Ripped Off and Ripping Mad

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
Dennis Wright, out of the kindness of his heart, offered to do a swap with me for my BG42 Strider Tanto for a brand new spearpoint. I was very grateful to him for allowing me to trade my NIB knife for one of his. Unfortunately some SCUMBAG at the post office decided that the knife needed a new home. HIS!
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I very foolishly did not insure the knife- I just wasn't thinking when I sent it out on Saturday. All the trading and buying I've done throught the mail lately has been so painless and easy. But the address on the package "Wright Knives and Sporting Goods" was a blatant tipoff as to the contents. Well, I've learned my painful lesson and I'm sure I'm not the first victim of this sort.

A plague of locusts on the thief!

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
Peter, the best way the PO can control this sort of thing is by knowing it's happening. We've got excellent internal security with the Postal Inspectors, but they can't watch everyone always.

Did the box arrive, but empty? Report it to the local postmaster. Fill out a report of rifled mail. When parcels go through the system, they pass through many hands, sometimes across the country, but there are certain points along the way where they are more vulnerable than others.

By their computerized analysis of rifling reports, the Inspectors can close in on the thieves. I have seen some amazing detective work -- but it all begins with a customer complaint.

The bastard who took that knife deserves the worst we can do to him. Don't give him a pass on this -- report it.
 
You can report it, fill out forms and hold your breath. The Postal Service (oxymoron alert with the emphasis on moron) couldn't care less. The Post Office is the pits. They get paid whether they deliver or not, nobody owns them and they answer to no one. Good luck!
 
Not that this helps now, but for the future...

Here's a tip I've seen several vendors who sell high-ticket or high-target items through the mail (jewelry, knives, ammo, etc.) - only use the initials of your business name, or if you are the only resident at your street address, just use the address. In your case "WKSG" would have been the way to go.
 
I had the same thing happen to some knives I sold. I sent 2 small fixed blades to another forum member. The package arrived ripped open and empty. We both filed with the post office but I don't know what ever came out of the investigation.
 
I recently had the pleasure of working with some postal inspectors in Texas. They take their work seriously, they spend the money they need to spend to catch the thieves, and they go through some pretty weird extremes to get the bad guys.

Hats off to the postal inspectors.
 
I have to agree, Postal Inspectors do a great job. I have seen them track someone across the country for a very small amount of fraud(under $200).

Rich
 
The Post Office is very concerned about loss because they understand that today's customers have choices. They understand that when you hand a package to the postal clerk, there's an element of trust involved. They understand that you're not going to hand that package over if you don't trust the service. So, they take reports of employee theft very seriously. Now, they can't always investigate every one of them and find the thief right off. But, they can use your case and combine it with others to try and spot any patterns.

It's a big reach, but your homeowner's insurance MIGHT cover the loss. But, the amount is probably below your deductible.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">A plague of locusts on the thief!</font>
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A plague of locusts? Nobody does locusts anymore. Come on. Today, we say "may your fuel pump burn out!" A plague of intermittent ignition system problems, maybe.


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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
This really sucks Peter, a lesson that it is better not to have had to learn, but a lesson none the less. Thieves pi** me off, this fella needs to be caught, fired and charged with theft. It would serve the frigging jerk right.

Keith.
 
The package arrived in CA empty except for the note and a folded $5 bill for return postage. Evidently the contents were quickly removed and then the package was retaped.

I feel pretty foolish for not having insured the package. It is my fault completely for dropping my guard on this one. Funny thing is I just sent my mom a BM 705 for her birthday and I did insure that one. And of course she got it. I'm sure it was the address that tipped the thief off on this one.

This sort of thing does undermine my faith in the post office and that really irks me because I generally trust those folks. My hometown office is really great and very helpful, so small that we are all actually old friends by now. My wife runs a mail order book business and we are in there every day and sometimes twice a day mailing packages. I worry that someone in Springfield might have been the thief and that now they may recognize my name on the return address and do this again.

The initials idea is excellent, I will remember that in the future. Also all future knives I mail will be wrapped and rewrapped in many layers of boxes and tape. I'm going to make it tough for these jerks.

As far as the locust go, may this a$$hole cut his fingers off.

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
~may the thief take a sit on the knife and have his huevos operated upon by it~

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You could put nacho cheese sauce on it...
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Nimrod:
You can report it, fill out forms and hold your breath. The Postal Service (oxymoron alert with the emphasis on moron) couldn't care less. The Post Office is the pits. They get paid whether they deliver or not, nobody owns them and they answer to no one. Good luck!</font>
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Nimrod; For years I felt very much like that, things have really changed, where we were using UPS for about 98% and USPS only for post office boxes 10 years ago, NOW we use USPS for about 75% and the rest spread over many other carriers. They have become customer driven and we get great service. (except they still are very slow pay).

Like knife makers and their customers there are both good and bad people in the postal service.

A. G

 
About time you got here A.G. Welcome! I have used the USPS for literally hundreds of knife transactions and have never had even ONE problem. I know a few others have but I have to call it as I see it. They are quick and cheap.
 
Sorry to hear that
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Bummer ....it has opened up my eyes for sure i have sent some of my knives and tools for trade priority mail but i haven't insured them all.. i would be mad eather way if the stuff got riped off but really feeling low if they were not insured i hope the post office can do something for you
 
Sorry to hear about your loss. I use USPS Priority on 99% of the items I ship. I lost one knife, and like you, it was not insured, but in this case the box never got to its destination at all. Trace turned up nothing. What I do now is use all USPS shipping supplies, their boxes and shipping tape (all free). I use their tape and seal every seam on the box, that way someone can not squeeze a corner and reach in to get the contents, or stick a finger in the corner and rip open the box. If they are determined to get into a box, they will, but they will have to use a knife to slit open a seam and perhaps that will be more detectable. It takes more time to get a package ready to ship but to me, its worth it. I also do the initial thing on my shipping labels.
 
USPS just ate a new Super Leatherman, somewhere between dealer and me.
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"Some days you're the dog, and some days you're the hydrant"
 
Dude,hate to say it but you are S.O.L. from the post office.I filed one of their "forms"(PS Form 1510,April 1992,on bottom of form)For a priority,insured package I was supposed to receive. The clerk behind the counter gave me a box that had been TORN open.End result of investigation(even though box never left pick up window)"There is no way we can not prove you didn't open the box and remove contents. AND I only had to wait from Sept.15,00 until Jan.07,01 to find this out.So,insured or not(I.M.O.)the insurance is a pretty slick little money maker.
 
Fountainman - that really sucks, dude. I think I dodged a similar bullet the other day. Bought an MOD Trident off eBay. the guy sent it to me, and when I received it, he hadn't secured the ends of the "Priority Mail" box he'd used - looked like someone stacked something on it, and the ends had bowed out, and kinked that way. You could clearly see inside and read "Masters of Defense" in nice big red letters on the side of the knife box... I guess either someone upstairs likes me, or the majority of people handling the package either didn't know or didn't care what MOD is...
 
Peter,
I wish you good luck!!
We purchased an e-collar from a pet supply company in Texas,..Our pup was in need of some serious field training and remote correction..

Order was made on-line/secure server etc...
Shipment was to be USPS priority/insured.
I was given tracking number soon after..

After a couple of weeks (Alaska shipment)
we got concerned and contacted shipper-we were told since shipment was not retured to them..contact USPS.

All the forms were filled out and a track was placed..a month later-no info!!

Local Postmaster notified/BBB claim placed.
Two month`s later BBB`s report comes up empty...another month goes by finaly USPS
claims package was returned to sender due to
an "undeliverable address"..enter BBB again.

If indeed item was returned to sender tracking number would/should confirm this.
USPS had no records of tracking number,and
shipper, no records of return to sender.

Almost a year after order was placed, shipper
recieved insurance claim from USPS..and they shiped another via UPS..

Again,I wish you luck and Patience.

Bill

 
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