OT: AH Does It All Wrong

[earlywynnfan]

My first thought was Wheatland, too. I was charged like $25 to mail two baseballs!!!!! I called the shipper to question the charges and was given the breakdown, which included $2 worth of packing peanuts. (I'm not kidding.) I sent Wheatland a long email asking to be removed from their list, and they got me a refund for much of the cost and, from the sound of it, chewed out the shipper.

[buymycards]

It looks like this is a franchise operation. It's hard to believe they get any business with these prices.

http://www.postalconnections.com/

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by buymycards

It looks like this is a franchise operation. It's hard to believe they get any business with these prices.

http://www.postalconnections.com/

I didn't ask to be removed, but I will no longer be bidding on their stuff.

[Shoeless Moe]

I won a framed item from an AH in May. Item was approx $500, shipping charge was $240!!!! I was like whoa whoa whoa. You need to put that in the description. They said it was my fault for not knowing, that in very small print it said shipping extra. Which I figured but not $240, that should be called out, bold letter, and not extra, but substantial.

However they said would re-check with their shipping, well turns out it shipped Fed Ex and they wound up charging me $30.

Had I not said anything they still would have shipped it Fed Ex the exact same way, but charged over $200.

Funny thing is now I must be on their banned list because every time I email them to consign something they don't even reply.

So needless to say I'm done with them.

[glynparson]

I have never had a problem buying from
Wheatland auctions. I believe I may have won something from each auction. I have found them to be kind and friendly. I understand the op may not have approached this situation in a very professional manner. Is it true you cussed out Stacy on the phone from the outset? You get further with nice people like chuck, Stacy and Bill if you treat them with some respect. They obviously were able to help another individual who had shipping issues. maybe if had you approached them in a nice manner as opposed to being vulgar from the get go you may have had a different experience. This is not chuck's full time profession so he outsources the shipping due to the odd sizes and bulk that is sometimes required, he simply does not have the time to package everything himself. I feel $9 is certainly high for a $40 card but at the same time it's not ok to cuss out a woman over it either. Also wheatland didn't charge you for the bubble mailer postal connections did. You can always pick items up for no charge or have a friend from eastern pa do it for you. Just my opinion and for the record I do know chuck bill and Stacy for 10-20 years between the three and I can assure you they may use a third party shipper that isn't cheap but they are honest hardworking people.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I have never had a problem buying from
Wheatland auctions. I believe I may have won something from each auction. I have found them to be kind and friendly. I understand the op may not have approached this situation in a very professional manner. Is it true you cussed out Stacy on the phone from the outset? You get further with nice people like chuck, Stacy and Bill if you treat them with some respect. They obviously were able to help another individual who had shipping issues. maybe if had you approached them in a nice manner as opposed to being vulgar from the get go you may have had a different experience. This is not chuck's full time profession so he outsources the shipping due to the odd sizes and bulk that is sometimes required, he simply does not have the time to package everything himself. I feel $9 is certainly high for a $40 card but at the same time it's not ok to cuss out a woman over it either. Also wheatland didn't charge you for the bubble mailer postal connections did. You can always pick items up for no charge or have a friend from eastern pa do it for you. Just my opinion and for the record I do know chuck bill and Stacy for 10-20 years between the three and I can assure you they may use a third party shipper that isn't cheap but they are honest hardworking people.

It is, to me, always better to take the friendly approach and privately try to work out issues first. If that doesn't work then there is the board/public approach. Wheatland is an advertiser, so there is that, but I too have always found them friendly and approachable. I am quite sure had this been approached a little differently there would have been a better resolution. I do think Wheatland should consider other shipping options though. I didn't care for what I read about their shipping company. All of that great marketing and professionalism costs money. I just want my item shipped safely to me, not a marketing campaign. I once bought 10-12 individual lots of single cards from an "I Sold It" ebay company. They used shippers like this. I got charged something like $150 total for the 12 boxes and the total value of all of the lots was something like $200. I was pissed and swore off anymore I Sold It ebayers who charged those "mandatory system" shipping charges....

[Wheatland Auctions]

Hi Everyone – I have debated about responding to this thread, but decided that I at least wanted to express our feelings and thoughts behind our shipping policy. As an auctioneer and the owner of Wheatland, and with a husband who owns a sports card shop in our hometown in addition to his full time job, we have been involved in this industry as buyers and sellers for many years. When we decided to focus my auction company on the Sports Card & Memorabilia business, it was because of a strong love and lifelong enthusiasm for the hobby as both a collector & seller. We have been excited to be a part of this business, love working with and helping collectors, and treat everyone as we would like to be treated. At the start of our business, we did shipping in-house. We were doing live simulcast auctions at that time, so many lots sold to our live bidders and some went online. When we made the switch to all online bidding, we could no longer keep up with the shipping while still preparing for the next auction. With limited space in our current offices and storage spaces and a small staff, we needed to enlist the help of a professional shipping company. Postal Connections is owned & run by a local family who purchased into that franchise – they are an honest and trustworthy company, which was important to us as they would be handling rare and valuable merchandise. They operate a store front, and as such cannot give away packaging supplies that their employees use when preparing shipments, which they do according to FedEx/UPS safety guidelines. Our goal is to ultimately be able to bring shipping in-house again, but in the meantime, they have been an invaluable part of our team, and they are invested in getting all auction shipments out safely in a reasonable and timely manner.

When any issue arises, I personally work with each buyer to come to a resolution. I am always happy to call or visit Postal Connections on behalf of any buyer, and work to negotiate a fair outcome for all. The overall feedback that we have received about Postal Connections is overwhelmingly positive – I most often hear that the quality of their packing is excellent, and damaged items are extremely rare.

Because of our growth over the past few years, we are excited for some new changes coming our way. We have recently begun working with Simple Auction Site to reconfigure our website and to begin to implement their bidding platform, which will be familiar to many auction bidders. Additionally, we are making plans to bring shipping back in-house. While this may not be implemented by our next auction, we hope to have it in place in 2016. Thank you to all who bid & consign with us – we will continue to work hard to bring high quality, exciting sports memorabilia to auction for you!

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I have never had a problem buying from
Wheatland auctions. I believe I may have won something from each auction. I have found them to be kind and friendly. I understand the op may not have approached this situation in a very professional manner. Is it true you cussed out Stacy on the phone from the outset? You get further with nice people like chuck, Stacy and Bill if you treat them with some respect. They obviously were able to help another individual who had shipping issues. maybe if had you approached them in a nice manner as opposed to being vulgar from the get go you may have had a different experience. This is not chuck's full time profession so he outsources the shipping due to the odd sizes and bulk that is sometimes required, he simply does not have the time to package everything himself. I feel $9 is certainly high for a $40 card but at the same time it's not ok to cuss out a woman over it either. Also wheatland didn't charge you for the bubble mailer postal connections did. You can always pick items up for no charge or have a friend from eastern pa do it for you. Just my opinion and for the record I do know chuck bill and Stacy for 10-20 years between the three and I can assure you they may use a third party shipper that isn't cheap but they are honest hardworking people.

Where does it say that i was vulgar with Stacy. I NEVER spoke to anyone at Wheatland. I Never cursed anyone on the phone. I don't even know who Stacy is. Try reading the post more carefully before you come on here and say the op was vulgar. FYI, I never mentioned the name of the AH in this post. Others have mentioned a AH which may not even be the one I was talking about. Get your facts straight!!!!!!!!

[sportsguy]

Classy and professional reply Stacey! You've been a breath of fresh air in this industry and your response was spot on. I apologize that you have to deal with people who take to vulgar name calling and unprofessional messages to you instead of trying to contact you professionally and asking you to help resolve his issue (many of us know that you are great with providing excellent customer service to buyers and consignors - people have mentioned that you have resolved third party shipping issues in the past when it has been brought to your attention).

I was raised to treat people (especially women) with respect and, unfortunately, not everyone lives by those same guidelines.

I like your thoughts on internalizing shipping as third party shipping is always a little more because they need to run their business and need to charge for their staff and supplies. Keep up the great work and thanks for your professional response.