USPS warning..................

[ronn]

I know this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, but

shipped a pair of 31 chevy running boards with tracking and nominal insurance, they were lost and ebay took my money from my acct and refunded buyer- rightfully so. so I not only lost the 215. for the boards, but also the 60. the usps charged-so out 275.

I in turn bought 3 pieces of auto "literature" they were shipped 3 weeks ago
from NYC, which is 2 1/2 hours from my house, never made it here. I did get a refund, but lost some very valuable literature.

Gal in post office told me she has never seen so many lost items as in the last year..............
I advise insurance on everything of value and remember, if shipping out of the USA, you can not insure, so if it doesnt make it there, you are eating the losses.
all packages will be shipped ups or fedex by me from now on- at least their tracking somewhat works. I recd a letter from the PO that has amounted to nothing more then, we're sorry..............

so now I will close my ebay and paypal accts. had enough.

[Barber31]

Thanks for the heads up.

[harleytoprock]

So, where is all this stuff that usps keeps loosing? Unless they vaporize, the lost items must be some where.

[ian Simpson]

Originally Posted by ronn

I know this topic has been discussed ad nauseum, but

shipped a pair of 31 chevy running boards with tracking and nominal insurance, they were lost and ebay took my money from my acct and refunded buyer- rightfully so. so I not only lost the 215. for the boards, but also the 60. the usps charged-so out 275.

I in turn bought 3 pieces of auto "literature" they were shipped 3 weeks ago
from NYC, which is 2 1/2 hours from my house, never made it here. I did get a refund, but lost some very valuable literature.

Gal in post office told me she has never seen so many lost items as in the last year..............
I advise insurance on everything of value and remember, if shipping out of the USA, you can not insure, so if it doesnt make it there, you are eating the losses.
all packages will be shipped ups or fedex by me from now on- at least their tracking somewhat works. I recd a letter from the PO that has amounted to nothing more then, we're sorry..............

so now I will close my ebay and paypal accts. had enough.

I am sorry to hear of your loss. Personally, I have never had a problem with any post office, Canadian, US, British, Finnish, Dutch, that I have used in the last few years.

[Nabco]

I use the USPS all the time and it is the only way I will ship international because of the insurance offered. If you use Priority Mail you can insure merchandise up to $5,000. I shipped two items to Singapore in the last couple weeks, one insured for $4,200 and the other for $3,500...both arrived safely.

If you are having a problem with lost items I would look at your local PO, I've heard of problems like that in the past that were a lot issue

[harleytoprock]

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And why is it that these shippers are not liable for their incompetence? It would be like if you sent a carb for rebuilding and the builder says" we may loose your carb or it may not work right, but we are not liable, unless you purchase insurance from us, at an additional cost." I think since usps did not even refund ronn's shipping charges, it's borderline fraudulent.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Yep, and I didn't need a warning. Been there and done that. I've had several things lost, broken, and delivered to the wrong address when shipped by USPS. Right now I'm waiting on some auto literature that tracking shows has stayed in place in New Jersey for the past 5 days. I'm starting to think I'll never see it and they will declare it lost.

[Aok]

Another problem with USPS is if they show a item delivered but buyer claims he did not receive the item it is hard to collect. It took me 3 months to get a $ 200. Insurance claim paid. Best to spend the extra few dollars for signature confirmation.

[jeep44]

I just got an item for my Model T off Ebay last week. It was a rather heavy rim jack. The seller packed it in a sort of cardboard case he made up. It was only closed with a couple pieces of tape, and when I got it, it was almost out of his poorly-packed box. If it came out in shipping, there were no marks or address on it, so it would have likely been "lost in shipping". I've send hundreds of items all over the world using the USPS, and never lost a single thing, mainly because I pack my items very securely, with boxes well wrapped in tape (all the way around-not just a little strip like I see others do), and the item wrapped inside with one of my address labels on it's packaging. I suspect the blame is less with the USPS and more with peoples poor packing methods.

[rich b]

Judging by the stuff I receive, I think the USPS is a lot rougher on packages than either UPS or FedEx.

[Fordors]

I have to agree with jeep44, I've shipped to Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Germany, Canada and all over the US with never an issue. To me it is hard to argue with reasonable rates and insurance fees, free pick up at my door, (although I never have used that service) and postage available on-line with most of that at an on-line discounted rate. When I buy and print postage at home I don't have to wait in line, just walk in and drop off the packages at the designated area of the counter.
On the other hand I find UPS a bit more difficult. Should I want to know the rate for a package I need to be registered with them. OK, fair enough; but wait, unless I have a business address I cannot register. I can use the UPS Store to pay and drop off packages but those stores are not operated by UPS, rather it is a franchise operation with higher fees. If there is a UPS shipping facility near-by that does operate a retail counter the fees will be less, but not everyone has one close to them, if at all.
Personally I see no down side to the USPS, and as jeep44 said packing is important.

[C26Pinelake]

Whenever I buy I send the seller a sticky address label or a label that I make and they can print and attach to my parcel. That avoids some of the confusion. In my opinion you can not place all the fault on USPS, some of it belongs to the incompetent buyers and sellers. Wayne

[Mike V. Florida]

While this will not always work, one should attach the address information the the actual item. The theory is that if the box is lost the item can still be tracked and delivered due to the address on the part.

As for the rise in lost/damaged packages, the Postal service is not hiring career employees any more. The are using contract employees with loose schedules and pay, they are temps and don't give a damn.

[Rowdy]

Ronn do you participate in the Global Shipping Program that ebay has? This will save stuff like this happening. After it makes it to Erlanger Ky. it is ebays problem if it is lost. Great program as far as I can see. Rod

[C26Pinelake]

For processing over 155 billion pieces of mail a year I think they do a very commendable job? To suggest they are incompetent by issuing a warning I find grossly unfair. They should get a pat on the back instead of a kick in the rear. Please give credit where it is due! Wayne

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

While this will not always work, one should attach the address information the the actual item. The theory is that if the box is lost the item can still be tracked and delivered due to the address on the part.

As for the rise in lost/damaged packages, the Postal service is not hiring career employees any more. The are using contract employees with loose schedules and pay, they are temps and don't give a damn.

Yep, and it sure shows.

I've had about 6 different mailmen over the past 2 years. I never know what time of the day my mail will arrive.

[ronn]

So, where is all this stuff that usps keeps loosing? Unless they vaporize, the lost items

I am told they have a mega warehouse or two............. you would think they would find them there? My boards have been in "transit" for 2 months now..........

Nabco, regarding the insurance you mention, have never been offered that and always told, once an item leaves US soil, the PO will never be responsible for foreign carriers. So am a bit surprised that insurance can be had outside the US. That means the US trusts Russia and every other country with it's mail. Really hard for me to believe.
My wife is from Poland, and she has heard of rampant theft at the Polish post offices of friends goods/monies, etc.

and Tom- ditto on the number of mailmen/women I have had here. Guy I have now has left packages next to my trash on the curb. Had to call the super at the PO to get the problem straightened out.......... it aint good!

[Nabco]

Originally Posted by ronn

So, where is all this stuff that usps keeps loosing? Unless they vaporize, the lost items

I am told they have a mega warehouse or two............. you would think they would find them there? My boards have been in "transit" for 2 months now..........

Nabco, regarding the insurance you mention, have never been offered that and always told, once an item leaves US soil, the PO will never be responsible for foreign carriers. So am a bit surprised that insurance can be had outside the US. That means the US trusts Russia and every other country with it's mail. Really hard for me to believe.
My wife is from Poland, and she has heard of rampant theft at the Polish post offices of friends goods/monies, etc.

and Tom- ditto on the number of mailmen/women I have had here. Guy I have now has left packages next to my trash on the curb. Had to call the super at the PO to get the problem straightened out.......... it aint good!

The PO absolutely will take responsibility for foreign carriers IF you buy the insurance, like any other insurance it's a numbers game for them...will packages disappear, absolutely, but the percentage of those that do compared to the ones that do not is very small, the amount of money they collect in insurance fees far out weighs the claims they get.

That said there are restrictions by countries on what can be sent and the maximum amount of insurance that can be bought.....for countries that have known issues the total amount you can insure for may be only $1500 where others it is $5000.

[rich b]

Originally Posted by Fordors

On the other hand I find UPS a bit more difficult. Should I want to know the rate for a package I need to be registered with them. OK, fair enough; but wait, unless I have a business address I cannot register. I can use the UPS Store to pay and drop off packages but those stores are not operated by UPS, rather it is a franchise operation with higher fees.

Maybe it's different now; but I set up a UPS account thru PayPal several years ago. I don't have a business address. I can log in to my UPS account, get quotes, print labels, etc, all at a discounted rate. I have several payment options, credit card, mailed invoice, or PayPal. Once a package is ready to ship I drop it off at one of several local UPS stores.

[Keith True]

I've never had one outfit any better than the others.Ups,Fedex,USPS,for the most part they all seem to be the same.I did put a claim in once for a powerhouse generator that I had shipped to Canada.I put the claim in sometime in the winter,I received a form to fill out in July.A year later I received another form asking how well I felt my claim had been handled.I did fill that one out and send it in.The US postal service was telling me that I would have to go through the Canadian postal service to find out what happened,and the Canadian postal service was telling me that because I had sent it out of the US I would have to work through the USPS.As it turned out the local carrier there makes two attempts to deliver packages that have to be signed for,then it sits on the shelf.He was in his local PO a few months after the fact,and they said,we have a package for you to sign for.He only gets to his PO a couple of times a year.