[monochrome]

Wrapping a 50mm lens in a ball of bubble wrap twelve feet in diameter will net you an oversize package surcharge.

:cheesy:

Hauled by Monstro on a lowboy.

[pentax360]

Their management do like to know when the packaging department is not performing as expected. Next time, do send them a note with a photo of the inside of the box.

I wasn't impressed with it, but it was what I expected.
My experience has been things shipped from retail stores are minimally packed, so I didn't think it was anything they'd change for future orders.
I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and it's cheaper for them to deal with the rare damaged item then spend more on packing.

[MarkJerling]

I wasn't impressed with it, but it was what I expected.
My experience has been things shipped from retail stores are minimally packed, so I didn't think it was anything they'd change for future orders.
I'm sure they've crunched the numbers and it's cheaper for them to deal with the rare damaged item then spend more on packing.

Yeah, you may be right. But, in both the case of B&H and Adorama, they do actually try to get it right. Sometimes, they have a new person in the packaging department and this sort of thing happens.
Not good for a package that's likely to be drop-kicked by the courier.

[Racer X 69]

Not good for a package that's likely to be drop-kicked by the courier.

I thought that all parcel carriers had something akin to a US football game with our precious packages. Just like the Ramp Rats at the airport like to toss out checked bags, much like the American Tourister luggage commercials.

You Tube

You Tube

[MarkJerling]

I thought that all parcel carriers had something akin to a US football game with our precious packages. Just like the Ramp Rats at the airport like to toss out checked bags, much like the American Tourister luggage commercials.

AMERICAN TOURISTER - Gorilla vs Luggage Commerical 1980 - YouTube

Here comes your new lens.

You Tube

You Tube

[Racer X 69]

Here comes your new lens.

ups/fedex/usps drivers did what!!!! - YouTube

At about 40 seconds in a guy tosses a parcel over a spiked gate, then slips another package through the gate, and then opens his fly and urinates.

Really?

Then at 1:26 or so, a Ramp Rat tossing boxes onto a conveyor to get then into the cargo hold of an airplane. Most of them are missing and falling onto the apron. So the idiot is making more work for himself.

Sheesh!

[steamloco76]

I’ve worked with two women who were also part-time package handlers at the Pittsburgh, PA area UPS railroad/truck hub.
Both women told me stories regarding package abuse and mis handling, most of which is done on purpose. Drop kicking small boxes , which have fallen off the conveyor, back onto the pile. Standing on packages to reach the top of the stack in a truck. Tumbling heavy packages end over end. The favorite targets for abuse? Any package with FRAGILE or HANDLE WITH CARE written or taped all over. I believe that to be true, as the most mangled UPS parcels I’ve received were ones labeled fragile.

The handlers don’t care. Unless a package breaks open or is run over by a truck, any damage claim is usually impossible for the recipient to collect damages upon. Insurance only helps when they lose a package, not when one is mangled.

[MarkJerling]

I’ve worked with two women who were also part-time package handlers at the Pittsburgh, PA area UPS railroad/truck hub.
Both women told me stories regarding package abuse and mis handling, most of which is done on purpose. Drop kicking small boxes , which have fallen off the conveyor, back onto the pile. Standing on packages to reach the top of the stack in a truck. Tumbling heavy packages end over end. The favorite targets for abuse? Any package with FRAGILE or HANDLE WITH CARE written or taped all over. I believe that to be true, as the most mangled UPS parcels I’ve received were ones labeled fragile.

The handlers don’t care. Unless a package breaks open or is run over by a truck, any damage claim is usually impossible for the recipient to collect damages upon. Insurance only helps when they lose a package, not when one is mangled.

That is shocking. Do their employers not have cameras in the workplace? One would think it would be a dismissable action to deliberately damage goods in your care.

[ChrisPlatt]

At my mail processing and distribution facility we sort and dispatch packages as well as other types of mail.
There are cameras everywhere, as well as galleries with one-way glass windows,
where any of our large staff of Postal Inspectors might be watching employees.

There are cases of malicious damage among all shippers; witness the many videos on youtube and elsewhere.
However remember your parcels are handled at numerous points in bulk in large-scale mechanized operations.
This is no doubt where most of the damage occurs. You should always pack your shipping boxes with that in mind.

Chris
USPS employee

[monochrome]

At my mail processing and distribution facility we sort and dispatch packages as well as other types of mail.
There are cameras everywhere, as well as galleries with one-way glass windows,
where any of our large staff of Postal Inspectors might be watching employees.

There are cases of malicious damage among all shippers; witness the many videos on youtube and elsewhere.
However remember your parcels are handled at numerous points in bulk in large-scale mechanized operations.
This is no doubt where most of the damage occurs. You should always pack your shipping boxes with that in mind.

Chris
USPS employee

In the 2018 holiday season alone the USPS delivered 900,000,000 packages.

The United States Postal Service employs some 617,000 workers, making it the third-largest civilian employer in the United States behind the federal government and Walmart (Yikes!). In a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Court noted: "Each day, according to the Government's submissions here, the United States Postal Service delivers some 660 million pieces of mail to as many as 142 million delivery points." As of 2017, the USPS operates 30,825 post offices and locations in the U.S., and delivers 149.5 billion pieces of mail annually.

The USPS operates one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world, with an estimated 227,896 vehicles the majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (long-life vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (flex-fuel vehicle), originally also referred to as the CRV (carrier route vehicle). It is by geography and volume the globe's largest postal system, delivering 47% of the world's mail.

The law of large numbers is sufficient to explain the two packages I have ever received that had damaged contents. Both were poorly packed and contained glass or ceramic items.

[pepperberry farm]

lots of chatter without photos in here....

[Racer X 69]

lots of chatter without photos in here....

I'm with you here.

[Racer X 69]

Last February we had a bit of snow, about 18” total. I cleared the driveway, and about half the private road we live on (one of the other neighbors did the upper half). I get that the first couple of days before we got the snow cleared it was dodgy, but after it was cleared the gravel drive was better than the paved county road the mail carrier refused to leave for fear of getting stuck.

After a couple of weeks and many complaints to the local Postmaster the mail was finally delivered. A package that was slightly larger than my mailbox was forced into it along with two weeks of mail.




Totally unacceptable.

There were two vintage T mount lenses in the package, and an commemorative yearbook from my employer in the large envelope.