2 packages stolen by the carriers in December. Grrrr!

[Phixt]

My carrier makes the guy from Funny Farm look like...well the guy from Funny Farm, but only the part when he shows up for the xmas party. I would never, ever ever put a package in my mailbox for him to manage. He can't even manage DELIVERING them lol let alone sending. I care (not saying you don't) the buyer gets their knife, so I ALWAYS personally take it to the post office myself.

As far as USPS honoring insurance goes, the Cranberry Twp post office won't even honor their own money orders, so another 'never' for me is buying extra insurance.

My cousin works at the Warrendale regional distribution facility. His stories he shares about the people who work there and the things that go on don't line up with the 'USPS always good' logic in some of the replies. My cousin is looking forward to retiring from USPS in two years, so don't blame him for their total lack of giving a hoot.

'Never had a problem'. Interesting...surgeons lose people on the table, scientists correct their own hypotheses, Tolkien (the king) wrote, "From whence," but these guys here have incredibly flawless, infallible usps employees. 'If you haven't made an error, you simply haven't done it enough'.

Sad story to hear if ya got burnt on a knife and a gun from two different companies. I'm not sure of legal options, but if you think that gun is stolen, letting the appropriate authorities know might be priority #1. Just throwin it out there if ya haven't already. Good luck.

 

[Dfunk1210]

Yea, packages stolen by shipping employees is a real danger during the holiday season. With all the packages i had coming and going, it was nerve racking hoping that any of them wouldn’t disappear into limbo. I too had 2 packages disappear at its origin point. Luckily they were from Amazon, the only retailer on earth that takes responsibility for lost packages.

 

[Norcaldude]

My cousin works at the Warrendale regional distribution facility. His stories he shares about the people who work there and the things that go on don't line up with the 'USPS always good' logic in some of the replies.
'Never had a problem'. Interesting...surgeons lose people on the table, scientists correct their own hypotheses, Tolkien (the king) wrote, "From whence," but these guys here have incredibly flawless, infallible usps employees. 'If you haven't made an error, you simply haven't done it enough'.

Are you implying that those of us that said we haven't had problems with the USPS are lying?

Your method of writing is so odd and convoluted it's hard to grasp what you are actually trying to communicate.

 

[Monofletch]

Not all postal employees are bad! I take pride in my job- people depend on me.
The key is to have a good, solid box. A clean label, and tape.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I use USPS Priority always , never had a problem other than one or two being late .

 

[cigarrodog]

I’m sorry you had to experience this twice. Not a good feeling. Like others have said, I use their Priority Box with good packing and lots of tape. I will only give it to the person at the counter. Any insurance is only acquired at the counter. The receipt that they give me acts as proof of aceptance. No putting it in my mailbox, or giving it to the mail person, or dropping it in their drop box. My method is not fool proof, but it lowers the risk of loss, substantially. Again, sorry for your troubles.

 

[Macchina]

"Rare Skagel slipjoint" Color me confused? As an aside, I can't imagine any actual Skagel slipjoint being worth only $550 or being sent Priority Mail? Was this a tribute?

Regardless, you deserve better. Sorry.

I am 1/4 shipping department. In 14+ years I have NEVER had a failure with USPS Priority mail (my most dominant shipping source.) I am fortunate.

Sorry for the confusion. It was a Northwoods from when Scagel owned the brand and put their Scagel hole on the blade. So while being a Scagel branded knife it was not made by Scagel himself.

 

[Macchina]

To clear some things up:
I did not purchase insurance yet my local post office shows $500 was on the package, I believe this is because I printed the label through PayPal but can’t be certain. I did not purchase the insurance and will continue not to as I have spent thousands on labels over the last decade (my last estimate was about $3000) and would have spent another $1500-2000 or so insuring those packages. This loss is nowhere near the value I saved not buying insurance. On a philosophical level, I don’t see why we are ever expected to buy insurance in case something happens while a package is in their possession. That is the biggest scam I have ever heard of and by offering that option it seems the Post Office is comfortable saying “you didn’t buy insurance so screw you”…


I’m headed to my local Post Office tonight to get a print out of their proof of insurance to file on my appeal of the claim. It makes me sick that the Post Office is so flippant about missing packages. They literally told me if the carrier doesn’t initially scan the package there is simply nothing they can do.

 

[BD_01]

Phixt,
Please circle back and let us know how the insurance claim plays out. I’ve heard it can be unfulfilling.

Given the volume of stuff I’ve had come and go via USPS, I would have to say the service has been very good overall. But the times it’s gone wrong have been VERY frustrating. And yes, experiences depend largely on the postal workers involved. There was one city we lived in where the service was not so good. If we still lived there, I probably wouldn’t have as good of things to say.

 

[annr]

I dont think insurance is something that should be purchased by the customer. The shipping company should have its own insurance. If you lie about a value then you have committed insurance fraud and just like any other case you would suffer the consequences.

This is an interesting point. Why purchase insurance against the possibility of their not doing their job, e.g., losing the package, falsely inputting completed delivery on the tracking when it was not; delivery to the wrong address; falsely inputting signature obtained at delivery when it was not; mutilating the package and contents.

It seems a problem would arise if the contents were damaged in shipping. Who would be to blame? This could be a gray area depending on how the item was packaged by the sender and subsequently handled by the carrier.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

On a philosophical level, I don’t see why we are ever expected to buy insurance in case something happens while a package is in their possession. That is the biggest scam I have ever heard of and by offering that option it seems the Post Office is comfortable saying “you didn’t buy insurance so screw you”…

I certainly see this point-you are paying for insurance to insure they do their job properly
Then on the other hand I can see why they wouldn't want to take on the liability of a $1000 package for the same rate as a $10 one. I just wish the insurance was handled by a 3rd party that was a bit more cooperative on paying legit claims and was not involved in the loss.

 

[choombak]

Problem is that USPS Tracking is science fiction. Planes take over a week to fly from London to JFK Per USPS. Not believable. Truth is, took hours then sat for days in a pile of shipping containers before USPS got around to opening the container to scan the contents as "arrived."

No, it is not -- USPS tracks the package, not the airplanes. IMO, the system works as designed -- that is, when the package is actually scanned, it shows up in the tracking. Your package sitting in a container for a week isn't on the tracking system, its on the employees who did not bother to open the container (or were overworked during holiday season). Typically, overseas packages are two to three weeks to cover for such eventualities. If you want guaranteed delivery time lines, they do offer higher-priced options (see GXG or Global eXpress Guaranteed service, for example).

I have no affiliation with USPS, just stating facts as I see it. Far too many people blame the systems (tracking system in this case), when it is mostly an overworked employee (that distinction has to be made clear, methinks).

 

[choombak]

Use registered mail to ship expensive knives.

^^^ This. I cannot emphasize the importance of Registered Mail for high-value items - nothing comes closer, absolutely nothing. Registered Mail is "iron-clad" guarantee, and every postal employee knows the severe consequences of tampering registered mail. They literally baby those registered packages, which is why it may take a while for them to make its way through the system. There is a Sticky on this sub-forum that explains how to go about shipping a registered package.

 

[Quiet]

In my experience the usps has been pretty terrible and almost never pays an insurance claim. Ymmv

I know you and I have both posted this same comment in threads past about USPS.

I'm with Triton. I have sold many knives here on the Exchange but as a general rule, I don't buy insurance. It's just wasted money in my direct personal experience especially, especially when dealing with what we're dealing with here: collectibles. I have sold collectibles (used to be in the action figure/comic book game) for years, and over the years I have had a few packages mysteriously vanish in the "system". I went to file an insurance claim and suddenly the post office folks were asking for receipts and proof of value claimed. What? No, sorry, your Ebay screenshot doesn't count. When I'd try to explain that I'd sold something I already owned, they would do a quick search and find that since it was no longer for sale, they couldn't ascertain value and denied the claim.

 

[leghog]

My cousin works at the Warrendale regional distribution facility. His stories he shares about the people who work there and the things that go on don't line up with the 'USPS always good' logic in some of the replies. My cousin is looking forward to retiring from USPS in two years, so don't blame him for their total lack of giving a hoot.

'Never had a problem'. Interesting...surgeons lose people on the table, scientists correct their own hypotheses, Tolkien (the king) wrote, "From whence," but these guys here have incredibly flawless, infallible usps employees. 'If you haven't made an error, you simply haven't done it enough'.

Yet one simple fact remains, I've never had a problem with USPS Priority. And that's in all of the several locales I've lived. USPS Priority is my preferred shipping for both inbound and outbound packages.

 

[annr]

I’m trying to remember the most expensive/valuable/irreplaceable item I’ve sent or received USPS, and there aren’t any.

All merchants and I would use FedEx (or possible UPS) to ship a truly expensive or valuable item. This has been the case for decades.

 

[WatermanChris]

I just had one come up missing (first one in about 75 transactions) and I keep a mailbox at a UPS store to minimize the chance of lost packages. The employees receive everything for me and I sign for them when I pick them up.

The one I lost says delivered but it never was and there's nothing I can really do. It was sent first class so I don't even get the $50. My only hope is that it shows up.

It was a trade with cash on the other side so fortunately I'm only out $100 but it still stings, especially since tax dollars subsidize the USPS so we're really paying for it twice.

It's cool that so many people have great track records with USPS but this experience has me thinking about using registered or UPS/Fedex for future high-end deals.

Chris

 

[Monofletch]

“since tax dollars subsidize the USPS so we're really paying for it twice”
This is incorrect. The USPS gets its money from stamps and postage. No tax money.

 

[WatermanChris]

I apologize ahead of time if this comes off as rude but before you tell someone they are wrong about something, just do a quick internet search to make sure they are actually wrong.

“since tax dollars subsidize the USPS so we're really paying for it twice”
This is incorrect. The USPS gets its money from stamps and postage. No tax money.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevep...e-loss-for-the-2017-fiscal-year/#106b2107f79a

https://www.google.com/amp/s/qz.com...ot-of-money-because-of-the-us-government/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pb...ice-marks-11-straight-years-of-financial-loss

The USPS is part of the federal government so it is very easy to do a quick search to see their financial status/history.

They have lost money every year for the past 12 years running and they have a monopoly on first class mail. They claim that their operating expenses don't require tax dollars but that's just semantics as they have huge retirement expenses that require our tax dollars/deficit spending to meet.

A private enterprise would have been out of business long ago if they operated as poorly as the USPS but since the federal government has an endless supply of tax dollars/deficit spending, they are allowed to stay afloat.

Back when they didn't lose money, their rates were exorbitant and Lysander Spooner started a competing mail company and was quickly shut down by the feds. Like it or not, your tax dollars and/or progeny's tax dollars are keeping them afloat

 

[JohnWE]

I apologize ahead of time if this comes off as rude but before you tell someone they are wrong about something, just do a quick internet search to make sure they are actually wrong.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevep...e-loss-for-the-2017-fiscal-year/#106b2107f79a

https://www.google.com/amp/s/qz.com...ot-of-money-because-of-the-us-government/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pb...ice-marks-11-straight-years-of-financial-loss

The USPS is part of the federal government so it is very easy to do a quick search to see their financial status/history.

They have lost money every year for the past 12 years running and they have a monopoly on first class mail. They claim that their operating expenses don't require tax dollars but that's just semantics as they have huge retirement expenses that require our tax dollars/deficit spending to meet.

A private enterprise would have been out of business long ago if they operated as poorly as the USPS but since the federal government has an endless supply of tax dollars/deficit spending, they are allowed to stay afloat.

Back when they didn't lose money, their rates were exorbitant and Lysander Spooner started a competing mail company and was quickly shut down by the feds. Like it or not, your tax dollars and/or progeny's tax dollars are keeping them afloat

None of your sources mentions a word about the USPS receiving tax dollars. Try again.