Package Shipping Problems - A Cautionary Tale

i actually had that happen too. i ordered a free sample of toilet paper. when i went to the mail place, i pulled out the box and opened it there. the box was empty. now why would you steal scott toiletpaper ( full size roll ) and leave the empty box. i believe it even clearly stated on the box it was a free sample or that it was from walmart.com. why wouldnt you just take the whole box than i wouldnt have known it was stolen, i would have just assumed that they never sent it. got a good laugh out of that one.

Thanks Neil. There will be a few small things I will ship routinely.

Neil - did you send them priority mail or parcel post? I'm curious as I'm shipping some items tomorrow.

Thanks for the head's up.

I would like to say, again, that I've lived here and conducted business for nearly 20 years and in that time I have had 2 items go missing from the USPS; one was a check and every indication was that it was never sent. My boxes have been at Kingshill and GB.

I've always used either USPS Priority Mail or VI Cargo. I've brought in heavy machinery, parts, computers, software, stereo equipment, a raft of stuff from Amazon, lumber, plywood, appliances, safes, tires, rims, engines and on and on. I've never lost anything from VI Cargo, and they've saved me $$$ by refusing an item or two that looked like they were damaged on arrival @ Medley.

I have NEVER used Fed Ex or UPS by choice. Occasionally a vendor will use them without my prior approval and I won't use the vender again in that case. Rarely my clients use DHL and they have reported no mishaps other than missed delivery times.

Good luck to all.

Good night Neil,

I'm so sorry that happened to you. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I shouldn't tempt fate, but for the last two years I've had 100% success with insured USPS items, whether sent parcel post, media mail, or Priority. For every sad story, there is a counterexample. Here's mine: Once I had a laptop sent to me that arrived with the box 3/4 torn open, and not only was the power adapter still in there (really can't fathom how it hadn't fallen out) but the computer was also there, and it worked perfectly.

I hope you had insurance on the packages and can recoup your losses!

Greetings All,

Has anyone ever shipped barrels and have the experiences been positive?

Natural

Barrels? Do'y mean drums? as in 33 or 55 gallon drums? If so, I use with VI Cargo or DHL.

I've had success in shipping to a very dicey situation by using lots of glass-fiber tape. Tape every edge and flap.

Following up on numerous comments/questions...

When we moved here we shipped USPS with no problems and almost no breakage.
But each package had enormous amounts of tape on it.

Looking at the 3 "burgled" boxes we received from the online stores... the common thing about all three was that they were POORLY taped.
The shipper made it way too easy for the thief to quickly snip the tape at the end of the box, slip a hand in and reseal it.

In all three cases, the shipper ate the theft. We didn't pay a dime, but wasted over an hour on the phone.

The good news is we went into ATT on St. Croix today and bought the iphone right in the store for the SAME PRICE as was being offered on line.

On a related note....
Last week I also CAUGHT and stopped a charge from going through on my Visa Debit card for $1200 worth of lingerie from a Burbank Calif store! Wasn't even my size.

Because the thief was using my Visa Debit linked to my checking acct, the money would have gone out of my checking account and bounced a lot of other checks, before the money would have been put back in by the card issuer.

Whereas, if they had lifted my Visa Credit Card instead, the money would have only gone towards my credit limit until the fraud was discovered.

Can't be sure "where" my Visa Debit info was lifted, but probably from an online purchase. I will never use my Visa Debit for online purchases again.

I had my Visa debit info lifted when I lived stateside. They made some fashion website charges in Germany, of all places. If you've made online transactions with it, expect it to be stolen -- use real credit cards online 100% to be safe!

Good points. Credit cards are protected by Federal law beyond $50. Debit cards are not protected.

Good points. Credit cards are protected by Federal law beyond $50. Debit cards are not protected.

This is not true.

Visa Debit Cards have 100% protection. You do not have to pay for fraudulent purchases.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/debit/visa_check_cards_faq.html
I would almost guarantee this is the same with the other card providers.

The difference/problem is that with a Debit fraud, the money is taken out of your checking account, which may cause other legitimate purchases/checks to bounce before the fraud is discovered and the money is put back. With a Visa Credit purchase, your checking acct does not bounce.

Both types of cards have the same security monitoring on them.