USPS - the absolute pits!!!

Dexter Ewing

Dexter Ewing

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OK, by now most of you guys know how anti-USPS I am. I had another incident happen to me today that further solidifies my belief that the bastards at USPS simply cannot be trusted with anything else besides plain ol' first class mail.

Timberline Knives sent me a packet of info on the new 2002 products that included press releases and a CD-ROM of images. Today, I received the envelope with today's mail and much to my surprise, the envelope was open. The invoice was still in there and yes, it shows that a CD-ROM was indeed packed with the info. Now, before you all accuse me of being quick to lynch let me say this. There is no tear in the envelope (e.g. got caught in the machine, etc) It was plainly slit open, like I would have done myself. Someone at the USPS <b>deliberately</b> slit the envelope open with their pocketknife and removed the CD-ROM.

To further prove that this was the case, I called Timberline and spoke with the receptionist. Just my luck, she was the one who packed my envelope and she did confirm that a CD-ROM was included. she had wrapped the CD in a bubble mailer and placed it inside the big envelope.

I have had crap like this done to me before by the USPS - having items/magazines stolen in transit....either receiving torn/opened envelopes like this or not even receiving items at all.

The USPS is the absolute pits, I have never, and never will, ship ANYTHING through them. They seem to do OK with the first class stuff, but for packages I will spend a few bucks more to ship UPS or FedEx. Peace of mind for me.

USPS, you guys can KMA :mad:

Rant over....
 
....and yes, I have a couple phone numbers I am going to call in the morning to file my complaint. I will be onto them like stink on s***
 
Since May 2000, when I discovered Bladeforums,I sent and received probably 50 - 60 packages, some first class, some priority mail.

With the sole exception of a slow-down because of the 9/11 incident, I have not had one lost package, one bump or bruise on any package including two that came from Paris, France.

I live in SF California, and perhaps there are regional differences, but in my entire 40 years of life, I have only had one lost and not recoverd package via USPS and never anything stolen.
 
That is an outrage. Why the fork would anybody steal a cdrom??? If you can't send a cdrom without it being stolen what can you send???

I'm afraid it is regional, though. I really wish one of the delivery services were reliable, and I wouldn't care how bad the others were (they wouldn't last long, anyway). Unfortunately it's not that simple.
 
Cougar - my guess is that the envelope has the Timblerine Knives logo (operative here - the word "knives" is on there) and the package was rather lumpy and they were thinking...hmm....free knife? ;) Whoever pilfered it isn't too smart to begin with (maybe that's why they are working USPS?). Why not just steal the whole damn envelope so I won't even receive it? The way it was done, all evidence points towards USPS.

I am not pissed that the CD was lost (they are sending me another via another courier). What I am incensed about is the <b>principle</b> - and the morals (or lack thereof) - behind this. If they steal stuff like this, no telling what else they will steal? Stuff like this probably happens more than we know....well, it wouldn't suprised me because I have been a victim of this several times in my life, but I thought it was too much of a PITA to pursue it. This time I am not letting them get by with it. The buck stops <i>here</i>
 
That's the spirit! :mad: If everybody took that attitude to theft there would be a lot less theft in the world (and the same applies to a lot of other abuses).
 
The United States Postal Service takes a lot of flack, some of it deserved, but most is not. They are not alone as Fedex, United Parcel Service and ANY other delivery service servicing the general public is faced with the same situation. We all seem to be quick to castigate the company or firm for an action of an individual committing a theft or vandalism. The Postal Service spends millions of dollars each year in an effort to discourage theft and illegal activities on their properties. In any large postal facility there are safeguards you would never see in a private sector operation. On the main work room floors there are enclosed walkways supported from the overhead that have one way windows from which the workers can be seen by postal inspectors that have access to these observation points. There is no schedule for the inspectors so the employees are working with the knowledge that they MIGHT be under observation. This is supposed to be a deterent to aberrant behaviour. Well, we all know that one cannot be protected from the terrorist willing to sacrifice his life to achieve his goal. It is also a fact that we cannot protect ourselves from the thief that is willing to sacrifice his job, his pension and standing in the community for a petty theft---not even knowing what he is stealing. You can rest assured that if caught, that thief will be immediately terminated, and, if brought to trial, will be a convicted felon with the stigma and loss of rights of the average citizen. Do not condemn the barrel and the apples it contains because one of the apples was wormy. When you condemn the postal service you are condemning your neighbors and community. There are over 700,000 postal employees that service our mail service with the largest vehicle fleet in the world. No person in the USA is denied the privelege of having mail delivered to an address. Even the itinerants and floaters can get mail posted to General Delivery. This service is often given in weather when you would want your dog sheltered. It is also a fact that the infractions charged to the postal service are grossly exagerrated as it is common in conversation to "one up" the injured party with a fictional story that is treated the same as a rumor, the telling spreads and is soon accepted as fact. The percentage of thiefs in the P.O. is probably the same as in your neighborhood, after all--they are us!
 
There WAS this individual employed in a Post Office in a SMALL New Hampshire Town. This person was an employee for almost twenty-years. This person was also a Diehard KNIFEKNUTT, very addicted to knives. This person collected knives for THIRTY years.


This Postal employee KNEW everyone and their Business. He also was very good friends with another person who Collected Knives. They TALKED often as this person received many knives via the USPS.

For reasons that I shall NEVER know, this dedicated Postal employee and friend decided to take one of the Packages that contained a sub $200.00 Production knife. He carefully opened the package, removed the knife and put some shredded NEWSPAPER in the package until it weighed the same as it did with the knife enclosed. The package was then CAREFULLY re-wrapped.

Well, the Friend picks it up, gets home, opens the box and NO KNIFE is found. He immediately calls his friend at the Post office who informs him that he Personally checked the package and it looked OK and it weighed 6.3 ounces, just like the stamping indicated.

The long and the short was the USPS as an AGENCY responded and took this matter with extreme seriousness. Upon examining the "packing material", they found one shredded piece of Newsprint that had the Date the Package ARRIVED in NH. Within five minutes, they had identified that the Newspaper was a LOCAL paper. Two and two equaled Termination, Prosecution, and the end of a valued friendship. Just makes no sense........

It was NOT the fault of the USPS, but the fault of a Person EMPLOYED by the USPS.

This is plain STUPID.....and also very sad. Just like Panzer's knife issue. That too will end up being a Person who knows/knew what another gets in the mail.........wolf
 
Ira and helmar4578 - thank you for your responses and insight. Unfortunately, I have had other bad experiences with USPS in the past. Lousy service, rude post office employees, as well as having items "lost" in transit. The incident yesterday was just another installment in my bad luck with the USPS service, and that led me to fly off the handle like I did. Just like some folks dislike UPS/FedEx, I dislike USPS for shipping anything but regular first class mail. I am aware that it is one employee who did the crime, but this leads me to wonder - with my past track record with the USPS - how can you trust these guys? I'm sorry, but I still stand behind what I posted.

Yesterday afternoon I put my money where my mouth is (or however that goes) and filed a complaint with the USPS. This morning I called the local PO branch that serves my neighborhood and the supervisor asked the mail carrier on my route if he had seen a disk laying around in the truck. Nada (what I expected). I have called the Postmaster General here and he is supposed to return my call. In the meantime I'll wait until the USPS gets back to me about my complaint.
 
Dexter, I fullyunderstand your frustration and anger. Both are justified with these situations. On the othe hand I tend to agree with others that have posted here that it may be "regional" or is certainly the efforts of "one" (meaning numerous, different locations, tere are thieves everywhere) individual.

Living in Hawaii I have to rely upon the USPS because shipping via FedEX or UPS cost A LOT more than a few bucks more. Those carriers only ship 2nd Day or Next Day Air, which can be quite expensive. I have had some nail biters (long waits) for knives to show up but, fortunately (knock on wood) they have all arrived. I have also experienced the same delay (and nail biters) when I have waited for others in the CONUS to receive packages from me.

One experience I will relate, and I think this goes to show it MAY be your local postman/postal center.

I bought some large files from Barry Jones (of Jones Brothers) and had them mailed to me. I waited and one day had a package left in my mailbox that had nothing in it. It was from Barry but the bottomw of the box he shipped it in had ripped out and no files inside. To say I was disappointed is an understatement and I figured they could have fallenout anywhere between here and the East coast. SOL on the files, I e-malied Barry, he apologized, and said he would mail me the same number of files. I told him this was not his fault and we could split the cost of replacement. It was the weekend so there was no way I could talk with my Post Office and I worked on Monday. Barry mailed out the replacement files firts thing on Monday. Monday afternoon I catch my local mailman and show him thebox and ask about thefiles. He smiles and says "So they belong to you! I'll bring them tomorrow!" The files had slid out of the box but were not marked with a name inside so the local Post office had no idea who they belonged to. The next day I got my missing files. A few days later I got a VERY sturdy wrapped package from Barry containing additional files. I contacted Barry immediately after the files were found and insisted (he took some convincing) that I pay him IN FULL for the additional files. So I wound up with a s***load of files, complete trust in my local carrier, and made a real friend with Barry. One happy story.

Dexter I'm sorry about your problems but on the whole I believe the system works well, I just hope they catch the bastid thats doing this to your mail:mad: .
 
Man! You DO have the worst luck ol' bud. Sounds just like my opinion of UPS though!;) I did a recent deal and had to go UPS again.:barf: They had no record of the package even though it was registered. Had to just wait and PRAY! Luckily, (this time), it got to me in one piece.

I've literally done dozens and dozens of transactions through USPS, (3 Day Priority Mail), without even one screw-up.

It would help Dexter to QUIT INSISTING that the makers who send you knives through USPS write on the packages in bold print; "EXPENSIVE, CUSTOM KNIFE FOR DEXTER!":rolleyes:
 
Sorry for yourcrappy dealings w/the USPS Dexter.Im sort of a lurker on these forums,but i felt i needed to reply,since i work for the Postal Service.As a mail carrier for 3 years now,i can vouch for the fact that most of the people who work for the USPS are upstanding and hardworking souls.We try very hard to make sure everyones mail is delivered in a timely fasion and that it arrives damage free.Unfortunately,there are thiefs and lowlifes in every segment of society,not just the Postal Service.For what its worth,the Postal Service deals very harshly w/employees who steal from the mail.Job termination is usually the end result for an employee caught stealing..I know what ive said probably wont change your mind about us postal employees,and thats ok,i just wanted to let you know we're not all a bunch of lowlife thiefs.We're your friends and neighbors,little league coaches and volunteer firefighters..I really hope they catch whomever stole your cd-rom,because the Postal service is no place for a thief to work.
 
Dexter, perhaps I can add a little here that may help you in filing a legitimate complaint with the USPS. The United States Postal Inspectors are the police of that service and are truly an elite, dedicated group of men and women. They are seldom if ever stationed in an area where they become well known so they do not develop a camaraderie with local postal employees. They do not develop the protective syndrome of blindly ignoring the faults of their fellow employees that is quite often seen in police and sheriffs departments. The "snitch" is ostrasized if he informs or testifies against a fellow officer. In small PO's where everyone has worked together for years, a similiar attitude can be acquired, but to a lesser extent. Not knowing which of the friends are going to be discharged if caught, the investigation can drag its feet. Not so with the Inspectors, they do not fraternize with postal employees, and having no friends involved, their investigations are not hindered by any false loyalties. Contact the Postal Inspectors directly with any suspected criminal activity in the PO. That is why the service exists and that is what they get paid to do. Their powers are quite broad and the requirements to be a member are equivelent to any other Federal law enforcement body.
 
Sandy, your post is right on point, with one exception. the use of the term "Quite often".

American LE is not like it "Used to be". the "code of silence" is addressed and dealt with very publically. The Postal LE Body is NO MORE ELITE than highly trained and dedicated State, County, and local LEO's and we do not "cover up" crimes because our "friends" or "neighbors" commit them.

The enforcement arm of the USPS is an excellent LE Agency, but they are not ELITISTS

I sure hope they resolve this however.......Ira
 
The Patriot - my sincere thanks for posting the info and your insight; I was kind of hoping someone from the "inside" would post. Its good to know that the USPS has strict guidelines when it comes to stealing, though, like it was said earlier - there is nothing that can be done for someone so hell bent on stealing mail that they are willing to put their job on the line.

Helmar - thanks for your info too. It seems that the positive thing that came out of my situation is that I learned some info about the inner workings of the USPS.

OK, time for an update. And pretty much the final chapter in this. I was able to talk with the local Postmaster General here in Winston-Salem. I told him of my situation and he asked some specific questions about the condition of the envelope when I received it. He said that when something like this happens and the item that was stolen is not what the perp thought it was, he/she usually tosses it in the garbage. Then he asked if he could ask me something totally off the record...I was a bit surprised not knowing what he was going to ask, but he asked what type of knives Timberline makes. I explained to him about the type of knives they make and it turns out he likes knives too (but not as fanatical about them as we are). I just couldn't believe it! Anyway, I explained to him that for all I know, this incident didn't happen in W-S or even NC, but since he is a postal employee I would like him to know of this incident. So right now I'm in limbo waiting to hear something from the USPS about my complaint I filed a couple days ago. I don't care about getting the disk that was stolen, I just want to bring this incident to their attention and hopefully it might help them to crack down and enforce the rules more. Everything will be okay :)
 
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