FedEx

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Posted By: JimB

I had a rather disturbing experience yesterday and thought I would throw it out there. I received a package of baseball cards via FedEx sent overnight. I was at work when the FedEx guy came and so he just left the package on my front door. There were thousands of dollars worth of cards in that package, some of which were irreplacable. THe package sat there for hours until my wife got home at 5:30. Anybody could have come by and taken that box. I presume a signature was required though I have not checked with the sender yet. The sender was one of the most reliable people in the hobby. But this sort of thing has happened numerous times with FedEx. The guy just leaves all packages at the door. Even when I have been home, he gives a light knock and puts the package down. By the time I am at the door he is back in the truck and pulling away. Previously when I lived in a condo, the FedEx guy there would just leave packages in the lobby by the mailboxes. He would not even come upstairs and knock to see if we were home.

Have others had these sorts of problems with FedEx? I will never use them for anything valuable.

JimB

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Posted By: John S

Jim,

I believe that you must now pay for signature delivery...somewhere around three dollars. This obviously must be arranged by the sender.

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Posted By: leon

I know of a board member that had a 20k package left on his doorstep during a storm, about a year ago, from Fedex. It blew away never to be seen again. It also had some very irreplacable cards in it. Fedex told him that they had an "implied" consent since they had done it before. My understanding is that Fedex is supposed to have a signed waiver on file in order to just leave boxes. The auction house that sent the cards eventually had their insurance pay for it. It was a major issue .....If I were you I would speak with Fedex and make positive you have on file that you will not accept this kind of situation and sign something saying you wont. Keep all records of this of course....good luck..

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Posted By: Mike

I live in an area with no crime, and the drivers know that. Kind of out in the country. So in the summer I don't mind. The one fear I do have is "RAIN". i have gotten home several times, with a few drops of rain on the package. Just before a downpour. I guess I am pressing my luck. But other than that I don't mind the dropping off with out me. Kind of like it, because then it is waiting for me. But I can certainly see your point. My method wouldn't work for everyone. But my driver and I have an arrangement.

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Posted By: Jason L

a FedEx account number to ask them to keep such a disclosure on file?

JimB,
sorry to hear about the frustration...what is your address? (just kidding)

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Posted By: Joe D.

I love my PO Box - and suggest everyone go get one. I think it was $70 for the year.

Now - I have all of my cards delivered to my PO BOX. They stay safely in the post office until I decide to go and get them.

I never have to worry about not being home to sign for something (and missing it)....
or worse - having a package left at the door.

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Posted By: leon

It would be your address that you do not want the packages left at that you would be signing off on, not an account number.. take care

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Posted By: Rich Klein

At the back door of my apartment; the ONLY problem was, there was NO back door. Needless to say, I was furious.

After that episode, I instructed every person I dealt with to ship me everything either USPS where I'd have to go to the PO or via UPS, whose drivers were unfailingly good at leaving packages at the office.

Now with a house, I'm at the same mercies that you all are.

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Posted By: Andrew

Jim, we met a few years ago at Mr. Peets, remember? Don't worry if you see me cruising up and down your street. :--)

Anyway, that has happened - also with UPS - on multiple occasions. I do know that FedEx outsourcers some of their ground service, so they can't leave a note as there is no pick-up facility. The driver either tries again a few times or returns to sender. Therefore, most prefer to drop at your doorstep and be done with it. Also, some carriers such as the USPS make a subjective determination as to what's a safe environment, if so deemed, they will leave the package on your doorstep for all the world to see. I conveyed my concerns to Mastro as they only now ship via FedEx. Although it's via an insured option that was intended for the jewelry industry (I believe it's called DVX), the driver will still leave without signature on occasion. The little note that UPS leaves isn't much better as their distribution facility is so far away. Give me USPS Registered-Insured anytime.

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." -- Erica Jong

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Posted By: Brian McQueen

I cringe now whenever anyone ships me something from FedEx or UPS and this is the reason why. I've had packages left in the open by my front door, tossed on my back patio etc...from Fed Ex in particular. I live in an apartment complex so everything is right out in the open where anyone can just walk by and pick it up. The front door of my apartment leads out into a "breezeway" which is common "walking grounds" for a good number of people going to and from their apartments. One time, I had some e107 HOFers show up in a Fed Ex envelope that wasn't even set next to the door. It was actually held on to the door several feet above the ground by a clasp that is used to hold small brochures or notes from the apartment office. So in that case, if the e107 HOFers weren't stolen outright, they still might have fallen several feet onto a concrete surface and suffered other sorts of damage while still inside the package.

UPS is a little better. At least they will either leave packages at my apartment office or make me come pick them up at a local facility. I'd definately rather make the extra trip than have a package with cards in it just sitting around. The scary thing about UPS is I have had a couple of envelopes show up from them before with actual tire tracks on them which makes me very leery of their service as well though. The envelope was nothing short of trashed as well so I have no choice but to believe that they actually ran over my package. Fortunately cards were not inside either of those or they most certainly would have suffered sigificant damage if not destroyed altogether.

For me, it's Insured or Registered shipping via USPS. I've never had anything to complain about as far as the post office is concerned.

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Posted By: Steve M.

Don't any of you have an office away from home? I have all my items sent to my office. No one here, they leave a sticker on the door. Never had a problem. PLUS, what Mrs. M. doesn't know won't hurt her ( or me )

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Posted By: warshawlaw

But I have everything go to my office, and that always requires a signature. For residential, unfortunately, Fed Ex now drops and runs unless your shipper checks the box for direct or indirect signature required (item 8 on the slip). So, if you don't want the items left wherever, you have to be clear with the shipper (and hope the minimum wage bozo wrapping the boxes pays attention), have the items sent to a commercial address where they will have to be signed for, or use USPS registered.

Even with a commercial address, I think a lot of the quality of service has to do with the delivery person assigned to the route. No way are they supposed to play "ding dong ditch" with your packages, but sometimes a replacement route driver will be irresponsible and do just that. We had a problem with UPS recently. My wife (who manages my office), filed all kinds of claims, etc., even disputed the credit card charge, over some business aids we never received. Turned out that UPS had a replacement driver on the route and he handed off the package to someone in my office building without leaving me any kind of notice. The other tenant was an irresponsible schmuck to boot and did not tell me he got a package for me. When our regular UPS guy got back from his vacation, he sorted it out.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I once found a package hidden behind my rollaway trashcan in my carport that had been delivered by UPS....I'm not sure how long it had been there as I only have trash pickup once a week...it could have been there for days. And neither the UPS or FedEx guys ever knock they just leave the package and are outta there. The last time I got a package from UPS it was sitting on the doorstep when my wife got home half covered in snow. It could have easily fit between the screen door and the front door of my home which is where the postman always leaves my packages that don't fit in my mailbox.

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

Preface this for those that don't know me.....I work for UPS and own a UPS Store........

UPS and FedEx are about the same when it comes to that. For UPS, they look at the neighborhood and the situation (apartment, covered front porch, etc) and make a decsion--driver by driver to release a package by leaving it. If it is sent signature required, they get a signature. Two options, signature required and adult signature required. Both are $2-$3 extra, adult being more.

A Post Office box at the Post Office is great if you never get UPS, FedEx, DHL or other carrier packages. No private carrier can deliver a package to a Postal facility. Against the law. Plus it hurts the PO's business. Here's the advertisement part........

A post office box at a local UPS Store is a REAL STREET ADDRESS. They (we) will sign for anything from anyone--any carrier, certified, registered mail, DHL, FedEx, UPS, local delivery, etc. Only thing they can't sign for is a restricted delivery which can only be signed for by the person listed. It will cost you more--likely around $15-$20 per month. If the box doesn't fit in the mailbox, they'll usually shelve it for you and put a little notice in your box or they may have an after hours parcel drop box where you can enter a key and pull it out (similar to most post offices). Most UPS Store owners will give you 1 month free with a 6 month rental and 3 with a year rental. Boxes at our store $15 for a small box, so $180 for 12 months with 3 free, so it winds up being about $12.00 per month.

Other benefits include:

Call in Mail-Check where you can call in to see if you have mail in your box. Can't do that at the post office.

Mail forwarding-going on extended vacation? Your mail can be sent to you wherever you are.

Usually 24 hour SECURE access in most locations unlike post office where anyone can walk in right behind you.

Package notification....they'll call you to let you know your package is in.



SO......just my opinion from actually having a mailbox at a UPS Store for about 3 years before owning a franchise.....

STICK TO THE MAILBOX, don't buy a franchise........


http://www.upsstore.com/products/maiandpos.html

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Posted By: Jay

In my area FedEx will not leave a signature required package without a signature. Be careful though. If you have ever given them permission to leave a box without a signature and you have not recinded that permission in writing they will assume that it is still in effect. My FedEx guy, as is my UPS guy, is prompt, efficient and courteous.
There is one big difference in my area between UPS and FedEx. If you ever have questions about a shipment I've found the UPS support people to be useless. FedEx has been the exact opposite--really on top of things. When UPS tells me they will check on something and call back within an hour they rarely if ever do. FedEx, from my experience, underpromises and over delivers.

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Posted By: leon

Other words of advice/wisdom. What's the easiest way to make a million dollars in the restaurant business? answer- start out with 2 million....(inside joke that is unfortunately still running )

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Posted By: barrysloate

I know a lot of people like to send valuable baseball cards via fed ex and I am strongly against it for one main reason- fed ex has a maximum insurance of only $500. If you have your own carrier who will insure it, then that is a different story. I send everything registered mail above about $500 value, even the occasional package that is worth in excess of 25K. And with UPS, you can insure to 50K, and send overnight, and as Tom can tell you, it would cost about $200+. I truly believe that it is worth the extra fees and the extra time to wait for a registered package. You have your whole life to enjoy it, what is the big deal if it takes a week to get to you? I don't like the idea of sending expensive and irreplaceable memorabilia through the mail and crossing your fingers that it will all work out. And I have been shipping baseball cards for 25 years.

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Posted By: Joe D.

I believe Post Office overnight insures up to $5000.

Honestly, from $500 - $5000 in value - I prefer shipping and receiving via Post Office overnight. The expense is just about the same as Registered Mail (maybe $10 more or so) - and it gets there in one day.

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Posted By: mark

Express mail USPS is the way to go. I have sent high dollar cards this way and it cost about $18-$20 and they get it in 1 day. Never would deal with Fedex. Sometimes with UPS, although UPS is very expensive.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I've never looked into post office express as I have always been happy with registered. Joe- are you sure on a package up to 5K it is only $10 more? Seems like it would be higher.

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Posted By: Bob

I just sent an E98 HOFer express mail overnight (customer's request) through USPS and it took 3 days. I hate the worry although the buyer was great and USPS refunded the money I spent for shipment.
On bigger card orders and when using SGC I always use USPS registered mail and sleep safely. GAI is still using UPS and because of past problems I keep a close eye on the package and track each day.
Registered mail is the best choice.

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Posted By: Joe D.

I have shipped items that were worth about half that (2500).

Overnight Insured came to about $10 or so more than Registered Mail would have been.

I can't say exactly without looking it up... but I bet the difference between overnight-insured and registered mail insured for a $5000 package is no more than $25 (now I have to go check it out on the post office website )


Realize that the Post Office charges about $15 to ship something overnight.

Whether you insure it through the registered mail process or through the overnight insurance.... in both cases you have to buy insurance based on the dollar amount.

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Posted By: Joe D.

I stand corrected. My numbers were indeed off.


A one lb $5000 package Registered mail -
$18

A one lb $5000 package Overnight mail -
$70


So a $52 difference on a $5000 package

the difference was $22 on a $2000 package



so it looks like the difference is $10 per $1000.


my opinion - its worth the 1% to get it overnight.

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Posted By: Bruce Mac

I just sent out a set of cards for consignment and I found registered mail to be much cheaper than USPS overnight (insured for 5K). Of course I sent it on Tuesday morning and based on the USPS tracking system, the package is still at my neighborhood post office.

Edited to say that I didnt see the post above prior to my posting

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

During the past three months I've made four purchases online from the U.S. Treasury. All of these packages (the contents' value ranged from $200 to $1,200) were sent FedEx, and each time the driver did not leave the package. Our front porch is covered and my guess is the neighbordhood would be regarded as one in which it would be safe to leave a package. Whether the sender (the Treasury) sends thse packages with a signature required, I don't know. But I do know that FedEx was very consistent in how it handled delivery each time: no signature, no delivery.

"You can't spell it, but it sure eats good."

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Posted By: barrysloate

Joe- I suppose it is worth it if a customer is willing to pay for the service, but when I advertise rates I would be uncomfortable asking for $50-70 postage for overnight delivery.

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Posted By: Aaron Cowan

I had a blank check for a car loan (up to $50,000) slid under my apartment door. Fortunately he did that instead of leaving it outside.

Aaron Cowan
acowan19@gmail.com

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Posted By: Joe D.

although if you give the option... I am thinking many people would choose for the overnight.


It might be me - but I worry while a package is in transit.
Reducing the transit time - reduces my worry time.
Heck, I may even opt to pick up in person as you know


have a great weekend.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

"I just sent an E98 HOFer express mail overnight (customer's request) through USPS and it took 3 days."

TBob, does a black cloud follow you home every night? I've never seen anyone with more troubles getting, receiving, bidding, selling shipping, etc. Remind me not to ride in an elevator with you in the hotel at the National, and stay off my shuttle bus to the show. In fact, let's coordinate and stay in different hotels. And make sure to ask for a high floor; no point in having a catastrophic event on a lower floor and blocking everyone else's exit route.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Joe- and I am glad you came by that night, because it was great meeting you. Say, how come you didn't join our meeting last night? You work in the city.

I agree a lot of people don't like cards floating around in transit, especially on a long weekend with a Monday holiday. I guess I would offer different options but I pretty much insist the object is fully insured.

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Posted By: Cobby33

Ditto on the PO box. As some here know, the imbeciles at the UPS Store LOST a package with two relatively-scarce cards I bought from someone on the Board. The other Board member had their signature acknowledging receipt, so their insurance company reimbursed me. Otherwise...the PO boxes (with a physical address) are invaluable.

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Posted By: Joe D.

It would have been great to break bread with everybody.

When the dinner was suggested - and when all of the threads were written about hobby policies... I somewhat stood on the sideline.

I believe I do not feel as strongly as others about some of the issues raised - so honestly I wasn't sure I belonged at the dinner. I do respect the purpose behind the dinner and appreciate those that can and will make a difference in this hobby (such as yourself), just not sure it was my place to be there.


That aside - I do regret missing an opportunity to meet the guys, eat some good food, and talk about cards. So, I regret not going.

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Posted By: Andrew

If cost is the only concern, $1000 is about the pricepoint when deciding between USPS Insured versus USPS Registered with Insurance. That is, it's less expensive to send a $20,000 package Registered than it is to send it Insured (blue form.) The reason is that Registered is much safer (audit trail along the way), therefore, the risk to the USPS is less.

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." -- Erica Jong

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Posted By: barrysloate

Joe- it was pretty informal and not quite a dinner, and even if you are not passionate about the problems with altering, you still would have had a nice time.

Actually, Frank Evanov and I have been talking about meeting for a dinner. Maybe you will join us too. I don't know if I have the guts to start a new thread, but whoever is reading this, if you would like to meet in the city, amazing as it sounds, it can actually be done. We'll work on it and see what we come up with.

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Posted By: David Vargha

I just sent out a set of cards for consignment and I found registered mail to be much cheaper than USPS overnight (insured for 5K). Of course I sent it on Tuesday morning and based on the USPS tracking system, the package is still at my neighborhood post office.

I swear by USPS Registered/Insured Mail. However, their tracking system for Registered Mail sucks. Your package will be delivered long before they ever update it being past logged in where you sent it from.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Hi, I am the Postmaster in a small city in Wisconsin, and it is nice to hear good things being said about the Post Office. However, you are correct, our tracking system does suck. Normally we can only track the scans at the originating Post Office, and and at the delivery point. The next big thing at USPS will be "transparency" (hope I spelled that correctly), or "surface visibility", which means that we will be able to track a package at several different points along the line of travel of the package. This will eliminate many problems, along with reducing the number of lost and missent parcels.

I will keep you posted of any updates.

Thanks,

Rick

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Posted By: Phillip Benning

What a thread to go from "longest lurker" to an irate and somewhat embarrassed FedEx despiser but I need the help of forum.

Last fall, after catching a halibut here in Alaska to send to a friend attending the Ohio State/Michigan game, I decided, to send a part of my vintage collection with the fish for him to enjoy until I came down for the Reds Opening Day
.
Long story short, fish made it, blue ice made it, sack of cards did not. Odd isn't it?

Fedex was so caustic, sophomoric and callow on the phone and the claims guy naturally denied any liability. I asked if they could atleast look at the tailspools of their conveyor belts at transfer hubs, sorts, and centers. Nothing.

I have used fedex at my job forever and never had a problem until this nightmare.

I have searched high and low for my cards on the net in all, and I mean all, the usual places so I ask everyone should they see a hoard of mostly T206's of Cincinnati players, please contact me. Here is a sample of the "missing" cards. All where either SGC or PSA.

(2) Griffith
(1) Huggins
(4) Downey
(2) Fromme
(2) Campbell
(1) Holtizell
(3) Gaspar
(1) Paskert
(1) Dubuc

Again, should anyone have any information on these please do not hesitate to contact me. I would also appreciate no sympathy nor adjectives as the pain Fedex caused me couldn't be eased by pulling a crabpot of McPhee OJ's.

Regards,

Phillip

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Posted By: Bob

Adam- I know, I know. My daughters and I refer to it as "the Marquette luck." From going to pick up my high school cap and gown and it being the only one not there, to registering for classes at college and after waiting in line for 3 hours, my registration not being there, on and on. I had hoped it would skip a generation and pass them by but they have had the same darn old bad luck. My wife, on the other hand, seems to be very lucky. Must be in the genes

tbob

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Posted By: barrysloate

For Rick- I have a question about registered mail. As I understand it, everyone who handles the package along the way has to sign for it. As such, couldn't a registered package be traced to the last signature? It seems like it could be done, but I have to say whenever I have tried to find any late package through my post office, they have acted as if they really don't want to do it. Seems like any extra work is viewed by them as a huge hassle.

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Posted By: MVSNYC

guys- fed allows you to insure up to an infinite amount (i think), as long as it is in a "box" and not their letter envelopes ($500 max on that)...i have sent many fed ex packages to other collectors in excess of $10-20,000...never a problem, they charge thru the nose for the insurance, but i do it all the time...

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

Michael,

Fedex will gladly take your money for any amount of insurance but they will not pay anything over $500 on sportscards as per their disclaimer. They will never tell you this and you will never find out until you try to file a claim for what you thought you were covered for.

-Ryan

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Posted By: howard

Being in a position where I am responsible for receiving large numbers of packages my experience is that USPS is more reliable than the private carriers for one simple reason. Fedex, UPS, et al, will have you sign for packages in bulk. That is, I often receive twenty packages or more at once and only sign once. I don't see a list of the packages so on rare occassions I have signed for packages that hadn't actually been delivered. On the other hand, the USPS carriers always ask for each delivery to be signed for individually ensuring that what I sign for is what is left with me.

I have learned that if a delivery man I don't recognize or trust brings more than a few packages that I should insist on seeing a list matching the items I am signing for.

Howard

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Posted By: MVSNYC

ryan- wow...is that true? i'll have to call to verify...i have probably spent over $1000 on fed-ex in the last 2 years alone...disturbing.


thanks for the info.

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Posted By: scott brockelman

The 1 time I actually went to a FedEX center to ship a very large and expensive group of cards they flat out told me no way insurance. They want nothing to do with insuring paper collectibles of any kind. As to their delivery accountability I find the UPS and FedEX drivers to be pretty reliable, however both are familiar with the area and regular deliveries to my house.

I did have one time, 10-12 years ago. when a 52 Topps mantle got delivered to the wrong house, same house number a block over, Fedex would not come back and pick it up, the senile little lady took it to the passport office at the local postoffice, it was from canada, so I guess that made sense to her . Fortunately they knew me and called me to come pick it up.

Scott

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Barry, you made a good point about the accountability of registered mail. When a clerk accepts the registered mail parcel from the customer, the clerk is then responsible for the parcel. When the parcel is put on the truck, the truck driver signs for the parcel. When the truck driver gets to the processing plant, another clerk signs for the parcel to relieve the responsibility from the truck driver. This process is supposed to happen at each transfer point all the way through the delivery process. The problem with the tracking is that the local Post Offices do not have access to any of tracking records other than the acceptance at the local Post Office, and the delivery scans when the customer signs for the parcel.

I think the reason that you have a problem with your local PO is that the clerks may not know exactly how to approach this problem, since very little information is available to them. (Plus the fact that some clerks may be a little lazy). Each Post Office sends their registered mail to a processing plant, where registered mail clerks handle these parcels. These registered mail clerks do have access to the records that are needed in order to determine where a particular registered mail parcel is located, and who is currently accountable for that parcel. When one of my customers has a problem with registered mail I call the accountable mail clerk at the processing plant, and within an hour the clerk will let me know the status of the parcel.

Hopefully, in the near future, all of this information will be available online at each local Post Office, so we will be able to track individual registered mail parcels throughout the entire process.

In the past the Postal Service has had problems with theft of registered mail, but in the past 3-4 years we have really tightened up the security and accountability procedures, and the theft/loss problems have been drastically reduced. Unfortunately, the accountability process does slow down the delivery by a day or two, but the extra security justifies the time loss.

If you do run across a clerk who "balks" at your request to check on registered mail, ask to speak to a supervisor. The clerk may have a line of people waiting for service, but hopefully the supervisor will be more familiar with registered mail procedures and he or she may be able to do a little better job of helping you with your problem.

Thanks,

Rick

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Posted By: barrysloate

Thanks Rick, and it appears to be a combination of technology that hasn't quite reached the 21st century coupled with some postal workers who don't want to be bothered. Unfortunately, from what I have garnered at my post office (and I am a regular there) the supervisor doesn't want to be bothered either. I know the window clerks very well and they confide in me that morale is pretty low.

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Posted By: Joe D.

FedEx will only compensate up to $500 for baseball cards.

I believe UPS is up to $50,000


That is based on my telephone conversations with their operators last year (so maybe their policy has changed).

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Posted By: barrysloate

Joe- I believe you are correct on both counts. But 50K insurance from UPS will cost in the area of $200, while 25K from the post office is about $35. I'll stick with registered mail.