USPS Blues. Undelivered package

[adluginb]

20 years??? Happens almost monthly here.

 

[Drew Riley]

Sorry that this happened to you and your customer. Hopefully it turns up.
Like many others here, I used to pay extra to insure some of the higher dollar items I was shipping out from time to time. Then I started wondering if it wasn't adding more of a temptation for the package to be "lost". I also started doing the math, and if I just started putting that extra fee back in my own pocket every time, It'd likely cover the 1 out of 1000 packages that might not show up. Add that to the amount of horror stories I've heard about denied claims, and it just didn't make sense to pay extra for additional insurance.
I think Priority Mail comes with an automatic $50 or so, so I kind of figured that at least that would cover some materials and a new shipping label if I could even get them to pay out.
It's encouraging to hear that appealed claims have at least some what more of a chance of getting approved, even if only partially.

All that said, I do ship hundreds of packages through USPS every year, and I can count on one hand the number that didn't show up. Out of those, one was ultimately returned to me and marked "undeliverable to addressee" or something like that, and all but maybe one of the others finally made it to their destination, usually after I had already sent out a replacement.

FWIW, I no longer add insurance, I typically use USPS priority packaging, I tape all "openable" sides securely, and I don't list anything other that my personal name and address on the packaging. I make it as plain and unimportant looking as I possibly can. If it's a heavier item, I also pad the inside so that it moves very little if at all. Maybe it's overkill, or maybe I'm just lucky, but so far so good (mostly).

 

[SBuzek]

If you ship knives you should have Collectors Insurance
It works and pays.

 

[REK Knives]

If you ship knives you should have Collectors Insurance
It works and pays.

Can you tell us more? I've never heard of it

 

[SBuzek]

Just search for collectinsure.
They cover collectibles. As long as you have communication with the buyer or seller as to price if it's lost they will pay out.

 

[bladeknot]

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

I remember this thread and thinking to myself, "I don't recall having issues with USPS at all here in northern San Antonio".

I had a good client contact me about a chipped tip on a kitchen knife. Told him to send it to me and I'll get it fixed and sent back immediately. I had forgotten about the conversation until he asked about it just today. The knife was supposed to be here a week ago. Tracking says it was delivered, but it wasn't. My wife had been hovering over the mail box waiting on her new bank card (that we are still waiting on). My guess is the mailman put it in the wrong box, and instead of doing the right thing and bringing it to my front door, they decided to open it and keep it. Tried calling the local Encino Post Office....nothing. I cannot even get a human being on the phone.

This, honestly, is a first for me, and I am piping hot right now.

 

[DevinT]

I remember this thread and thinking to myself, "I don't recall having issues with USPS at all here in northern San Antonio".

I had a good client contact me about a chipped tip on a kitchen knife. Told him to send it to me and I'll get it fixed and sent back immediately. I had forgotten about the conversation until he asked about it just today. The knife was supposed to be here a week ago. Tracking says it was delivered, but it wasn't. My wife had been hovering over the mail box waiting on her new bank card (that we are still waiting on). My guess is the mailman put it in the wrong box, and instead of doing the right thing and bringing it to my front door, they decided to open it and keep it. Tried calling the local Encino Post Office....nothing. I cannot even get a human being on the phone.

This, honestly, is a first for me, and I am piping hot right now.

Yeah, they suck right now.
I recently tried to send a kitchen knife to Switzerland. It cost me almost $100 to send it. It was stopped in California after going through an x-ray machine and declared a weapon. No refund, no real explanation. That was a first for me after almost 50 years of knife making.

Hoss

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Yeah, they suck right now.
I recently tried to send a kitchen knife to Switzerland. It cost me almost $100 to send it. It was stopped in California after going through an x-ray machine and declared a weapon. No refund, no real explanation. That was a first for me after almost 50 years of knife making.

Hoss

Is something different with Cali?
Or was it because shipping outside the US?
I've sent lots of stuff to California before

 

[DevinT]

Is something different with Cali?
Or was it because shipping outside the US?
I've sent lots of stuff to California before

Yeah, it’s because it was headed to Switzerland and the air carrier wouldn’t ship.

My guess is that some morally superior person decided it was too dangerous to ship.

Hoss

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Yeah, it’s because it was headed to Switzerland and the air carrier wouldn’t ship.

My guess is that some morally superior person decided it was too dangerous to ship.

Hoss

Too dangerous to ship, Perfect for keeping....(Stealing)

 

[Blues]

Yeah, it’s because it was headed to Switzerland and the air carrier wouldn’t ship.

My guess is that some morally superior person decided it was too dangerous to ship.

Hoss

I guess Victorinox didn't want you competing with their kitchen cutlery.

Don't feel too bad. Fred Perrin landed me in the jackpot with my agency's Internal Affairs when he got stopped at a U.S. airport in the early 2000s. When he was told he couldn't bring in a balisong he had made, he showed my card to the agents on hand and just like that, I was called in as if I were somehow involved in the highly lucrative world of international knife smuggling.

If it weren't so stupid it would've been a lot funnier than it was.

True story.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I got a package from Temu today. It was opened and never looked like the flap was sealed. Even the delivery photo showed it open. It was a cheap item, and I asked for a replacement. We'll see what happens, but I suspect they will just send another.

 

[godogs57]

Too dangerous to ship, Perfect for keeping....(Stealing)

My first blade shipped and “lost” years ago…eventually USPS admitted it was more than likely stolen by one of their employees but…they refused to reimburse me. Bast—-rds

 

[Lorien]

while there is a quickly growing number of countries, (25 or so currently) pausing any shipments worth $800 or less altogether; this is what is happening in Canada currently, (from Canada Post);

Goods valued at US$800 or less that are shipped to the United States through the postal network will be subject to an ad valorem duty. This duty will be equal to the effective tariff rate applicable to the product's country of origin under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). For Canada, the current IEEPA rate is 35% for most goods.

so, in addition to the $50 or so dollars to mail a $500 knife to the US, I will have to pay the US government $175, in advance, just to ship my knife to the states. This is for all shipping methods.

My knife is still worth $500- I won't be deducting $175 from that- so it will cost an American $225 or so get a knife from me. I don't think that's going to fly. I'm going to have to rethink everything...

I'm hoping that this is just a taco moment and this whole absurd and insane idea gets turfed.

edited to add; it looks as though everything under the de minimis amount is still covered by CUSMA for the time being. I'm going to have to do a fair amount of paperwork and deal with a lot more red tape, but I should be able to ship to the US tariff free until July 2026 when CUSMA is up for renegotiation. Unless, of course, the agreement is unilaterally and arbitrarily cancelled- which wouldn't surprise me at this point.

 

[Horsewright]

Yeah, it’s because it was headed to Switzerland and the air carrier wouldn’t ship.

My guess is that some morally superior person decided it was too dangerous to ship.

Hoss

Exact same thing happened to me, recently. We were shipping a knife to Sweden. Something we have done many times. We received it back saying the carrier wouldn’t ship it and it needed to go by ground. No refund on the shipping. USPS folks said I don’t even know what to do with this as they gave it back to us with out the $65 we paid for shipping. Interestingly the tracking had said that it was in Swedish customs, yet apparently it never left US soil! This was the last straw. We have since fired USPS.

As an aside a business that we’ve bought several things from here recently on the horsemanship side of things, has on the front page of their website. You must have a street address for delivery, they will only ship UPS.

 

[Taz]

My Walter Sorrels Blade Brick was just lost by UPS last week. After I called and complained, they doctored the tracking info as well. It was one the truck 2 days, then went MIA and arrived back at the hub, then disappeared from there Walter has more in production, so he will send out another when they get in from being made.

Knock on wood, I've had mostly good luck with USPS! I had one package go MIA for 6 months 12 or 13 years ago and then just randomly show up. Another got stuck in Astoria, NY, but not delivered, but that PO is notorious for not delivering mail and being a PITA to deal with. I did ship a knife to France that got stolen, so no more international shipping for me!

Many carriers are not allowing any sort of edged items (weapons or not) into their countries, or allowing shipments to go to the US due to the tariff stuff, too. Going to be a bumpy ride!

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks for sharing that, Dave. That is one messed up story. I'm glad the Postal Inspectors did the right thing in not sugarcoating their original findings...but everything following is simply unacceptable.

If it was a postal employee that listed the item on eBay, it's unfortunate if they didn't follow up. (Or they may have but not reported it to you. Or, it may not have met the threshold for them to make a criminal case...though it should result in at least a dismissal...and perhaps it did. We'll never know.)

I hate corruption of any sort, and public corruption by gov't employees is even more troubling.

We had stuff stolen locally too some years back. It was extra help that they had hired for the Christmas rush. Had two packages stolen. A knife I had made a sheath for and two wild rags in another package. They caught the guy and front page on the local newspaper, a pic of him cuffed and being put in the back seat of the car. Never got my stuff back that time neither.

 

[Sharp Steel]

A few years ago I ordered a sun hat from Australia for outdoor work. The company sent me a tracking number and the package progress stopped moving when it hit the United States. Contacted the company and they said it was with the U.S. Postal Service. They gave me the USPS tracking number and I went to the local branch to find out what was going on. The clerk told me it was on a truck, so it should be delivered in a day or two. After 3 days and no hat, I went back to the branch and asked again. They called the carrier on whose truck it was sitting and the carrier said they could not deliver it because a hold was placed on delivery to the house. Told them there was no such hold, because I would be the one placing any holds and I didn't request any. My guess is that the other house in the development with the same house number had the hold. They swap our mail/packages once in a great while. I asked them to deliver my package, but the carrier said it had to have a signature to override the hold. After telling them they could sign for it, the hat was finally delivered.

In retrospect, I wonder if having the USPS hold packages at the Post Office for me to go pick up would be better. That would avoid those "we delivered it" disputes. It is inconvenient, but it puts the leverage on my side.

 

[Timmee]

I remember this thread and thinking to myself, "I don't recall having issues with USPS at all here in northern San Antonio".

I had a good client contact me about a chipped tip on a kitchen knife. Told him to send it to me and I'll get it fixed and sent back immediately. I had forgotten about the conversation until he asked about it just today. The knife was supposed to be here a week ago. Tracking says it was delivered, but it wasn't. My wife had been hovering over the mail box waiting on her new bank card (that we are still waiting on). My guess is the mailman put it in the wrong box, and instead of doing the right thing and bringing it to my front door, they decided to open it and keep it. Tried calling the local Encino Post Office....nothing. I cannot even get a human being on the phone.

This, honestly, is a first for me, and I am piping hot right now.

If it was put in the wrong box, the postmaster can do a geo-location on where the parcel was scanned (the scanners have GPS). Then, they should be able to send the carrier out to ask the residents of that house about the parcel.