Model Railroading > USPS Shipping Nightmare

Had a USPS shipping nightmare of sorts. I've long wanted a Ohio Match Co Heisler #1 since I've been over the grades where it ran and where the locomotive shop once was. I saw a decent price on a new on on E-bay last week and bought it. It shipped Tuesday and Arrived on Thursday which was surprisingly fast. But apparently the USPS employees take "Fragile" to mean they must use that package for football practice. The internal box was wrapped in bubble wrap and there was air bags to fill out the box. But it wasn't enough to protect the internal box from the severe abuse the package received. Thankfully the foam liner in the internal box protected the model for the most part, but the rear footboard was broken and the front pilot was also tweaked. The model was actually worse off than the photos show, I had already did some minor fixes. The damage is fixable and the model still runs, so I'm thinking I will just keep it. But it's a good lesson to package models to an extreme degree because the younger generation of employees these days have a very poor ethic. Also refrain from putting the fragile label on boxes, as it seems to invite abuse rather than deter it.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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The internal box

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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The locomotive. The front pilot was actually a lot more tweaked than this at first. On first glance I thought the frame was bent, but saw why it was tweaked. Still needs a bit more straightening.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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One wonders what it would be like if it was not marked fragile!

Possibly the employee didn't take reading or learn definitions while in school.  Thankfully, my wife teaches at a charter school where students are held accountable and the parents are involved with their children and future.

Concerning damaged packages, most of mine arrive in decent shape but not like years ago.  Along with employees who don't care and the conveyor system, some packages pay the damage price as well.

My mom, ever the wordsmith, had a similar issue with our local post office in the 1970s. 

She took her mangled package (spare parts for a loom she wanted to restore) back into town and asked the postmaster " I know there's a saying that the mail must go through. Could you please tell me just what this went through?"  

They both laughed. 

march_hare Wrote:
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> My mom, ever the wordsmith, had a similar issue
> with our local post office in the 1970s. 
>
> She took her mangled package (spare parts for a
> loom she wanted to restore) back into town and
> asked the postmaster " I know there's a saying
> that the mail must go through. Could you please
> tell me just what this went through?"  
>
> They both laughed. 

Good one!

But in all seriousness, should the OP have a claim for the post office?

That's terrible. Looks like the outer box was not much larger than the model's box? I always try to ship things in a MUCH larger box than the original to allow for a lot of packing material between the inner and outer boxes.

          I have delivered a few packages that have taken a beating too. I do not know how it occures but assume some is from the sorting machines or more likely how they were loaded on trucks and when the pile fell for what ever reason, this might happen. Irregardless, items were damaged and there was no need of that happening. And having to hand something like this to a customer is not a pleasant task. The most I can do is to tell them to inspect the contents and let me know. 
          Your Priority package was insured so at least if the model was not acceptable, you can get a refund and order another ( if available ) . Not the best but better than losing everything OR riding on Amtrak.  

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> That's terrible. Looks like the outer box was not
> much larger than the model's box? I always try to
> ship things in a MUCH larger box than the original
> to allow for a lot of packing material between the
> inner and outer boxes.

Same, I try to give a minimum of an inch of space around the inner box, more usually.  That way if something dents the box, it has some space to hopefully keep the inner package undamaged

NiagaraMike Wrote:
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> One wonders what it would be like if it was not
> marked fragile!

Probably in better condition.

Posted from iPhone

priority mail only covers up to $50.00. Someone must pay the additional Postal fee to cover the actual cost. Plus it's a battle with USPS to claim the refund.

Valleyman

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>           I have delivered a few packages
> that have taken a beating too. I do not know how
> it occures but assume some is from the sorting
> machines or more likely how they were loaded on
> trucks and when the pile fell for what ever
> reason, this might happen. Irregardless, items
> were damaged and there was no need of that
> happening. And having to hand something like this
> to a customer is not a pleasant task. The most I
> can do is to tell them to inspect the contents and
> let me know. 
>           Your Priority package was insured
> so at least if the model was not acceptable, you
> can get a refund and order another ( if available
> ) . Not the best but better than losing everything
> OR riding on Amtrak.  

Valleyman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> priority mail only covers up to $50.00. Someone
> must pay the additional Postal fee to cover the
> actual cost. Plus it's a battle with USPS to claim
> the refund.
>
> Valleyman

Yes, I've heard getting the claim money is next to impossible.  It's like, why pay for extra insurance?

CPR_4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's terrible. Looks like the outer box was not
> much larger than the model's box? I always try to
> ship things in a MUCH larger box than the original
> to allow for a lot of packing material between the
> inner and outer boxes.

I very much agree with you should have been packed so the lenghtwise packing was the same as the sides willing to bet it didnt have much room to be crushed. Recieved my item back from a model company that had no room anywhere in fact the box was too small was very lucky on that one. The box I sne it in cost extra due to size it was an RC car so took more to damage it than a train.  Some think that only the sides need protection but as this photo show the damage to it is the same as the box so it was too small in length to protect anything. Know the hadling is a problem and they could deny a clame due to poor packing. Just a thought.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/22 06:45 by BAB.

A Friend who is a former Postal Service employee aleasy said that 'Fragile' means 'throw it underhand.'

I've been lucky, both with USPS and UPS. Only once in many years of shipping and receiving products have I ever had a problem. And I've been shipping and receiving things for 50 years.

Art House

I recently had a $400.00 item shipped to me, USPS. I had tracking on the item, so I knew the arrival date. I happened to see my Postal Carrier prior to her arrival at my community box. She said, I have a package for you. As she went to hand it to me. I could see the package was ripped open. My $400.00 item was missing. I refused the empty package. Carrier said, stuff like this happens all the time. I contacted the shipper. He said it wasn't his fault, but USPS. Told me to file the claim against USPS. He never paid for the extra insurance to cover the true value of the item. $50.00 was all could get. I told the shipper he used the worse form of packaging I'd ever seen. He said he's been using the same packaging for years. He never offered me extra insurance at time of purchase.

Valleyman

The only people who take note the word "fragile" is the person who ships it and the person who receives it at the other end.

Much of it does have to do with the packaging, meaning no voids in the box but rather packed so that if you were to pick up the box and shake it, nothing moves (a test). After being an accountant (and controller for 30 years), I now pack items for a living and enjoy it, though I am under the gun to pack x number of boxes an hour regardless of size, weight, number of items, etc. 

We have received feedback from our customers about receiving a box that has been beat up by the shipper, but the contents were in fine shape, because we went the extra mile to pack it well. I have also received quoted emails from sales, where customers have complimented me on how well an item was packed! :) (Positive reinforcement goes a long way, something that many companies today don't ahave a clue about. Are you listening NS, UP and CSX?) We have heard from (often new) customers that often with a similar item our company (Sweetwater) sells,  Amazon would just throw the item in the box.

Victor B.

Many years ago, as part of my job at a printing plant in Los Angeles, I had occasion to go inside the sorting area of the Los Angeles USPS district distribution facility. What I witnessed blew my mind. The floor area, nearly as large as a football field, had hundreds, maybe a thousand, large canvass mail bags held up and open by metal racks. A cadre of people, mostly men, were "shooting" small to medium boxes like basketballs into the open bags. Very few of them missed their target. I had never seen anything like that before since.
Bill Pyper
Lacey, WA