Postal question

[Chip and Dale]

Hi eVeryone,

Just a quick question....

Can the post office do anything to locate pins that were sent from Japan, but never received at their destination? The pins, of course, were not insured due to cost. It's been over 2 weeks and still no sign of them. Any suggestions?

What about uninsured first class pins that were mailed in the US? Any recourse there?

Any help appreciated. Definitely not a good pin week......

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

I'm afraid I don't have the answer to your question about tracing uninsured packages.

However, if it has only been two weeks -- from anywhere -- I wouldn't give up yet.

A friend mailed a pin to me from the Los Angeles area on July 5th. The 1st class LBE arrived in Maryland on July 19th. And this is only my most recent experience.

For every ten successful, on time arrivals, I encounter one off-the-chart nearly lost LBE.

Of course, just recently my DH mailed a pin from our local post office in Maryland on Saturday morning. A fellow DIS member had the pin in her mailbox in Ohio on Monday morning.

Go figure!

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I'd give it one more week and then call your local post office.
I have noticed that my packages from Japan take a while. Also the ones from California!
But I have also noticed recently that a lot of my shipments arrive all torn up.

The other day I received a pin from a person who shipped it in a regular envelope, with no padding! It arrived torn, with the pinback destroyed. Oh yeah, the seller heard from me! I paid almost $2.00 for shipping and handling, that should have been enough to cover at least a decent envelope.

The point is, ask the trader or seller in Japan how he/she shipped the pin. That may contribute to late arrival of the shipment.

To be honest, unless the package has some sort of a tracking number, you may not be able to track it down.

Wanda

 

[Luv2Roam]

I know how frustrating that can be. July was a rough mail month for me too.
Without tracking/insurance.... Not so good news I am afraid.
I called the USPS last week. I was told that even Priority is not tracked. Only Express Mail.
I recently bought from someone in Japan and it arrived in approx a week. Mail from New Zealand got here very fast too. CA mail reaches me very fast -- within a couple days. FL takes around a week to reach me, usually.
I know my mail going out is slower than incoming mail. (No matter where I mail it in town.)
I know when shipping outside of the US, I just keep my fingers crossed. The insurance quote is usually the same cost or near the shipment value.
Just recently a Priority package took a week and half to reach me. I have had Priority take up to 5 days. (Sending and receiving)
We all really become USPS experts, don't we?
I hope everything works out for you. Good luck!

 

[wenabre]

I don't know if this is any comfort but it took two weeks for two pins to arrive in Ottawa, Canada from California. They were held up at customs while being checked out so maybe yours are just sitting somewhere in customs and will get there soon!

 

[Chip and Dale]

One of the missing Japan pins showed up today and boy, was I lucky! The person mailed it in a regular envelope, with very little padding. YIKES! The envelope arrived torn, with a huge hole in the back.It was lucky the pin hadn't fallen out! Now to cross my fingers for the others!!

 

[Luv2Roam]

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I hate it when a someone ships a pin like that.

I've had a few close calls for the same reason myself.

Wanda

 

[Chip and Dale]

When I e-mailed the person from Japan about the condition of the envelope and pin, she e-mailed and said she had run out of envelopes and didn't want me to wait. Then she immediately offered to send another one. What a nice surprise! Kind of restores your faith in mankind!

 

[Duckfan]

I have been waiting on one pin for two months..... I think we can say that one is visiting someone besides me. Then after 3 weeks the one I sent to ca from Id is not there. I can also pretty safely say that one is on vacation without me.....Probably went to Disneyland. Mail is lost but it is sad to miss the lbe. I think my pins have more fun than I do!!!!!

 

[Brise Nannie]

Glad your pin arrived!!! Makes ya kinda wonder if the PO has a *Lost and Found* section and if it does, could you imagine all the goodies that must be sitting there...lost?

 

[judi]

When sending pins or receiving them, have them sent priority mail with delivery confirmation. When you use delivery confirmation you can track the package yourself. Works great, I've never lost anything this way. They also have signature confirmation.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I insure my packages over a certain value. But in many cases the trade is 1 - 2 rack pins. I hate to pay$3.90 for Priority confirmation. (And then it still isn't insured.)
Even the filing process would be a hssale if I needed to actually file a claim.

 

[Chip and Dale]

Sending pins to Japan using Priority Mail with tracking is beaucoup expensive.....more than replacing the pin. First class with insurance is usually prtty dependable,but every once in a while, there is just that blip in the system!