Getting Shorted On Orders

Maybe it's me, but I am noticing lately that the majority of the time I order from a dealer (from a site or pricelist, not on ebay) I wind up having to contact that dealer because part of my order is missing.

I started noticing this on 'year sets' ordered from dealers- often a stamp or two is missing, almost always one stamp from a set of 4 or 5. Not usually the high value so it probably is not intentional. I have to email and they have to spend postage to mail the missing ones. One dealer always has stamps missing from his year sets, it's just something I have accepted I will have to do with him.

Another dealer in the UK has been doing this, I have now sent three orders all received incomplete- I have sent him a small extra order with a note so at least he isn't wasting postage on me but he keeps doing it.

I am getting older and am aware I could be misplacing a stamp or two while working on them but I don't think that is what is happening. Anyone else run across this lately?

Probably the result of dealer being busy and not able to employ staff who know or care about philately. Just guessing.

Resurrecting this thread to vent about the latest such episode. An order sent in May via the website of a NYC dealer for two 'year collections'. On working with them I found several stamps missing, including some incomplete sets. I sent him a note via his website with a list of missing stamps and got no reply. I sent him an email yesterday after two weeks and he replied to send him the list- that he didn't get my original message. Was going to do so then today got a terse message saying he already sent me the missing stamps on 6-7. I replied that I have had no mailing from him since the original order was received. I also told him to just forget about it, I'd replace them with another dealer.

I today's world it is hard to understand someone being this indifferent but there it is. I doubt there was any dishonest intent here- just sloppy business methods and petty annoyance at someone questioning them. This is a continual thing with this guy- In case you wonder why I keep trying to deal with him- he's a specialist dealer in a collecting area where not too many competitors exist. I will just try to fill in what am missing buying the missing singles on BidStart, what a joke.

Next time you should do a inventory immediately
upon receipt of order.

Yes that may be a factor but there were just too many items missing from this last order for that to be the problem. One full set was missing.

Someone must have been sleeping or high on something when the order was filled.

The guy is I think up in years, may be retiring soon and perhaps just doesn't care much anymore. The sequence of emails was odd, he sends me one saying he never heard from me then before I could reply he says he sent replacements on 6-7. Now he is not exactly falling all over himself to make things right. It's like he doesn't care. He and I have done this dance before with his poor order filling and I think he was just in so many words telling me to bug off. Hope he doesn't think I will be ordering from him again. You live and learn who the bad guys are.

Getting shorted is one of those situations where it is fully the sellers fault but it makes the buyer feel like they have done something wrong when they have not at all, especially with the way some sellers react to them as if the buyers are crooks.

How about a situation where one is shorted totally (gets nothing), then the seller accuses the buyer of pettiness since the item is worth less than $5.00 and insists that it was sent out. Then the buyer just gives up and drops corresponding with the seller since the seller threatens to blacklist the buyer. The item surprisingly arrives a few months later with a postmark suggesting it was mailed a week before which means that the seller somehow found it with no apologies. The buyer is just glad to eventually get it though.

Yes, that sort of thing has happened to me in the past. You always are left feeling you did something wrong. It is a very nasty thing to do to someone who's been a customer over the years - as is the cae with this dealer- you'd think he wouldn't be so dismissive. I paid for something I didn't get from him and he pulls the old 'I already mailed it' thing.

As you've noticed I am not posting his name or any identifying information about him on here. I cannot say I wasn't warned about him in the past by a stamp friend who was also the president of a specialist organization in the same collecting area.

Some people can never retire until they have health issues preventing them from working. He may be having memory issues.

From what I have been told he owns a string of retail businesses and the stamp thing is more of a sideline with him. Yeah the whole scenario sort of suggests I have been dealing with someone with memory issues. He cannot remember hearing from me then he does and also recalls mailing out replacements. I just don't believe he mailed anything after the original order. I think maybe he honestly doesn't know, has no records and is uncomfortable about having it brought up. I'll make do without him.

You're probably right and just mooving on without him in the stamp ordering process is the right thing to do.