I'll let the photo do the talking. It tells the whole story. This was a recent eBay purchase. The USPS amazingly got it to me with no damage what so ever. Should they have accepted it to begin with ?
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Wow! Were you ever lucky! I would never be so fortunate
Shipped a couple of locomotives for forum buyers today, and I packed the things so (hopefully) they could survive a drop from the airplane's cargo bay. I do my very best to pack things like I would want to see them packed if I was on the receiving end.
As far as the USPS goes , give them an attaboy. The seller ,who must be totally clueless , deserves the stocking full of ashes . I've received some really poorly wrapped items over the years , but this must win the award for the worst !!! 
All USPS needs is for the item to be in a box....the packing is up to the sender. Your item passes that minimal test! I would be more unhappy with the sender..... By the way, wrapping in brown paper these days is a no-no from what I understand.....
Your eyeballs must have popped out of their sockets!.....yes they deserve an ataboy!.....my luck, I’d gotten an empty box.....
.......Pat
Wow! The sell must have been really trying to save on shipping! At least you know it’s tough!
Allan Miller posted:Wow! Were you ever lucky! I would never be so fortunate
Shipped a couple of locomotives for forum buyers today, and I packed the things so (hopefully) they could survive a drop from the airplane's cargo bay. I do my very best to pack things like I would want to see them packed if I was on the receiving end.
Yeah, pack as though you expect the truck to back over them. That way their good for anything else. j
harmonyards posted:Your eyeballs must have popped out of their sockets!.....yes they deserve an ataboy!.....my luck, I’d gotten an empty box.....
The ends of the box were not even taped. j
How cheap and irresponsible can the seller be after you paid him to ship it ??
Good luck trying to ship it like that via the other two big time shippers. Hats off to the USPS !!
SHAWWS!Count your blessing man.Driver dropped off my trains from charles ro.At a abandon house you may ask how would I know?Because it used to belong to my great aunt.Any boy could see nobody was living there any more.It took me at least 4 years before I used them again.
USPS did well.....SELLER gets a NEUTRAL feedback at the least.
I'd also counbt yourself very lucky.......
OMG - I'm speechless. You were very lucky.
SPFord27 posted:Wow! The sell must have been really trying to save on shipping! At least you know it’s tough!
I bought two similar cars from the guy and got a message that the postal clerk would not accept the two packages taped together with one FIRST CLASS LABEL and cut the two cars apart telling him to print another label for the second car. Thing is FIRST CLASS PACKAGE is limited to 13oz and one car in it's box weighs 1lb. 12oz. They have let me skate for a full 16oz when using eBay labels but this was nearly two pounds. Which makes two cars nearly four pounds. I'd say that guy is the lucky one, if either car had been damaged I would have filed a grievance on eBay and received a refund through eBay. Though I prefer to have the car than the $ or I would not have bid. j
OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:All USPS needs is for the item to be in a box....the packing is up to the sender. Your item passes that minimal test! I would be more unhappy with the sender..... By the way, wrapping in brown paper these days is a no-no from what I understand.....
My mail carrier says this time of year they let a lot of things slide that would not fly any other time of the year. She said that if the guy had insured the package they would not have accepted it. As is they have no liability. I remember when they required 4" of padding all around anything that could break. She also says they usually let brown paper wrapped packages ship even though the rule book say no, as long as it appears to be taped well. No string! It jams up their gears. Some years ago I shipped a turntable and the box I packed it in had General Electric on all 6 sides and they would not accept it. I had to buy some opaque tape and cover up all trade names. Seems they decided to go after a bigger share of the market and eased the rules. j
Summerdale Junction posted:As far as the USPS goes , give them an attaboy. The seller ,who must be totally clueless , deserves the stocking full of ashes . I've received some really poorly wrapped items over the years , but this must win the award for the worst !!!
The guy is new to selling on eBay has 12 feedbacks and 5 complaints about poor packaging. When my second package from him arrives safe or otherwise, I plan on sending him a message and twist his ears off. Guess eyeballs is more accurate. j
AMCDave posted:USPS did well.....SELLER gets a NEUTRAL feedback at the least.
I'd also counbt yourself very lucky.......
Dave out of 12 feedbacks he has 2 negatives, 1 neutral and 2 positives with negative comments on packaging. j
The USPS did a perfect job of getting my orders to me this Christmas. 100%.
Fedex and UPS were great, as well.
No complaints whatsoever.
JohnActon posted:Dave out of 12 feedbacks he has 2 negatives, 1 neutral and 2 positives with negative comments on packaging. j
dkdkrd posted:USPS...Attaboy!
Seller?.....
And, the seller's shipping rating didn't offer a portent of this??
No kidding! I definitely wouldn't have been brave enough from to buy from that guy. Can you out him and tell us his ID?
JohnActon posted:AMCDave posted:USPS did well.....SELLER gets a NEUTRAL feedback at the least.
I'd also counbt yourself very lucky.......
Dave out of 12 feedbacks he has 2 negatives, 1 neutral and 2 positives with negative comments on packaging. j
You must have REALLY, REALLY wanted what he was selling for the price to buy from that profile.
As for USPS, they did GREAT for me both shipping and receiving this month.
That unpackaged, raw retail box is amazing--a miracle of delivery.
USPS gets an Attaboy from me for everything they have done this year! They added the new Informed Delivery feature where you can see images of the mail that was delivered to you. They have great, step-by-step tracking service. Their rates are more than fair, especially for Priority Mail. My postman has taken extra care to put my packages by the door near the rear of my home where they are less visible to the street. They did not damage any of my items this year.
Finally, they delivered a package I ordered from Hungary. The seller was confused with US postal addressing. He put my zip code in the telephone number space. He put part of my house number in the zip code space and he left my house number off of the address line. USPS still delivered it! I would have got it on Christmas eve, but I wasn't home and it needed a signature. USPS left a label with a QR scan code so that I could use my phone to schedule redelivery and it had an option for me to pick it up at the post office! I wouldn't have noticed the label, but the Informed Delivery screen told me the postman left it on the window. Great stuff there!
George
This is a perfect example of why you should always check a sellers history. The rating is only one factor. The other is , what type of items do they typically sell?
Sellers who sell things like doll clothes or whatever have little knowledge of how to pack a train item for delivery.
I'm willing to bet this Atlas car was a "one off" item for this seller, or possibly they are one of those brokers that sell your stuff on ebay for you.
Either way, I doubt o guage trains is their main market.
George S posted:USPS gets an Attaboy from me for everything they have done this year! They added the new Informed Delivery feature where you can see images of the mail that was delivered to you. They have great, step-by-step tracking service. Their rates are more than fair, especially for Priority Mail. My postman has taken extra care to put my packages by the door near the rear of my home where they are less visible to the street. They did not damage any of my items this year.
George
I would agree...with all the flaws people find with them, I like their tracking. I think it is at least 50% better than any other shipping company.
My packages all arrived safely.
Tom
I purchased a Lionel Mom’s Diner from an eBay seller in Tennessee earlier this year. The guy wrapped the thin Lionel box in brown kraft paper, slapped a mailing label on it and shipped it USPS. There was no attempt made to secure the building inside the box either; he just placed it loose in the box and that was it.
I only wanted the diner for the roof and that, at least, was ok. I noted his name however; and it will be a cold day you know where before I’d buy from him again.
Curt
Pingman posted:JohnActon posted:AMCDave posted:USPS did well.....SELLER gets a NEUTRAL feedback at the least.
I'd also counbt yourself very lucky.......
Dave out of 12 feedbacks he has 2 negatives, 1 neutral and 2 positives with negative comments on packaging. j
You must have REALLY, REALLY wanted what he was selling for the price to buy from that profile.
As for USPS, they did GREAT for me both shipping and receiving this month.
That unpackaged, raw retail box is amazing--a miracle of delivery.
The guy sold his first item on eBay DEC 1 and had 4 positive feedbacks when I bid #5 was his first negative and It was not entered till after I won his auction. If my second car arrives in good condition I am going to give him a POSITIVE. I will however write him a blistering message with some useful suggestions. He is a Newbie and I do not want to crush him. j
New or not, I have only shipped a handful of things on eBay and I would have never thought to ship something so poorly. Wow!
About 10 wrong deliveries to my address from USPS in 2018,one was my neighbor's W-2 forms. The dopey mail person and his bosses couldn't care less. They have jobs for life no matter how poor the service is.
I will give the Post Office a Thumbs Up 99.9% of the time. I have shipped with them and received packages shipped with them. I have never had any issues with damaged or missing items. I once shipped a Lenox item to a lady in California. It arrived broken. I will attribute that to two things, the delicacy of the item and my packaging. I should have packaged it differently. The Post Office made good on the insurance claim.
The Post Office is under threat from the current powers that be. IMHO privatization of the Post Office would be a grave mistake.
the ONLY shipper I will deal with is USPS have had problem's with UPS and FEDEX!!! UPSP IS the best ! IMHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I'm Fighting USPS over this package. It was sent Priority Mail. It took 6 days to get there, not three as I was told, then came in empty with the box being opened by someone before it was delivered
. Now starts the process of the claim which is another story.....
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Once ordered a Lionel starter set from a large chain store, received the set with only the clear Lionel plastic bag back covering the set box (no shipping box at all). A little damage to the set box but luckily the contents of the set were all intact.
That's pretty amazing John, first time I've seen one that bad! 
From the picture, I can see why they went that way. They got it under the limit for First Class and made a few bucks on shipping. With a proper box, it would have been over a pound and had to go a more expensive way.
Allan Miller posted:Wow! Were you ever lucky! I would never be so fortunate
Shipped a couple of locomotives for forum buyers today, and I packed the things so (hopefully) they could survive a drop from the airplane's cargo bay. I do my very best to pack things like I would want to see them packed if I was on the receiving end.
Exactly whats needed. Even as much as the most conscientious cargo worker tries, packages do drop, get thrown, etc. Also bags of packages and loose packages get stacked high in aircraft pits, freight carts, etc. There has to be cushioning in packing. I work as an airline cargo agent, we all treat these items as if they were our own. As much as we try, sometimes its impossible to treat all of this as gently as we would prefer. Earlier this fall, I actually unloaded my own MTH box off an LAX flight. The next day at the post office it was postage due! I joked with the USPS agent that I not only had to help deliver my own package but gonin and pay postage due! Lol. My friends at USPS have many stories of unbelievable examples of shipping or attempts to ship poorly boxed items. This Atlas car is right up there with the most pathetic. I hope I never buy from whovever sold you this!
Attaboys to the agents that moved this without damage, but whoever accepted this for shipment was totally wrong!
Dan986 posted:About 10 wrong deliveries to my address from USPS in 2018,one was my neighbor's W-2 forms. The dopey mail person and his bosses couldn't care less. They have jobs for life no matter how poor the service is.
Make complaints, have neighbors do the same. We went through three at this house, two at the last. One got the boot after about 4 good years; suddenly couldn't read or something. We got our old carrier back too.....??? It's not impossible to get action if they know the phone won't stop ringing 
The USPS not being private is the only thing keeping the costs in check as it is imo. Doing so would also have other legal requirements scrambled pretty well too. Regardless of outcome, the cost of change wouldn't simply be monetary, it could just be the cracking of a pandora's box door in many other legal matters too.
Over my lifetime, the USPS has given me by far the best bang for the buck overall. Fedex had the best record, but also highest cost though. UPS got real good for about a decade (90s), but scares me again. (insurance options caused this imo...legal big buck gambling )
I tended to use the USPS for smaller items and never had an issue with Parcel Post boxes being dented, etc. till this century. It's not that hard; I worked shipping/ receiving/ mail... no excuse except apathy.
So... is the shipper irresponsible or just unaware that so many businesses today are now that irresponsible?
I'll hold back the ashes and the pat on the back ..... I just want my money's worth; just do the job I pay for. Casual thanks is best I can do. Praise is reserved for going above and beyond that mininum, not just meeting it.
(I praise the "informed delivery" idea, but a home camera is still best)
One of my other hobbies is collecting glass insulators and one of this style:
came packed in this package:
but it arrived absolutely in perfect condition. I was totally shocked that it did. Sometimes we just get lucky!
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Dave, those insulators are designed to take a lot of abuse, so it's not too surprising they survived the shipping. 
While serving in the military, I shipped China, lead crystal and porcelain from all parts of the world via the USPS from various military bases. With proper packaging, I never had a problem upon receipt of the items back at home. If I want something that bad, then the cost of shipping is not an issue. A frustration that I get sometimes from this forum when an individual states they will not ship. You must come to their location for pick up. I would rather pay $100 in shipping rather than drive halfway across the country, hotel, food, fuel and two days of my time lost. To the posters point, this is just inconceivable that he received this car completely intact. One can only assume that every hand that touched this package were either enthusiast themselves or knew someone who was and how disappointed the receiver would be to receive a broken or damaged car. Congratulations my dear Sir on your fortune. I do hope you ran right out and bought a lottery ticket immediately following your receipt of this car. Enjoy your purchase and the great story that comes with it.
gunrunnerjohn posted:That's pretty amazing John, first time I've seen one that bad!
From the picture, I can see why they went that way. They got it under the limit for First Class and made a few bucks on shipping. With a proper box, it would have been over a pound and had to go a more expensive way.
The cars and boxes are 1lb 12oz each. He had two of them taped together and the clerk cut them apart, would only ship one of them not to mention that the weight he entered on the label was 15.9 oz. I have not received the second car yet but assuming he was able to get them to accept it as a first class package then he would have been better off sending the two cars together via Priority mail. The fact that one made it through the system unscathed is amazing. As I type this I hear the USPS truck on my street and the second car arrived, label on the retail box. However he had to pay Priority Retail on it, could not pull off the First Class trick twice. So it boils down that he paid $3 ~ 4 more for the two packages than if he had shipped them Priority in one box to begin with. My congrats and appreciation to USPS for the handling of both packages but ashes for accepting them to begin with without proper packaging. It was not so many years ago that they would insist on 4" of padding on all sides of anything that could break. In 2003 when I first started selling on eBay postal clerks would open packages to make sure there was plenty of padding not to mention they would not take packages where the box had corp. graphics on the outside. I think this would fall in the Brown Wrapping Paper period. I once had to cover General Electric with opaque tape before they would accept the box. After that I would spray any corp names on the box with black spray paint and did that for about five years. Now in the last 4-5 years they are not the least bit worried about padding or corp. graphics on the shipping box. The corporate graphics ban on shipping boxes never made sense but the padding requirement has a great deal of merit, though I am sure that 4" of padding is overkill in most cases. j
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The bottom line is that we need to educate ourselves on Post Office practices. Most people I see in line at the Post Office haven't a clue as to rates, insurance, how to package things, etc. I get annoyed when people waiting in line start to make comments on how slow the line may be moving. If they would stop to think that there are many steps the clerk must cover to be sure your package is headed in the right direction.
As for not being educated on Post Office rates and so forth, a customer will get up to the counter and be clueless. Then the clerk must go through every option and sometimes explain each one in detail. Sometimes the customer will have to think about spending an extra dollar or two for insurance. This all takes time.
Most clerks I deal with are knowledgeable and courteous. Most of them are efficient.
Privatizing the postal service would create a CF. The worst thing to happen was de-regulation of the telephone system and electric and gas services. Bacon the day, when there was a problem with any of these one call to Ma Bell or PECO, in my area, solved the problem. No need to go through second or third parties. The bill was always correct. Having said that, yes, prices were a bit on the high side. But we had services which were second to none.
I have friends who do not have municipal trash pick up in their area. They have to shop for services. So what happens is that every day is trash day and trash cans are out all the time because there are many different contractors serving the neighborhood. Make kind of a trashy look of the neighborhood in my opinion.
Attaboy from me. Both train items were on my covered porch when we arrived at our new home.
JohnActon posted:Pingman posted:JohnActon posted:AMCDave posted:USPS did well.....SELLER gets a NEUTRAL feedback at the least.
I'd also counbt yourself very lucky.......
Dave out of 12 feedbacks he has 2 negatives, 1 neutral and 2 positives with negative comments on packaging. j
You must have REALLY, REALLY wanted what he was selling for the price to buy from that profile.
As for USPS, they did GREAT for me both shipping and receiving this month.
That unpackaged, raw retail box is amazing--a miracle of delivery.
The guy sold his first item on eBay DEC 1 and had 4 positive feedbacks when I bid #5 was his first negative and It was not entered till after I won his auction. If my second car arrives in good condition I am going to give him a POSITIVE. I will however write him a blistering message with some useful suggestions. He is a Newbie and I do not want to crush him. j
Not mentioning the state of the shipment in public feedback, newbie or not and regardless of your good fortune the merchandise arrived intact, would be a disservice to the eBay community. eBay offers packing tutorials for newbies, so ignorance is no excuse.
What, me worry?
