T41 apparantly lost/stolen at USPS... UPDATE!!!

[makai]

Well, I guess it was bound to happen one day!

I had one of my spare T41's, basically in excellent condition, lost or stolen while in the care of USPS. I had mailed it on May 23, to my sister in Las Vegas and it never got there. In fact the last scan was at the post office I dropped it off at. It was insured, and should have been scanned when received at the local distribution site (Long Beach, Ca), but tracking doesn't show that. There is no information about it's whereabouts!

I called USPS twice, went to my local PO, and even had my sister check at her local PO in case the laptop was sitting on a shelf there. NADA!!! Boy, am I p******! If not for the insurance, I would be even more so!

Anyways, I just wanted to see if anyone experienced this, and find out if you ever got lucky and the laptop showed up late (got delivered late). I'm still hoping, by some miracle, it reaches Vegas, but I won't be holding my breath! It's now over 21 days (waiting period before a claim), so I'll be making a claim soon. I'd much rather have the laptop back!!!

What a pain, and what hassle![/b]

[NorrisCell]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I've had good luck with USPS, but there will always be the potential for issues, unfortunately. I'm interested to hear how they handle your claim and what the resolution ends up being. Keep us informed.

[ryengineer]

How much did you insure it for?

Sorry to learn about your loss, seems like USPS has swallowed the package.

[Brad]

Sorry to hear of your USPS trouble. I only lost some film once about 15 years ago (film, sounds funny!).

In February I picked up some cell phone batteries and after a week or two contacted the seller because they never showed. The seller apologized and said this happens sometimes. The tracking only had the date of mailing listed like you mentioned for your T41. Well they were nice enough to resend the items which were received in a day or two. It wasn't until 40 days after the first package was sent that it finally showed. This was a small package though much smaller than a laptop. So it is possible your T41 will eventually get there.

I have had 100% success with USPS both before the loss 15 years ago and after till today.

In fact I noticed that if you ship USPS Priority on Saturday the package usually gets there Monday no matter where it's going. I did this two weeks ago from New York to California. You can't even do this with FedEx, UPS or anyone else that I can think of no matter how much you want to pay.

Brad

[makai]

How much did you insure it for?

Unfortunately, now that I think about it, not enough! Besides the laptop, there was also a spare 9-cell, a new BX3 MS mouse, and a new 1gb flash drive. The insurance will cover everything money-wise, but the HASSLE is NOT covered!

Since it was apparantly lifted, I've been hunting around on Craigslist looking for replacements. Driving here and there just to be disappointed with what people discribe as "excellent condition" laptops only to be met with badly scratched screens and outer casings. Do people actually think scratches on LCDs fall into the excellent category! These people are sick! What a waste of time! Sorry for the rant!

Well, anyways, since the wait period is over, I guess I'll mosey down to the PO and make a claim. I'll definitely let the board know how it goes, and how long it takes to get my money. I think they mentioned they would "investigate" the loss, so hopefully, this time they'll actually hunt for it (I doubt it!). I would still rather get the laptop back rather than the money!

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[makai]

I have had 100% success with USPS both before the loss 15 years ago and after till today.

Yah, this is the first time USPS has lost something I've sent. I've been sending laptops, and all kinds of stuff for many years. Like I mentioned, it's not the money, it's the hassle of it all. The day I sent it, I actually sent two laptops. One went to Hawaii, and the other to Vegas. This was on a the Friday just before the holiday, and the Hawaii laptop got there on the following Tuesday (the day after the holiday!) Generally, USPS is great and is why I use them rather than FEDEX and UPS.

Since the laptop is insured, it should have gotten scanned in the Long Beach distribution center, but that never happened... or it's just not recorded on their tracking... I've seen that before too. LOL, once I really bugged an ebay seller for not shipping because USPS tracking was never updated. Only the send was ever shown on their tracking site. After a few emails to the seller, the package one day just showed up. I ended up apologizing to the seller and posted feedback to reflect a USPS problem.

Anyways, we'll see how it goes. Thanks guys!!!

[mikey pizano]

Wow man that really sucks! I have gotten laptops in the mail before and they took quite awhile for me so maybe it will come. The T20 I got my AlphaKilo took a week to come and we don't love that far apart. The one from a guy I know in Vegas took like 2 weeks!

[makai]

Well, I finally received the insurance money from USPS... it only took, uhhh... 3 months! They covered the entire amount + shipping. I'm still a little bummed about it, but at least they made good and paid me off. I just wanted to update the thread for closure.

Thanks all for the support!
makai

[NorrisCell]

I'm glad to hear they paid up on the claim. I've always had good luck with USPS too, but things happen. I prefer USPS as well, as their rates are better for faster delivery.

Craig's List is a huge hit or miss. I'm VERY anal about my phones and their condition, which I'm well aware of. However, people are way too liberal with their descriptions of "Mint" and "Like new." I've had to walk away from purchases because their "excellent" condition phone looked like it had been drug down the sidewalk.

Don't get me wrong, I've scored some amazing deals on CL, but those deals are the exception rather than the rule.

Once again, glad everything worked out decently.

[Brad]

I am happy to hear that USPS settled with you.

Now, unlikely as it seems, suppose your ThinkPad shows up are you required to return the refund?

Brad

[sparta.rising]

I'll never ship something Fedex again, they have terrible customer service. The first disappointment came with shipping two framed prints when moving. I thought I had packed them well (wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in a large box filled with packing peanuts), but when I received the box, it was mangled, the glass on both frames had shattered and the shards had ripped up the prints. But I had insured it, so no problem right? Fedex REFUSED to pay the insured amount without showing an original receipt for the items. But one print was over 10 years old and the other was a gift. I knew both of their original purchase cost, but had insured MUCH less than that amount and I didn't have the receipts.

The second disappointing customer service experience is just convoluted and to sum it up shortly, I just felt abused after talking to the demeaning CSR.

[skitty4gzus]

im glad you got your refund. i had to put in a claim after they damaged an in dash cd player for my lexus. it took a month or so but it all worked out in the end. the only thing usps gets from me is my letter mail otherwise they are outrageously overpriced on package delivery. a 12 pound package shipped from usps priority was almost $30 without insurance and confirmation. UPS on the other hand was $11 with insurance and confirmation, granted it was 1 day slower on delivery but that is quite a premium. we use UPS quite a bit at the ministry and it has been flawless in my opinion. FedEx and DHL should only be used if you are completely desperate and they are the only places open and the package has to ship to the other side of the country.

[dr_st]

Interesting. I know some people who would swear by FedEx and steer clear of UPS. I wonder if the quality of the service depends on location, or whether it is all personal experience.

[ajkula66]

I'd say it's personal experience...

UPS and FedEx...never again. Destroyed stuff and never paid for it.

DHL...no complaints, but haven't used it as much as the other carriers.

USPS...my carrier of choice. Have lost a couple of small things in the past, but worked well for me 99% of the time, and you can't beat them on pricing when it comes to shipping stuff overseas...

[skitty4gzus]

it has to come down to location. we almost primarily use UPS here at the ministry and we send out multiple packages a day. and we have hardly no complaints to none at all. but, a buyer through ebay just asked us to NOT ship an item to them using UPS because they "mangle" packages in his area? But, where i use to work we used DHL a couple times and they just were miserable. We received sensitive legal documents in mangled, wet boxes from them a couple times and they apparently dont count very good. One time we were supposed to receive like 25 boxes from our sister company and DHL reported we received all 25 when in fact it was 1 short and had been left on their truck a few days and they brought it back a few days later? very unreliable and that was with irreplaceable legal documents.

[makai]

I am happy to hear that USPS settled with you.

Now, unlikely as it seems, suppose your ThinkPad shows up are you required to return the refund?

Brad

Thanks Brad!

Well if they ever tried to deliver it, I'd just have my sister decline delivery. If they think I'd be happy waiting months for it to finally show up, and then try to act as if nothing ever happened by trying to make me return the insurance money, they have another think coming! I would probably threaten a civil suit just for the anxiety this caused me. If they had paid up within a week after it got lost, and then found it, I wouldn't mind then. But 3 months? I don't think so!