USPS opening a domestic package.

[Blueface]

Curious and not sure if I missed it in the thread, was there any indication at all on the package of what was contained inside?

[elderboy02]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Curious and not sure if I missed it in the thread, was there any indication at all on the package of what was contained inside?

Nope. Just a good old Priority Mail box.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by elderboy02

Nope. Just a good old Priority Mail box.

How on this Earth could they have known what was inside?
That would mean these guys are opening up packages randomly?
What a way to risk losing a job!
Sure this isn't some type of joke?
Come on, whoever did this to the poor guy, come clean now, own up to it, all will be forgiven.

[DPD6030]

Sorry to hear about this Dan. I can tell you I worked with the postal police on one case where I used to work in a Twp. They came in and told us what they were doing and where the mail lady would be at. They had a tracking device in one of her letters. Bait, hook, line and sinker. Stopped her right in front of our PD. She had a warrant as well. Needless to say she is no longer a USPS employee. She actually fled the country to avoid prosecution! She came back and cuffs were on her at the airport.

The postal police rule btw. They have all kinds of cool items.

[Poe]

Wow, thats crazy!

[kaisersozei]

This whole thing sounds bizzare, yet very interesting... I'm sorry for the hassle & for you being victimized, Dan

[tsolomon]

Interesting.

Priority Mail, which is often used for shipping tobacco, is sealed against inspection. Therefore a federal search warrant or consent would be needed to open these packages. Unless the mailer voluntarily discloses that a package contains nonmailable matter, generally the only way to determine whether it contains unlawful contents is to open the package.

http://www.usps.com/communications/n...ibbons0424.htm

[bvilchez]

Very interesting read on the inspection needed for Priority mail.
Posted via Mobile Device

[elderboy02]

Originally Posted by bvilchez

Very interesting read on the inspection needed for Priority mail.
Posted via Mobile Device

Indeed it is.

What became of this?

[Gophernut]

I'm interested to find out too!

[dyieldin]

Really, you can not leave us hanging on this!

[shilala]

Stuff gets mashed quite a bit.
The only thing I can figure is that the box got mashed on the belt and the stuff spilled out. Whoever recovered the box may have found the coffin and smoking tips beneath the belt and just thought it obvious they went together.
Normally they'll bag the box. Printed on the bag is the "We screwed up your stuff" message. The employee may have just been lazy and didn't bother bagging.
To assume someone "stole" two out of three coffins just doesn't make any sense at all, for about a million reasons.

In any event, it totally sucks. I used to insure everything, but I stopped. I spent so much in insurance that I could easily pay for a number of lost packages. Occasionally I do use it though, if something is exceptionally valuable and I don't want to take the hit if it gets destroyed or lost.
I hope it all works out for you guys!!!

[MichaelJ]

Originally Posted by shilala

Stuff gets mashed quite a bit.
The only thing I can figure is that the box got mashed on the belt and the stuff spilled out. Whoever recovered the box may have found the coffin and smoking tips beneath the belt and just thought it obvious they went together.
Normally they'll bag the box. Printed on the bag is the "We screwed up your stuff" message. The employee may have just been lazy and didn't bother bagging.

My thoughts exactly. I work at UPS in the mornings as a second job and I can see how this can/does happen. Not sure if the potential is there with USPS, but would assume so. Hope this turned out ok.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

My thoughts exactly. I work at UPS in the mornings as a second job and I can see how this can/does happen. Not sure if the potential is there with USPS, but would assume so. Hope this turned out ok.

I worked for UPS for a minute and there was always stuff floating around in the truck that came out of packages. I always did my best to try to get the loosies back in the right box, but I could have easily stuffed the wrong thing in the wrong open box. There's no time to mess around.
The alternative is that no one gets the roll arounds, and I just fall on them.
I can see real easy how stuff could have fell out and the wrong stuff put back in. I can't imagine anyone intentionally rifling and putting the wrong stuff in. The odds are way too astronomical, but I'm sure it could happen. It's just awful far out there.

[neoflex]

I would be curious to hear how this turned out.

[markem]

Originally Posted by shilala

Stuff gets mashed quite a bit.
The only thing I can figure is that the box got mashed on the belt and the stuff spilled out. Whoever recovered the box may have found the coffin and smoking tips beneath the belt and just thought it obvious they went together.
Normally they'll bag the box. Printed on the bag is the "We screwed up your stuff" message. The employee may have just been lazy and didn't bother bagging.
To assume someone "stole" two out of three coffins just doesn't make any sense at all, for about a million reasons.

I agree completely. My advice is to make sure that there are no air spaces in your package. My thinking is that if you reinforce, especially at the corners, then the package has a better chance. None of my packages have collapsed in the machinery, but it is only a matter of time, given how much I ship. Still, making sure that there are no spaces or soft spots seems like a good plan, especially since they thinned the material on the priority boxes to reduce costs.

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by barbourjay

So i sent a package to a member here and all went well with everything except, he gets the priority mail box and it had been opened by the USPS. they opened it, removed two of the coffins and replaced them with a note and some type of quit smoking tips.

is there any repercussions to the post office about this, or the employee? they blatantly stole something of mine and replaced it. i'm waiting for the box to get back to me to take it to the post office but would like everyone's opinions on what i should do. should i talk to the post master? i don't ship insured, only with a DC# usually as i don't expect the USPS to steal anything. especially a small priority mail box.

I know this isn't what you want to hear but it's highly unlikely that it was opened by a postal worker...I recently won a set of trading cards on ebay...the seller stuck them in a small priority mail box and shipped it...it came to me as an empty box with a stamp on it from the PO stating the box opened during shipment and the contents were lost...the problem here is the stickum they use on those boxes...it's crappy...I never ship a priority mail item without taping the box shut over their flap...the flaps never stay closed...a more likely scenario is that the box opened and the missing items fell out and were seperated from the box and the PO employees had no way to match them up as the contents probably went one way and the box another...if the box opened in a mail bag the coffins would have slid to the bottom of the bag while the box went on for processing...when someone noticed the box was open they added the note...by then, the missing contents were long gone...the PO usually doesn't deliberately open domestic mail unless there's a reason...hopefully, that's why the stupid laws that some states are passing banning the mailing of tobacco products will fail...it's highly unlikely the PO is going to take on the job of enforcer...