Upset with the USPS

I won an auction for a 1978 Gillette Superspeed last week for $8.50 total. This is a birth year razor for me so I was pretty excited find it in the mailbox today. That changed when I saw the condition it arrived in.

Now I seriously doubt the seller would have wrapped the razor in bubble wrap, put it in a box, wrap that and then smash the package. So I'm pretty sure this was damaged during shipment. I tried to file a claim with the USPS, but the package was not insured. I'm not going to contact the seller and ask for a refund since this is not their fault.

It's not much money lost in this, but I wish the USPS could be held accountable for mistakes like this with out having to pay extra to insure that they do their job correctly. Live and learn I guess.

That's sad. I have never had that much damage on any of my shipments.

It looks like it was run over or stomped on. I would raise he'll with the local postmaster.

Wow, that is ridiculous.

Ouch. That had to hurt.

Wow, that's a shame ... if it were just another razor, I'd say fuggedaboutit, but its your BIRTHDAY RAZOR, so its more important.

You may never get your money back from the USPS, but by all means, hold them accountable. Its obvious that someone was negligent along the way, and needs to answer for it. Its going to be hard to figure out where along the line this happened, though.

ackvil said:

That's sad. I have never had that much damage on any of my shipments.

Click to expand...

Me neither. I've had envelopes that opened and some of the papers inside went missing, and I've had packages that had tears and rips and some that had wet-stains on them, but this one looks like it went through a Perfect Storm of mailing errors.

Good golly. I've never seen one that damaged before. You have to wonder if it was deliberate considering the amount of damage.

Go to the local PO; ask for manager; show him that mess. Firmly ask about recourse.

It could not have traveled far like that, so. Damage occurred at locality.

Why even deliver that ...


AA

Ouch!
This is unbelievable! Imagine this was a RARE model...

Sorry for your misfortune mate. Go and raise hell in the local post office. You can't do much more.

I don't know that you'll find much satisfaction with USPS, but it's worth a shot. I'd expect the "well, how do we know it did ship like that or that you did it" line.

While it sucks to pay for it, the little bit more for insurance can be worth it.

Although I've most certainly seen packaging jobs that are much worse than that, I would say that the fault is at least partially the seller's. The Hornady bullets boxes are certainly not up to the task of packaging something for shipping, especially something somewhat delicate that is shaped like a razor. And while the bubble wrap might help a small amount, its effectiveness would certainly depend on how it was placed around the razor so that any applied force would be transferred away from the razor head and to the more sturdy handle. I realize that it's probably asking a bit much for an $8.50 item with the shipping, but the seller should have put the razor in a corrugated cardboard box that would have prevented the razor from getting crushed. I honestly think that is the seller's responsibility when they sell an item unless something else is spelled out in the auction.

Wow that looks nasty. Looks like some animals got a hold of it and chewed it out. Check with the post office to see what they say.

There may be some quirk of the US postal system I'm not aware of ...... But here in Blighty, I'd have already refunded the buyer and been filling out my claim forms at my earliest opportunity. When you post a parcel here, it's part of the contract that you can expect it to get to its destination in one piece, unbroken ........... It's laughable to expect a customer to pay extra insurance against the incompetence of the postal service and/or it's employees.

In British retail ....... indeed, any sale governed by DSR, or Distance Selling Regulations ........ It is the responsibility of the retailer / seller to get the goods to the buyer in good time and good order. It's down to the seller to insure against damage or losses in transit and offset that in their shipping costs as best they can ........ and that includes me, every time I sell a razor or bit of gear on Fleabay....... It's not just Debenham's and John Lewis' that are held to those rules ........ It's anyone that sells at distance; which includes just about everyone on Ebay UK.

If I'd have sold you that razor, I'd have been only too happy to refund you your $8.50 ....... And I would have made it up to you somehow, too .......... I think it would be helpful on Fleabay sometimes, if sellers could remember that the person on the other end of the transaction is a customer ..... and treat with them accordingly........ £8.50 and a goodwill gesture on top isn't much to pay when what you get in return is a customer that might be disappointed, but knows you bent over backwards to make it right ........

tube_guy said:

Although I've most certainly seen packaging jobs that are much worse than that, I would say that the fault is at least partially the seller's. The Hornady bullets boxes are certainly not up to the task of packaging something for shipping, especially something somewhat delicate that is shaped like a razor. And while the bubble wrap might help a small amount, its effectiveness would certainly depend on how it was placed around the razor so that any applied force would be transferred away from the razor head and to the more sturdy handle. I realize that it's probably asking a bit much for an $8.50 item with the shipping, but the seller should have put the razor in a corrugated cardboard box that would have prevented the razor from getting crushed. I honestly think that is the seller's responsibility when they sell an item unless something else is spelled out in the auction.

Click to expand...

You are correct.

did someone make a mistake & mark the package "Fragile "?

Great observation! Sorry for your loss. Looks like someone at the PO put in overtime in the "package destruction" department.

n2hql said:

did someone make a mistake & mark the package "Fragile "?

Click to expand...

Well I filed a complaint with the USPS. Thing I'm worried about now is that I have a couple razors listed for auction on Ebay. I'm offering free shipping and am wondering if I should insure those items. I've never had an issue with damaged items before.

When the USPS announced it would start using elephant delivery to help cut costs, I was afraid something like this might happen.