The Fifty-Eight Dollar Box

The Box…

See that ugly looking box? Well, that happens to be the most expensive box I have ever purchased. It cost preciously $58, tons of time and annoyance…should we even add in frustration and anger?
I’m sure I’m not the only person with some crazy stories from this insane year of 2020, but indulge me in listening to this one about buying a math book….that never arrived!

This year we decided to homeschool. Consistency was important to us for our daughter this year. We started out with one curriculum and decided by mid-October that we needed to switch. Curriculum is expensive and hard to find during pandemic times with shipping delays and publishing delays and shortages.

The Sad Story…

Finding a second hand math book that included the solution manual, textbook, and workbook seemed feasible, but I was wrong. It was not easy to find in the middle of a pandemic after school had already started.

I did finally find someone selling the level I needed and that included the additional books. After some discussion she agreed to split up her sale and sell me what I needed for a decent price. We negotiated on shipping and ended up choosing media mail as the cheapest–not the way to go if you are taking notes.

After waiting over a week for the book to arrive the box showed up on our doorstep. The box was surprisingly light. I had a bad feeling when I saw the seal had been broken and resealed with USPS tape. However, I dutifully opened the box to see what was inside and I found…NOTHING! There was some plastic and a sheet with my name and address, but nothing else.

Upon closer inspection of the box I saw that the USPS had stamped on the box: “Received Unsealed” and “Received Without Contents” two things that I didn’t even realize there were stamps for.

The End…

So, I attempted to work things out with the seller. The seller was semi-cooperative for a few messages. She said she put a claim in with the post office, but from all my research there is not much they can do for a package sent via media mail. When she stopped answering my messages and my requests for a refund–after all I still had to purchase a math book someplace else because my daughter still has to complete math this year!–I put in a claim with PayPal.

PayPal investigated for a couple of weeks, but ultimately denied my claim because…the box had been delivered. I also tried contesting the charge through my credit card company and while they were polite and helpful on the phone they require I find someone who sold books as their job to testify what went wrong and how it went wrong and how much it was worth.

Calling USPS was a horrible experience due to their awful phone system. I wasn’t able to get any answers that way. I stopped by our local post office to find answers. The manager was really nice and polite. He said legally the USPS had to deliver the box even if it was empty and there was nothing I could do to put in a claim on the box–that was entirely up to the seller.

Meanwhile, the seller was rude. She suggested that I was lying about the empty box I received. And so here I am…with a $58 box.

So what would you do with a $58 box? Would you frame it? Sell it? Put it in the attic? I’ve never owned such an expensive box, I’m not quite sure what to do with it.