UPS - 2 enthusiastic thumbs down

[Econteachert205]

I have had overwhelmingly good luck with usps. I've also been guilty of complaining about them. The problem is that you remember the negative experiences much more vividly. Most postal workers are hard working. As a teacher I hear the same thing about lazy teachers, because again, often bad experiences are the most vivid.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I can't remember the source, but I have read research stating that it takes 10 positive experiences to overcome a negative.

[mechanicalman]

Positive USPS story: I won an auction for a $4500 card on eBay. Two days later the package arrived empty. 99% certain it was sent that way by the seller and not ripped out of the envelope and re-sealed. Anyway, eBay and PayPal did nothing because the tracking showed that "a package" had arrived. Had to go through Amex, and they wouldn't do anything UNTIL my local postmaster wrote an affidavit that said that the envelope in question felt lighter than the posted weight and therefore represented evidence of tampering. Finally got my money back. Forever grateful, and now I only open up high value packages while at the post office.

On the flip side, the "investigation" by the USPS inspectors went absolutely nowhere. I have no idea what those guys are focused on; this would seem like something that would get their attention.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Positive USPS story: I won an auction for a $4500 card on eBay. Two days later the package arrived empty. 99% certain it was sent that way by the seller and not ripped out of the envelope and re-sealed. Anyway, eBay and PayPal did nothing because the tracking showed that "a package" had arrived. Had to go through Amex, and they wouldn't do anything UNTIL my local postmaster wrote an affidavit that said that the envelope in question felt lighter than the posted weight and therefore represented evidence of tampering. Finally got my money back. Forever grateful, and now I only open up high value packages while at the post office.

On the flip side, the "investigation" by the USPS inspectors went absolutely nowhere. I have no idea what those guys are focused on; this would seem like something that would get their attention.

Really glad to see you got your $4500 returned...Everyone's nightmare : the empty package---when this is resolved or has gone as far as it can go , could you please re-visit us with the grisly details , if possible.....we would all like the seller's E-Bay ID because there are many of us on this forum who sometimes buy/sell at similar prices ( though not too often ). You could be saving us a ton of grief. Thanks. Knowledge is power.

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[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by MikeGarcia

Really glad to see you got your $4500 returned...Everyone's nightmare : the empty package---when this is resolved or has gone as far as it can go , could you please re-visit us with the grisly details , if possible.....we would all like the seller's E-Bay ID because there are many of us on this forum who sometimes buy/sell at similar prices ( though not too often ). You could be saving us a ton of grief. Thanks. Knowledge is power.

..

Good idea, Mike. It's been over a year, but probably worth mentioning to the board to avoid any pitfalls. I will set up a new thread soon with the details.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Good idea, Mike. It's been over a year, but probably worth mentioning to the board to avoid any pitfalls. I will set up a new thread soon with the details.

I heard from a dealer friend of mine in Arizona that the same thing happened to him--$3500 paid got him an empty box! Wow--how do some of these guys sleep at night!

Sounds like a good upcoming thread,

Larry

[bcornell]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

I have had overwhelmingly good luck with usps. I've also been guilty of complaining about them. The problem is that you remember the negative experiences much more vividly. Most postal workers are hard working. As a teacher I hear the same thing about lazy teachers, because again, often bad experiences are the most vivid.

This has been my experience, as well. USPS employees almost all do a great job. Compare them to people at Comcast, AT&T, or most big private companies, who are so often terrible at customer service.