Mad as &$##... not going to take it anymore!

[ZeissFan]

I've bought roughly 500 things from eBay in the past six years. Some were shipped to Hong Kong. They've come from Germany, Japan, the U.K., Autralia, Alaska and all over the U.S.

Two things never showed up: 13.5cm prewar Sonnar and a little Konica C35 rangefinder. I'm hoping that either will appear one day.

I did have Hongkong Post lose a Contessa that I sent to Japan. So overall, not bad.

Even so, the fact that I can write a letter, put a 39-cent stamp on it and put into a box and a few days later it shows up a couple of days at its intended place still amazes me. Best deal you can ever have.

If the worst thing that ever happens to you is that a package is lost, then you've had a pretty good life. If I stopped doing things or using services because something went wrong once, I'd just stay in bed all day.

Guess I'm a "glass half full" person ...

 

[climbing_vine]

If the worst thing that ever happens to you is that a package is lost, then you've had a pretty good life. If I stopped doing things or using services because something went wrong once, I'd just stay in bed all day.

Absolutlely. I've used the USPS heavily for fifteen years, and the only problem I ever had was a letter that I sent to Baltimore in about 1992 that took two weeks to get there instead of the usual three days or so. I've never sent anything locally and had it not show up the next day, either.

UPS, on the other hand, is nothing but a nightmare nearly every time I have to deal with them. There's an old joke about postal employees taking "Fragile" as a challenge--well, I've only had the problem with UPS. They demolish everything, at least, the packages that ever actually get within 50 miles of where they're supposed to be delivered.

Never had a problem with FedEx. Or DHL for that matter, when I used to work on a loading dock for a business that used them heavily for special orders.

 

[Al Patterson]

Two weeks ago I purchased something from a fellow RFF member. It still hasn't arrived. I blame the unnamed delivery agency to whom the shipper entrusted the item.

Now, I'm sure it will get here eventually, but the Pony Express in the 1800's seemed to deliver things faster than the "modern" postal service(s).

 

[Athos6]

GPS tracking

GPS tracking

Makes me want to apply for a grant to do a study. Send packages with High value insurance and gps tracking units. See how many get to where they are going. Seems like a good portion of us have had things stolen, it would be nice to get some payback. Stealing mail is a federal crime, it would be fun to send people to jail for trying to steal my baby (read camera).

 

[David Murphy]

The main thing is to always get USPS Delivery Confirmation -- about 50 cents. This allows limited tracking to locate it or see if it has been delivered to the wrong address, or delivered at all. You can file an insurance claim with USPS after six weeks (this is considered lost). Be aggressive about the claim. USPS insurance is now handled by an outside company and they don't like to pay claims. For one thing you have to prove the worth of the item through sales receipts, etc. There is no point buying more insurance than the true replacement value, because you have to really justify that. The insurance processing can take weeks to months in my experience.

My guess is that the item will show up or be returned to you shortly.

Despite your problems, in my experience UPS and FedEx are worse for the small shipper in nearly every respect than USPS. I can elaborate on that if need be.