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Packages Lost


avroair

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Ok seriously, most of the times I have no problems. On the 2008 ET's first round, I had a high number of missing packages but mostly of them were overseas orders. I think maybe 8-10 packages came up missing. Other than that, I haven't had major issues.

 

Overseas is fine, there is nothing we can do if they decide to destroy a package... 2 were overseas, one to Canada (kinda overseas if you go via Greenland!) the other was to Germany...

 

The other 6 were all domestic and I have shipping confirmations so I know they never left the post office after being scanned and sorted. :laughing:

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Please let me know if this is too OT and I'll start a new thread- but is there anything you do to help ensure things get to the right person/place?

 

We ship US orders with delivery confirmation, but for foreign orders it is way too cost prohibitive. We have the customs form number, but that just tells us we dropped it off at the post office- it doesn't track it past there.

 

We've started recording the tracking numbers of coins we send out, so that we at least know if someone has activated the missing coins. Other than that does anyone have any suggestions? :laughing:

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IVE SOLD ON EBAY ALOT --NOT COINS,,BUT OTHER STUFF,AND IVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS,,BUT MY MOTHER IS A WINDOW CLERK FOR THE USPS, AND WE BOTH SERAIN WRAP THE PACKAGES AND ENVLOPES WITH A CLEAR PACKAGE TAPE,,THIS MAKE THEM TIGHT AND DETERRENT FROM THEFT(SOMEWHAT_ AND PROTECTS FROM WATER AND THE ELEMENTS..THEFT FOR OVERSEAS SHIPPING IS MORE TEMPTING BECAUSE THE CUSTOMS LISTS WHATS INSIDE....

Edited by DJ.J.ROCK
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My overseas shipments have never (fingers crossed) encountered a problem. Some have taken a while to arrive, but they have eventually arrived! Given the lack of Delivery Confirmation or Trackability(?) on these shipments, it certainly says alot about the Honesty and Integrity of most people!!

It seems that Domestic shipments have been my most troublesome! They get scanned into the system, go to the next major Hub and POOF, they vanish. Usually, they turn up 3 or 4 weeks later all bruised and battered but where they belong!

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Ok seriously, most of the times I have no problems. On the 2008 ET's first round, I had a high number of missing packages but mostly of them were overseas orders. I think maybe 8-10 packages came up missing. Other than that, I haven't had major issues.

 

Overseas is fine, there is nothing we can do if they decide to destroy a package... 2 were overseas, one to Canada (kinda overseas if you go via Greenland!) the other was to Germany...

 

The other 6 were all domestic and I have shipping confirmations so I know they never left the post office after being scanned and sorted. :laughing:

 

I know that I had a package that took a while to get to me that was from you. When I got it, you had written my address on the plastic poly mailer and it had almost entirely rubbed off.

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Ok seriously, most of the times I have no problems. On the 2008 ET's first round, I had a high number of missing packages but mostly of them were overseas orders. I think maybe 8-10 packages came up missing. Other than that, I haven't had major issues.

 

Overseas is fine, there is nothing we can do if they decide to destroy a package... 2 were overseas, one to Canada (kinda overseas if you go via Greenland!) the other was to Germany...

 

The other 6 were all domestic and I have shipping confirmations so I know they never left the post office after being scanned and sorted. :laughing:

I usually take a padded mailer to one post office but was going to a different town and had one to mail so took it to theirs. They wouldn't let me do delivery confirmation because it was just under the 3/4 rule. I told them the post office I usually use did it and they told me they didn't consider them a post office and if it one comes through their post office with delivery confirmation that is under the 3/4 rule then they just hold it and they do measure. Mine was just so slightly under and they wouldn't accept it. Also with some of the padding, it may start over 3/4 but as it moves it can become smaller then becoming under the 3/4 rule. They are allowed to do it. Now I cram the mailer full of whatever to make sure it stays over the 3/4 because I like to use delivery confirmation.That may be why 6 of yours never left the post office.

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Ok seriously, most of the times I have no problems. On the 2008 ET's first round, I had a high number of missing packages but mostly of them were overseas orders. I think maybe 8-10 packages came up missing. Other than that, I haven't had major issues.

 

Overseas is fine, there is nothing we can do if they decide to destroy a package... 2 were overseas, one to Canada (kinda overseas if you go via Greenland!) the other was to Germany...

 

The other 6 were all domestic and I have shipping confirmations so I know they never left the post office after being scanned and sorted. :laughing:

 

It doesn't mean it never left the Post Office, it means that it was never scanned after the initial scan.

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I usually take a padded mailer to one post office but was going to a different town and had one to mail so took it to theirs. They wouldn't let me do delivery confirmation because it was just under the 3/4 rule. I told them the post office I usually use did it and they told me they didn't consider them a post office and if it one comes through their post office with delivery confirmation that is under the 3/4 rule then they just hold it and they do measure.

 

They just hold it? For how long and then what do they do?

 

I have heard of some just under the 3/4 inch rule that the receiver had to pay extra postage to bring it up to the priority rate.

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The packages that seem to disappear the most with us are Canada. We've had a couple to Germany take a super long time, but they've gotten there. But for some reason Canada is the black-hole of packages...

 

I live in Canada and I've never had a package out of over a hundred bound for me go missing... yet.

 

I'm not sure if what I send manages to reach its destination, though - when I send bubble-mailers some post offices tell me customs declaration is not needed and don't give me the sticker at all even if I asked - while others tell me it's needed for everything except paper mail and make me hold up the line to fill it up carefully, weight and all. Now I try to visit the latter even though they're much farther away. I hope the ones sent with the former did reach their destinations.

 

Once a friend in Montana sent me two boxes of home-baked cookies, and one arrived in a week, the other in 7 weeks all torn up and wrapped in "INSPECTED by Customs and Border Protection" yellow tape. The cookies were bad by then. I'm just waiting for the same thing to happen to a geocoin package.

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Ok seriously, most of the times I have no problems. On the 2008 ET's first round, I had a high number of missing packages but mostly of them were overseas orders. I think maybe 8-10 packages came up missing. Other than that, I haven't had major issues.

 

Overseas is fine, there is nothing we can do if they decide to destroy a package... 2 were overseas, one to Canada (kinda overseas if you go via Greenland!) the other was to Germany...

 

The other 6 were all domestic and I have shipping confirmations so I know they never left the post office after being scanned and sorted. :laughing:

 

When it's an international package the USPS normally hands it off to another carrier once it leaves the US. So you really never see any tracking on them since it is out of their system at that point. But sometimes you will get one when it is delivered but that's it and even that doesnt always happen.

 

Just a side note for people shipping packages: Watch out for emails that say they are from a shipper like UPS or Fed Ex saying that there is a package that is undeliverable and to print the attached invoice and bring it to their office.

It has a file zipped up and attached to the email containing a virus. I get it every couple weeks and just delete it.

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The packages that seem to disappear the most with us are Canada. We've had a couple to Germany take a super long time, but they've gotten there. But for some reason Canada is the black-hole of packages...

 

Especially Quebec... <_<

 

Are you sending me stuff that I don't know about. :laughing::D<_<

 

HEY!!!! Thats sucks! I think a lot of it has to do with customs. I just received my club coins from geoswag and it had a big yellow tape around it saying it had been opened by customs. Knock on wood, but my average on receiving mail and sending hasn't been too bad. Although I do try and avoid mailing packages this time of year. I know things I send and receive sometimes take a while but they usually get to where they are going.

 

For sending to Canada and using the customs form it seems to be good just to mark it as a token and give it a low dollar value.

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The packages that seem to disappear the most with us are Canada. We've had a couple to Germany take a super long time, but they've gotten there. But for some reason Canada is the black-hole of packages...

 

Especially Quebec... <_<

 

Are you sending me stuff that I don't know about. :laughing::D<_<

 

HEY!!!! Thats sucks! I think a lot of it has to do with customs. I just received my club coins from geoswag and it had a big yellow tape around it saying it had been opened by customs. Knock on wood, but my average on receiving mail and sending hasn't been too bad. Although I do try and avoid mailing packages this time of year. I know things I send and receive sometimes take a while but they usually get to where they are going.

 

For sending to Canada and using the customs form it seems to be good just to mark it as a token and give it a low dollar value.

My Daughter sent a Chritmas mission that should have been there.

We better start crossing our fingers.

I will send another if needed.

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The packages that seem to disappear the most with us are Canada. We've had a couple to Germany take a super long time, but they've gotten there. But for some reason Canada is the black-hole of packages...

 

Especially Quebec... <_<

 

Ontario doesn't have a very good track record either... :D

 

It seems I am one of the last people to receive shipment of coins...it's funny, when a new coin gets mailed, you can see the wave. Posts start popping up from people in the US within a few days, then comes parts of Canada and Sweden, the rest of Europe, then me, then Australia/NZ. But sometimes it gets to Australia before me...! :laughing:

 

I am always worried now though. Once we moved, our mailperson has made MANY MANY mistakes. I get mail for all over my neighbourhood, seemingly once per week. So I wonder who has received ours - I have had a neighbour bring me some and I have delivered lots to others. One coin package I ordered went AWOL and I am hoping nothing else will. Fingers crossed.

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Packaging-packaging-packaging! I almost did not receive a trade coin from Ontario recently. The paper bubble mailer looked like it had been reused more than once or twice and was ripped and torn in several areas. If we are going to reuse mailers, perhaps reinforcing them with wide clear tape will insure a happy trader on the receiving end.

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The 2nd coin I ever bought never arrived, then my end of a 7 coin trade never made it to Germany. Recently I got a empty envelope and a coin inside a stapled peice of paper with my addy on it...They both made it the same day in my box, so its good they wrote my addy on the inside wrapping. :laughing:

 

Other than that...Ive had good luck. :D

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I'm on the receiving end most of the time, but I guess I've had very good luck. From looking at my activated coins, (almost all of mine are), and figuring in trading, I'd estimate I've received around 400 packages in about 3 years. I've only had one package never show and it only had to travel 45 miles, that was about a year and a half ago. We have a mail slot so I'm sure that helps. I have had 2 packages take a month to arrive, one from Canada and one from Germany.

 

A Funny note... I have a cacher friend who lives a few doors down and only occasionally buys coins. Awhile back one of his coin mailers was delivered to us by mistake. My husband rolled his eyes and said, you know you have a problem when the mailman automatically delivers coin packages to our house :laughing: It was an upper/downer moment. Look, coins! Bummer, not ours.

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I've been very lucky I guess. I'm in Canada (Alberta).

 

In all my years, the only coins I lost were a few due to bad packaging on my part, 2 traders that the person claims they never got (I sent one, then another, then offered to send theirs back!).

 

I also once sent an eBay package and it came back after 6 months damaged - I'd replaced the item by then.

 

I did get one package from the US Postal Service with an apology letter - you never want one of those! If they damage it so bad they need to apologize - it's not good! Unfortunately, it was original art from Archie Comics, Fortunately, it wasn't ripped, just bent - so I was able to still press it flat.

 

In all though - the percentage of positive interactions is much higher than negative ones.

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A few years ago, I traded with Moun10Bike, my v1 for his v2. After about a month it still hadn't arrived. He sent another one and that got to me. A couple weeks later, the first one arrived, looking like it been run over by a truck, as there was a large black tire-looking mark across it. At that time, I didn't need two of the same coin so I gave it to another coiner friend. =)

 

As for my hundreds of geocoin mailings, AFAI can remember, I haven't had any of them go missing. Knock on wood!

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Just a side note for people shipping packages: Watch out for emails that say they are from a shipper like UPS or Fed Ex saying that there is a package that is undeliverable and to print the attached invoice and bring it to their office.

It has a file zipped up and attached to the email containing a virus. I get it every couple weeks and just delete it.

 

AMEN!!

At the sign shop we had just shipped a large order to multiple locations the week before we got one of these. Our boss opened one of these emails thinking it was a notification for one of our shipments.

It was opened on the computer that we do all of our bookkeeping on. We lost almost a month of transactions in Quickbooks. With anywhere from 10 - 30 invoices/workorders a day going through the system it was quite a bit of a hassle to get it back updated. Luckily we backed up weekly to an off-site server. and only had to manually re-enter about half a week's worth. "Now we back-up DAILY!! :D

 

Back to the topic at hand. Just wanted to second the warning of this evil :D email.

 

D-man :P

Edited by gridlox
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Well, I lose about 0ne package (supposedly lose it) per 100 or so. One of the many things that has driven the prices up I suppose. Once in a blue moon (actually once only) someone sent me a note back quite some time later telling me the package arrived.

 

Yeah - coming to NZ, it can take from 3 days to 4 months!!

Usually I allow a month, from the time I know the order is dispatched (I really appreciate those sites that allow me to log in and see the status of an order, so I don't have to bug the coin vendor)

Then from 6 weeks onwards I make contact, to confirm that the order was shipped PRIORITY / AIR....

Usually most have a record. If they don't then they will advise a 2nd shipping....

Over 3 years, I've had about a dozen on the slow boat, and 3 only that had to be replaced....

but I'm an addict (placing orders most months - though slowed down now!) so I have had many, many orders..... this is less than 1% missing, I'm sure.

 

There are some very GOOD vendors out there, but that will only remain while buyers remain honest.

If abuse starts up, then I doubt that missing packages will be replaced so willingly.

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Just a side note for people shipping packages: Watch out for emails that say they are from a shipper like UPS or Fed Ex saying that there is a package that is undeliverable and to print the attached invoice and bring it to their office.

It has a file zipped up and attached to the email containing a virus. I get it every couple weeks and just delete it.

 

AMEN!!

At the sign shop we had just shipped a large order to multiple locations the week before we got one of these. Our boss opened one of these emails thinking it was a notification for one of our shipments.

It was opened on the computer that we do all of our bookkeeping on. We lost almost a month of transactions in Quickbooks. With anywhere from 10 - 30 invoices/workorders a day going through the system it was quite a bit of a hassle to get it back updated. Luckily we backed up weekly to an off-site server. and only had to manually re-enter about half a week's worth. "Now we back-up DAILY!! :D

 

Back to the topic at hand. Just wanted to second the warning of this evil :D email.

 

D-man :P

 

Yep - I've been getting emails from recipients of the missions, asking should they open this email..... could it be about their incoming mission.

So pleased they asked........

 

DON'T OPEN ANY FILES! RIGHT CLICK AND CHECK THE PROPERTIES. IF .zip OR .exe BIN IT IMMEDIATELY - PERMANENTLY DELETE IT.

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Well, I lose about 0ne package (supposedly lose it) per 100 or so. One of the many things that has driven the prices up I suppose. Once in a blue moon (actually once only) someone sent me a note back quite some time later telling me the package arrived.

 

Yeah that package took 6 months to the day you mailed it to arrive. Hard to believe inside the US, huh?

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Out of probably 3500 coins shipped, I've had a total of 1 shipment (to Canada) lost and one shipment (to california) arrive as an empty mailer.

 

I have experienced excessive ship time delays both in the US and abroad. The worst places for me seem to be Portugal and Canada. I've had some shipments to these places take 6 weeks with absolutely no rhyme or reason for the delays.

Edited by AtlantaGal
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