USPS - "We Care............We still rifle through your packages.......but we do care"
 

Just got this doozy back in the mail today. Had to refund an Ebay customer a little over 80 bucks.

USPS - "We Care"

Included is paperwork for a "Package Search Request" and a shipping label, precision cut off a sturdy U-Line Poster Shipping tube I used to mail the items to the customer. Label held in place by several layers of tape, which I applied to the tube to make sure it couldn't be torn off of the shipping tube by prying hands. Also applied tape to the ends of the shipping tube over the plastic stoppers to keep anybody from being able to pull them off easily.

On it's way to Texas, with apparently only the label found in Memphis, Tennessee 18 days after I shipped the package out.

Coincidentally, it was found on the exact same day I filed a tracking request alert for the package to send notifications to both myself and the customer.

How nifty for them. Usually the tracking alerts kick delayed packages free, almost like whoever pilfers them just looks to see if someone is actually looking for the package and then inputs them back into the system if a request pops up.

This time, it appears they decided to keep the package and just put the label back into the system. Pretty sleazy.

Oddly, I've lost maybe a half dozen packages over the years in the Postal system and they almost always seem to be shipping tubes that go missing.

:(

Maybe people use the tubes to ship drugs. Just a guess. Truly.

Dave-- we are pretty careful about what crosses the borders of Texas.

Is it is the cardboard tubes with plastic caps that you're using? If it is, I stopped using those years ago. The only bats I've ever lost came out of those tubes. The caps are prone to cracking and unless heavily taped it's too easy for a crooked employee to simply pop an end cap and see what is inside.

I also don't send anything by first class. Priority mail only. It's faster and keeps the packages in the mail stream a shorter time.

I don't ship anything as heavy as a bat, mostly posters and oversized supplements. Uline tubes are pretty sturdy for that, and I do heavily tape the end caps.