Miami305

*sigh*

Is your theft of $250 really worth all the hassle, particularly the credit card and possible police investigation that will occur?

deant

For shipments less than $500 the mint does not typically ship UPS Signature required. If you had ordered $500 or over then the delivery would have been UPS overnight - signature required.

Didn't you notice the weight of the package, or lack thereof, when you received the package and before you opened it? Should have been a big red flag.

Take photos of the box etc and report it to the mint. Believe they self insure.

jamesteroh

I am thinking of getting a PO box when I upgrade my delta am ex card to one that gets MQMs and using the mailing address for that card only. I want to do it to have a different address on file with the mint, and I can also tell our security guy is getting tired of signing for the boxes and brining them into my office and I don't want him to deal with any more shipments. a 3 x 5.5 inch box at the Post office a couple blocks from my office is only $22 for six month and $44 a year is worth it to me for 15 to 20K mqm's on delta.

Will the PO have any problems putting a notice in my box 3 times a month for the coins or will they give me a hassle and make me upgrade to a bigger box? I realize I will have to go during their business hours to sign for the box which isn't a big deal since it's by my office and my bank.

Marathon Man

Seems Miami305 will send the hassled poster the $250 him or herself because if it's really no problem for Miami305 to lose that kind of money, then Miami305 can obviously part with it instead?

curious

Marathon Man

yes and the best way is to actually pick it up before signing for it. One can easily determine the weight from this method. If it feels off, ask to see the contents first.

GoingAway

Definitely follow up, but also keep in mind that whoever took it now knows to look for the boxes and what is inside. Just one of those nasty thoughts to keep in mind if you continue to pursue coin purchases

Marathon Man

good point. I would now switch to having all these sent to a usps PO box. Then you sign for them there--AFTER feeling the weight of each box

freeloader

its a tough situation. i've dealt with the post office on situations like this. its going to be REALLY tough to prove what happened with the $250. I can see where miami is coming from. given that it is cash that was shipped, its going to be a lot of work to get the money back - if he ever will. seriously, if he can get his money back in under 20 hours of time, i'd be surprised. and even then. it would be at the cost of $10/hour

honestly the lesson here is if you want to play the mint game - order $1k at a time. get the signature confirmation, and that way everyone is safe.

kyunbit

I had placed an order on 13 Feb. Hasnt shipped yet. The status is "Your request is on hold". Is this normal?

Marathon Man

indeed --but frankly I would go for it and get paid even $5/hr to get that money back. Because over time, if you order say 50k in coins and nothing else goes wrong, you kinda make it back by averages. Out of principle alone I would want to solve this though. If it were a missing roll of $25 that's one thing. I would be bumming but yeah. But this is a lot more cash. Who stole it? Can they be stopped? are they a gang who does this to others who will get away with it til someone stops them? is THAT worth anything?

FTnoob101

I wouldn't say that's normal. If it was me, I'd give it until Monday and then cancel if the status doesn't change.

freeloader

no, i agree... out of principle, i've wasted a ridiculous amount of time for immaterial amounts of points. so i can respect that. and maybe if it was me, i'd fight it.

my only point was that i can see how people wouldn't fight it... and that the importance is to only ship coins where signature IS required. everyone must protect themselves.

unrelatedly, i love your posts in this thread. it makes reading the 13k+ posts bearable

prech

Just my luck, my shipment was stolen on the same day as mannn!

In my most recent order, I ordered $1000 of coins, but stupidly ordered 4x$250 to 'mix' it up. $750 came via UPS next day, $250 went through FedEx SmartPost. The $250 was scheduled for delivery for Saturday 2/26/11 via USPS, so I was surprised to see a box in my mailbox upon arriving home after work. To my further surprise, the box was light as a feather. When I turned the box over, it was obviously ripped open, coins removed, and taped back up. Pictures attached and hosted here:



I haven't bothered to open it up, but it doesn't matter at this point, as it's definitely not ~5 pounds

As I see it, I can:
1) Lie, and claim it was lost/never received from USPS, as no signature was required, or,
2) Tell the truth, claim it was stolen in transit, and slave my way through 'my word versus his' debates with the US Mint, USPS, and/or my credit card company

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Happy

All the UPS guys KNOW what these packages are. The local UPS depot dispatch folks know, too. However it seems no one works for UPS is willing to risk their jobs and clean records to steal these.

On a USPS employee stealing package matter, I had this happened to me a few years ago. I sold a brand new hard cover tomb of stock trading book to a buyer in Chicago via Amazon. I got this as a X'mas gift from my broker but I had no use for it. The book was freshly published, at a retail selling price of over $200. The buyer paid $78 and the transaction was done using Amazon Guarantee or something like that.

Following Amazon's instruction I wrote on the package "Your order from Amazon is inside". The package was the original the book came from. I sent this the cheapest method but paid for the Tracking Number. Buyer never received the package. He was nice enough to wait for another 2 weeks while I copied him my email exchanges with USPS. Eventually he filed claim with Amazon, and Amazon took the money away from my account.

USPS tracking showed the book made it to Chicago depot. Then dead from there. Thanks to the Tracking Number, I emailed USPS office and they replied - several rounds of the email exchanges got me no where with USPS, but as a proof to Amazon that I did send the package in good faith. Amazon credited my account back and reimbursed the buyer his money from Amazon guarantee.

Eventually USPS had the nerve to send me a torn piece of the original box, claiming my package was damaged due to improper packing. The box was original box the book came from, a thick hard cardboard box. All I did was to tape a new address label on it and protected the address label with transparent 3M packing tape. No way the box could be torn. It was the thief eventually turned in the torn box remnant to satisfy the investigation.

From that point on, I have not sent anything valuable via USPS.

In the stolen coin case, I would definitely report the stealing to the Post Master and the Police, as well as inform the Mint of what happened. No way I would eat the $250 like Miami305 suggested. It is a matter of principle that one needs to stand up for.

Blue Skye

i have been doing this semi regularly for almost two years and have had no issues at all with my Post Office. they don't seem to think it is a problem and have never mentioned boxes coming in that are heavy. of course i also shop online a lot too so they know i get packages of all sorts from various vendors. of course YMMV.