The USPS cares - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: graybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 09:06:22 pm
content: The USPS cares about the HP3400A I purchased on eBay. I will post again once the unit is tested.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 09:19:24 pm
content: It is not in doubt that USPS (and other carriers) care. That is a correct answer to the wrong question.The right question ishow muchdo they care.Same question should be posed to whoever packed the parcel.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 09:41:20 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on July 25, 2025, 09:19:24 pmThey 100% do not care in any financial way unless the item was shipped with insurance, and even then, ehhh.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 10:00:35 pm
content: I'm happy if the package just gets to my door instead of out in the street.I saw one driver spend 10 minutes try to balance my package on the mailbox post.He gave up and just threw onto the ground. He could have been to my door in half the time.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 10:07:14 pm
content: all the shipping companies are crazy.I had a friend that worked for UPS like 20 or so years ago. They (not just him, all of the loaders) always tossed boxes on the trucks as hard as they could, and they also always pronounced UPS as "oops" for the same reason, especially when they heard something break. I'm sure things haven't gotten better.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 10:21:02 pm
content: OP: You left the word NOT! off of the end of the title!I've had a lot of packages destroyed by the USPS!The last package that USPS shipped to me was a very early Simpson 260 that had the glass window for the meter shattered by USPS. Not only could I hear broken glass rattling around in the box but the box was ripped up and inside of a USPS plastic bag. USPS also tried to charge me additional postage due to the "Additional Handling"! I refused to pay the postage and expected them to send the package back but they just gave it to me anyway. After that I went and got an account with FedEx and now I just give the account number to anyone that is shipping anything to me and have them ship the item via FedEx and charge the shipping to my account.The ridiculous, ever increasing shipping costs and the many packages damaged by USPS and UPS are one of the main reasons that I stopped selling on Ebay.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 10:29:25 pm
content: IMHO it has more to do with insufficient packaging such as too weak box, lack of proper padding rather than USPS. Many people think you can just throw a heavy item into any box, add a bit of packaging paper or a few wraps of an air bubble film and be done with it.

author: dorkshoei
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 02:58:32 am
content: Quote from: wraper on July 25, 2025, 10:29:25 pmWhy bring reason into the discussion when you can instead just whine about your favorite disliked carrierMy first thought when I saw the pics was possibly a weak previously used box and likely insufficient packing.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 03:00:53 am
content: That's why I always take photos of the stuff I'm shipping, and the packaging before I send anything. When you see what shippers do to things, it gets scary.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 09:10:38 am
content: Quote from: MarkF on July 25, 2025, 10:00:35 pmI used to have (probably still do somewhere) a great photo of a courier delivery guy about 5m from the front door, arm extended, with the package to deliver in mid-air between his arm and the front door. The still image was caught at exactly the right split second.

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 09:25:44 am
content: The printed explanation on that USPS body bag, without the recycling symbol, could have apologized for the padded envelope I received ca. 30 years ago. The envelope had grease marks on it as if it had been caught in a mechanical drive.I wish more people realized the difference between loose and palletized loads.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 09:27:54 am
content: Quote from: 5U4GB on July 26, 2025, 09:10:38 amI have a video of thatNo damage was done, in that case.

author: graybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 05:41:02 pm
content: Remarkably the was no obvious external damage to the HP 3400A true RMS voltmeter. However the meter was unstable.In the video below the meter was tuned on for ½ hour and the input is connected to a BNC short.https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gLl_uxj8dnkThe meter is clearly unstable. I don't know if that is from the shock of handling or unstable before. The seller said it worked, but it is not clear it did.'Because of the package damage and unstable behavior I was given a full refund. I now have a repair project for a future video that cost me a bit of time, but no $$$.

author: dorkshoei
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2025, 07:47:13 pm
content: Quote from: graybeard on July 26, 2025, 05:41:02 pmIf this is eBay then "worked" usually means powers on and not much more.Sellers know they can over-promise ("used" vs "for parts or repair"), under-deliver (doesn't actually work), give refunds and over the long run come out ahead. Of course sometimes you want a working unit, not another project.

author: Anthocyanina
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 07:48:56 am
content: couriers care, just not about the physical integrity of your packages. I'm sure they all use this as an instructional video on how to deliver a package marked as fragile:

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 08:29:04 am
content: Package abuse appears to be a transatlantic sport. Here is a recent example delivered by one of Germany's formerly more reliable couriers:The factory styrofoam that cradles the appliance suffered a hard drop. One more would have damaged the appliance. My deliveryman said they load his truck too quickly.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 09:10:24 am
content: Quote from: jfiresto on July 27, 2025, 08:29:04 amI say blame for that mostly goes to amazon due to thin box and no padding. Last week I received a 32" monitor that was put into a huge box of thin (for the size) weak/soft cardboard that could fit 3-4x 55" TV boxes. Which was loosely filled with packing paper, and held together by a single wrap of a paper tape. Guess what, that tape quite obviously broke due to how loose that box was. Courier thankfully wrapped it around with a sticky tape which barely allowed it to arrive in one piece. While I was moving it like 20 meters from the gate to my garage, it felt so non-rigid that I feared it could fall apart at any moment, and it almost did just before i put it on the floor. Look how it's see-through, even though I opened it (more like expanded the opening) from the one side only with bare hands

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 10:25:23 am
content: Amazon Germany likes to decorate the inside of their boxes with a length of crumpled paper, even when a box contains an automotive battery. I got a replacement, an apology, and a promise that they would try to do better after that one.

author: 5U4GB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2025, 01:04:24 pm
content: I recently ordered some more bar clamps because the number you have is always two fewer than you need no matter how many you have, they arrived extremely well packed (despite being solid pieces of metal and probably not needing that much protection), with this on top:I thought "woah, I didn't pay for that!", but it was just an empty box they'd recycled to fill the space.