I recently had a package misdelivered/lost by USPS, and the small e-commerce retailer I purchased from refused to refund or replace, pointing to their “refund policy” which does include a line saying they aren’t responsible for lost mail. Their “shipping policy” made no mention of this.
It was a cheap item, so no big deal, but it prompted me to do some “research” online and every article I could find on the topic said that lost packages are the seller’s responsibility to replace or refund. This idea was repeated over and over, for US and international situations. None of them, however, cited a source.
What basis is there in US law for this idea? Is it accurate? Can it be contracted away by fine print in a “refunds policy,” or is that prohibited?