Adventures on Ebay! No2

So I have this friend who really has a thing for Transformers. He's not net savvy in the slightest. If he sees something he wants on Ebay, he fronts the money and I get it. This time he wanted the original Optimus Prime in excellent condition. We picked out 2, I lost the auction (the other was subpar), and I thought that was that. The winner actually flaked out and I was given a second chance offer (unless I fell for the oldschool hustle... and I don't think I did because the price is in range of others). So we ran with it. I paid up and he paid me soon after.

The item is 1 state over. It should have taken a day or 2 to arrive. 16 days later I get the item. How did that happen? The dealer gave me a tracking number, but it didn't budge in 2 weeks. I didn't want to assume the worst so I called my local post office. They said it never left the post office it was first scanned at. So I call the other post office (in NY) and they made it seem like the person never brought the item in. Before I made the call to the post office I emailed the dealer and asked what was going on? By the time I was done on the phone, the dealer replied to my email (later on) and said that the item had moved. What happened? The guy at the NY post office said that the dealer sent a tracking number and that's it. Now if I was an unreasonable person, I would have suspected foul play. Depending on their reply, I may have been able to catch them in a lie. They maintained that the item had been sent and that Ebay was at fault. So I didn't rush to a judgment and I got my item. If anything, the dealer deserves a refund or shipping credit from their post office. I understand the post office is going through turbulent times right now, but that's no excuse.

This must be what it feels like to be a celebrity. Make 1 phone call and things go my way.