1. My label filled out on paypal without any warnings or requests for additional paperwork in order to ship.
2. When at the post office, all info was entered into their computer and the item was clear to ship. I paid an additional $61 for higher insurance as well.
3. When I received the package back, the paperwork that was indicated missing was very vague and something that I had never heard of. When I took it back to the post office, everyone, including the supervisor had no idea what the paperwork was or where it could be obtained. He did say, however, that if something is submitted to ship and has insiufficient documentation, that their system will flag it at the time of submission prior to shipping, and admitted that in this situation their system failed to notify them of any insufficiency.
4. USPS customer service over the phone also had no idea what this documentation was.
5. There is a money back guarantee on the shipping as a matter of policy from USPS and notated by Paypal at the time Paypal sells you the service.
6. Yes, this was an international shipment. Ultimately I sent it through UPS instead. The additional paperwork that USPS had no clue about was actually something that UPS handled for me automatically simply by me checking a box as a part of their shipping procedure because their system did not fail to indicate everything that was needed to complete the shipment. Easy peasy no hassle. Shipment arrived at it's destination 3 days later.
7. USPS was not prepared to send this package and did not know the details of what it would entail, even though they offered the service, charged me for the service, and then denied me the service without any detailed explanation as to how the situation could be remedied. Then USPS refunded my insurance money because I paid that at the post office, but told me that the shipping had to be refunded through paypal because I purchased the label through them.
8. Paypal offers the service and has it integrated into their system. They sold me a service that obviously could not be fulfilled. I agree that USPS shares the responsibility, but the operative word there is "shares". If you are going to pimp a service out to your customers, then you must take responsibility.
I am a photographer, and because I am on the expensive side, I do turn down a lot of work. I also teach workshops and know a lot of other photographers who do a great job and charge considerably less than I do. I had the thought one time to offer a less expensive session through associate photographers rather than turning down the jobs outright. This ended up not working out and I no longer do it. Even though the client knows they are not getting me but instead getting an associate who is my student, and even though I was acting as more of a middle man between the two, and even though I flat out told them that it would not be the same quality of image as if I had done what I do, the client still had expectations based on my personal work, and I had to be responsible.
