Anyone have good luck with the USPS finding their lost auto parts in the system?

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hemi71x

hemi71x

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My latest purchase for some parts has also come back to bite me in the ***.
Wondering if anyone out there has filed a search with the USPS, and has good or bad luck, with them finding the parts.
Here's what's now going on.
I purchased a pair of calipers from a guy in Georgia.
Packaged them up in a large, USPS flat rate box.
Evidently the calipers were recent take off's from the donor car.
Somewhere in transit the box must have really been tossed around.
I think upside down, as all the brake fluid that was still in the calipers, leaked out, and soaked the box with brake fluid,
and contaminated the box, making the cardboard soft, and weak, causing the calipers to fall out.
All that i got from the USPS from the West Sacramento, distribution center, is the contaminated, brake soaked, shipping label that was on the box.
NO CALIPERS.
Filed a claim for lost items, but they naturally can't tell me where in the system, the calipers came out of the box.
I'm wondering if the box had the calipers in it, since what was left of it, must have got to the West Sacramento, distribution center.
Do you think i just have to chalk this up to a loss, or keep my fingers crossed that they can find the parts?
I really can't blame the USPS, as it's not their fault in the improper packaging.
The package was not insured for any loss or damage.
Who woulda thunk it, that residue brake fluid in the calipers would leak out.
Well thank's for reading, and possibly your thoughts.
Jim V.
hemi71x
 
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Nope, NOR covering their guaranteed insurance payouts, either. I have an intake manifold I sold someone years ago that was never found (I refunded them myself) and a camshaft I bought from ABodyBomber (RIP) a LONG time ago floatin around somewhere. Although I told him over and over not to do it, he refunded me out of his pocket. Just the kinda guy he was.
 
That stuff happens and finding them is slim to none chance. You have to give it some time but the seller should reimburse you. It sounds like he should have emptied them out and bagged them. New and rebuilt calipers are bagged and boxed.
 
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No info to really help you but I thought I’d share my most recently delivery from UPS. They really went out of their way to take care of this one.
 
usps delivered a part i sold to the wrong town in texas. 60 miles from where it was supposed to be. i filed about 3 times and they finally found it about 3 months after. but they did find it.
 
I have had EXCELLENT luck with a VERY attractive young lady at the local shipping center. She evidently called a "secret number" and got through to someone. I had already struck out on the "not very Eeeeengleeeesh speaking" "help line"

This however was maybe 10 years ago, and things may have changed
 
I sent calipers to a member in HI and something similar happened (caliper came out). I took it upon myself to contact the post master from where it was sent and had him give me all the scans and sure enough they found the package in another state, set aside so it could be "inspected" lol.

The buyer eventually got it and all is well. You might have to work with the seller on him contacting his post master. Do you have the tracking #? Maybe track the scans and try calling yourself.
 
They once lost an order of mine it showed up inconspicuously 3 weeks later. Not a word was mentioned about it...wasn't auto part though.
 
Sent a money order out, never got to the member, never cashed. Because I don’t have the lost part of the money order, I can’t get refunded. Out $85, postage and didn’t get my door panel.
 
hemi71x said:
Wondering if anyone out there has filed a search with the USPS, and has good […] luck
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Yup, eventually; see here. But in all those cases the parts were properly wrapped and boxed and there were address labels inside and outside the box. In your case, even if the cardboard held up, USPS is like any other carrier these days: an oily, smelly box full of heavy chunky items is, at best, going to raise suspicion and it's probably going to be isolated and destroyed.
 
hemi71x said:
My latest purchase for some parts has also come back to bite me in the ***.
Wondering if anyone out there has filed a search with the USPS, and has good or bad luck, with them finding the parts.
Here's what's now going on.
I purchased a pair of calipers from a guy in Georgia.
Packaged them up in a large, USPS flat rate box.
Evidently the calipers were recent take off's from the donor car.
Somewhere in transit the box must have really been tossed around.
I think upside down, as all the brake fluid that was still in the calipers, leaked out, and soaked the box with brake fluid,
and contaminated the box, making the cardboard soft, and weak, causing the calipers to fall out.
All that i got from the USPS from the West Sacramento, distribution center, is the contaminated, brake soaked, shipping label that was on the box.
NO CALIPERS.
Filed a claim for lost items, but they naturally can't tell me where in the system, the calipers came out of the box.
I'm wondering if the box had the calipers in it, since what was left of it, must have got to the West Sacramento, distribution center.
Do you think i just have to chalk this up to a loss, or keep my fingers crossed that they can find the parts?
I really can't blame the USPS, as it's not their fault in the improper packaging.
The package was not insured for any loss or damage.
Who woulda thunk it, that residue brake fluid in the calipers would leak out.
Well thank's for reading, and possibly your thoughts.
Jim V.
hemi71x
Click to expand...
There is no guarantee that a box shipped via USPS will remain in any specific orientation during shipping. Also in the drop off process at the PO one of the questions is, does the package contain a liquid….?
Anyone selling car brake parts should know that calipers contain residual brake fluid. The seller should have taken a moment to open the bleeders, fully compress the piston on each caliper, close the bleeders, cap the hose connection end and then seal the calipers in a plastic bag. That is not too much to expect of anyone.
Your issue is with the person that sold and packaged the calipers.
The parts exited the box, maybe anywhere along the destination trail.
I think the seller owes you a refund. But if that is not happening, try sending a photo of the calipers to the PO that received the parts for shipment and to the last PO that handled the box before delivery and see if they will forward the photos to destinations/stops the package made along the way. Maybe someone saw the calipers somewhere.
But again, if someone packages a part so poorly that the part exits the packaging during shipment, the fault is with the person that did the packaging.
 
I own a business as we ship thousands of packages a month. The post office is the worst of any carrier, and it is not even close. The post office is run and staffed by unionized Federal Employees, they are, for all intents and purposes, permanent employees and no one can get fired. Dealing with these people on a daily basis I actually marvel that they deliver anything on time or in one piece...
 
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And i also found out trying to do anything with the USPS in a phone call is a total waste of your time.
At first i used their national phone number, and going thru threw their prompting, is a pain in the ***.
Then, if you do get thru, the wait time is easily 30 minutes, or maybe more.
But you can have them call you back, which i did.
Then i got the brainy idea of calling the West Sacramento distribution center, from where i got the notification that my package leaked fluid, and all that we have for you is the shipping label.
That facility doesn't like to get phone calls.
It says, "Our message box is full, and cannot take any more phone calls, and try and call back at a later time"
Then when you call back again, you keep getting the same message.
They make it so hard, they wan't you to just give up, and go away.
So it's pretty much, do what ya gotta do, over the internet, and then try and get some satisfaction.
 
TT5.9mag said:
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No info to really help you but I thought I’d share my most recently delivery from UPS. They really went out of their way to take care of this one.
Click to expand...

Heavy item in the box?
I've received stuff that the shipper did a horrible job packing. Carbs in boxes with a couple pieces of newspaper, LOL Yeah that did the trick holding the carb solid in that oversized box.
 
crackedback said:
Heavy item in the box?
I've received stuff that the shipper did a horrible job packing. Carbs in boxes with a couple pieces of newspaper, LOL Yeah that did the trick holding the carb solid in that oversized box.
Click to expand...
Not terribly heavy. It was a Hilti DD-WMS100 water management vacuum for core drilling. Maybe a little heavier than a typical large shop vac. I delivered it to Hilti for warranty repair, they sent it to their warranty repair center and this is how I got it back days later. It was packaged well by Hilti from what I can tell. But it looked like the box fell off the truck and rolled down the freeway.

EB2BD1A2-87A3-4B0A-8C1F-CC163514745D.jpeg
 
I had a box come apart in shipping, even with tracking they couldn't/wouldn't find it

Hand carry to post office 1
Load in truck 1
Unload at distribution center 1
Load in truck 2
Unload at distribution center 2
Load in truck 3
Unload at post office 2
Load in route truck

I get box, half the parts missing (heavy duty antenna springs and balls), box was poorly taped in the first place, retaped (USPS tape)


Another one

I ordered a throttle linkage rod off eBay, get it, box empty, 1/4" round hole in corner, right through the tape.
I fold a piece of cardboard over the ends of items like this, then tape them to a sheet of cardboard, then float it halfway up in the box with packing above and below.


Another one

I have a lower trunk trim for my 67 Barracuda shipped to be in a 4" shipping tube, the tube was flattened in the middle, it turned out it was folded at least 45^ to cause the damage to the trim. I ended up sending the trim back in a PVC pipe to be fixed and polished and returned in the same pipe.

Alan
 
Nope, bought some parts off here about 6 years ago. Scanned onto the plane, never scanned off, all I got was glitch in the system.
 
while USPS sucks for manhandling your package and not taking any corrective effort along the way, it's my belief that your problem stemmed from a poor packing job by the seller and that is who should ultimately be held responsible.

talk it out and see if you can come to an agreeable term between the two of you. set your expectations a little lower and the seller might wind up surprising you.

also, pay for the insurance in the future.
 
junkyardhero said:
while USPS sucks for manhandling your package and not taking any corrective effort along the way, it's my belief that your problem stemmed from a poor packing job by the seller and that is who should ultimately be held responsible.

talk it out and see if you can come to an agreeable term between the two of you. set your expectations a little lower and the seller might wind up surprising you.

also, pay for the insurance in the future.
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For an individual sending one package once in a while, insuring it might not be a bad idea, but for a business it is just impossible. If as a business you send 3000 packages a month, insurance would easily be over $10 a package, that would be over $30,000 a month and it would either bankrupt you, or you would need to pass the cost to the customer which would make you uncompetitive with the competition. The issue with all this stuff is not that parts get lost or damaged, that is truly inevitable, but the way these companies handle the situation. Just trying to call your local post office, at least in our area, is impossible. You can call the 800 "central" phone number and waste your time, nothing will happen there. UPS after Covid has also made it almost impossible to call them... UPS now has you put a claim and they just give you the $100 "insurance". If what they lost or damaged is worth 10 times that, you are screwed...
 
HSDemon said:
For an individual sending one package once in a while, insuring it might not be a bad idea, but for a business it is just impossible. If as a business you send 3000 packages a month, insurance would easily be over $10 a package, that would be over $30,000 a month and it would either bankrupt you, or you would need to pass the cost to the customer which would make you uncompetitive with the competition. The issue with all this stuff is not that parts get lost or damaged, that is truly inevitable, but the way these companies handle the situation. Just trying to call your local post office, at least in our area, is impossible. You can call the 800 "central" phone number and waste your time, nothing will happen there. UPS after Covid has also made it almost impossible to call them... UPS now has you put a claim and they just give you the $100 "insurance". If what they lost or damaged is worth 10 times that, you are screwed...
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if you're running a business, this is entirely understood. I don't do near that amount of volume so I'm in a unique situation where I have the option to offer the buyer their choice of shipping method and if they want additional insurance. on bigger ticket items, I don't mess around-- it gets insured full pop.

mistakes and problems still can and do come up now and again, how they're dealt with is a reflection on the character of the individual and business.

usually people can be adults, but when they turn into whiny piss-babies about something that you have no control over it certainly is not a fun time. it blows chunks having to eat a shipment and refund a customer. but that's the cost of doing business sometimes.
 
What'd you pay for the calipers, $40? It's not worth your time at this point. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. You win some, you lose some. In this case, you lost.
 
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