Beware of the Post Office.

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I agree to 95% of what you say Lawerence but after you hand over the money and Pkg to however USPS,UPS,Fedex, it becomes there responsabilty isn't that what there are getting payed for?

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I agree with Lawrence. The way I see it is that the contract..or agreement, is between the person paying for and the company accepting payment..for shipping services. Does the shipping company owe anything to the recipient, who neither paid for nor asked for any service from them?
I think it's much like warranties...being only as good as the person or place you bought from.

 

[L.Sherm]

No don't get me wrong in the end it is up to the seller to make it right but what degree is the shipping company obligated, they are getting paid for a service just like any other service.

 

[L.Sherm]

No problem Dusty, I'm over it know just really pi$$ed off about the die at the time just seems like no reprocussions for doing business that way and I know if small business had customer service like that they would not be around.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

And from the buyer’s standpoint…they paid in advance for the item in good faith and that is as far as they need to go. Everything else from that point forward is on the seller….including shipping mishaps.

If the seller has to hand deliver the package to buyer’s door…so be it. That’s part of the deal as far as I’m concerned.

I agree..The only thing the seller can do beyond that is to ship it before being paid. Several of us within the benchrest community do just that! All any transaction, other than a face to face one is, is a good faith transaction on both sides of the deal.

 

[nmkid]

I sometimes ship before receiving money. One thing for sure...I never spend what I received on a sale until the recipient notifies me that got the object.

 

[d.id]

I have bean lucky I guess....... purifying my loading bench, scope mount box and even moving out the old less accurate rifles ...........100+ this year sent USPS priority.....not one hitch.

 

[6fatrat]

Always insure for the full amount. One package was lost in the last 3 years , a barrel shipped to Ohio. My postmaster went to work it took 2 weeks but he tracked it down.
Steve Bair

 

[dickn52]

I shipped a trigger from Florida to New York for some work. 2 day express box with click and ship label etc. Took them 42 days to deliver it. During that time tracking had it from Fl to NY 4 times. One time it was at my Post Office again, and then at the actual delivery PO, and got sent back again and again. 42 days. Tracking was worthless. I called a friend who works as a Senior Postal Inspector and it was delivered the next day...finally. Coming back when the work was done was exactly 2 days. I despise them.

 

[dickn52]

This probably won't stay up for long. But one of our sponsors recently shipped me a screw via this nightmare UPS/USPS thing. It will be here on Tuesday maybe. 9 Business Days for a screw. This package went from the shipper to Orlando, to USPS and then back to Jacksonville and then hopefully back to me. I live off of I-75 where the UPS truck drove to Orlando. And where the USPS truck drove it back to Jacksonville and where USPS will bring it back towards Orlando again and maybe drop it off at my Post Office. 9 BD for a three day mail route. And I had the privilege of paying almost $8.00. If they give out frequent flyer miles I'm claiming them. I am NOT going to name the company/sponsor but their name is on the banner at the top of this forum page.

 

[Catfur]

There are ham-fisted gorillas working at both institutions package accordingly and hope it makes it.

The ham-fisted gorillas at USPS are unfireable, govenment-union-protected, tin-god-syndrome so-and-sos. Management won't even try and rein their people in, because they know they can't do anything. At least at UPS or FedEx you can talk to people with some power to do something when it all goes to hell in a handbasket. The post office just treats you like you're 20 seconds from having the police called on you.

 

[mrmarmota]

Just for the record. The seller / did everything right. 2 day priority service, plus insurance. The barrel passed through the area of the closest sort facility to another 60 miles further East .That is where they lost track of things. I am actually surprised they located the package because at that point it requires a person to physically look for it. I got lucky this time.
In a previous experience. The PO delivered a empty ,soggy box ,that had once contained 600 bullets. The remains were in a plastic bag with a note that said " OOPS sometime things happen". Of course sometimes things happen. I will give you that. But 600 bullets spilled on the floor would be hard to miss. By the way ,this package had been in the system for more than 3 weeks.
Maybe the problem is in the sort facility. I don't know.
As the recipient of anything shipped through the PO I just have a bad feeling until it arrives. I do not use the PO for shipping anything beyond flat envelopes. I don't ship much but when I do I use the brown truck
guys.
Enough said on this. The horse is dead no sense beating it anymore.
We cant fix it anyway.
Good shooting to all

 

[Sniper338]

Yeah had some issues myself lately...

Guy on here sent me $12 in the mail... envelope never got sent out from the post office until he went back and asked wth... then its been taking much longer to send and receive stuff too.. insurance with anything of value is a smart idea..

 

[OIF/OEF]

When employees cannot be fired or reprimanded no matter what they do this is what you get

 

[CSM19Z5M]

I stopped using the USPS for just about everything. The only thing they don't lose is junk mail, which is the main source of income that keeps them in business. The delivery service where I live is so bad we get to deliver each others mail almost every day. The USPS has lost two articles I sent, both insured. Look into the process of making a claim before you ship USPS. Try tracking something USPS or depend on a certain day for delivery. I just stopped using them. UPS has never lost an article for me and I ship a lot. You have an up-to-date and timely record of where your package is at all times. It is only a matter of time until the US Postal Service goes out of business. It would have happened already but it has become essentially a jobs program for big government people and we are going into a national election year so we all get to put up with it a little longer.

 

[6MMsteve]

yep I sent my wife to the PO with a package suppose to be 5 bucks the post ofice charged me 23.00 I got my money back. I guess the usps guy needed gas money

 

[LarryDScott]

In defense of the USPS, I use them daily and have been for
about 15yrs. I Priority mail flat rate boxes, and most of the time
the speed of delivery is unreal fast. Anything you can stuff
in a Flat rate box is a bargain.
And yes the Postal union is going to be their down fall.
LDS

 

[Mudcat]

Flat rate box with 50 bucks of insurance. lol I didn't even pursue the 50 bucks. Some lessons are expensive.

$50 insured value (which is the default value on Priority Mail Flat Rate) on a parcel valued @ $500? It seems you took a gamble trying to save money and lost.

No, it was insured for full value, which was the point of my post. Insured or not, you arent going to get paid without spending a significant amount of time fighting with them, IF you get paid. I know the local postmaster very well and after a long talk with him, yeah, expensive lesson, cause USPS has quite a racket going. If you look at govt liquidations, you will see where they are really making their money.

 

[deadwooddick]

In defense of the USPS, I use them daily and have been for
about 15yrs. I Priority mail flat rate boxes, and most of the time
the speed of delivery is unreal fast. Anything you can stuff
in a Flat rate box is a bargain.
And yes the Postal union is going to be their down fall.
LDS

For those who have "good luck" w/ USPS Priority Mail… try their Priority Mail Regional boxes, delivered to home or business for free.

And the Regional boxes have a LOWER rate than "standard" Priority !

 

[BOBC]

I would like to offer my experience with USPS. I’ve been in the process of downsizing and selling shooting related items I no longer need. I keep a record of items sold, who bought them, and how I shipped them. Over the past 1.5 years I have shipped 18 items via USPS without any problems. I always insure my packages and track them. In addition, buyers often send payment via USPS and I recall one instance where a letter with payment was undeliverable and returned to the buyer. Other than that USPS service has been satisfactory.



Maybe I’m lucky. But I find USPS priority mail service to be dependable and convenient for shipping smaller items and will continue using it.

I sent a Hawkeye borescope across the country last week USPS. It was delivered four days ahead of schedule. I will be shipping two Leupold scopes USPS this week. With insurance and tracking, I sleep well.

Not to be a smart a$$, but offering another perspective.

I've had the same experiences with USPS Priority Mail I use them all the time. And will continue to do so and I do a lot of shipping. Lost only 1 package in over 6 years and was compensated for the loss.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

From my experience, USPS is the way to go. I've never had a problem with them. I once sent a John Loh front rest to a guy who bought it from me. He contacted me all out of shape because the package was damaged. I told him not to open or touch it and that I would have the PO pick it up and return it to me. I had it insured for $1,000.00 and so I felt I could come to a favorably conclusion with the PO. It came back undamaged. The package was somewhat torn but still intact. I surmised the buyer had buyer's remorse before the rest even got to him. He never tried to contact me for another shipping.