Is there anything the USPS can't break?

Lakesammman · February 22, 2007 11:32AM

Post your USPS disasters here!

I know this pitcher is OT, but it cost me a pretty penny. Arrived today, insured for $4000.

Tyler1924S · February 22, 2007 11:37AM

Doesn't surprise me, even with box inside another box, etc. Who made that pitcher?

cladking · February 22, 2007 11:38AM

Anything beyond their capabilities is beyond the 80lb weight limit.

No need to worry.

foxxze · February 22, 2007 11:40AM

...........A 4000$ CERAMIC INDIAN MUG should be packaged withenough space age foam , in a crush proof box that it could be dropped off the side of a mountian and remain unscared . Best of luck to you collecting your 4000$

30AnvZ28 · February 22, 2007 11:47AM

<< ...........A 4000$ CERAMIC INDIAN MUG should be packaged withenough space age foam , in a crush proof box that it could be dropped off the side of a mountian and remain unscared . Best of luck to you collecting your 4000$ >>

Would definately have to agree to that. I hope they come through.

johngerman · February 22, 2007 11:50AM

Looks kinda like 'Ol Sleepy Eye, but I have only seen those in blue? Sorry dude. Once those are gone, there are no more and i feel your pain. I bought a large lot of Rosemeade once and only 2 items survived the PO even though they were very well packed. SUX.

tmot99 · February 22, 2007 11:53AM

I can't say as I've had any problems with USPS. UPS and FedEx, yeah, but USPS has not broken anything.

Wolf359 · February 22, 2007 11:54AM

I'm thinking super glue!

Lakesammman · February 22, 2007 11:55AM

I'm covered - I owe the seller X, now less $4000 - it's up to him to collect.

It was heavily bubble wrapped, box-in-box, etc.

Yes, Old Sleepy Eye - the mint condition non-blue items are rare and command a real premium.

TennesseeDave · February 22, 2007 11:57AM

Ouch,that's gotta hurt.They once lost a proof 20 center that was insured for $1500 and it took about 6 months before the claim was settled.I ended up having to get a receipt from the seller and show proof of value before they would pay me.They hardly ever ask what is in the box when you request insurance,but try to make a claim and they ask plenty of questions.Good luck.

Burks · February 22, 2007 2:52PM

Yikes! Sorry to see that happen. Just got a package in from USPS today, thankfully they didn't crush it. I would of had six dead fish on my hands and one smelly box!

BTW the answer to your signature is 14 right?

WTCG · February 22, 2007 2:58PM

It isn't always the fault of the USPS when something breaks. Most of the time items break because of improper packaging by the sender.

Lakesammman · February 22, 2007 3:01PM

Burks:

The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

30AnvZ28 · February 22, 2007 3:56PM

pythagorean theorem.

a2+b2=c2.

Dont ask me how I remember that.

3/4/5 is a shortcut... and any multiple.

There are 2 other shortcut variants... but I cant remember them. Its been 8 years since I took geometry, and I still remember that part.

TwoSides2aCoin · February 22, 2007 4:00PM

There goes another treasure

~one man's trash.... <---- the garbage man has job security AND so does the postman

go figure !

cladking · February 22, 2007 4:05PM

<< Burks:

The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

>>

Maybe, but I'm still trying to figure out how x appears to be about 2 1/2 times as long as 3 if it's only 5.

rhedden · February 22, 2007 9:45PM

First coin I ever sold over the internet was an 1878-S PCGS MS63 PL Morgan dollar, sold in 1996 for $52.75. It arrived in the recipient's mailbox, fully insured, with mud and vehicle tire tracks on the envelope. The mail carrier dropped it on the ground and a vehicle ran over it, then he/she just put it into the mailbox like nothing happened. The slab was all smashed inside, but the coin seemed to survive. The buyer was somehow upset with ME and wanted his money back, but I told him to please collect the postal insurance on that one.

LanLord · February 22, 2007 11:31PM

<< 

<< Burks: The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

>>

Maybe, but I'm still trying to figure out how x appears to be about 2 1/2 times as long as 3 if it's only 5.

>>

It's an optional illusion

Newb · February 22, 2007 11:56PM

<< Burks:

The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

>>

Yes it is

Outhaul · February 23, 2007 12:00AM

<< A 4000$ CERAMIC INDIAN MUG should be packaged withenough space age foam , in a crush proof box that it could be dropped off the side of a mountian and remain unscared . Best of luck to you collecting your 4000$ >>

I totally agree. There are plenty of excellent packaging materials and boxes that withstand tons of abuse, not to mention that there are far more fragile items shipped by the USPS without incident.

Why is it that anyone who receives an item via USPS that is damaged bashes the crap out of the USPS? I've been shipping via USPS for years and never had a problem. Further, how do you know it wasn't due to mishandling by the seller?

Just my eversohumble opinion.

Cheers,

Bob

PerryHall · February 23, 2007 12:05AM

So what happens to the pitcher? Are you going to try to repair it to salvage some of its value? Are there companies that do this kind of restoration work? Seems a shame that it was broken like this. Once the insurance claim is paid, will the USPS want to take possession of the broken pieces? If so, they'll probably just toss them.

Lakesammman · February 23, 2007 1:00AM

Perry:

In the past, they've just said keep it. I suspect that someone could fix it but the value will never be there again.

I suspect the repair will be more than the repaired value.

I know a woman that is so paranoid about USPS shipping that she is driving from NY to Texas in the near future to pickup some stoneware!

With regard to packaging, I know an art dealer that was shipping a 2 millon dollar painting from Seattle to Texas. Just to be safe, he shipped the frame seperate from the canvas in a wood crate with plywood facing. When the frame box arrived, there was a hole right through the middle from a forklift tine.

Bottom line - no matter how careful you are, someone can break it.

Coxe · February 23, 2007 1:25AM

When I switched grad schools I shipped all of my books and my research via USPS. About 1/3 of the books arrived and none of my research work did. Stuff wasn't broken but their system was. How in the world could they not locate such specialized missing and important material along their shipping route is beyond me. It was insured but there was no way of valuing years of research that could be partially duplicated over time only. I really knew how those guys felt who had the animal rights folks destroy their lab when that happened.

messydesk · February 23, 2007 2:12AM

I didn't see anything in the USPS terms of service regarding specific or general limitations to items unto which they can inflicit damage, so I'll assume the answer to the original question is no.

ziggy29 · February 23, 2007 2:15AM

I'll be convinced they can break ANYTHING if they can break an SEGS slab.

Cladiator · February 23, 2007 2:19AM

gloo, i need gloo

Barndog · February 23, 2007 2:30AM

<< Is there anything the USPS can't break? >>

a sweat, working hard.

Lakesammman · February 23, 2007 2:35AM

a sweat, working hard.

Burks · February 23, 2007 3:38AM

<< Burks:

The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

>>

Damn.....no wonder my college professor called me an ignorant moron.

To anyone who thought I was serious, I'll also give you Anna Nicole's final cheese sandwich for $2.94

seemyauction · February 23, 2007 3:43AM

Sorry to see your sleepy eye get trashed......

and to answer the question....NOPE.....there is nothing safe with USPS.

AL

Barndog · February 23, 2007 3:51AM

<< 

<< Burks:

The answer is 5 but the provided answer is funnier.

>>

Damn.....no wonder my college professor called me an ignorant moron.

To anyone who thought I was serious, I'll also give you Anna Nicole's final cheese sandwich for $2.94 >>

shipping included?

Dentuck · February 23, 2007 4:26AM

I once had an expensive Greek sculpture shipped from Mykonos to New York, and it broke in transit. I lucked out because, after being reimbursed, the two broken parts made attractive standalone pieces.

seanq · February 23, 2007 4:30AM

I have arguments every time I go to one particular clerk at my local PO, I insist on paying the $.12 surcharge for non-machinable envelopes and he keeps trying to show me how they slide (barely) through his guide and don't need it. One day I'm going to bring these two pictures to him, to show what can happen to even a thin envelope with a coin in a 2x2 inside:

Sean Reynolds

PerryHall · February 23, 2007 4:35AM

When a package arrives that is obviouly smashed, is it best to not sign for it and to tell the mailman that you refuse to accept delivery and it should be returned to the sender?

Preussen · February 23, 2007 5:18AM

I once received a PCGS slabbed coin with the slab snapped in half just below the label. The coin was poorly packaged IMO, but the USPS paid the reholder cost plus shipping. -Preussen

jhusman · February 23, 2007 5:21AM

Tell me about your ex-pitcher. What is it and why valuable?

My wife collects Starburst 50's tableware, and I know the heartbreak of shipping first hand.

holeinone1972 · February 23, 2007 5:25AM

<< When a package arrives that is obviouly smashed, is it best to not sign for it and to tell the mailman that you refuse to accept delivery and it should be returned to the sender? >>

My opinion yes. I always ask to see the package before I sign for it.

Rob

Lakesammman · February 23, 2007 6:36AM

Tell me about your ex-pitcher. What is it and why valuable?

Sleepy eye items were made to advertise the Sleepy Eye Flour products. Started in the early 1900's and ran to about 1930. The pottery was typically either flemish or blue/white. Some of it was put in flour sacks so the farmers wifes would buy their product, kind of a Cracker Jack Prize approach. There are rare pieces that were made in other off colors in low volume and there are so called "lunch time" pieces that are unique, made by the potters for friends and family. I passed on one a few years ago that had "Merry Xmas" under the pouring lip and I've been kicking myself for passing on it ever since.

A good example might be the steins. A good condition flemish stein might be $350-500 but a one of a kind green stein (lunch time piece) would be $6500 or so.

The brown pitcher in the first post was not only a unusual color but it was mint condition, purchased from a fellow who is an avid collector and who is in the process of breaking up his personal collection.

TwoSides2aCoin · February 23, 2007 6:51AM

<< Sleepy eye items were made to advertise the Sleepy Eye Flour products. Started in the early 1900's and ran to about 1930. ................The brown pitcher in the first post was not only a unusual color but it was mint condition, purchased from a fellow who is an avid collector and who is in the process of breaking up his personal collection. >>

I think the post office is doing a better job of breaking up this personal collection than the owner is capable of doing

jhusman · February 23, 2007 7:25AM

Thank you very much for the explanation

New knowledge is good knowledge.

LincolnCentMan · February 23, 2007 11:13AM

Does this count?

-David

MRK · February 23, 2007 11:50AM

Sorry for the loss. About six months ago by coincidence, I opened my front door at the very moment the mailman threw a box containing a glass pitcher from the Columbian Expo. He was in too much of a hurry to walk up the driveway but it was just too late for him to hold back when I opened the door. He just smiled at me and ran back to the truck. I haven't seen him since. Either he quit, or got plenty of complaints. Luckily, the pitcher was well packaged and it survived undamaged.

Lakesammman · February 23, 2007 12:46PM

LincolnCentMan - what's the story there??

EagleEye · February 23, 2007 2:45PM

Lakesamman,

So sorry to see/hear about that loss. I mail registered packages in an envelope marked PHOTOS. That way the P.O. will hopefully not run the package through their automated canceling machine, which will snap holders in half (just like LincolnCentMan's). They have to hand cancel. Doesn't always work, though.

I've heard of letter carriers leaving packages with over $10K worth of coins in them on people's doorsteps!

pb2y · February 23, 2007 10:30PM

No problems yet--just lucky maybe??

LincolnCentMan · February 23, 2007 10:44PM

LincolnCentMan - what's the story there??

I bought it as a flipper coin off of teletrade a few years back. Teletrade was packing single slabs in standard #10 envelopes with a cardboard insert. Then the envelope was through the mail machine and fractured. I sent it back to teletrade to get them to fix the problem. They had the coin reholdered and sent back to me. It cost me far more time and frustration than if I would have if I would have sent it to PCGS for a reholder myself. I had this happen with a 14-D lincoln in PCGS MS65BN as well. On that one, I sent it to PCGS. I think Teletrade has moved to using padded envelopes now.

-David

Is there anything the USPS can't break?

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