Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: aussiebuyer on August 26, 2011, 08:42 am
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Hi Guys
I would like some advice here as to what to do, basically i ordered a product of a controlled substance and had it shipped to a vacant property, i, on the advice of the seller (in their description) got express postage, and upon reading their profile after placing the shipment, noticed the wording used was express/signed postage.
I freaked out as i used a false name and address, and so i messaged the seller straight away asking exactly what this meant, was i going to have to be present at the time of delivery or present any form of ID, if so i to cancel the express postage. I got no response.
2 weeks later my package has not arrived, i asked the seller for a tracking number and they responded saying they needed a bit more info, i have given this to them and they are yet to reply.
So i checked the drop today and found a notice to come and collect my letter from the post office, now my concern here is that
A) They may know what is in the package and are waiting for me to collect
B) I will have to present ID to collect the package, which i dont have any that match the name and address of the package
C) I may be able to do a "Collect on behalf of this person type arrangement" which would probably still require me to hand over my ID for records
I'm really quite pissed off, not only did the seller not respond to my original question in time for me to alter my order, i now have to decide on whether to collect the letter and risk being identified.
What would you guys do? And do i have the moral right to not finalize payment and hope for a refund?
The seller is quite highly regarded, and until the moment i saw the sign for slip i didn't care to much about the lack of communication, but right now i'm really pissed, that and its the weekend and i wanted to use said product but have to wait till monday at the earliest if i wanted to collect the item.
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hmm that really sucks, thoughts of this exact situation led me to use real name/address.
i would say probably let it go but then again if its a small amount or a lesser drug ie weed maybe roll the dice and try to 'collect on their behalf'. look at the card you got, if its like ones ive gotten there is a section to write someone elses name and sign it. my girlfriend (not same last name) has picked up legitimate packages for me with no trouble in this manner. you will need to show id tho.
if its from a reputable sender it will be packaged well, if its a small amount the odds are in your favor for it not having been identified by customs.
the other issue is mailmen notice stuff coming to vacant houses, probably signed for fast tracked stuff alot more aswell.. how long has the house been vacant? did you use old tenants name? (as a side thought: ive seen using old tenants name been recomended, what if they have their mail redirected? hehe) there may be some extra risk or scrutiny if the mailmans paying attention
as for a refund, hmmm tough call, im leaning on the side of the seller, seems like the only thing they did wrong was not respond quickly enough. in my experience most sellers offer at least a partial one readily to keep their rep.
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Why oh why do some insist on using a fake name and a fake address? Especially in Australia where every postie knows the name of every resident!
You should have placed the order correctly in the first place. Vendors I use will often ship the day the order is received. No room for error here. Read the T&C before ordering.
I could live with the signed postage as I dunno anything about it mr officer. I just got a card in my post box.
But it's gonna be a bit hard with a fake name.
All said, there's just about fuck all chance they are going to piss about with a small qty and hunt you down so if you can do a dodgy and sign as a rep the go and do it.
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Let it go man. One order isn't worth the risk in my opinion. As for a refund I'd have to side with the seller, but maybe a partial? Main thing is to learn from it and make sure not to make the same mistake next time.
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I think the lesson here is to converse with a seller and iron out all the nitty-gritty details prior to placing an order so there are no surprises.
Perhaps you could ring the post office (from a public phone & using your fake name) and ask them what options are available to you if you are unable to collect the package in person? (eg: maybe you are sick, traveling, at work during business hours, etc). You could also then gauge how suspicious they are about the whole thing. :)
But, unfortunately, I would have to agree with a previous poster and say just let it go.
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IME posties dont really care less who's name they are delivering to. Just the address. They are not going to stop at a box and look in to see if people are living there. The house could have sold for all they know and its new owners mail. I get random peoples mail all the time.
As for picking up your package. If it is express and it can be left safely at the box or front door they will leave it. I dont know how many times I have come home to see my bulky express packages hanging out of my letter box. If for some reason they dont leave it they will leave a slip as mentioned above to go pick it up. Thats where it gets complicated. You will need id or somebody will need id with the address it was delivered to. You could go and say that you have just moved in and have not changed the address on your id....they may give it to you or they may ask for other evidece that you live at that address.
Either way your way out in the open. I would leave it if it was me
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Why should the seller have to refund for your mistake?
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Do you have the "moral right" to ask for a refund? Wow, if you have to ask that question then you're already thinking in a way that is all about you and your money and not about the facts of the situation.
If it was me, I'd finalize the shipment and then plead my stupidity to the seller. I would plain outright beg, because he has no liability in your screw up. He plainly put that it required signature. And you apparently have not read enough of the forums to understand that using fake names, vacant houses and all the other apocryphal bullshit that gets thrown around by armchair quarterbacks is just third-hand nonsense that they've never actually used in real life. In real life you can use your real name and never have a problem. Problems come from trying to be slick.
Sorry to sound a bit tough but these are the real world consequences that happen when bullshit stories get passed off as facts in a drug forum. Even after Janet Reno answered 50+ questions as a postal employee, apparently not enough people read her thread. That's too bad.
Sellers already are quite wary of sending to AUS because of the very tough postal inspections. If you just leave that package, and 20 of your fellow countrymen do the same over a period of time, soon no seller in their right mind will ship to AUS. And you'll only have yourself to blame. Think of the overall future you want: plenty of sellers who will ship to AUS. Then do the right thing and pay for this shipment and ask the seller to refund you a portion because you screwed up. You're a grown up and this is what grown ups do.
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Thanks for everyones feedback and although its hard to swallow what some of you are saying i appreciate your input.
When i posted i was in a pretty angry state, let me make it clear that to date i have finalized all products straight away, regardless of delivery as i understand the risks of sending to AUS and i want to make sure sellers feel they can send without the risk of getting paid.
Why have i not finalized this payment? For 4 reasons, and hence why i posted this thread.
1. No where in the item description did it say that the Express postage required a signature
2. The item description recommended Express postage to my region
3. Upon reading the sellers profile, where it stated that Express was actually signed for, i immediately (within 30 minutes of making the purchase) attempted to contact the seller for clarification so we could come to a mutual understanding
4. The seller promised to provide tracking information upon purchase of Express item, i received no communication from the seller for 2 weeks.
If i had had a reply from the seller with my tracking number and/or explaining the requirement for signature, this thread would not exist.
Regardless, the package reached its destination and as i chose to use the drop spot i did, i will finalize payment and decide if i want to collect the item or not. The seller did their part, i just was wanting peoples opinion on my 4 points about if it was moral to ask for a refund, it seems the consensus is no, and i respect this site and its community and will base my actions on its expectations.
Thank you again for your voice, ill let you know if i decide
Sorry for any fury that i have promoted :(
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I was hard enough on you for your previous decisions so let me be the first to say: you get a lot of good karma for actually paying attention to what you've been told. Many newbie buyers ask questions in the forums but then either get combative if they don't hear what they wanted to hear or disappear when they don't like the outcome. You manned up and came back to comment. Good job!
AUS has a very stringent postal inspections system, but they're not Supermen. They can't see inside your package. You will do well to look closely for things like "professional packaging" and "very stealthy label" in the feedback of the sellers you are contemplating buying from. If you choose wisely, you never need have this kind of issue again. And using your first initial and real last name keeps anyone from knowing your whole real name but gives you the greatest chance of receiving your packages. Good luck with your future purchases! :)
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Why oh why do some insist on using a fake name and a fake address?
He didn't have his parcel sent to a fake address..he used an anonymous drop which is smart thing to do. He just just didn't think the thing through in time. Had he not been talked into Express with Sig. Required he would have had a successful delivery. Had he had a fake ID in the fake name he used for addressee he could have gone down to the postal office and picked the mail up, no prob.
The single biggest risk anyone could take is having coin contraband delivered to them in their name. The Golden and Cardinal rule of shipping is never ever use your real name or personal details. never
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Hi,
i am a noob and a little bit confused right now. What is the best thing to do: using a fake or real name and address? in the buyers guide, it says: never use a real name and address.
???
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If there is any thread to look into regarding receiving mail, it's janetrenos thread :) http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=346.0
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when you lay it out like that aussiebuyer its a little easier to see your side of it. im still on the side of the seller however, while they may not have acted perfectly, i feel refunds are for when the buyer feels ripped off and you know that the seller has sent it in good faith.
let us know if you decide to try to retrieve it? do you mind telling us what/how much it is?
as for real name vs fake, theres abit of a debate, but i think the majority recommend real name, its what i do and overall its gone very well. for small amounts this is, for big amounts you need to have something better, not 100% sure what that is but i wouldnt risk big amounts to real name and address.
and also: learn what is a small/big amount acording to the law, do some reading on the laws where you live ffs, might take an hour of hard googling but wouldnt you rather order just inside of a lower bracket not a higher one.. seriously dumb not to know this in my opinion.
a fake name gives more safety i guess but a higher chance of your mail not showing up, if your mail doesnt show from a reputable sender and yourve used a fake name there is a fair chance thats why.
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Very good thread. A good read. Totally agree with both sides! Huh? :) Looking forward to hearing the answer to all of brockeh's questions too.
the buyer flipped up and everything JB2 said should be in the buyer's bible. But the vendor is inexcusable on the lack of COMMUNICATION. it can not be stressed enough the importance of it. in this particular circumstance i could see recommending as much as 25% go back to the buyer on the one point of the communication alone, if the particulars are actually as i've understood them from the discussion. by default, in a similar situation, i would recommend the buyer go attempt procreation with themselves, that is, as a "mediator" or member of this, the peanut gallery. as a vendor, i would try to soften the pain with some constructively conveyed condolences, and hope the buyer has the clarity to chalk it up to their own self-education and has the bravery to try again. but i choose how i spend my time and pick my battles. WHEN the buyer is themselves amiable in the situation and comes back again, i usually OFFER a free express ship or to fatten their parcel just to say, "hey you know what i'm in this too and we all tow the line", NOT out of a feeling of guilt. i for one, don't care for the feeling that i'm being extorted over my vendor rep for BTC or product just because someone's butt hurts from a learning experience.
When the unexpected happens, it's never black and white and the truth lies somewhere in-between. I for one remember when customers nut up (for one, cuz its rare) and then I hook them up again and again when they come back. ;) what do you think works best psychologically?: "hook me up because you screwed me" or "hook me up because you know i fly straight and will accept responsibility." When something goes wrong, the knee-jerk response usually is you're concerned about only getting you're money back from some individual sour experience, probably then running for the hills. We need to be bigger than our base impulses, people. I for one am here to build relationships and repor with a whole community. The wrong users tend to make the most of a stink, but thats unfortunate because those are the users we should all be least concerned about. good riddance to them. this is not for those who scare or give up easily.
Hi,
i am a noob and a little bit confused right now. What is the best thing to do: using a fake or real name and address? in the buyers guide, it says: never use a real name and address.
???
A. The buyers guide doesn't even make the point that simple. Go read it again. In no way does it say "never".
B. The right answer has to do with you. where you live, who you are, what you're getting, how much, your relationships with people, temperature and humidity, the phase of the moon... need i go on?
C. There's a real good entire thread on your one question already here on the forums. It might even be sticky if I recall correctly. It should be.
There's also lengthy interviews with postal inspectors/carriers/employees, and of course, basically the shared knowledge of people with decades of experience. If I see another message like, "hey i'm sorry i'm a noob but whats the answer to question number 2 in the FAQ?" I.. SWEAR... I'M.... GONNA..... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5..... calmly tell them to go read our actually-not-too-poorly-organized forums.
Both sides are guilty of thinking they've just logged into the Walmart/Burger King/Ebay/NewEgg of drugs. This is Silk Road... Of whatever the hell we make it. This ain't "have it yer way" or one-size-fits-all. And you shouldn't expect to be covered by some utopian customer service gods either just because this amazingly awesome and successful site has made a lot of us here feel complacent, lazy, hasty, entitled, etc. I can only imagine what the admins go through. I can't even imagine what they went through back when they first implemented the escrow/resolution system. Man it must have been like running a day-care center.
Feedback score, rating, ranking, best-selling, the escrow/feedback/resolution system. These are all very helpful tools and a lot of thought and effort went into them. If you rely exclusively on them and not on your wits, then boy do I have an investment opportunity for you! It's called: Send me your Bitcoin and G.F.Y.S.
KUDOS to you AUbuyer for your poise, patience, investigation and diplomacy. You bit off a little more than you could chew that first time and then found it bitter at that. sorry bout yer luck. happens to us all in some way at some point i'm sure.
that seller is a douche but i'd probably leave him be, if i were in a similar circumstance, confident that if he keeps up his poor work ethic it will come to bite him. if i place an order and the thing gets to where i told it to go according to the terms in place at the time, then i have no reason to complain. how do i know this guy didn't soon thereafter head out on his two week vacation or life emergency, confident that he had taken care of his last orders on his way out? Sure, a heads up is nice when you're a paranoid and rightly-concerned customer, but he's technically fulfilled his position 100%. i'm sure it's not the case that this guys poor ol' ma keel'd over dead 15 minutes after you placed your order. i'd sure hope we could resolve my mistake when i'm messaging you about it 30 minutes later, but to EXPECT it is unreasonable. (this is my opinion should i be in the buyer's shoes, what i mentioned above about the 25%, that's if i'm in the mediator role, and thus i'm considering this because the prerequisite stink has risen it to my attention, then i have to consider everyone's feelings, blech! hahaha) final verdict, 100% escrow release, a feedback stating that the communication SUCKS ASS along with facts of the communication breakdown and not so much focus on the mishap itself, and a 5 out of 5 if he's updated his listings to be more clear or made adjustments to his procedure like opting out by default. If you still haven't heard back from him and nothing's changed, a 4 out of 5.
It would have been nice if he mentioned the sig-conf on the listing and not just his profile, but it is the default with express mail. you can read all about express mail at usps.com. does anyone? probably not. i for one, as a seller, default to always opt out of that signature. the buyer can then opt in. this is all explained on my profile and listing for the better shipping. if someone is hasty and EXPECTS they are getting sig-conf, since they know it to be the usps default, well, the mishap in that case i think is less drastic and leaves me better covered at the resolution center. if you find his listings confusing or could use improvement, and let him know what "you did", (not "what happened to you") then i'm sure you will help yourself and the community as a whole out a lot more than if you end up with a few dollars back and denting a vendor that seems to have done what he advertised, and while new at the game too, could be a great asset to the community if given the opportunity to be taught by his mistakes and not just punished by them.
vendor, if you're reading this. you should be OFFERING this customer the world in apology for your terrible communication. but if this guy came at you all guns-a-blazin instead of extending the olive branch and patiently escalating as he claims, we'd love to hear your side of the story! There's usually two or more on every good one!
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+1 SunYunGai
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A lot of reference has been made to Janet Reno's thread, which is a good thread. However, it relates to the US postal system, not Australia's, so is irrelevant to Aussiebuyers situation.
The SR Buyers Guide states:
Receiving packages
* Use a different, unrelated address than the one where your item will be kept such as a friends house or P.O. box. Once the item arrives, transport it discretely to its final destination. Avoid abandoned buildings or any place where it would be suspicious to have mail delivered.
* Do not sign for your package. If you are expecting a package from us, do not answer the door for the postman, let him leave it there and then transport it as described above.
* Do not use your real name. This tactic doesn't work in some places because deliveries won't be made to names not registered with the address. If you think this is a problem, send your self a test letter with the fake name and see if it arrives.
Pretty clear really - don't use your own address, don't use your own address. But the latest advice from senior people seems to be: Use your own address, use your own name but modified slightly.
I too am an aussie buyer and have had the misfortune of a package not arrive, presumably intercepted. I didn't receive a "love letter" (thank god).
I'm still not sure of the best approach for Australian buyers.
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I'm also an Aussie, but yet to make a purchase.
This thread has gotten me a little worried now, as I was also planning on using a different name and address. I guess this is just one of those things though that I'm willing to take the risk on. I have a month or so where I can use this address, and it's the perfect opportunity to maybe order amounts just that bit bigger than I would order to my own address once this one becomes unavailable.
Aussiebuyer, do you mind giving us a heads up as to what it was? All I'm really after on this site is some MDMA and maybe psychedelics, so I'm hoping that they don't come in packaging that requires a signature. Also, you have a PM from a couple of days ago from me!
Good luck with the package regardless!
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Experienced Oz buyer told me use only real name and only real address. If someone comes a knockin' you simply keep your mouth shut. Do not say anything. Of course, you are using tails off an encrypted stick so even if they do size the 'puter they have nothing. Of course they cannot enter or seize without a warrant and no magistrate is going to issue one based solely on a letter containing a few tabs or blotters.
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UPDATE:
Just to let you know i finalized payment a few days ago (time of my last post).
I decided to collect the package based on a few things and tried to rule out emotion and use logic, here was my logic:
1. It probably would not have got this far if it was opened and/or inspected by customs
2. The pickup slip didn't specify that we need to sign, so i took a chance this might work in my favour
3. According to some, i should always use a real name, so even if i had to present ID, i would be no worse off
4. Lots of people have commented about the awesome packaging and stealth
My emotion said:
1. Get it, you know you want it
2. Dont get it, you know its not worth getting caught for
I'm not a superstitious person, but over the weekend i had a fortune cookie which said "Be more diligent in your business dealings", when i weighed myself in the morning i was a unlucky number (dont want to give to much away about myself!, fatboy :)), upon leaving my house i saw a police car drive past, on my walk to the location i saw yet another.
Well i went in, collected and had to show ID, i was questioned briefly and due to my good on the spot thinking it went smoothly, i got the article and took the package to a safe location and tried it, little to say i was unimpressed with the quality, upon reading other peoples comments of recent it appears i'm not the only one.
At the end of the day, i let my desire for the product put myself in unnecessary risk, for a product which was way below par on quality. I have learn't a good lesson from this ordeal and in future, i will try make a more sound decision, one that lets me sleep easy at night (This is very important, i made this choice years ago and have put myself in many situations since).
Thanks all for your support and comments.
peace to all
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Speaking entirely personally, I see no advantage in having things delivered in a false name.
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I don't know what the deal is with people on this site thinking otherwise, but not using your real name or your home address has practically been Rule #1 since the beginning of time as far as the internet game goes. But hey what do I know?
Anyways I am glad it worked out for you. But here is a tidbit of advice in case you have not fully learned your lesson: don't ever do this again, signing for a package that you know contains a controlled substance is baaaaaaaaaaaad mojo.
Good luck!
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HAHAHHA...now you guys see what I have to deal with 20 times a day every single day.
:D
nomad bloodbath
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Of course, you are using tails off an encrypted stick so even if they do size the 'puter they have nothing.
Could you please explain this once again, in a more simple language? what exactly are ,tails`?
thx & sorry