Lost in the mail.

UffDa

UffDa

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On July 5th I ordered a sheath from Extreme Edge Custom Kydex and it was shipped on the 8th. The package left Seattle on the 9th and that's the last we heard of it. After 11 days I asked USPS to look for it. I never heard back from them. Mark at Extreme Kydex tried to find out what happened to the package, but had no luck either, so he made another sheath. It arrived today, just barely. I attached a picture of the box that I took before looking inside. Fortunately, the sheath was still inside.

I preach tape, tape and more tape. I tape every flap, edge and seam. DO NOT trust the glue on those USPS packages!!!

BTW, Mark does very nice work. :D


image.jpg
 
Wow... every time I see one of these threads I realize just how lucky I've been with USPS. Not perfect, mind you. But lucky nonetheless.

Awesome they made another sheath for you too :thumbsup:
 
Can NOT stress enough to people shipping knives

Bomb Proof the box folks.. Packing material
Layers of layers Huge amounts of tape...

As I have been told..Postal thieves look at a well boxed
item...they pass it up because it would take longer to
get into and steal contents..

I just recently had one that amazed me
it even made it too me..Took pictures sent them to seller
and he said...What....You got it didnt you... Really......
Sad sad box job. I feel one of the worst I have seen in my time here....

Box your item as if you were receiving it and how you would
like to see it properly protected coming to you..
 
I agree - make it as difficult to get into the box as possible. I received a blade a few months back with no tape, just folded shut. Thankfully, it made it to me. Placing extra packaging material inside the box never hurts - keeps things from shuffling around. If need be, add a few dollars to the sale price to include all necessary materials needed to ensure the product makes it to it's intended destination without any problems.
 
I must have been lucky with USPS too (well, not my local office, the b*******). I used to never tape up my boxes more than just folding them, with no complaints. After seeing these horror stories I started doing it.
 
I ordered a couple knives from DLT 2 months ago... was very disappointed when the only thing that arrived in my mailbox was an empty box. A corner of the box was crushed and the knives must of fell out. Postal service was very little help. Basically they told me there's no chance of finding the knives. DLT took care of me, but it took a bit of work to get things ironed out... emails, calls, documentation to the post office... Learned my lesson. Nothing I order is for certain until it's in my pocket - and you got to tape up the box!
 
I'm not sure if they are switching to a new system causing issues with tracking numbers or what ... but myself and a friend of mine have both had packages order and showed the progress of tracking ... when it just suddenly stopped ... we both received our packages and then I got a progress text that my package was just delivered to some address in Wisconsin ... a week plus after I had it in my hand.

My friends was worse he received his package and over a month later he got notification his package has just shipped.

Progress ... think the Pony Express was better.
 
The horror stories here are so bad anymore I now double box everything I ship. A smaller box first with MY address and "return postage guaranteed" put inside a flat rate box that's literally wrapped in tape.

Sometimes I'll get lazy and the inner box will just be a bulk mailer envelope wrapped around the factory box (and taped to hell and back) but it'll always say my return address and guarantee postage.
 
So here's the catch on this.; small boxes can and will get run down by a truck etc. but the real killer is the mechanized hubs that the packages pass through. It's all belts and machinery that touch the packages. The smaller the package the better the chance it'll get caught and torn open or flat out crushed. Years ago I used to pack stuff as small as I could. I'd see those pictures of a thumb drive packed in a box the size of a microwave and say not me. How I try to put stuff in much more noticable boxes and ones that are less liken to get eaten up by machinery.
 
GIZMOMAN said:
Bomb Proof the box folks.. Packing material
Layers of layers Huge amounts of tape...
Click to expand...

Amen!!! Insurance is also a good idea. It seems like extortion but it is better than digging out of pocket.
Good business on your suppliers end, making you another.
 
I worked for FedEx for awhile and learned alot about boxing packages for safety. You really want to box the item to survive being thrown off a building, dropped from a moving car and hit with a baseball bat since that's really similar to what happens in the sorting process. Seal every seam, wrap the internal item and use fill so nothing shifts or rattles and ensure your box is sturdy and not easily crushed. Also, when you're taping make sure you fully seal all the sape edges and try not to leave dangling flaps as the sort machines and conveyors can catch and pull the tape causing the box to open or tear.

ANd from what I've seen USPS insurance is a huge headache that rarely pays off.
 
Neko2 said:
I worked for FedEx for awhile and learned alot about boxing packages for safety. You really want to box the item to survive being thrown off a building, dropped from a moving car and hit with a baseball bat since that's really similar to what happens in the sorting process. Seal every seam, wrap the internal item and use fill so nothing shifts or rattles and ensure your box is sturdy and not easily crushed. Also, when you're taping make sure you fully seal all the sape edges and try not to leave dangling flaps as the sort machines and conveyors can catch and pull the tape causing the box to open or tear.

ANd from what I've seen USPS insurance is a huge headache that rarely pays off.
Click to expand...
I knew a guy working for UPS when this movie came out. There was a company wide freakout and threats of instant termination over any Ace Ventura imitation.

 
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