holding it up.) If you do not buy insurance, which most of us don't, you are accepting full responsibility if the pin is lost IMO. As PinPics guide lines state it is your responsibility until the pin is received. You agree to that when you do a trade through PinPics. The pin was not received, plain and simple.

 

[Gloomy]

I'm with the bulk of the crowd on this one - if I sent an incorrect address to a trade partner and the pin was lost in the void, I'd chalk it up to my own mistake and that's that. If it DOES get returned to the sender, I'd definitely expect them to re-send it at MY expense, and with many thanks and apologies on my end. But if the pin goes missing because *I* effed up, I don't expect any further action on behalf of the trade partner.

Personally, after all the discussion this week I think I'm just going to put insurance on every pin I send out. I was already sending out with D/C, so what's another buck.

-JD

 

[Gloomy]

If you do not buy insurance, which most of us don't, you are accepting full responsibility if the pin is lost IMO.

Can you even claim insurance if the pin was received at a wrong address? Or if it's sent to a non-existent address and thus never received? I really don't know if basic postal insurance covers you in these situations.

-JD

 

[Rocke01]

Good question I don't know. Even though the Post Office informed him that the pin was addressed incorrectly and would be returned I am not sure that they would claim responsibility if the pin were lost since it did get delivered initially. My guess that would be a loop hole that would not be refunded.

I insure any trade that has a higher value. I have sent 31 pins in one trade before and I insured it. I have sent framed sets and super jumbos and I insured them. I think for me anything that I value over $50 to $100 I tend to insure. I am willing to take a small loss but it is worth the small amount to have piece of mind in bigger trades. I use D/C for all the others though.

 

[huertajv]

Ya know, I recently sent the wrong pin to someone, and I considered it my fault. They wanted to know what to do with the pin. Well, I am not going to ask someone to return it at their cost, so I told them to keep it. No worries, my mistake.

The person was kind enough to offer me a pin, which I accepted, but really did not have too. Wrong pin, my mistake.

 

[carolynhill]

In the other thread about mail problems, I posed this situation as a hypothetical -- and here it shows up for real! I gotta be more careful about making stuff up, just in case the Making Up is magically Making Real.

Anyhow, my answer is the same now as it was in the hypothetical case: if you are given the wrong address, it's not your fault if it doesn't get to the person who gave you the wrong address. But if the pin makes its way back to you, you should resend it.

 

[lopeldred]

In the other thread about mail problems, I posed this situation as a hypothetical -- and here it shows up for real! I gotta be more careful about making stuff up, just in case the Making Up is magically Making Real.

Anyhow, my answer is the same now as it was in the hypothetical case: if you are given the wrong address, it's not your fault if it doesn't get to the person who gave you the wrong address. But if the pin makes its way back to you, you should resend it.

\i agree 100% completing the trade is of utmost importance and integrity is lost if not done so

 

[erudolf]

If the pin was actually delivered to the wrong address and not returned to the Post Office I might see your point. The Post Office informed the sender it was not addressed correctly and would be returned to them. That means that even though the person made a mistake it is not their fault the pin is lost. (BTW... I think it will still get returned to sender, and is just the holiday's that are holding it up.) If you do not buy insurance, which most of us don't, you are accepting full responsibility if the pin is lost IMO. As PinPics guide lines state it is your responsibility until the pin is received. You agree to that when you do a trade through PinPics. The pin was not received, plain and simple.

The problem with that is that the incorrect address directly contributed to the package getting lost in the first place. Had it been addressed correctly it probably would have it made it there no problem. With the wrong address it is drifting around because nobody knows where it should go. And when you agree to a trade through Pinpics you agree to send it to the address provided, not to just throw it in the mail system with the wrong address and hope it gets there. That is unreasonable and I think Pinpics would agree.

 

[SimbaNala]

I'm with the bulk of the other people here. If I mailed it once and then find out they gave me the wrong address, I did my end of the trade until they screwed up. Now in this case, if the post office does return the pin to you, I would offer to still send it to the other person, but since they screwed up, I think they should pay for the postage. Why should I be out double the money for them? I shouldn't. If they wouldn't pay, I would have to think it over and figure out if I would send it anyway and or not send it. Chances are, I would never trade them again because it only means problems and trouble. Not worth any pin for that drama.

 

[luvsulley]

I'm with the bulk of the other people here. If I mailed it once and then find out they gave me the wrong address, I did my end of the trade until they screwed up. Now in this case, if the post office does return the pin to you, I would offer to still send it to the other person, but since they screwed up, I think they should pay for the postage. Why should I be out double the money for them? I shouldn't. If they wouldn't pay, I would have to think it over and figure out if I would send it anyway and or not send it. Chances are, I would never trade them again because it only means problems and trouble. Not worth any pin for that drama.

I agree! When I use to sell on eBay, there were a few people who gave me the wrong address and I would ask them to pay for it to be re-shipped. I wasn't going to be out money for their mistake! And if I gave someone the wrong address, I would take the lost if there is one. Yea, typos happen but its also my responsibility to give the other party the correct address. If I don't, I can't fault them for not being able to complete their end of the deal.

 

[hearts48]

Thanks all! This is what is great about forums like these! Input and opinions are all worthy and food for thought, no matter how they differ. I think what runs through my veins, my belief, was said very well by lopeldred, "...completing the trade is of utmost importance and integrity is lost if not done so."http://disneypinforum.com/member.php?278-lopeldred

 

[Rocke01]

exactly!

 

[Patronus]

I'm not sure I understand the difference between mailing a pin, and it gets lost in the mail, and mailing a pin to an "incorrect address" and it gets lost in the mail on return. Why is okay to say "Oh well" to one and not the other? To me, once a pin leaves my hands, right address or not, fate is no longer in my hands. I took the pin to the post office, paid for it to be shipped, so I did my part and I am not responsible for anything there after. It's not fair that one way is right and one way is wrong. What's lost in the mail is LOST in the mail.

I guess I'm saying that if this situation is wrong, then the general fact of it being LOST in the mail is wrong, and we should not be held responsible for the post office's mistake of losing the mail piece, regardless of its destination.

 

[erudolf]

Situation #1: A package is lost in the mail and it was addresses correctly.

In this instance the sender has to be responsible until it arrives at the other person's door undamaged for the following reasons:
1) The recipient has no recourse. They don't have the ability to purchase insurance for a pin they are receiving and even if insurance was purchased, they have no ability to file the claim on it because they aren't the one who purchased it.
2) If a pin arrives damaged, with a broken post for example, who is to say that the person that sent it didn't send it that way to begin with? They could just send the broken pin and say, "it was fine when I sent it, the post office must have done it, not my problem." No, they need to retain responsibility because there is nothing the recipient can do about it.
3) Anyone can go to an automated machine and buy postage....that doesn't mean they have to use it. "See....I have a receipt. That proves I sent it." Ugh....no....that proves you purchased postage. Not that you actually put that postage on the package and mailed it. Even with delivery confirmation, there are loop holes for fraud.
4) Who is to say that the sender wrote the correct address? The recipient gave the right one, but it was written on the package incorrectly.....so, even though the sender did their part, they did it wrong, so why would the recipient be responsible? They shouldn't, the person who made the mistake should, and that is the sender.

So, in a normal situation, that is why I think the sender is responsible.

Situation #2: The wrong address was provided (not written, but provided):
1) The sender agreed to send the item to the address provided, not to be a mind reader and figure out that it is wrong.
2) If the pin is actually delivered to the wrong address and gone forever that is of no fault of the senders. They fulfilled their part and sent the pin to the address they were supposed to. The post office did their part and delivered it to the address they were told to. The weak link is the recipient. If the other person wants the pin then they can go knock on the wrong address door and try to get it, not blame an innocent party for their own mistake.
3) The longer something remains in the mail system the more likely it is to get lost. If the package is lost then it is HIGHLY likely that it was because it wasn't addressed properly which is a direct result of the recipient's mistake. If you buy something from me and I tell you to pay with a money order and to send it to the wrong address, are you responsible for that? The money is possibly gone/lost, so who is responsible? The buyer? That seems odd to me.....sounds like a scam actually. So if you substitute the money order for pins, why is that different?
4) I'd be very surprised if the post office honored insurance if the package was addressed incorrectly. That would be intersting to know if someone could find that information. Even if they would honor it, I believe the claim process is lengthy. So, the sender gets a whole bundle of hassle and the person who actually caused the problem gets their pin back and moves on??? Doesn't seem very fair to me....
5) If an incorrectly provided address is the sender's responsibility, then what is going to stop me from nudging my neighbor and saying, "hey, I'm going to have something sent to your house, ok?" And when it gets there my neighbor gives it to me and I tell the person that sent it that I gave them the wrong address and I never got it.....

I think people need to learn to take responsibility for their own actions. If you make a mistake, then you should take ownership of it. Not try to blame it on an innocent party so that you are made whole. That seems very selfish to me...

 

[Rocke01]

The case you are mentioning is not what happened. The Post Office notified the sender the package was going to be returned, the other trader didn't get it whether the address was a factual one or not. It could be that the address used is not even a viable address. With the Post Office sending the notice to the sender that proved that the receiver did not get it and that the Post Office had it and was returning it. It seems that it is being assumed that because the wrong address was given the pin was lost. No one knows that for sure.

The facts according to trader 1 are...

A trade was agreed upon by trader 1 and trader 2
The wrong address was given to trader 1 by trader 2.
Trader 1 sent the pin out in good faith not knowing the address was wrong
Trader 1 received the pin they traded for
Trader 1 found out about the wrong address because of a notification from the Post Office saying the package was being returned
The Package has not been returned to trader 1 as of yet

Here are the facts from Trader 2's perspective as I see it...

Trader 1 and trader 2 agreed upon a trade
Trader 2 sent their pin to trader 1
Trader 1 let them know they got the pin
Trader 1 lets trader 2 know of the address error stated by a notification from the Post Office and that it further states they are returning the package to the sender
Trader 2 corrects the address error with trader 1 so now they have the correct address for when the package is returned
Trader 2 still does not have the pin they traded for and knows that Trader 1 received their pin from the trade
Trader 1 says they never got the pin back.

Since Trader 2 never got the pin, and the Post Office stated that they had the pin and was returning it to the sender, I do not see how anyone can feel it is the fault of anyone other than the Post Office itself. That being said PinPics rule would be in affect and the person responsible to "right" the trade would be trader 1.

In your theory of possible fraud what is to stop trader 1 from getting the pin back and just claiming they didn't. Theory's work both ways. You have to consider the facts from both sides only and not speculate. Since trader 2 is not here to state their side of it, one can only take the information given by trader 1 to state what trader 2 knows. Put yourself in each of these scenarios.