USPS has lost my Winston

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doloresboy
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USPS has lost my Winston

#1

Post by doloresboy »

8' 2/2 Brackett built. #3390.

I know it's a long shot but if anybody see's it on dealers list or on the ebay I'd sure appreciate an email.

matt@nevadacommercial.com

Thanks!

Matt

wrong66
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#2

Post by wrong66 »

Terrible! You're likely to see it in the hands of a Postal employee on the river this Spring. I worked there for 12 years. You'd all be horrified if you knew what goes on there daily. Good luck finding it. You never know. Also, good luck getting full value on a Postal Claim.
Mark

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fisherman911
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#3

Post by fisherman911 »

I don't know how long it's been missing but I just recently had a package show up 8 months after it fell off the USPS tracking system. The packaging had been damaged and seems to have gone to a place where they try to repackage that damage. Also have you tried to work your way through the maze of USPS contact options. If you stick with it you can get to a real person who might actually do something for you. When I have actually spent the time to do this that person was actually pretty helpful and my item was found. Your local USPS people, unless you have an old pro and a good relationship probably won't be of much use. That said I like USPS in general, most of the local people are over worked and under trained but want to do the right thing..

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paxlev
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#4

Post by paxlev »

I have shared my horror story on my use of the USPO to shop a Dickerson to Bud Fresca, registered, insured mail years ago. After they blew both rod tips up and I made my claim, the final 'appellate' denial was based on the grounds that a bamboo fly rod is a perishable good and thus not covered. My take on their understanding of the word perishable: anything they can break is, be definition, perishable and not covered. Never do that again .....

PT48
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#5

Post by PT48 »

Commiserations doloresboy. Every time I put a rod in the mail I can't help but be anxious. Hope it all works out well for you.

derensfox
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#6

Post by derensfox »

Yes, sorry to hear about this. How long has it been?
I've had shipments that should take 2 days show up after 10 or so........Did the tracking indicate it was delivered, or just missing?

FWIW, after 500+ rods shipped or received via USPS, I've had serious issues with only a couple.....
Last edited by derensfox on 02/16/17 18:44, edited 1 time in total.

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Flyman615
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#7

Post by Flyman615 »

I just received a rod today that had its tube tightly wrapped by the seller in brown paper only with no shipping container whatsoever.

There was no doubt what was inside the package, even though I had made suggestions on how to pack a bamboo fly rod for safe shipment.

Fortunately it arrived un-opened and in good shape.
Think I'll buy a lotto ticket tonight!

Hope you find yours, Matt!

Scott
Last edited by Flyman615 on 02/16/17 19:10, edited 1 time in total.
Flyman615

"An undisturbed river is as perfect as we will ever know, every refractive slide of cold water a glimpse of eternity" - Thomas McGuane

Ana Pisak
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#8

Post by Ana Pisak »

Just to be a contrarian, I have shipped and/or received many rods through the PO and never had one damaged.

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doloresboy
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#9

Post by doloresboy »

derensfox wrote:Yes, sorry to hear about this. How long has it been?
I've had shipments that should take 2 days show up after 10 or so........Did the tracking indicate it was delivered, or just missing?

FWIW, after 500+ rods shipped or received via USPS, I've had serious issues with only a couple.....
It shipped a little less than a month ago. I received a notice from the USPS on 2/9 "We regret to inform you that we were unable to locate any delivery information in our records regarding your item."

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it but it was the nicest rod I had. But, I have a lot of other rods :) I'm going to be patient and see what develops.

Thanks all for the well wishes!

Matt

crowebeetle
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#10

Post by crowebeetle »

It may be useful to place your name and address with the rod in addition to the mailing address. If the external label is lost the internal one will get it returned.

snorider
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#11

Post by snorider »

Well that stinks! Sorry to hear about your loss. I received an orvis rod in a triangle "tube" wrapped in nothing but news paper by the seller this last summer, the usps had worked it over good, tube was ripped nearly to shreds and was flat as a pancake...but the rod by some miracle had only one bent guide. I think I will stick to fedex for expensive rods in the future. Did you see where the last reported tracking scan was? Could help you narrow it down a bit. Good luck man.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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nativetrout
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#12

Post by nativetrout »

3 rods gone with USPS. Don't know why i never learned my lesson. 2 lost. 1 MINT Phillipson "63" run over with a truck. All insured for more than they were worth. NEVER ONE PENNY was retrieved for my losses. followed all the steps, three attempts each, calls to the headquarters, emails. NOT ONE PENNY. they claim that they can't determine the value of "antiques". Yet they will gladly charge you full price to insure them and hand you a receipt. I don't care about all the positivity and nonsense guys here love to push. The usps is crud. They lost their integrity and quality of service a LONG time ago and are now just running a criminal insurance fraud racket. I can't fathom how many millions a month they make in unpaid insurance claims.....makes me sick that they are part of the US but then nothing associated with government seems to be honorable these days. good luck and sorry to hear about the rod. nothing will ever change without honesty.

t simbari
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#13

Post by t simbari »

There is exactly one safe way to ship via the PO, that is registered, insured. It is economical and safe because every single soul that touches it must sign for it and no other methodology requires that process.

adrien schnee
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#14

Post by adrien schnee »

Tim, I agree it's the most documented during transit method to ship, but unfortunately it doesn't assure the sender that insurance will pay out either. As Ric mentioned in his post above, he shipped his Dickerson to Bud using that method and both tips sheared off the rod in transport, but he received no compensation for a fully insured rod.

sgallas
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#15

Post by sgallas »

Matt,
Sorry this happened to you. There's no rhyme or reason to it. I had a rod arrived from across the country. The securely packaged rod was open at one end-- someone had to work at opening it-- but the rod was intact , without a scratch. Perhaps they didnt care for that particular maker.
Hope this ends well for you.

Steve

Althehackleman
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#16

Post by Althehackleman »

Have gotten rods shipped USPS for a while with no issues. Even bought a Sweetgrass on the auction site for very low price. Seller must have angry because he shipped the tube with address on it and top unsealed. Arrived on time and fine condition. Rod and all pieces in top shape. The tube still has residue from the shipping tag. I was lucky and know it. Sorry about your loss. Good luck.

headwaters
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#17

Post by headwaters »

Sorry to hear this, Matt! I hope it shows up, late but safe. Good luck!

Rupert

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teter
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#18

Post by teter »

Inexcusable but all too common.
All packages that go through the USPS are photographed. There is a record of it somewhere. If I were you, I would go straight to the postal inspector and file a theft claim. It may not work either, but at least you will be on record as having complained about a probable federal crime.
Good luck.

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gofish60
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#19

Post by gofish60 »

ImageImage
The driver actually tried to deliver this rod to me, saying "Doesn't look too bad to me." The triangular box was ripped and torn, and the tube was visually crushed. There's a nice Payne in there somewhere.
I refused to accept it, and gave the guy who sent it what he needed to document value. Never heard the outcome.
It's always scary. Just shipped one last week and held my breath until it got through.
gofish

wrong66
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Re: USPS has lost my Winston

#20

Post by wrong66 »

There is no "theft" claim you can file, just a claim for a parcel lost in the mail. Postal Inspectors, if they even decide to act on it, are the ones who will determine if there is "theft" involved. The parcel would have been photographed only twice as it went through Priority Mail processing in each of the General Mail Facilities (GMF), but no where else in the system. It would start it's trip being accepted at your local post office, go from there via truck to the GMF to be processed, then it would go back on a truck to the nearest airport (if the destination was far enough away that it had to go by aircraft) to be unloaded at the airport postal dock, then be loaded on an airplane, be offloaded from that airplane at the airport nearest the parcel's destination, be loaded on a truck again to be taken to the GMF nearest the city destination to be processed again, be brought to the processing center dock where it would wait to be loaded on a truck to be taken to the local post office in the city of the destination, loaded on a mail delivery truck to be delivered to the recipient. There are many opportunities by many employees or contract carriers along the way to steal the rod. The parcel is supposed to be scanned at every destination so inspectors could figure out where the chain of delivery was broken (although we know that many times they don't get scanned). Again, good luck. That's a heartbreaker.
Mark

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