Dear Editor,
I wish to highlight an online shopping experience I had with an online shopping company. I have a mailbox with this company. I purchased a few items from Amazon.com on the 13th June, 2024. According to my tracking records, the package was delivered to my mailbox address of the company who is the receiving agent on my behalf. The tracking information showed this was done on the 24th June 2024 at 9:30am. After a while, I expected my package to arrive in Guyana. This wasn’t so. I enquired from the company’s staff and shared all the relevant tracking information. All information pointed fingers to my package handed over to an agent at the Miami facility for finally delivery to me. The company denied that they received my package.
Editor, my expectation was that when you take out an online shopping mailbox, the custodian of that mail box will represent any relating issue that may arise in relation to it. This was not so in my case. I spent over two weeks querying the whereabouts of my package from over 10 Amazon customer care representatives. They all responded that this package was delivered to the intended address in Miami FL. I made a final enquiry from United States Postal Service (USPS) and they finally responded saying, “According to our tracking records, your package was delivered as addressed to a third-party reshipper at the destination address of this package. Therefore, the tracking number associated with it is not eligible for further enquiry. For further assistance with this package, please contact third-party reshipper”. There was no issue with my mailing address as this was accurately stated.
I contacted and shared all my queried information with the manager of the online shopping company. This is what she had to say, “We are very sorry that this has happened but we are hopeful that just as you believe the shipping companies in America, you believe us when we say we did not receive your package. We will keep you posted if the package shows up at any time, but until then this is out of our control”.
I easily ended up empty handed for no fault of mine. This situation highlights a big risk you take when you shop online. Be it any online shipping company, no shopper should lose his or her money or purchases as mentioned above. There needs to be accountability and here is where the relevant government agencies must address this kind of situation urgently. A thorough review of online shopping and shipping regulations must be had to provide greater protection to consumers and online shoppers.
Sincerely,
C.Woolford