Yup USPS, insured and all.

Xander

 

For about 40 cents you can add "Delivery Confirmation" which is a tracking number to a Prioty Mail or Parcel Post piece.
I've used Parcel Post with a tracking number delivery confirmation many times.
The Parcel Post pieces will usually get there faster because more attention is given cause they're being tracked.




[Modified by 69er, 6:59 AM 3/27/2002]

 

Joe: Cool - I'll have to try that - thanks.

Xander: I used to have a small antique map business. Many sales went out of the country and I had lots of problems with USPS. I think they are the best inside the country but when leaving the country - watch out! I eventually stopped international orders as it just wasn't worth it. I'm not sure if it's a USPS problem, customs, or delivering country problem but it's no fun for either seller or buyer when the packages disappear. The tracking system must be pretty new as I would have used it. You would think that would solve the problem hey?

 

[start rant]

The tracking system may be new but it doesn't work! How can you track something if along the way the number changes and no one knows to what and where the package has gone.....I called and askes if it was in transit: Answer ...I dunno sir
Well do the customs have it....Dunno sir

Is it in your terminal....Dunno sir....

Can't you check if there's a parcel destined for my address??...Nope sir

Well can you see if there's a parcel send by this and this from there and there....No sorry can't do that either...

This is getting really old really fast as I can't claim the insurance when it's still in transit....

[end rant]

Xander

 

Here are the tracking results if you run your tracking number at http://www.fedex.com.
Not to advertise for either fedex or ups, but we have used both to ship large numbers of packages every day - both about equal in losing packages and customer service. We dropped ups last year because fedex gave us a better discount.

Russ


Detailed Results


Tracking Number 045747823519878
Customer Reference Number
Invoice Number
Purchase Order Number
Ship Date 02/07/2002
Est. Delivery Date Delivered
Delivery Location TROY
Delivery Date/Time 03/07/2002 17:43
Signed For By CSAPIKOWSKI
Service Type Ground-Domestic
Total Weight 12.0 lbs.
Tracking Options
Obtain a Signature Proof of Delivery
Email these tracking results to one or more recipients
Track More Shipments




Scan Activity Date/Time
Shipment refused by recipient/PONTIAC MI 03/14/2002 17:24
Re-routed to correct delivery address/PONTIAC MI 03/14/2002 17:19
Delivered/TROY MI 03/07/2002 17:43
Package returned to shipper/PONTIAC MI 03/07/2002 17:43
On FedEx vehicle for delivery/PONTIAC MI 03/07/2002 07:17
Arrived at FedEx sort facility/PONTIAC MI 03/07/2002 05:20
Departed FedEx sort facility/TOLEDO OH 03/07/2002 03:37
Scanned at FedEx sort facility/TOLEDO OH 03/06/2002 21:52
Arrived at FedEx sort facility/TOLEDO OH 03/06/2002 06:54
Departed FedEx sort facility/FORT WORTH TX 03/05/2002 09:51
Scanned at FedEx sort facility/FORT WORTH TX 03/05/2002 00:51
Scanned at FedEx origin location/BRYAN TX 03/04/2002 17:09
Departed FedEx sort facility/FORT WORTH TX 02/16/2002 02:45
Scanned at FedEx sort facility/FORT WORTH TX 02/15/2002 14:18
Arrived at FedEx sort facility/FORT WORTH TX 02/15/2002 02:25
Departed FedEx sort facility/TOLEDO OH 02/14/2002 06:51
Scanned at FedEx sort facility/TOLEDO OH 02/14/2002 02:48
Scanned at FedEx origin location/PONTIAC MI 02/13/2002 21:25
Picked up by FedEx/PONTIAC MI 02/13/2002 19:22
Scanned at FedEx origin location/PONTIAC MI 02/07/2002 20:46
Package information transmitted to FedEx 02/07/2002 19:17
Picked up by FedEx/PONTIAC MI 02/07/2002 19:09

 

I can relate. Sold a set of motorcycle wheels for a sportsbike to a guy in Ohio. Never made it to him. I filed a claim and they paid me $200.00 because I hadn't declared a value on the form. I was out about 300 bucks and the guy buying them didn't get his wheels.

I'm trying to restore an '81 El Camino SS. Needed a dash (they're a grand new IF you can find them). Only one I was able to find was in Michigan. The person emailed me about 10 pictures of it proving it was perfect. I paid $250.00 for it. When it got to me (via FedEX) it looked like it had been driven over by one of their trucks. They basically told me to FO when I complained.

 

Ok, I have to say something also about this situation. I am going on 27 years with UPS. Up untill last year I was a package car driver (brown truck that delivers to you), now I am in Feeders (tractor trailer driver). I have seen and heard it all. And every comment here is correct to an extent.
No matter what company you use to ship your items (of course would like you to use UPS) remember this; take your time in preparing your item for shipment as JOEVETO mentioned. Also make sure you put another complete address label inside the carton, besides what you write or attach to the outside of the carton. This way if box comes open or get caught on the belt and label gets destroyed, we can still make delivery on the carton, by the label on the inside of the box.
Take your time and reinforce your items for shipment. If you can put them in a box, and then place inside a bigger box with sufficient packing material around that box. Believe me if you follow these suggestions, and pack the proper way, you wont have any breakage, and if you include complete labels on the inside, you will help eliminate lost shipments.
I am not making any excuses for UPS, FEDEX, USPS, or any other carrier, but I don't think many of you realize how many packages pass through our systems on a daily basis. And no it does not make it right for any person with any carrier to toss a carton, I agree with that a 110%. But if you follow the guidelines of proper packing, you should have no trouble.
AND WHATEVER YOU DO ALWAYS, ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR TRACKING #, sorry but I had to yell that one.
Last summer I sent my bumpers to be chromed in VA. Got some heavy box material, wrapped real good and off they went, came back the same way, no problem.
Hope this helps, and like JOEVETO, any one who needs packing help or suggestions, just let me know, will be glad to assist you in all of your shipping needs...................Later........... .....................Tom :D :D :D

 

Note to self: pour items in reinforced concrete!

Seriously! I have had stuff shipped in reinforced boxes (w/ a wooden frame insde) and they still came as if they had been in a nuclear holocoust! Somewhere along the route my boxes always seem to end up in a crash test or something :D ;)

Marck

 

Thank you for the reply. Very much appreciated!

 

Good and bad story from UPS.

Last June I bought a rebuilt Whipple supercharger for my truck, $1200. UPS showed it was delivered to someone at my home on a day that I have hotel receipts showing that we were in Las Vegas.

UPS really, really took a long time to fix the problem. I had to file a claim, and explain the whole situation. Then I waited and waited....

Finally in Oct or Nov got another call from UPS asking me the same questions about the loss. Wanted to know the reason I had to go thru this process twice?

Seems that UPS has an insurance dept of some sort and this dept has to do a duplicate investigation. I told the lady on the phone that to the customer, UPS looks like all one big company, not separate departments of the same organization.

Needless to say I voiced my displeasure for the delay. It didn't help that she was an arrogant, smart ****, who made sure I knew that she lived in some big city and I was just living in a po-dunk sage brush town.

The conversation went so far south that I asked to speak to her supervisor, she was worthless.

Within a few minutes her supervisor called me back and said he had walked into her cubicle during the conversation and he apologized profusely for the problem. He also expressed his dismay that it had taken so long to fix the mess.

Whipple had my check within a few days.

Now, if you think about it, the best way to figure out the where-abouts of your package is to use the tracking number. If you lose that, you will have a difficult time getting any info. They give us those tracking numbers for a reason, and if you lose the receipt, I find it had to believe anyone can complain about the extra time it takes to cover your mistake.

 

Ahh yes... UPS

Few years ago UPS had serious problems w/employees stealing firearms from shipments. In their infinite wisdom, UPS placed an extra handling fee to ship firearms!

 

thats why I use USPS. No hassles, not even on claims. :cheers:

 

Perhaps your problem is because the "US" in USPS stands for "United States." While the USPS ships all over the world, it has no physical offices or prescences in foreign countries; hence, it is at the mercy of whatever that particular country's postal system is like. As you might imagine, I would have no reticence whatsoever to send a parcel to an address in Japan, but I wouldn't mail anything to Mexico that I didn't expect to be stolen.

Eddie

 

I had never had a problem with any shipper, unless you count UPS when they ran over a computer I shipped to my Father. He recieved complete with tire track :eek:, originally the said it was because of my bad packing but upon visual confirmation the did reimburse the insurance I put on it.

Until today....
I always get UPS stuff the guy just leaves at the door, I have a covered stoop never a problem. Well the last peices I need to finish my car I've been tracking from GM parts direct. Just some jets and secondary rods, took 2 weeks. I looked this morning, out for delivery great it'll be there when I get home. I get home no package , no note. Look up the tracking, delivered to 5380 180th st, great I live a 5310. They took it to a house a block and a half away :mad , not a missed address mind you but as a "courtesy" to me. I guess the driver considered the next block to be neighbor distance. Anyways I've never meet the folks, to think of it I've never seen people at that house.
I know I'm ranting , bear with me just another moment.
So I wander on down, no ones home. His neighbor is out and I explain the UPS story, and his reply was "GOOD LUCK". He's never seen the guy but once or twice in 3 years.
So now we are going to have a good old time getting my carb parts to finish.
Any one tell me the sentence for Breaking and Entering? :lol:
Scott

 

F-Bodies--Thanks for helping out. What you said is absolutely true. It helps to have another perspective to this.

:yesnod:

 

I don't think that's the case, the local parcel carrier (dutch parcel service) is part of General PArcel wich is part of USPS. Nonetheless it's a screw up on their part so they should fix it.

To add to the insanity, I bought 2 intercoolers from a guy here on the forum and had him put gift on the package to trick the customs, well they just added the shipping charges to the insured amount and then charged me custom duties and 19%!!!!!!! tax over it....so if you know someone in the Netherlands and you want to send them a gift send something dirt cheap or they'll have to pay the money sucking tax department :(

Xander

 

As a 24 plus year veteran of the USPS, 15 years of which was spent as a window clerk at a 27,000 student major university with a large foreign population, I can positively state that neither the dutch parcel service nor General Parcel nor any other foreign postal or shipping service is "part of USPS." The USPS is a government corporation that is funded by its own revenues, and though it is a member of the International Postal Union, it has no subsidiaries in other countries. But I can certainly sympathize with the problems of having and maintaining a C3 Corvette overseas. We in the U.S. take for granted the ease, speed, and simplicity of ordering and receiving parts for our Corvettes from stateside vendors, as you can see from the majority of other posts to this thread.