Bartertown.com

Hey guys, you may remember me from ym thread about the broken minis... well, amazingly we've run into another problem within that same trade.

We agreed to return each other's stuff, with me going first. No problem there, I sent it out on march 12, parcel mail, with delivery confirmation. Everything seemed well, until about a week had passed and he hadn't received it. Checking with USPS showed that the package had gone from here (MI), to PA, back to MI, then back to PA, where it's been since March 16. It's now April 14, and multiple phone calls to both POs involved haven't yielded much help. Apparently the package was damaged somehow, which is why it's being held, but other than that we've just been waiting.

So does anyone else have any insight/experience with this type of problem? We both want our stuff back badly, but we haven't seen any progress.

so, yeah. Any help would be greatly appreciated, guys.

Hmmm damaged, yet they're not sending it out?

If it's insured, you should be able to file a claim and get paid. If it's not...

The automated sorting machines have evidently read the wrong address at least once. The machines that sort parcels, when they have a malfunction, can shred a stack of phone books. This might be what happened. It makes no sense why it hasn't been just taped up, or bagged up, and shipped forward..unless the address isn't readable.
You should always put a shipping invoice/packing slip with both addresses inside evey package, just for this reason.

Unfortunately, it's not insured, although you've really scared me now. I've had nothing but good experiences with the USPSP until now.

I've worked there almost 25 years. I've operated most every machine and now repair/maintain them.

You'd be surprised what has and can happen.

If it's worth more than $10, insure it.
Not only can accidents happen during sorting, but also during transport. Planes crash or land on the Hudson, all carry mail. Trucks crash. Buildings get hit by tornadoes & hurricanes, hail storms & rain.

If it's insured, you get paid. If it's not, you get nada.

At this point I would'nt really have such a problem with replacing them, it's just that they won't tell us anything more than "the package was damaged".

Sent another email to the USPS, significantly more angry than the others. Not expecting it to help much though. Thanks, I guess.

With cutbacks, there is no longer a person or section that handles damaged mail. Unfortuantely, alot of us 'old timers' say Service isn't the main part of the business anymore. It's like other companies, the bottom line. That's why the website is .com, not .gov.

kturock wrote:It's like other companies, the bottom line. That's why the website is .com, not .gov.

Nothing against you, kturock, but that's "effing" lame; I'll remember that next time I ship.

several years ago, 8 or so, the postmaster was charged by the president, who's his boss, not congress or anyone else; with bringing the usps into line with other companies, and to run it more like a company, thn a government agency.

We're still cheaper on most everything theothers do.
by charter, we're not allowed to compete. Thats why the ads just say what price something, but not that we're better, easier or faster than ups or fedex..

weigh & measure your package. then go to ups.com, fedex.com & usps.com and use the shipping calculators and compare for yourself.

kturock wrote:several years ago, 8 or so, the postmaster was charged by the president, who's his boss, not congress or anyone else; with bringing the usps into line with other companies, and to run it more like a company, thn a government agency.

We're still cheaper on most everything theothers do.
by charter, we're not allowed to compete. Thats why the ads just say what price something, but not that we're better, easier or faster than ups or fedex..

weigh & measure your package. then go to ups.com, fedex.com & usps.com and use the shipping calculators and compare for yourself.

From a professional ~ sound advice, and well received (on my end anyway)!!

I learned my lesson with damaged packages the hard way and I ensure everything I ship now

Having spent time working at UPS in a distribution center I can attest that if its valuable, insure it. Between the machines, other packages, and the personal you package is not going to be handled in the most luxurious way.