USPS lost barrel

[jamesthomas]

I'm waiting on a Fowler kit from Pecatonica. They said they mailed it on Thursday and it should be here, I would have thought it would have gotten here by now but I reckon it will be tomorrow. Next time I order something I will pay the extra $$$ to get it sent priority, I betcha they sent it by the slow boat to save money. I hope it gets here in one piece.

Well I received it today :thumbsup: and everything is A-OK. Sure does scare you though when its on the road for 6 days.

 

[nit wit]

John:
As a retired mailman I can tell you you will have a hard time. It's up to your cousin to file a claim,as he was the one that shipped it. In the end your cousin is liable due to poor packaging. Small claims court is probably in your future.
Good Luck.
Nit Wit

 

[Homesteader]

I make it a point to really get to know my mailman (or woman). Over the last two decades I've found that they will go to bat for me and watch out for a delivery if I ask them to. I've (mostly) had exemplary service. Only when there are substitutes have I had problems, and then the regular mailmen fixed the situation quickly. For me it's really come down to a personal relationship with my mailman. They'll come through for you if they know and like you.

The flip side is my service from UPS and FedEx. Those guys either just suck, or hate me. Not sure which. I've had far more problems with them than with my USPS guys.

 

[Homesteader]

Oh, and whenever I mail a ML I claim it as an antique pole, and insure it for $2k. Never had a problem.

 

[jamesthomas]

I reckon I'm just lucky, I've never had a problem with USPS or UPS. I don't use or have stuff delivered by Fed-Ex. Sometimes I let the post office know about a barrel or a other stuff that's coming my way and they will hold it for me to pick up so I don't have to wait for the Mail man to deliver it to me which is between 2:00 and 2:30pm.

 

[Homesteader]

glad you got it! :thumbsup:

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[azmntman]

Used to know our mailman, now we have a different one every day or too (NOT kidding). And I believe these guys make good money? Fed ex here is the best way to go. They dont pee in the driveway here either.

 

[Vaino]

I've shipped w/ UPS and USPS and won't use UPS any longer because of their much higher prices. FedEx is ignored....they won't ship a MLer.

USPS has delivered my many LRs on time, w/o damage and at a reasonable price....can't find fault w/ that. Of course I package my LRs securely and am aware that these long pkgs are transported on end and take the necessary precautions.

I can't really find any fault w/ my service from USPS, whether it be shipping or local delivery. Oh...once in a great while my neighbors mail is in my postbox, but that's such a minor item....hardly worth mentioning.

I don't have any relatives or know of anyone who works for USPS. Me thinks some of the complaints are just anti-gov't sentiments. I for one would rue the day that only private firms would do the shipping at their extravagant prices.

USPS is a quasi-gov't agency which is penalized by Congress to the tune of 6 billion dollars per year....for what? I have no idea except that the money grubbing Congress is always out for the buck.

So....what would you do if the USPS was eliminated? Think about the exorbitant prices that would be charged by the private shippers. No...I'll take USPS.....Fred

 

[jamesthomas]

:thumbsup: .

 

[nit wit]

A good customer is always appreciated by your carrier. We always handled parcels with care. I have used ups a couple of times and it was always a hassle to ship with them. I always use the USPS,especially the flat rate service, but don't waste money on tracking, it can be worthless.
Nit Wit

 

[jamesthomas]

The problem I see is that some folks do not pack their packages good enough. You really have to make sure that there is no side to side or end to end movement. Also I would insure it for at least twice as much as its worth. I'm surprised my fowler stock and barrel arrived un-damaged. Pecatonica packed it in a flimsy cardboard box stuffed with newspaper :slap: . The wrist area had no reinforcement at all and it could have been stepped on or run over and been broken easily. The next rifle I get from them I'll make sure they pack it right and pay the extra for priority shipping. They put it on the slow boat and it took 6 days to get to me.

 

[Katahdin]

Barrels,,in PVC pipe and stocks in 1/4" Wooden crate ,, packed with styrofoam hard board (insulation)

 

[nhmoose]

Note this is to the original poster::

USPS good luck collecting the $200 insured value. When I was in Business USPS lost EVERY barrel shipped that went through Salinas CA. They had a thief.

After complaints to all my USPS postmistress helped. Postal inspectors came to our local PO and inspected the packaging as we shipped. They agreed there was a problem.

Note we had shipped $50K of shipping fees of the product with them. Our claims were then paid in full but no money for the cost of the extra losses incurred.

We went to UPS with insurance amount covering this cost also. NO better but when your agent summons the UPS insurance agent to your local court they would pay the total amount claimed in 48 hrs.

Result to learn: fight every claim to the maximum.

 

[nhmoose]

Note don't expect more than the $200 insured for. Someone else has the problem to pay for the loss.

 

[matt denison]

I keep seeing you guys saying that you insure for twice what it is worth.
TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY

Insurance will only pay replacement cost. Only. You have to prove the replacement cost on the claim form. Send a $1,000.00 gun and insure it for $2,000.00 then try to collect it? Never gonna happen. They aren't stupid. It is called fraud. Yup, it's actually illegal. If it wasn't we could all become very rich by mailing overinsured stuff to fantacy addresses then filing a claim for it.

As for the OP, he is scr3w3d. That barrel is either 1. stolen or 2. floating around with NO ADDRESS on it. How is it ever going to be sent to the correct owner if there is no name on it.

The cousin needs to do all of the filing as he is the sender and he paid for the shipping and the insurance. Period.

In my vast experience most shipping problems are caused by either a thief (not very common) or p!$$ poor packaging and poor handwriting. I get some rediculous stuff sent to me, can't read the address, return address, used boxes from the grocery store etc. etc. DO NOT USE CURSIVE when addressing a package or envelope. PRINT using your best handwriting. Double check the address. Buy a good box for crying out loud. Way better to avoid a problem than to try to mitigate and win an award after the fact.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Not USPS but, I had UPS deliver a barrel to the wrong address. When I talked to the driver and found out where it was left I approached my neighbor and they had completely opened and removed the barrel. They must have thought that since it was heavy must be valuable. They returned it to me and asked what it is!

Years ago, a buddy I worked with finally got fed up with mail and packages from not only USPS, but also UPS and FedEx mysteriously disappearing. Everything was always marked as "delivered". Suspecting kids stealing packages he had the neighbors keep watch on the front porch on days something was to deliver, and when stuff never delivered, neighbors never saw it arrive.

He finally got really upset one day when one of the veteran mailmen came by. He listened to the problem, then told that there's a house a few blocks away with the same street name and house number as his - only difference is that one was "Street" while the other was Court, Place, or something like that.

He stopped by the other address and was met by a bunch of vagrant-level doper kids who of course had no idea about anything. He tried to force his way in to look around, and a helpful cop "just happened by" and told him to get lost and never come near that house again.

He found out about a year later, when he got a letter to go pick up some recovered property, that cops were already doing surveillance on the place, as well as USPS, UPS, the Feds and about everyone else.

He went to claim his stuff, and got several bags of mail from as far back as 5-6 years, including financial statements, ordered checks, and packages of tools, supplies and materials he had completely forgotten about. He gave me a call, and we loaded several USPS boxes, a few paperbags of letters and a lot of loose boxes into the back of my truck.

He spent several weeks returning wood chisels, planes, borers, and a lot of other expensive woodworking tools to places that had replaced it all those years ago when he called them about lost packages. There was only one or 2 places that had refused to reply to him, and he wrote to them about the recoveries, and how all the other places he'll do further business had done right to him, and how he'd never buy from them again.

Sometimes when you get bit in the a$$, retailers are helpful, and sometimes when they aren't THEY get the short end of the stick by not being helpful or customer friendly, even though the non-delivery wasn't their fault.

 

[azmntman]

Oh...once in a great while my neighbors mail is in my postbox, but that's such a minor item....hardly worth mentioning.

I agree, but you know what? three or four times a month and with prescription drugs is just too much! Likely just my "route" (which for last two years has had no regular postman) but I squeal whenever I can.

 

[jamesthomas]

About the street, court, drive, addresses. I am on a "Drive" and I try write it down as "Drive" NOT "Dr." if you always write "Street" "Court" and not "St." or "Ct." packages will have a better chance of getting to the correct address.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I read a post awhile back and a guy who worked (I think) for ups told how to ship guns and other valuables, so as to greatly reduce the chances of theft.
Does anyone else remember this or am I on the wrong forum?
It was a great read

Gee! it was right under my nose! http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/278130/

 

[John Neslen]

Since I live so far back in the boonies and some mail comes via pony express and the rest by carrier pigeon, my mail is late. A $200 USPS check was mailed to me before I started this thread and arrived about a week later. I thought they might want what did not fall out of the package as they paid the full amount it was insured.
Now I just need a barrel. My cousin is a deadbeat, will never collect a dime from him.
Thanks everyone for your input.