Am I screwed?

[Uglyoldpoorman]

The post office, (USPS) said they delivered my package of gun parts and the tracking shows it was delivered to one of those large communial drop boxes where I live but I never got it.

Is there anyway I can make the postal people pay for it or did I just learn a big lesson.

 

[csmkersh]

And they didn't even kiss you first.
​

 

[Cannonball888]

What's a communal drop box? I've never heard of one mailbox the neighborhood shares.

 

[csmkersh]

Some newer subdivisions place a unit of lock boxes at the front entrance and the mailman makes only one stop. And some RFD have rows of individual unlockable boxes a mile or two away for the USPS convenience.
​

 

[Uglyoldpoorman]

What's a communal drop box? I've never heard of one mailbox the neighborhood shares.

Instead of them going to every house there is a big thing about 10 feet square in several places in the neighborhood. Each house has a box

 

[Eric F]

Dude I have had boxes mailed to me by the usps and never show up as being delivered and gotten no compensation and I have had several boxes come up as being delivered and I never got them with again no compensation. I spent 9 days arguing with the local post office all the way up to Richmond Va to the regional office and all I got was a sorry for your loss comment. I hate the usps and refuse to deal with them. I ship ups and fedx.........usps blows! I expect you will get nothing as well.

 

[dhoomonyou]

was it a purchase over the web?

if so u might have some recourse through your credit card company.

 

[yosarian]

I live in an apertment building of 61 units and I long ago gave up on usps.You can complain high and low and nothing with them.Sorry to hear about this,next time buy from another company that will ship ups or fedex.

 

[moooose102]

unless you had insurance, you are out of luck. basicly thats the only way usps cares about anything. because if its insured, they know they will have to pay for it. they will go to every effort to make sure an insured package gets where it belongs, unharmed.

 

[Uglyoldpoorman]

Thanks guys, it was only $26.00 so it could have cost a lot more to learn a good lesson. UPS and Fedex it is from now on.

 

[Flintlock Tom]

I got a royal chastisement for shipping a rifle by USPS. The carrier just left it on top of the "communal boxes". Luckily my buyer was the first one to check his mail.
Next time: insured, signature required.
(Black powder, online auction)

 

[XDKingslayer]

Mailpersons have gotten so lazy it's pathetic. Used to be they actually walked the route going from door to door delivering the mail. Now they hadly even have to get out of their Jeeps.

 

[armedandsafe]

I have had a package or two go astray in the past. I report it to the local postmaster and then to the postal inspectors. The local PM usually is quite reluctant to bring in the inspectors, but I offer him the choice of the inspectors or my local Senator. That gets them thinking properly, pretty quickly. I still have never been made good for my losses, but the locals are quite aware of my address, now.

Pops

 

[cyclist]

File a theft report with the local P.D., then post a flyer on the big box giving a description along with some text that if someone accidently picked it up with some of their other mail then call you for getting it to you. Nothing threatening, just a simple matter of fact note. If someone does come back then follow up with the local P.D. whom you should have told that you were going to post a flyer about it.

Then follow up with the shipper or who ever you bought the stuff from, ask if they can offer any recourse for you, and request that they check into other shipping options.

At one apartment complex I lived at there was a big drop box, but it had a key for it. When the postal carrier put something in there then they were supposed to drop the key into your personal mailbox. I once had the postal carrier leave me a note that a package was too big for the box and that I could pick it up in person from the local P.O. location. I guess not everyone has the sale caliber of postal carriers in their areas.

edit to add: ps, the local carriers where I currently live walk door to door in the neighborhoods. They park their truck at a 4-way intersection, then walk the streets in that area door to door. 3' deep snow in the front yard this year and I still saw the postal footprints heading up the walkway then across the yard going to the neighbor and on from there.

 

[RNB65]

I avoid USPS like the plague for anything larger than an envelope. The mailman usually leaves items that are too big for the mailbox laying on the ground outside my front door. Let's see... mailman usually comes around 1PM... I get home from work around 6:30PM... package is laying in plain view where anyone walking by can see it... lots of kids in the neighborhood... NOT GOOD!

Next time, ask for UPS/FedEx shipping and/or have it shipped to your workplace.
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[alaskanativeson]

I know that I'm an exception because I'm on the ass end of the world and different unwritten laws apply out here. The truth is, though, that if something gets shipped to me out here in rural Alaska that is not insured there's a less than 50% chance it will get delivered. It doesn't have to be insure for a lot, when we go shopping in Anchorage we box up the stuff we get and insure each box for $50, but that way it gets here. The handlers out in the villages see a box that doesn't have insurance or some kind of tracking on it and to them that means it's free stuff.

 

[Uglyoldpoorman]

I did do a police report and I am trying to fake them into coming to me with a reward no questions asked flyer. Then I turn them in.

 

[bannockburn]

uglyoldpoorman

It's called a cluster box, and if there was a tracking bar code on it (Delivery Confirmation), then they have to know who the carrier was who delivered it. Postal authorities need to question that person to find out what happened to your package. Short of that, the only way to get reimbursed is to send it Insured. It will also have a tracking bar code on it that has to be scanned. At the very least, I always pay for the extra Delivery Confirmation label because the item can be tracked from pick-up, to arrival at the station, to its delivery.

 

[ilbob]

I concur with most of the other posters. Some kind of tracking seems to dramatically reduce the level of missing postal packages, so much that most private parcel insurers require some kind of tracking if you want to use their insurance.

 

[keyhole]

Carrier drops stuff off in the breezeway of my house. Good job, no complaints here.

 

[Car Knocker]

Mailpersons have gotten so lazy it's pathetic. Used to be they actually walked the route going from door to door delivering the mail. Now they hadly even have to get out of their Jeeps.

They still walk my neighborhood.

I avoid USPS like the plague for anything larger than an envelope. The mailman usually leaves items that are too big for the mailbox laying on the ground outside my front door. Next time, ask for UPS/FedEx shipping

UPS regularly leaves C&R guns laying on my porch.

 

[xring44]

I must be blessed, when my rural carrier delivers a box that won't fit in my mailbox, he brings it to my door, If I'm not home, he leaves a sticky on my door that I can pick it up at the post office or call for a time to deliver that I'll be home to accept it.

 

[ilbob]

I must be blessed, when my rural carrier delivers a box that won't fit in my mailbox, he brings it to my door, If I'm not home, he leaves a sticky on my door that I can pick it up at the post office or call for a time to deliver that I'll be home to accept it.

I have a motor carrier (mailbox is at the street). If it doesn't fit in the box they either bring it to the porch or leave a note in the box to pick it up at the P.O.

The house is set back far enough from the road and oriented such that it would be difficult to see a package set on the porch from the road.

I did have an issue a few years ago where some proof sets i ordered from the US mint were not received. I called them and they said you only get 30 days from the day of shipment to claim a loss. I said that is silly, since it is often months from the time you order them to when they are shipped. How would anyone have any idea when the clock started ticking. The person on the phone said she was sorry but thats their policy. I insisted on speaking to a supervisor, and then a manager and finally got someone who agreed to resend them. The four proof sets came a week or so later separately, each by registered mail.

 

[.cheese.]

USPS crushes my packages into my mailbox.

UPS throws them over the high gate so they come crashing down..... sometimes breaking open, and even worse is when they do this on days that it rains so the package gets soaked.

Fed-ex has a habit of my packages never arriving despite tracking saying otherwise. Twice it's happened now.

I don't know if the local carriers hate me, or are just jerks.... but something isn't cool. It's one of the reasons I haven't gotten into online purchasing that much. I still prefer to buy in person where I have some control over things.

I don't know what we're supposed to do. With guns and gun parts it's even trickier because on top of careless handling, we have to worry about theft.

 

[Uglyoldpoorman]

uglyoldpoorman

It's called a cluster box, and if there was a tracking bar code on it (Delivery Confirmation), then they have to know who the carrier was who delivered it. Postal authorities need to question that person to find out what happened to your package. Short of that, the only way to get reimbursed is to send it Insured. It will also have a tracking bar code on it that has to be scanned. At the very least, I always pay for the extra Delivery Confirmation label because the item can be tracked from pick-up, to arrival at the station, to its delivery.

That is the sweet part, it was delivered by an alternate carrier because the other one was off for the week so tomorrow I am going to go down and tell them I need to speak to the person who delivered it. I think that when I tell them that I have filled a police report someone is going to come up with the goods.