Parcel Post Package Lost

[talesofthesevenseas]

I'm curious if any of you have had trouble with parcel post packages being lost. I sold a large box of seven nutcrackers on Ebay and shipped them parcel post to keep the costs down. The package went out on October 1st when I mailed it from the post office, and as of November 21 it is still AWOL and has neither arrived nor has it been returned. I ended up taking the loss and giving the buyer a full refund. Fortunately it was only $37.50. It was a big box, 15" x 18" x 15". Pretty hard to lose that!

Any comments?

[D&b antiques]

I'am beginning, to think it has too do with the cut back's. at the post office's they just lost, a letter that was not returned with a $ 30.00 check in it. to stop payment it cost $ 30.00 Dollars.

[talesofthesevenseas]

That could very well be. I suspect with this package's size, it was shoved out of the way and is sitting in the corner of a postal station somewhere. I have decided from now on that the best way for me to do Ebay is to only sell stuff that will fit into flat rate priority mail boxes. I've never had a problem with priority shipping.

[Dean Perdue]

Sorry your out the money.

I never had a package lost by USPS and Priority seems to show up with some type of predictability as opposed to Parcel Post that can arrive quickly or very slowly.
Once I waited over a month for a package sent this way.

I know it's an extra cost but at least delivery confirmation lets you track it and give some proof to the buyer and eBay that it was sent.

I hear you on trying to keep shipping cost down or in some cases there would be no deal.
It's getting pretty expensive for shipping , let alone with insurance or other tracking options but at least Delivery Confirmation gives you some protection from eBay.

How are you sure the package wasn't delivered also?

[regularjoe2]

Sorry to hear you've taken one on the nose , talesof ( you too , D&b ) .

I too have had zero incidents with priority USPS shipping , as to non-delivery (so far) .

Part of the year-long problem here in the Northwest cities , is the fact that dopers/theives cruise neighborhoods looking for packages left on front porches .
Their 'activities' increase during the year-end holidays .

I tend to go overboard with shipping ... all the bells & whistles that a few extra bucks can buy , even sometimes when it does not make the greatest sense .
I figure that I'm placing my reputation in the hands of anonymous government workers , so the more I can keep track of it , the better .... and have a paper-trail to fall back on .

The exceptions have been when I've sent 4 crates of books , via USPS 'book rate' , and one of them took 4 weeks to make it to the East coast (all to the same address , mailed at the same time/place !) ... two others arrived after 2 weeks , and one after 3 weeks .

Earlier this year I bought a pretty fancy piece of art (wood & glass framed) from the N.East U.S. ... the sellers' shipper sent it via USPS  (not the means of shipping I'd specified) ... I have never recieved a more beat-to-s##t package in my life ... there was not a 90 degree corner anywhere on it - no exageration .
The mailman had to witness me opening it ( painting was undamaged , thankfully , due to the fact that I'd specified that it be packed in a custom-built masonite & wood "crate" - which the misguided shipper had put inside of the cardboard & bubble-wrap box - I was internally havin' kittens , opening that one !) .

This was the second heavily-damaged box I'd received this year (both were paintings & undamaged ..whew ) & left me wondering ....how come? .

Oh ... I see I've been on a rant ... time to quit it now .

[waywardangler]

I retired from the USPS and took insurance claims when I worked a front desk job so I have seen it all and heard it all.  I also ship through the USPS and pack for any type of rough handling.  I pack with styrofoam sheets cut to fit around the object, bubble wrap around the object, or crushed newspaper around the object.  I never use the styrofoam peanuts as they tend to let the object shift during transit.  I have seen tvs and pottery bowls shipped in boxes barely large enough for them with no packing and turn up broke (I wonder why).  People think that their precious package is handled like a carton of eggs by everyone that touches it during shipping.  Wrong.  If you ever fly, sit by a window seat and watch how the baggage handlers handle luggage.  That is how parcels are handled also. Rough.  And if your parcel is on the bottom of a parcel container with heavier parcels on top of it, that is how all the corners of your box are smushed.  I pack so the only thing that could damage the contents is a Mack truck.  I usually insure and use Delivery Confirmation.  Parcel Post is trucked.  Priority is usually flown except some routes are trucked.  All parcels are thrown into a large aluminum parcel container.  No one sees that your box at the bottom of the container is stamped 'fragile'. As to delays, always put your name and address inside the box. Always.  Make sure the delivery address and the return address are clearly marked on the outside and any label used, is securely taped to the shipping container.  Black out any address on the box that is not the return or delivery address (reused box).  I have seen a number of insured parcels turn up right at the 30 day mark for filing loss claims.  I do not know why.  I have also seen perfectly good parcels with missing delivery labels (fell off cause the glue failed) and no return address labels.  These have to go to a 'dead letter' branch to be opened to hopefully find an address inside.  This can take months as the USPS has consolidated most of these bracnches into fewer and fewer sites.  All letters are machine sorted and there are a number of letters every day that are shredded or mangled by these machines.  An employee tries to piece the parts back together but it is not always successful.  The UPS and FED EX also lose and damage parcels so any mailer has problems.  Just pack for the worst handling and label securely and plainly and that should minimize any shipping problems.

[talesofthesevenseas]

This was such a big box I kinda suspect that it was a doorstep theft. It never did show up at all. Vanished without a trace.

[syl]

With USPS flat rate boxes or priority mail you can insure up to $200 for $2 and that includes delivery confirmation. Well worth it I think.

[Anderson]

The United States Postal Service (USPS) makes it easy to track packages, including those mailed parcel post. Its web-based tracking system is easy to use, and will let you know the status of your package in seconds. However, you will need to pay a little extra for this tracking service at the time you mail your package, so plan ahead if you want the ability to track your parcel post packages.

[waywardangler]

USPS Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation are not actually tracking services.  Either may be scanned in transit but what you are paying for is delivery or attempted delivery scans and a signature scan with SC.  Express mail does have intransit scans (tracking).  31 yrs with USPS.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Wait until you guys hear my LATEST shipping woe. You won't believe this one. I ordered an Ebay item and  it was delivered without a hitch to my post office box. I got my claim tag in my box and went to pick it up at the window. There was no package. The post office has no idea what happened to it. It hasn't shown up since it was delivered on March 18 and it hasn't been returned to the shipper. It was priority mail and I have the tracking number to prove it arrived. It just... vanished! I have to file a claim with the post office. All we can figure is that it was handed off to the wrong person and not returned.

Fortunately, this was just a piece of inexpensive reenactment costuming. Suspenders for Hubby, and not an antique. I did leave positive feedback for the seller, even though I didn't get the item. They did everything right and this was not the seller's fault.

[regularjoe2]

Congrats & a tip-o'-the hat to you & your philanthropic attitude .

Perhaps in this , or another dimention , they went to a 'pants-on-the-ground' fella .

[talesofthesevenseas]

I was wondering about that too! Who the heck would use old west style button-on, extra long suspenders?

[ironlord1963]

     What gets me the most about this is, If I didn't noticed they handed be the right package, and even got home with it, by then you should notice it was not your package.  Now you would be forced to go back at least to get your package, why not take the wrong one back?.   Sorry, each time I read this thread that baffles me.  Unless you needed Suspenders more then what you was suppose to get   

[waywardangler]

The guy was on his way to the store to buy new suspenders when he stopped by the post office first.  It was his lucky day and now his pants stay up without spending a dime or having to go shopping.  What more could he ask for?  A frosty pint too?