USPS theft....DO NOT SHIP USPS, under any circumstances.

[MTFalconer]

Sorry guys but I need to vent here for a minute. Did a stock trade with a member here and the box was received today. Here are the facts. Box left the shipping location at 10 pounds. It was received at my post office today at a little under 5. No tracking number or signature confirmation number was affixed to the box even though they were paid for by the shipper. THis was a modular stock shipped in the original box inside of a larger shipping box. The outer box had obviously been cut open to remove the factory box inside. The contents of the factory boxes were removed and the boxes were closed up, replaced inside the factory box and stuck back into the shipping box. This isn't a case where damage occurred to the shipping box and items were able to slip out or fell out of some damaged spot. Someone opened the fucking box, opened the factory box on the inside and stole the contents. Period, end of discussion. I ship with the USPS every week. The vast majority of my work is shipped to the customer. I did not realize that when you are insuring a package you were insuring it from theft from the USPS but that's what you are actually doing. For myself this is absolutely the very last straw in a long line of issues with the USPS. THey have lost packages, damaged packages and various other little issues over the years but when you ship as many as I do you have to let some of that go. When the USPS is STEALING YOUR ITEMS, I absolutely refuse to give them one dime of my money at any point in the future. The best that I could do was document this in it's entirety with the postmaster, who advised me to check the contents in her presence as it looked to be tampered with. Sure they are going to contact the postal inspector, every thing was documented and photographed but that means exactly jack-shit. I am awaiting to hear from the inspector now, if he ever contacts me. This package wasn't insured and I am not assigning any blame because of that. I ship things regularly without insurance, there's no fault there. I sent the stock to the other member uninsured as a matter of fact.So the moral to the story is this, Just don't do it. Take your business to a more reputable shipper, that is what I will be doing from this point forward. If you do ship USPS, insure the contents for at least five times the value. Then at least when this happens to one of you guys and it will, the postal service will be forced to cough up a chunk of money to make it right.

Living where I do the only available shipper is USPS unless I travel about 53 miles to another town. I always tried to remain positive about issues with the USPS knowing that they are just trying to do a job. This is it for me, I'm done with them. I just can't continue to do business with an establishment that has repetitively let me down and now blatantly stole from me. I will drive the hour to ship with another service, I advise you to do the same.

 

[2ndamendfan]

If you ship that much you can set up an account with UPS or FedEx. They will come to you when you schedule a shipment. Also, you can insure for what ever amount you want through USPS but when you file a claim you will only get the value of the item. That is if you get anything, They are not stupid.

 

[MTFalconer]

I don't have an address, I literally live so far off the postal route that the closest mail box to me is about 5 miles. I get a free PO box they cannot service my area for mail. Therefore I can't ship anything from home, no matter if I meter it and do everything myself I still have to take it to a service provider.

 

[fdkay]

I have had far better luck with USPS than any other shipper.
They are much faster than either UPS or Fedex as well as being cheaper.

 

[MTFalconer]

This has been my experience in the past, cheaper and faster. Not so much this time.

 

[Maggot]

This has been my experience in the past, cheaper and faster. Not so much this time.

Sorry to hear about your problem but in reality USPS is damn good for as much volumne as they do. Ive shipped many items worth thousands and nly had one problem and it showed up eventually.

If I were you, Id quit blaming the postal service and be kicking my own self in the ass for 'NOT INSURING A VALUABLE ITEM'.

 

[MTFalconer]

If I were you, Id quit blaming the postal service and be kicking my own self in the ass for 'NOT INSURING A VALUABLE ITEM'.

You know you are absolutely right, how dare I blame USPS for obviously and blatantly opening a box and stealing from me. The report my postmaster gave me indicating is was exactly POSTAL THEFT is also something that could have been prevented.

 

[Maggot]

You know you are absolutely right, how dare I blame USPS for obviously and blatantly opening a box and stealing from me. The report my postmaster gave me indicating is was exactly POSTAL THEFT is also something that could have been prevented.

What I was driving at is it doesnt matter who took it, if it had been insured you'd get your money back. Might take a month or so but they pay.

 

[tnichols]

I don't have an address, I literally live so far off the postal route that the closest mail box to me is about 5 miles. I get a free PO box they cannot service my area for mail. Therefore I can't ship anything from home, no matter if I meter it and do everything myself I still have to take it to a service provider.

Im sorry for your trouble and loss, but your first and second sentence in this post has made me jealous! That's good livin' right there.

 

[MTFalconer]

Im sorry for your trouble and loss, but your first and second sentence in this post has made me jealous! That's good livin' right there.

What's really funny is the land that I live on was originally divided to be a ranch subdivision. 10 acre tracts. They built a road up the mountain 2 miles long and had phone line and DSL run all the way to the top. No one bought in and eventually it was all sold to a outlet of cabella's to potentially build a resort up here with cabins for ski and hunting trips. Cabela's downsized their resort program and the whole project was scrapped. It sat idle for about 12 years and my real estate agent found out about it and contacted me. I made a ridiculously lowball offer on the available tracts and they took it. I ended up getting essentially a private mountain for less than 1k an acre. There were some of the tracts that sold and folks built cabins up here but they are only summer use. We are the only full time residents. No postal route was ever assigned, no services other than phone and DSL. It's heaven.

 

[tnichols]

What's really funny is the land that I live on was originally divided to be a ranch subdivision. 10 acre tracts. They built a road up the mountain 2 miles long and had phone line and DSL run all the way to the top. No one bought in and eventually it was all sold to a outlet of cabella's to potentially build a resort up here with cabins for ski and hunting trips. Cabela's downsized their resort program and the whole project was scrapped. It sat idle for about 12 years and my real estate agent found out about it and contacted me. I made a ridiculously lowball offer on the available tracts and they took it. I ended up getting essentially a private mountain for less than 1k an acre. There were some of the tracts that sold and folks built cabins up here but they are only summer use. We are the only full time residents. No postal route was ever assigned, no services other than phone and DSL. It's heaven.

Perfect!

 

[2ndamendfan]

I don't have an address, I literally live so far off the postal route that the closest mail box to me is about 5 miles. I get a free PO box they cannot service my area for mail. Therefore I can't ship anything from home, no matter if I meter it and do everything myself I still have to take it to a service provider.

lucky Mother fucker. I am Soooooo Jealous.

 

[2ndamendfan]

What's really funny is the land that I live on was originally divided to be a ranch subdivision. 10 acre tracts. They built a road up the mountain 2 miles long and had phone line and DSL run all the way to the top. No one bought in and eventually it was all sold to a outlet of cabella's to potentially build a resort up here with cabins for ski and hunting trips. Cabela's downsized their resort program and the whole project was scrapped. It sat idle for about 12 years and my real estate agent found out about it and contacted me. I made a ridiculously lowball offer on the available tracts and they took it. I ended up getting essentially a private mountain for less than 1k an acre. There were some of the tracts that sold and folks built cabins up here but they are only summer use. We are the only full time residents. No postal route was ever assigned, no services other than phone and DSL. It's heaven.

I repeat what I said x10000

 

[MTFalconer]

lucky Mother fucker. I am Soooooo Jealous.

My place is always open, folks are welcome anytime. More deer than I can ever shoot and the ELK walk through like they own the place. Constantly fucking with my dogs....

 

[308pirate]

You know you are absolutely right, how dare I blame USPS for obviously and blatantly opening a box and stealing from me. The report my postmaster gave me indicating is was exactly POSTAL THEFT is also something that could have been prevented.

Ya because UPS, FedEx, and DHL employees NEVER steal from their customers. Good luck with that.

On the other hand, I truly envy your living situation. Lucky SOB.....LOL

 

[james24]

I only ship USPS and they would pick up from my last job also. We quit using UPS as the drivers would always throw package off truck and then we would get charged double. FedEx is 3 times amount of UPS also!!

 

[Steel+Killer]

Can I come live with you I will trade you a beach house for your mountain house.......lol

 

[MTFalconer]

Can I come live with you I will trade you a beach house for your mountain house.......lol

I have offered to give people an acre of land up here if they will come up and build. Surprisingly no one has taken me up on it. Being a mountain man is kind of like being a Viking. Everyone wants to be one until it's time to do Viking shit. When the snow blows in here three feet deep and it's -40 outside, no one wants to be a mountain man anymore.

 

[Maggot]

When the snow blows in here three feet deep and it's -40 outside, no one wants to be a mountain man anymore.

Exactly!

I love the isolation but in a warmer climate. I had a place like you have but out in the Texas Hill Country.

 

[MTFalconer]

Montana is the last best place for a reason. There is still about five times more public land than private land. In my county, which is 280 square miles there are 1600 residents. Do the math on that. Basically what that means is if you are out hunting or whatever and something happens, you're on your own. You won't see another car or person, possibly for days until some rancher happens by that way. One two lane highway through the entire county. When I say we are remote, I wasn't kidding...LOL

 

[JG26_Irish]

You know there are only two states I have not visited. Alaska and Montana. Sounds like I saved the best for last. I love to hunt and fish. Sounds like I need to come out and visit. H understand the harsh winters but there is something magical about the Western states and the openness. I love it.

Irish

 

[corey4]

I have offered to give people an acre of land up here if they will come up and build. Surprisingly no one has taken me up on it. Being a mountain man is kind of like being a Viking. Everyone wants to be one until it's time to do Viking shit. When the snow blows in here three feet deep and it's -40 outside, no one wants to be a mountain man anymore.

what is there to do for work? i hate living in PA.

 

[MTFalconer]

what is there to do for work? i hate living in PA.

That's sort of the rub, there are jobs in Great falls an hour or so drive away. Other than that there is ranch work or some small businesses. There is a 3800 employee processing plant being built outside of town. That would be a good gig. I work from home so it's no matter to me but commuting distances in winter here is tough. Especially if it's an every day gig.

 

[sandwarrior]

You know you are absolutely right, how dare I blame USPS for obviously and blatantly opening a box and stealing from me. The report my postmaster gave me indicating is was exactly POSTAL THEFT is also something that could have been prevented.

What a lot of people don't know is that FedEx has the Continental "out of ground area" transportation contract for USPS. Meaning, if the letter/box you are sending would distributed from where it was going by ground, only then is it USPS transportation. If it goes farther, FedEx moves it from that distribution point to the PO distributing it to you.

 

[packratt]

Same with ups and dhl. They all drop off truck loads of parcels for USPS to deliver.

 

[Strykervet]

I have had far better luck with USPS than any other shipper.
They are much faster than either UPS or Fedex as well as being cheaper.

This^

Much better luck with USPS than FedEx or UPS. FedEx and UPS won't even complete the delivery, they just throw it out the truck on the side of the goddamn road 200m from the front door! Signature delivery or not, and they don't care what it is. Found my FAL laying on the porch. I knew it was there because I heard the box hit the pavement --hard. Luckily it was in a case and well padded and packed. Goddamn them.

If you have a PO Box, UPS and FedEx will deliver to it if you use the PO physical address and your box number.

 

[MTFalconer]

If you have a PO Box, UPS and FedEx will deliver to it if you use the PO physical address and your box number.

Ive done that in the past and UPS route driver has pretty much put a stop to it. Remember, I am very rural. If I have to get something shipped in UPS when they see my name on it and the address they hold it in great falls at the hub and I have to drive 100 miles to go get it. Hardly convenient but I guess it's better than it could be.

 

[Maggot]

Montana is the last best place for a reason. There is still about five times more public land than private land. In my county, which is 280 square miles there are 1600 residents. Do the math on that. Basically what that means is if you are out hunting or whatever and something happens, you're on your own. You won't see another car or person, possibly for days until some rancher happens by that way. One two lane highway through the entire county. When I say we are remote, I wasn't kidding...LOL

I know. My nearest neighbor was two miles. nearest town if you want to call it that, 30, nearest city 50.Its sobering when you realize just how on your own you are. The quiet and peacefulness are worth it but I couldnt take the cold up your way.

 

[MTFalconer]

Well, it's been two business days and not even a phone call from the postal inspectors. Got an email from my postmaster saying that with the declared value of the theft it was being bumped up to the OIG. Which means absolutely nothing if they don't do anything about it. I'm fairly certain that nothing will become of it. No government agency is keen on investigating itself. It's mostly a show and I am aware of it. I was informed through other channels that the only way any result at all would be seen was if, by chance, whomever decided to remove the pieces from the box was caught on tape doing it. Then, possibly, if they essentially confessed and returned the property. After it was used to convict them, I "Might" get it back. Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Maggot]

Question? Whts the difference betseen a thief and a piece of shit?

Ans: None,

 

[MTFalconer]

I guess what seriously pisses me off more than anything else about this whole affair is that It will take me months to save and replace the stock. While some shit stain is walking around with my stuff. All the while I have a barreled action sitting on the bench that could be put to use this season. I donate all of my time during rifle season to get disabled vets back into the field to hunt. So now the money that I would have been spending on diesel, ammo and supplies for these guys I'll now be scraping together to get a new stock for this rifle. we don't get funding or donations, the few of us that do this pay for it out of our own pockets. It's already tight around here, this just makes it that much worse. Not trying to be a whiny little bitch, just pisses me off to no end. Some days it's either bitch a little bit or fucking fix bayonets and start slitting throats....

 

[kortik]

Well, it's been two business days and not even a phone call from the postal inspectors. Got an email from my postmaster saying that with the declared value of the theft it was being bumped up to the OIG. Which means absolutely nothing if they don't do anything about it. I'm fairly certain that nothing will become of it. No government agency is keen on investigating itself. It's mostly a show and I am aware of it. I was informed through other channels that the only way any result at all would be seen was if, by chance, whomever decided to remove the pieces from the box was caught on tape doing it. Then, possibly, if they essentially confessed and returned the property. After it was used to convict them, I "Might" get it back. Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath.

Because package was not insured, I do not think you'll get compensated. It's that simple. However, USPS always pays back if package is insured. I've shipped 10,000+ packages by USPS in 7 years, and only one package was lost, but it was insured. I got promptly paid within 30 days after filling an insurance claim. In your case of not having insurance, you're out of luck. Just relax, enjoy your gorgeous location and take this as a loss. Shit happens from time to time, nothing is perfect. At least, nobody died - funeral costs would be a lot more than the cost of the rifle stock.... Anyway, good luck to you finding out who was at fault.

 

[Mr. Z]

What's really funny is the land that I live on was originally divided to be a ranch subdivision. 10 acre tracts. They built a road up the mountain 2 miles long and had phone line and DSL run all the way to the top. No one bought in and eventually it was all sold to a outlet of cabella's to potentially build a resort up here with cabins for ski and hunting trips. Cabela's downsized their resort program and the whole project was scrapped. It sat idle for about 12 years and my real estate agent found out about it and contacted me. I made a ridiculously lowball offer on the available tracts and they took it. I ended up getting essentially a private mountain for less than 1k an acre. There were some of the tracts that sold and folks built cabins up here but they are only summer use. We are the only full time residents. No postal route was ever assigned, no services other than phone and DSL. It's heaven.

You wanna double your money?

 

[powdahound76]

MT, what kinda rifle is this for? I got some stuff around here, maybe we can figure something out if I have something that will work.

 

[MTFalconer]

You wanna double your money?

Naaah, everything here was paid for cash and since we have been here property values have really gone up. Want me to make you really sick? Our property borders the Lewis and Clark national forest. I forget how many million acres it entails but it isn't little. I can walk off of my property onto it. Private access with no public access for about 15 miles. No one and I mean NOBODY has access to our little side of heaven. So basically my back yard is millions of acres.

 

[MTFalconer]

You wanna double your money?

Just so you know, there are a few tracts available on my mountain. They aren't mine, they were already owned when I bought here. If you are serious I can give you details.

 

[Mr. Z]

Just so you know, there are a few tracts available on my mountain. They aren't mine, they were already owned when I bought here. If you are serious I can give you details.

Yes, please. If it's not too much bother.

 

[Unknown]

UPS isn't an better. Even though I gave them the correct street address via email on no less than 3 occasions in response to the web info they sent me, they decided to deliver my package (Steiner Military/Marine commander 7x50 binoculars W/compass) to someone across town with a similar name. The guy across town called me to say he received my package, and said he hasn't lived at the address UPS used for the past six months. I'm just lucky UPS delivered my package to an honest man. He called me and arranged to get my binos to me.

 

[MTFalconer]

^^^^^^^ this. In Montana the problem is everyone knows everyone...and yes it's a problem. Last season I had a part for my dozer shipped in and I needed it ASAP. I paid for next day air on a 40 lbs part bad. They received it at the hub in great falls and one of the drivers thought he was doing someone a favor (not me) and TOOK IT HOME WITH HIM!!!!! I called them and requested them to find it as it showed in their warehouse. I drove into town to get it, which I have to do on all UPS stuff and this douche bag had put it in his truck and driven it 100 miles away. They had to call this retard on the phone to get him to bring it back in. He read the last name and said "Hey I know that guy". He didn't. In the end this moron dropped it off at the belt grocery store for me to pickup on my way home. That's the sort of shit that happens in small town in rural America.

 

[diverdon]

I've shipped a lot by USPS and they seem as good as anybody.