Thread: track your packages or lose $200

What a thread, being from Australia and relying on international purchases so much I would think that I am honour bound as the recipient as well. Would you not say to the vendor (if trusted & on this site I would) hey you lost something I lost something are you amicable to splitting the difference?

I have ordered several items from Whipped Dog and they arrived 3 - 4 weeks after purchase, an item from WM Newman took about the same time however everything there was just over $100.

It is still a pity that there are people out there working the system that is supposed to protect vendors and purchasers though.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Someone should start a class action lawsuit against usps for selling insurance that is in my opinion, fraudulent.
If they won't honor the insurance, they shouldn't sell it.

It may be pretty hard to win because you agree to the terms of the insurance when you buy it.
Of course their employees often do not really know the terms themselves and would give wrong advice, but they aren't entering into the contract, and I wouldn't think can be held accountable for answering with "the best way is express mail" when asked by to customer - USPS offers many options to chose from and 'the best for you' may not be 'the best for me'

Some years ago I sent a high value gift card to a friend and insured it. When the package disappeared in their system I tried to open a claim, and at that point I found out that gift cards are covered only up to $15. It says so in their insurance terms, which I accepted when I bought the insurance, but I certainly didn't read through 5 pages to notice that. So I got an expensive lesson and since then I don't buy insurance without reading the exact terms of it at the time I'm buying it (in practice my time is valuable and usually it's cheaper to simply not bother with it and assume the risk).

In all fairness, for the most part I think USPS works well,I just do not understand how they work sometimes.
I sent a Chelsea ships clock to a Guy in Alaska last yr.He only wanted to pay for Snail mail. was supposed to be two weeks,he got the clock in less than 24 hrs After I shipped it.
Sent a Guy in L.A. (about 400 miles from me) 10 JAN 6550 vac tubes, he paid for one day overnight express,took two mos to get to him.
The mail system is very strange.

When you consider how many items USPS handles the few that get lost I think are reasonable. With all the things I've shipped over the years with USPS the worst experience was a priority mail package that took two weeks to get to it's destination. I've had way more issues with UPS and fedex. Deliveries to the wrong address, packages routed wrong because someone misread N.M for M.N.

International mailing can be a real issue because once it leaves the U.S anything goes and you have to know the rules if you don't want to get screwed really bad. I've shipped many a watch and learned the hard way both UPS and Fedex don't insure watches because they consider them items of extraordinary value but their employees don't know that and will sell you the insurance and when it goes missing they will refund the insurance premium and that's it. The same with EMS. Many use it to send watches and it doesn't cover watches but few know that.

It's like the IRS. They specifically say if one of their employees gives you the wrong advice that will not be accepted as an excuse. It's your responsibility to know the law. The USPS is no different.

Call it Bad Luck but the last four items I bought (insured and not) just got "lost" (7 SRs). That is not the reason to buy a Straight Razor in the first place!. I suspect those thieves in the customs agency and those ones that are supposed to "deliver a package". I wonder if they really know what "its lost" and what is the use for what they "steal"…

Originally Posted by aaron1266

Call it Bad Luck but the last four items I bought (insured and not) just got "lost" (7 SRs). That is not the reason to buy a Straight Razor in the first place!. I suspect those thieves in the customs agency and those ones that are supposed to "deliver a package". I wonder if they really know what "its lost" and what is the use for what they "steal"…

Maybe if you attached an envelope to the package with a bribe to each person handling the package you would get it or maybe the first handler would just steal it all.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Sending a Razor Reg, mail to europe is around $50 IME

Serisouly? If I send a razor in a padded envelope, registered shipping, it comes out to about 10 to 15 dollars depending on the exact shipping weight.

So far I haven't had packages lost, and I've shipped and received quite a few from all over the world. I've had a couple that were delayed, a couple that were returned to sender, and a couple that were registered and had to be collected from the post office but the addressee didn't know it.

Now, given some of the things I've received, I don't doubt that a good portion of lost shipments are due solely to very bad packaging or badly written addresses.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Serisouly? If I send a razor in a padded envelope, registered shipping, it comes out to about 10 to 15 dollars depending on the exact shipping weight.

I never use padded Envelopes for Razors.One razor in a small box shipped to Europe,USPS registered, Trackable and insured is between 40-50 USD

It's not $50, unless you add insurance.
First class mail for 5oz is $12.75, registered mail is another $12.95, so it's $25.70 in total. There is indemnity coverage I believe to something like $50.

For insured you need to use priority mail, so the cheapest is $39, and the insurance is a couple of dollars.

The small flat rate box is $23.95, but you can not add insurance to it, just registered mail. So that's extra $10 compared to first class for no good reason (technically may travel faster, in practice I haven't seen a difference).

Until a couple of years ago international first class mail was very cheap, just a dollar or two more than domestic, but those days are gone. It looks like other countries still do this and the rates for regular international mail are only slightly higher than domestic, special services can add to the cost though.

Correct, a parcel sent Registerd,insured, trackable to most of europe is between 40/50 USD.
I just sent a Razor last week to a member in Sweden,flat rate Priority mail with tracking, NO insurance Was $37.50 USD