Priority Mail...sometimes they do a good job but then...

[timwinters]

...sometimes they do a great job!

So, now that it's gotten warm my vernitherm has been acting up. Some days my temps are high, somedays they're normal. Gotta be the vernitherm (so I speculate).

So, I order a serviceable used one just in case we find that mine's shot when we pull it apart to clean it.

The shipper sends it priority mail and it should've been here Monday. But all weekend when I checked the USPS website there was silence. It left Sonora, CA on Thursday...nothing further. I've shipped by priority mail a lot and usually this means that it's gone through a wormhole somewhere never to be seen again.

But, alas, early this morning there was an update:

The package is delayed and will not be delivered by the expected delivery date. An updated delivery date will be provided when available. Your item arrived at our USPS facility in HAZELWOOD, MO 63042 on June 17, 2015 at 12:32 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

Cool! It will make it, albeit two days late.

When I opened the box today, this is what I found:

Well, I got a fitbit too!

And a lock cylinder!

A close look at the lock cylinder was belly laugh worthy:

Certainly looks like a PO Box cylinder to me!

It's pretty obvious that they destroyed an entire tote (or truck?) of mail and then tried to get everyone's contents back into the right envelopes. I'm probably a federal criminal now for being in possession of that cylinder!

I called the shipper just to make sure he really didn't send me all this stuff and he got as big of a laugh as I did.

Hey, maybe I'll be able to get my fat ass back in shape now that I have a fitbit.

 

[steingar]

I've used USPS more times than I can count, with almost universal good results. Lost one package once, and it was insured.

Bought a pair of sandals from Amazon last Friday, they were here Monday. Dang.

 

[Matthew]

Many years ago one of my previous supervisors would send Christmas cards to everyone in the department. One year I didn't get one, and didn't think too much about it. Eventually, through the grapevine, I heard others talking about getting their card. I didn't lose any sleep over it.

Sometime later, I think it was in March or April, I got an envelope in the mailbox. It was a clear plastic envelope. Inside was a torn, shredded envelope with tire tracks over it. It was my Christmas card.

 

[wsuffa]

Feh. None of the shipping services hit 100%. Last UPS shipment was delayed. FedEx delayed my tax returns from my CPA (so he sent them electronically).

Even the technology can get screwy sometimes: got an email from FedEx today that my profile had been changed. Only it hadn't. Changed passwords anyway to something stronger and got 3 messages about changing my profile.

Feh.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

Inside was a torn, shredded envelope with tire
tracks over it. It was my Christmas card.

Too bad it wasn't hoof marks.

(Christmas card run over by a reindeer...)

 

[Matthew]

Too bad it wasn't hoof marks.

(Christmas card run over by a reindeer...)

I did verify the postmark date, just to make sure my boss didn't realize he'd missed me and did this on purpose. I actually brought it in to show him, and accused him of doing just that.

 

[Norman]

I had to pay Verizon a late charge once. Four months later the missing bill arrived.

 

[RJM62]

I had a package from a sender in Michigan routed to me in New York by way of Spokane last week. No joke.

Rich

 

[Zeldman]

I was dating a girl long time ago. We parted sort of unfriendly ways. As I left I forgot my college ring. TAMU of course.

I called her a few days later to see if she would send it to me. She said ok. Never saw it.

Fast forward 27 months. I got an email from her. She told me she has the ring with a letter from the post office. The letter said that the ring was stolen by a postal worker from the mail. The ring was used as evidence in the trial. The trial is over and the offender has been sentenced.

She told me again that she will send the ring. Again....nothing.

7 months later I received a call. It was from the former student union at Texas A&M. Seems there is a former student trying to locate me. I said yes, give them my number.

The guy called me and asked if my college ring had been stolen. Yes, it was. He then told me he had bought it off eBay and wanted to return it to me. I was thrilled to get the ring back and wanted to reimburse the guy for all his expenses. He flat refused. He told me it is a gift from one former student to another.

He did give me the sellers ID number. With a friend of mine, a prosecuting attorney, we were able to charge my former girlfriend with selling stolen property online. eBay was VERY helpful in getting the matter cleared up.

The guy that bought my ring was reimbursed for all his cost through eBay. My former girlfriend was charged with selling stolen merchandise online and across state borders. She plead guilty and received a fine and one year in jail, sentence suspended instead for 1 year probation.

My former girlfriend and I have not communicated in over 15 years. My ring is locked up in a safe and I only wear it for special occasions. And I only use USPS now.