The USPS Dropped the Ball

dericdesmond said:
Looks like the shipper chose a crappy unfilled box to ship in. Had it been properly sized/filled that should not of happened. When I ship USPS I expect Ace Ventura to handle my box. With THOUSANSANDS of packages processing daily in whatever way they do it, I do not expect them to hold my packages hand through its journey. Now if I pay the extRa $12 to register it and see that, I may be pizzed at USPS.



Im up to a cpl thousand so far this year via first class in cheep padded envelopes. No complaints here :thumbup: May consider calling and complaining if you have not already .
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The box was adequate. I doubt that styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap would've made a difference, but may have caused a mess. The tape used to seal the box was of the reinforced variety. I don't fault the shipper at all for the FU. Priority mail should never arrive in that condition.
 
mossyhorn said:
The box was adequate. I doubt that styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap would've made a difference, but may have caused a mess..
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If the box was adequate it would not have those sort of dents due to lack of reinforcement regardless of the packaging used. Had the box been smaller or a filled with something FIRM(stiff foam/cardboard/a smaller boxw/in the box /sky the limits really), results would of likely been better.
 
dericdesmond said:
If the box was adequate it would not have those sort of dents due to lack of reinforcement regardless of the packaging used. Had the box been smaller or a filled with something FIRM(stiff foam/cardboard/a smaller boxw/in the box /sky the limits really), results would of likely been better.
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The box that my bricks were shipped in was completely filled by the bricks and a forge burner (burner wrapped in bubble wrap) and it was half crushed, but worse, blown out. They may have tried opening the box from the look of it.

Usually I have great luck with their service. I'll continue to use it, but this was a bummer.
 
^ That is a total disgrace. I'm hearing about a lot of USPS train wrecks lately.
 
He sent back some drawer slides there's another box inside that one same damage. No water damage I can see looks like it was crushed to me. The carrier had to see it was empty delivered it anyway.
 
The carrier had to see it was empty delivered it anyway.
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This is what pisses me off the most. For the most part I have had great luck with USPS (knock on wood) with the only problem being the package arrives a day late.
 
We used to have a rule that a carrier would not deliver a package like that before showing it to his supervisor and getting it taped up "Damaged in handling in the Postal Service". That way the customer would know we were accepting responsibility.

If you don't make a formal complaint, it is still hard for the post office to do anything about it. When you do, the complaints are tracked, and eventually, thieves find a Postal Inspector coming after them, or poor operations get audited and reformed.
 
Busy all year long, except summertime. There's a lot of automation that reduces some of the crude handling methods of the past, but lazy employees will find a way to mistreat parcels, especially big, heavy ones. Reporting this focuses attention on the point it happens.
 
dericdesmond said:
Looks like the shipper chose a crappy unfilled box to ship in. Had it been properly sized/filled that should not of happened. When I ship USPS I expect Ace Ventura to handle my box. With THOUSANSANDS of packages processing daily in whatever way they do it, I do not expect them to hold my packages hand through its journey. Now if I pay the extRa $12 to register it and see that, I may be pizzed at USPS.)
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I have to agree here. Proper shipping practices say you do not put an item in a box that is half full of air. Packages should always be filled tight and full. That way box has support and item does not flop around. It is just simple physics. Now this pkg likely had some improper handling, but if it was packed right it would not have looked anywhere near as bad. This is a perfect example of how the carrier gets all the blame, when most of it actually started with the shipper.
 
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I disagree and think your comment is pure speculation. The box should have never been handled the way it was and especially not delivered that way. The box was made by Titan Corrugation and a class 200 is rated for objects weighing 75 lbs. The pack weighed about four pounds.If Spec-Ops packaging methods were a problem, I'm sure they would have had enough returns to warrant more precautions in their packaging methods.
 
mossyhorn said:
I disagree and think your comment is pure speculation. The box should have never been handled the way it was and especially not delivered that way. The box was made by Titan Corrugation and a class 200 is rated for objects weighing 75 lbs. The pack weighed about four pounds.If Spec-Ops packaging methods were a problem, I'm sure they would have had enough returns to warrant more precautions in their packaging methods.
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I agree with you, I've ordered a few things from Spec-Ops (including a THE pack) and the boxes they come in are practically bomb proof. Thick boxes and lots of reinforced tape, they are very sturdy. I would say they are overkill but obviously your post office still found a way to damage it.

That being said, I'm not sure how you could damage the pack. Do you mean that the neoprene pad was wrinkled? I wonder if Spec-Ops would send you a new one rather than you having to buy the frame?
 
No speculation at all. Just fact. One can see the box was half full of air. It was stated no packing material. Anyone with shipping experience does not put any item in a box like that and then tape it up. The corrugation/wt rating is not relevant in this case. Any pkg is going to be loaded and handled with many other pkgs under, next to, and on top of them. Dead air equals crushed box and displaced tape......it is just physics. Yes, I am sure rough handling added to the issue. Should it have been delivered like that, no. Some one at the PO should have had the sense to make it more presentable. Whoever shipped that pkg needs some lessons on how to, it was not properly done and was asking for a potential issue. And unfortunately for you it happened.
 
mossyhorn said:
I disagree and think your comment is pure speculation. The box should have never been handled the way it was and especially not delivered that way. The box was made by Titan Corrugation and a class 200 is rated for objects weighing 75 lbs. The pack weighed about four pounds.If Spec-Ops packaging methods were a problem, I'm sure they would have had enough returns to warrant more precautions in their packaging methods.
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The rating is when objects are stacked vertically, not when there is force applied in any other direction. USPS did a bad job, no doubt, but then it started with the shipper. The least that can be done is bombproof the package - no hollow, reinforced on all edges with packing tape. And then every possible exposed portion of the box taped again to ensure protection from the elements. The blame is square I would say.

I have had too many sellers think priority boxes are handled any differently, but I doubt that - maybe on the sorting line yes, but not throughout the travel. The USPS van needs to pack as much mail as they can and holidays it can be jam packed, and can crush anything! Proper packaging is the key, which seems to not have been the case here (again USPS messed up, but so did the seller).
 
choombak said:
The USPS van needs to pack as much mail as they can and holidays it can be jam packed, and can crush anything!
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The USPS van needs to pack as much mail as the carrier can deliver and holidays are no different. More runs, overtime on weekends, maybe. But overloading a truck just to unload it at the end of the day, no, we're not that dumb. :)
 
I've had issues with every major carrier. The worst have been with UPS and FedEX, to the point where I just won't use them for my own shipments. However, I always hand pack my own USPS packages, and insure them. To date I've not had to file a claim. There are bad eggs everywhere.
 
I've had similar experiences to those of Legion 12 and mossyhorn. USPS has, admittedly, been doing better recently. However, in the past they have been extremely unreliable. All of the major shipping services must have various levels of reliability based on regional differences, as evidenced by the dramatically different experiences we've all had with them, but that's not really excusable. We should all be able to expect quality performance from our shippers regardless of where we live. That being said, FedEx and UPS have never performed in a less than stellar fashion in my case. Both have always been on time, always been courteous, and have delivered every package in pristine condition. USPS, on the other hand, has only provided on-time delivery about 50-60% of the time. I've received several beat-up packages from them, though not in quite as bad shape as some of those shown here. In one case, I had a package being sent that required a signature. It was, as usual, a day late. On the day it was to finally arrive, I was working in the front yard so as not to miss my mail carrier when she came in the drive. I watched her pull up to the mailbox, deliver my other mail, and drive away. I called my post office to find out what was going on, and they told me to call back after a certain time to see if it came back at the end of the day. Long story short, she ended up dumping my package off at another post office that never handles my mail with a note saying that she knocked on the door and nobody answered. They took her word over mine, and nothing ever became of my complaint. It wasn't the end of the world, but it certainly was extremely poor service. This is a perfect example of a regional performance deficit, but they still should not allow this sort of behavior out of any of their employees.
 
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