Shipping fiasco

Morgan13

Changed thread title to suit the probIem a little better. I live in Massachusetts. A forum member bought a few coins from me (I need to raise $15,000.00 for a new boiler).
So what happens does it got to the different city in Ma. NOPE it goes to Indianapolis. A little research tells me that Indy is one of the worst hubs for shipping.
This ever happen to you?
How did it turn out?

1630Boston

I've had packages go travel around the country for weeks , when I could have driven it to its destination in an hour or so.

SmEagle1795

Sounds like it's just taking the scenic route - I wouldn't call it a disaster... unless it takes a wrong turn and ends up in Gary which isn't exactly "Music Man" quality anymore.

johnny010

It happens
I live outside of Houston and sometimes my packages go to Hawaii prior to their destinations and usually when looking at the map one might suggest it doesn’t make sense but to them it must.

Copperindian

I live in the SF Bay Area. I had a coin sent from Canton MI first to San Juan PR, then to my home address. All OK with the package, but it took an extra week.
One more: shipped from Tucson AZ first to Honolulu HI, then here. Luckily it was in a box which was pretty beat up by the time it got here. Again, an extra week working through the USPS system.

Morgan13

I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Morgan13

@johnny010 said:
It happens
I live outside of Houston and sometimes my packages go to Hawaii prior to their destinations and usually when looking at the map one might suggest it doesn’t make sense but to them it must.

Depending on the value of the coins it can be a little stressful huh?

johnny9434

I had a post card get hung up outta state for 8 days, it was a mass mailing for a drawing at a coin show. I wasent the only one to lose out 😡

JBK

It happens. It gets onto the wrong truck and doesn't get discovered until the truck's destination.

oldabeintx

It’s happened to me on the sending end and receiving end. It has always worked out, even from foreign sources. Insure my packages of significant value in any event. My definition of a disaster is significantly different than the OP.

Sanddollar

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

lermish

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

OH THE HUMANITY

Nap

I buy from overseas frequently. If you think going to the wrong state is bad, wait til a package goes to the wrong country! Nevertheless most stuff makes it eventually.

I’ve had three packages go missing in about a dozen years with several hundred purchases. In each case, the package was stolen/lost at US customs, not in transit. Despite the bad press and some irksome delays, the USPS is quite reliable.

jmlanzaf

.

JW77

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

I guess that depends on whether the contents were insured and/or if it reaches the final destination

MsMorrisine

i got guammed once

oldabeintx

Strangest misdirection I’ve experienced was on the receiving end. Coin was sent across the country, made it to the second sorting hub in Dallas (my city). Usually out for delivery from the local PO the next day. But, next day it shows up in Indianapolis. Only time that has happened. Did make it back to Dallas. I get more nervous as a receiver generally than as a sender - I have insurance.

GRANDAM

Indianapolis built a new sorting hub. They put it in use without getting all the bugs out of the system. It is not unusual for a package or a letter to lay in limbo at INDY for 2 or 3 weeks. It will probably move at some point.

If it is a registered package I would expect it to take a full 2 or 3 weeks for it to escape the "BLACK HOLE" at INDY.

MFeld

I don’t see a post indicating that the coins have been lost, damaged or stolen and hopefully they won’t be.

Is this currently a case of a shipping inconvenience and/or scare? Sure. Disaster? No.

No Headlights

I have several packages take an extended stay in Jamaica, New York. Not sure why, but they just sit for days on end after arriving there.

Cranium_Basher73

I mailed off a phone bill payment yesterday that was due yesterday. The bill came in the mail Friday. It was sent out Feb 10.

jmlanzaf

@JW77 said:

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

I guess that depends on whether the contents were insured and/or if it reaches the final destination

And how low your threshold is for "disaster"...

2ndCharter

I fail to see where the "disaster" is. Now, if the coins never make it to their intended destination (which you fail to explain either way), then I would call it a "disaster".

logger7

Registered shipments are stranger in their paths than some others; but here in the NY area predictable usually. Express shipments are more reliable in my experience.

Morgan13

@MFeld said:
I don’t see a post indicating that the coins have been lost, damaged or stolen and hopefully they won’t be.

Is this currently a case of a shipping inconvenience and/or scare? Sure. Disaster? No.

Okay maybe disaster is the wrong word but that's how it feels for me. It's uncomfortable with all the negative this discussed on the forum lately. The last time I sent this person a coin it took 2 days to get there.

blitzdude

I am in Western PA and i have many shipments coming from the east coast that end up with a detour to the Indianapolis hub. I wouldn't be overly concerned about it at this point. Just USPS being their typical inefficient self. RGDS!

1630Boston

I have faith that it will all work out OK, let us know the outcome
boston

lermish

@Morgan13 said:

@MFeld said:
I don’t see a post indicating that the coins have been lost, damaged or stolen and hopefully they won’t be.

Is this currently a case of a shipping inconvenience and/or scare? Sure. Disaster? No.

Okay maybe disaster is the wrong word but that's how it feels for me. It's uncomfortable with all the negative this discussed on the forum lately. The last time I sent this person a coin it took 2 days to get there.

The jump from uncomfortable to disaster is apparently a short one.

I guess when I challenge posters with their portents of shipping doom, it's just peeing in the wind, and some people prefer to accept fearmongering rather than actual facts.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1111885/be-careful-with-fedex-too-their-packages-are-disappearing-as-well

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1110918/found-more-valuable-coins-missing-usps-greenville-sc-distribution-center

Morgan13

The tracking says it's at the Indianapolis hub. This hub has the reputation of bring one of if not the slowest in the country.
It'd been there for 10 days and has not budged.
What I want to know I'd how my package went out of state when it was and in state delivery.

1960NYGiants

I've got one that shipped Feb 18th from SC to Iowa that is hung up in Coppell, TX since Feb 22. Head scratcher.

airplanenut

@Morgan13 said:
The tracking says it's at the Indianapolis hub. This hub has the reputation of bring one of if not the slowest in the country.
It'd been there for 10 days and has not budged.
What I want to know I'd how my package went out of state when it was and in state delivery.

It all depends on where the sort facilities are. I can't speak for the logistics of the USPS since they have many more sorts, but FedEx, as an example, routes just about all overnight packages through Memphis. Some cities may stop local packages from going to Memphis one night and then being returned the next morning, but I remember working in a law firm when I was in high school and parcels sent between offices 10 miles away in NJ would fly to Memphis, be there for a few hours, then fly back for a 10am delivery the next morning. The logistics are much more complicated when looking at how the whole system has to operate versus how it affects one single package. When I mail something within my mailing city, it still goes to the main sort for the region. Depending on where the sorts are, shipping something within state can lead to a package going out of state first. Or it could just be misrouted, which happens.

WinLoseWin

@lermish said:

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

OH THE HUMANITY

Never new they went and named one of those after the stamps.
.
.
On another note, I hope the OP's package doesn't vacation in Indy for too long:

As USPS delays pile up in Indianapolis, lawmakers call on postmaster to address issue

P0CKETCHANGE

The last package I had go through the Indy DC sat for over a month before it finally resurfaced. The seller had dozens of eBay packages in the same batch that had identical delays. After almost four weeks I requested and was granted a refund, and of course it showed up a few days later. I suggest filling out a missing mail request at missingmail.usps.com

MsMorrisine

i know it's more than uncomfortable because i've been there

a lot of us have been there as shown by the replies. being guammed was only one of my problem package. it's worrisome when it happens. many of the replies are also directly or indirectly saying things eventually work out.. it's gotten easier for me as this is the first time i've brought up being guammed on the forum

there is a missing mail form on the usps website. try filling it out to see if they can dislodge it

logger7

It seems to be a common theme these days....

Desert Moon

@logger7 said:
It seems to be a common theme these days....

No. It is not. Never had a package not arrive at its destination, going on 20 years………... Many in the last few months, all good. That is probably the norm. Sure, Registered mail has typically taken 2 weeks, sometimes 3, PM usually 2-3-4 days anywhere.

TPring

@lermish said:

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

OH THE HUMANITY

I was thinking more along the lines of...

lermish

@TPring said:

@lermish said:

@Sanddollar said:

@Morgan13 said:
I call having to come up with $15 grand for a boiler a disaster then having the package go out of state when it didn't have to.

Bro, you called it a "shipping disaster." It wasn't and it isn't.

OH THE HUMANITY

I was thinking more along the lines of...

I didn't think my joke needed any explanation but I guess it did. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald WAS a disaster. A Zeppelin peacefully docked at a hangar is NOT a disaster.

Just like a delayed package is not a disaster despite OP's claim that the Hindenburg had exploded.

Explanations always make jokes better 🙄 What a waste of a good joke.😐

Bochiman

I recently shipped a $20,000 coin to Texas and watched it sit for ~3 days.
I admit to being a bit worried even though it was shipped registered and insured. So, i understand.

However, most of the time, everything will be fine.

Reminds me of a car group I am on on FB. People are always talking about the problems they have, but some of these vehicles have sold hundreds of thousands and the vast majority aren't talking about the problems... as they aren't having them. They just don't say "Car is still driving fine today and no issues".
So, when some new members join, they say "wow! With all these problems people are talking about, maybe I shouldn't get this car (or, "I regret just buying it")".

M4Madness

I just had a Priority Mail package (cashier's check being sent to coin dealer) sit at the Indy hub for over a week.

logger7

Last time I had a delay I opened a missing mail case and it got moving soon.

TimNH

It does cause stress, having valuable coins sent thru the mail (or FedEx or whatever) and I am no exception, but eventually mine have always gotten there. No one ever posts "ordered a coin, arrived safe & on time", just as no one runs a news story about a plane that landed safely, or a car ride that ended without a crash, even though they are 99.99% of all events.

Let's be careful with terms like "disaster". coin collecting is all done thru the mail now, and this scares people away from the hobby entirely.

PTVETTER

And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

lermish

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Huh?

PerryHall

@lermish said:

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Huh?

I think he's referring to the USPS paying for all the lost and stolen insured packages.

lermish

@PerryHall said:

@lermish said:

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Huh?

I think he's referring to the USPS paying for all the lost and stolen insured packages.

Could be. Given the rates charged on insurance, I highly doubt any money is lost on insured packages. If money were lost with regularity, they would jack up the insurance rates, like any insurance provider. (At which point people would complain about the insurance rates.)

Most likely, it appears that the USPS loses a lot more money than they do because of how they are forced to account for pension liabilities due to various political machinations dating back to the PAEA Act signed into law in 2006.

Even more likely, as I've ranted about ad nauseam, the USPS has never lost a penny because it is a service provided for by our tax dollars, not a for-profit business.

But the real answer is that it is easy to say "the usps looses so much $$$$$" without giving it any deeper thought because the USPS is a convenient whipping boy and why not.

Sanddollar

Once the OP's package is delivered, and it will be, I hope he comes back here with a sincere apology and then writes his local post office with a sincere apology to make up for this malarkey.

blitzdude

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Fake newz. RGDS!

lermish

@blitzdude said:

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Fake newz. RGDS!

Holy cow, we agree on something!

blitzdude

@lermish said:

@blitzdude said:

@PTVETTER said:
And people wonder how the usps looses so much $$$$$

Fake newz. RGDS!

Holy cow, we agree on something!

Well don't agree too much, that will land you either in jail or the gutter. RGDS!

Morgan13

@TimNH said:
It does cause stress, having valuable coins sent thru the mail (or FedEx or whatever) and I am no exception, but eventually mine have always gotten there. No one ever posts "ordered a coin, arrived safe & on time", just as no one runs a news story about a plane that landed safely, or a car ride that ended without a crash, even though they are 99.99% of all events.

Let's be careful with terms like "disaster". coin collecting is all done thru the mail now, and this scares people away from the hobby entirely.

I think your right Tim. Disaster is a bit strong. Now if he doesn't get his coins that will be a disaster.
The key here is that I have shipped to this person twice. Got there in 2 days. We live in the same state. I just don't get it.