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(As promised) "Mail theft—in search of accountability from the U.S.P.S.": This week's newspaper column


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Mail theft—in search of accountability from the U.S.P.S.

For many Americans, one tiresome trend in contemporary journalism has been the advent of columnists who seem to do nothing but complain in their commentaries. Such petulance can run the gamut from the whining of sanctimonious liberals to the iron-countenance attitude of “for-me-or-against-me” right-wingers. Of course, many of them—if not most— know that their fractiousness is their respective meal tickets.

That’s not my op-ed style, but if this essay comes across like a “complaint commentary,” so be it.

I’ve been writing for a monthly guitar magazine for some 29 years. In doing research on instruments, I’ve often relied on other enthusiasts to supply me with images of players, instruments, catalog pages, posters, etc., and I have developed courteous, business-like relationships with guitar lovers across the country, and even in other nations.

My primary source in recent times has been a website that proffers scans of hundreds of catalogs of American, Asian, and European instruments. The online site also displays other equipment catalogs, price lists, and advertising. Some catalogs go back over a century. The owner of the site also buys and sells such memorabilia himself—catalogs are a tangential collectible genre, just like guitar picks or straps.

Recently, I sent the owner a package containing 26 catalogs, brochures and flyers from my own collection, as he did not have images of those items—this was to be a simple act of professional courtesy in appreciation for all the times he’s helped me out, and it was my idea.

I communicated with the catalog honcho about what I could send him, based on what I didn’t see on his website. He was to scan those publications on high-quality equipment to his own specifications, and would then return them to me.

The packet was shipped in a 13” X 10” manila envelope to Kansas City, Missouri via Priority Mail from the U.S. Postal Service office in Tallassee. The website owner was looking forward to getting dozens of new images placed online.

What he received a few days later was the envelope only, which had been torn open. The contents had been stolen, except for a list of the catalogs I had included.

The envelope was now enclosed in a plastic wrapper of sorts by the U.S.P.S., and a notice accompanying the now-wrapped envelope indicated there had been damage to the package. The U.S.P.S. form had a title that read “Because We Care.”

I’ve mailed magazines and books on almost a weekly basis for decades, which is one of the reasons I didn’t feel compelled to insure the contents when I’d mailed the package—I had never experienced something like this. The other reason was because I hadn’t researched what each item was worth…but I knew some of them were valuable. One of them dated from 1956, and was in mint condition.

The catalog expert advised that he’d never had any previous mail problems, either.

I decided to take this as far as I could, and visited the local post office. The Tallassee U.S.P.S. staff is always courteous, and that was the case in this situation, as well. One employee suggested that a machine might have torn open the package, causing the contents to spill out.

That theory was punctured when I informed the employee that the envelope had been torn open on three sides.

I was informed that any claim needed to be filed online. Apparently, a customer of the U.S.P.S. who has such a complaint has to work with a soulless computer instead with a real, live person.

The online claim site indicated that I had to have an appraisal (or some similar term) from a noted expert in whatever category the missing or lost item(s) would be categorized, and the guy in Kansas City fulfilled that requirement.

However, I stumbled regarding the list he’d worked up, accidentally filing the claim without attaching the appraisals. The U.S.P.S. site then informed me I couldn’t update my claim.

The U.S.P.S. soon sent me a check for $50, which is their standard reimbursement amount for lost Priority Mail. I appealed, sending in the appraisal list with the appeal, but it was denied.

I knew going into the claim process that my effort could probably be likened to a midge taking on Mothra, but such an institution as the U.S. Postal Service ought to be held accountable for such sordid debacles.

But ultimately, all most of us can do is complain, if only to ourselves and our local peers.

 

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I learned the hard way that the USPS is a sovereign entity and cannot be held accountable for well..Pretty much any damn thing they do. Or something to that affect??

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Reminds me of the time they ran a fork truck through an empty road case. "Did the seller insured it?:, "No", "Sorry there is nothing we can do for you?". WFT

Oh, last set of pickups I sent Josh went from Washington, IL to Cali, then Minnesota. 

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I'm still waiting on either an insurance claim check or a still-undelivered-months-ago set of MJ-wound Duncan Antiquities from UPS. Seymour Duncan's factory packages to dealers are plain brown boxes with tape printed with the pole-pieced "S" logo below. If I had to guess what happened to that package, it crossed paths with an employee who both knew something about guitars and also how to cover his ass and his tracks in their tracking system.

Seymour_Duncan-logo-8D67955232-seeklogo.

Hopefully there's not a "next time," Willie, but if there is, we'll use my shop's LLC and federal, state and local tax IDs to establish me as your noted expert.

And whatever they fuck up, I'll put a replacement value of one zillion dollars on it LOL

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4 hours ago, Thundersteel said:

UPS/FedEx/DHL are probably all similar.

                                                                                   Unfortunately.....................this is very true.:(

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USPS has gotten SO bad in the last 5-10 years.  

I can pretty much bank on having at least 25% of my mail either lost, destroyed or misdelivered on a regular basis.

It's really not a hard job, but getting any sort of reimbursement or compensation (or even a fucking explanation) is an endlessly frustrating morass, clearly intentionally created to drive you to frustration so you'll just give up.  Try getting anybody at any of the local P.O. locations to even pick up a phone...I let it ring one time and stopped counting at 150 rings.

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2 hours ago, cmatthes said:

...intentionally created to drive you to frustration so you'll just give up.

I encounter that fairly often, more and more as time goes on.
Unfortunately for them they have no idea who they're dealing with.

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My last job in the IT field before shifting to academia was on a contract supporting USPS at their main IT hub in Raleigh. I found myself in the real life role of Peter from the cult classic Office Space. The only thing missing was a memo on TPS report cover sheet protocol.

I had no less than seven mid-level USPS managerial flunkies constantly trying to tell me what to do and how to do it. It was an exercise in feckless governance and constant contradiction and misinformation. After three months of that shit, I got a teaching gig and got the hell out of there. 

Post mortem: In the last two days of my two-week notice, I read a blurb in WSJ that USPS was planning to report a $1.5 billion operating loss for that FY.  Within 60 days, nearly all of my 188 colleagues on that contract were laid off. For once, I exhibited perfect timing.

I like my local USPS crew; they're friendly, service oriented, and hard working. Those know-it-all, relocated-Yankee ass clowns in their IT division could rot in hell for all I care. 

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27 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

I like my local USPS crew; they're friendly, service oriented, and hard working.

Then I wouldn't get too attached to them.   

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3 hours ago, cmatthes said:

USPS has gotten SO bad in the last 5-10 years.  

I can pretty much bank on having at least 25% of my mail either lost, destroyed or misdelivered on a regular basis.

It's really not a hard job, but getting any sort of reimbursement or compensation (or even a fucking explanation) is an endlessly frustrating morass, clearly intentionally created to drive you to frustration so you'll just give up.  Try getting anybody at any of the local P.O. locations to even pick up a phone...I let it ring one time and stopped counting at 150 rings.

 

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                               Yes they have........................ I've lived at my current address for almost 8 years now and despite 3 trips to the local postal service to fill out papers that this person does NOT live here any longer I STILL get his mail.

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Three times in the past two weeks, (twice with the Post Office; once with FedEx), I've been getting someone else's deliveries. Correct address, but not my name. No one near me has that name, either. One of these was a Dell computer!

All have been returned to sender, but it's very odd.

Edit: Just received another one from FedEx today. I have no idea what's going on!

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11 hours ago, kizanski said:

I encounter that fairly often, more and more as time goes on.
Unfortunately for them they have no idea who they're dealing with.

Actually, the government has had you on their list for years.  They know.   😎 

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Recently, I sent the owner a package containing 26 catalogs, brochures and flyers from my own collection, as he did not have images of those items—this was to be a simple act of professional courtesy in appreciation for all the times he’s helped me out, and it was my idea.

The packet was shipped in a 13” X 10” manila envelope to Kansas City, Missouri via Priority Mail from the U.S. Postal Service office in Tallassee. The website owner was looking forward to getting dozens of new images placed online.

 

Manilla envelope for 26 catalogs?  That sounds heavy for a manilla envelope unless you wrapped the package all

around with wide cellophane tape,  even then probably would have been better to use one of those free

priority mail boxes.       just sayin.    

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^^^^Detail: Many, if not most of the items were brochures or foldover posters; not as thick as bona fide catalogs, and while there were a few "booklets", methinks the thickest was probably a dozen pages. The point is, they were short-lived/rare brands, for the most part. At least three were single pages, printed on both sides.

I did use clear "UPS tape", but in 20/20 hindsight, your idea of the Priority Box notion has merit. I always use those when returning corrected printouts of manuscripts to book publishers.

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