ethical question....

[whitey19thcentury]

Hello,

A year or so ago I had a package from a major auction house lost in the mail. The package had a tracking #, and after it was stuck at a facility for days, both parties (myself and the auctionhouse) went through great lengths to try to track it down.

Myself, the auctionhouse, and the shipper agreed that the package was lost. I received a refund (very quickly, I might add) from the company and I believe the company was reimursed by the shipper for the amount the package was insured for.

Over the year, I have checked various sites off and on for several of the items that were in the package as some were one-of-a-kind items. Well, it just so happens that an auction that recently closed (no, not REA) had several lots of items that may or may not have been what was lost in the mail.

It is Sunday morning, and home from a church, I feel bad I didn't notice or check this auction before it closed. I just left a message with the company I won these from last year and informed them that I may or may not have found what was "lost" in the mail.

Should I contact the company that just sold some of the items that were similar to what I had lost in the mail, or is it the responsibility of the company that originall sold these items since they had to go to great lengths to file an insurance claim?

I really don't care one way or another because both I and the previous company didn't lose any many, just a lot of time trying to track my package down.

But, if my package was not "lost" in the mail, someone has to be notified.

[Mark]

Just to ease my mind, I would follow up your email by calling the auction house on Monday that reimbursed you and would talk it over with them. They had a consignor who was ripped off, and they should want to help him pursue this. If you think the auction house has a lot of integrity, then I suppose you could leave it at that. Do you know whether the police were ever involved? You might ask the auction house about that.

[whitey19thcentury]

the police were never involved, just me, the auction house and the shipping company (UPS).

When the package was tracked, it listed as it was stuck in customs, which is weird because the package was shipped from NY and I live near Pittsburgh.

Fortunately, I live within 10 miles of a major UPS hub, so I was able to drive over to their offices to discuss it with them, while at the same time the auctionhouse checked with their UPS offices.

After a week or so of dealing with several people, the item was still listed as being stuck in customs, that facility was contacted, and the box was not there.

The auctionhouse sent me a full refund with the understanding that if the package was ever sent back to me, I would send them the money back.

Well, I never got the package, the item's tracking # was that it was at some customs place (which it wasn't), and my local UPS facility never received the package. The auction co. filed a claim with UPS and received a reimbursement.

The total value of the items that were "lost" was around $5,000, so we're not talking about a few small items. The lot that was in question sold for, if I remember correctly, between $1500-2000, and the lot was comprised of a several hundred items, all one-of-a-kind, I believe.