Opened Before I Got It...

I work at a warehouse. You wouldn't believe the condition of the stuff we get via UPS. I don't see why people are still using them! Sometimes it's the shipper fault for poor packaging but usually it looks like UPS just ran over it.

Consider yourself lucky that you're not living in Egypt then! My Mum has sent about 3 packages to my Wife and I since we've been living here and every single time, the parcel has been ripped apart, taped back together again and items are missing. In the first parcel my Mum sent us, there was a card with 20 dollars in it and that was ripped open too and the money was taken. Every effort is made from Mum's end to package everything very tightly and very carefully, but they still tear it all apart. There's absolutely nothing I can do about it either because many of the postal staff don't speak English and the ones that do just stare blankly at you.

I once had a parcel of books arrive and it had been opened and one was missing, I didn't make a fuss as they weren't really books I wanted it was one of those offers where you choose out of a list of books that are only £1 each or something. In the UK it's a big problem lots of mail goes missing in transit, they need to be more strict on who they employ to deliver peoples mail and work in the sorting offices.

Don't you hate it when this happens? I know I sell Mary Kay and I place my orders on a montly basis. I have been getting my boxes in some pretty poor conditions lately. I have to pay 8.99 for shipping no matter what. But the last couple times my box has arrived, the entire side was caved in. It looked as if someone had been tossing it around. I can totally understand your frustrations. When I send something, I try to insure it, or at least add some extra padding.

That's terrible. I fortunately never had a problem like that, though my friend did. She was sending me something and had insured it and everything...well it came back to her since it was considered "undeliverable"---why? She told me that the package which she DID carefully wrapped up looked like an elephant had sat on it...LOL--so she resent the item but in a new packaging As for me...uh, well, I've been told by my friends that I send my packages so securely wrapped one needs a bomb or blowtorch to open them up

I received a letter from the post once which was all taped up. It was a legal size envelope containing pictures. The ennvelope was clearly marked "Do Not Bend". I guess someone at the post office was pretty interested in its contents and decided to have a look. They told me thats the way they received it. yeah right... As if I was going to believe that.

I agree that the postal service needs to be a little more careful with packages. I believe that they will just about send anything through to the carriers open or not. I also think at times that the carriers are responsible for some of the damage. I try to be very careful when I package something and make sure that it can't be torn into easily or that the person that it is going to will know how I packaged it so that they will know if it has been tampered with. I would report this to the carrier or the post office too. Stealing anything out of a package is a federal offense and the post office needs to know that someone is opening mail and taking part of it.

I live in Canada where duct tape is king, so if I'm sending a package I really really want to protect I duct tape the life out of it. I remember once I shipped by bus, my son's guitar and amplifier in the original box which was of course had a picture of the guitar on it. I duct taped the picture right out of view! LOL There was so much tape on that box, my son was some pissed it took him over an hour to get into the box and at his guitar! ROFL

Yes, that's horrible. Postage rates seem to go up every few months no matter who is doing the shipping. I have received packages ripped wide open as well, or otherwise not in best condition. Also, I have received shampoo I've ordered online which had bursted in transit. I don't think the company selling the product was to blame because they had the top taped on and it was in a bag to prevent leaking all over the place just in case something happened... Well, apparently, my package must have been used as bowling balls or something because the shampoo was ALL over the place, and I DID have other products in the package as well that I had to thoroughly wipe clean. It was a hassle, a waste of good product, and a waste of good time. What the heck did they do to that package for THAT to happen??

First of all I hope you give a big thank you and excellent feedback to the lady who sent the books. This was obviously not her fault yet she is willing to make the extra expense to re-ship books to you. She is probably loosing out on the whole deal for something that was obviously not her fault. The post office has done a few numbers on me. My aunt sent me a gift card for my birthday one time, and it came in an apology bag from the post office, they had someone managed to chop my envelope and my gift card in half. I took it to the store it was from and brought the letter from the post office with me and they were nice enough to replace the gift card, but I don't think all places would be that kind and understanding. Another time I mailed something out and it came back to me really beat and torn up. I was really upset about that one. Then a relative sent me several boxes of books. I was suppossed to get 15 boxes. I only got 13 boxes. But they were not insured and did not even have delivery confirmation on them so I just lost out. Three of the boxes were also badly damaged. But my relative did not really secure the boxes very well considering the weight of the books, so some of that was her fault. But still some of the corners were banged in pretty bad, they had to have treated the boxes pretty roughly to do that kind of damage to them.

Hi twoey,,,,,,,,Yes I have received packages that were torn..Luckily everything that was sent was still in them...I make sure my packages are taped really good so they will not come undone..I usually put the name and address on the inside in case the package gets damaged..And the address gets messed up...

This really sounds to me like someone cut the box open to steal what was inside of it. They took the books out and seen which ones they wanted and then stuffed the rest back inside. I have never had this happen to me, I'm glad to hear that the woman was willing to replace your books.

i get mail that has been opened and i didn't when i lived in tennessee, here in ky i do. and i went to the post office and they said it was the machines that go though but i know some one is opening them.the machine would not open them without messing them up and my is not messed up.if it comes though ups they just throw them around.

Hi, I have never received any open package so far all intact and well covered. I know how awful it is to receive an open package, but you say you have experienced it before so you should have a little more alert this time and you say it keeps happening. You can very well communicate to the authorities and ask them to compensate for this.

Way back when, when I was married and living in BC, we sent a Christmas present to his older brother in Toronto... all the brother received was the wrapper, no box, no present, no nothing, just the wrapper.

It seems like when I get packages from my daughter in New York...they are always ripped open....and sometimes things are missing. I wondered for a while if with the economy the way it was if maybe someone was checking for things like money...she goes to another post office now when she mails a package...

I don't think it's right. Insurance or no insurance, one should be careful with the belongings of others whilst in transit. I realize that it's the fault of the post office itself or the UPS, as usually they will package the things if a person brings them in to be packaged, atleast the UPS store does. Insurance isn't that much more, and I know it helps the postal service if nothing else, but still I agree with you, people should just be careful. When I package something, whether it be delivered through the mail or us taking it ourselves, I make sure it's secure enough to get there in one piece, but not packaged enough to be nearly impossible to open. That being said, I mean, presents.

That would be very aggravating. I sold on ebay for years & was very careful the way i packages everything. I once sent a wall mirror to alaska from here in tennessee. I REALLY SPENT ALOT OF TIME WRAPPING & PACKAGING IT BUT STILL WORRIED ABOUT IT GETTING THERE SAFE BUT IT DID, THANK HEAVENS. I cab't imagine how your books arrived in that shape.

I had requested a sample from a company and when I got my package, it was torn all up. It had been taped back together and my sample ruined. There was a note from USPS telling me that my sample got stuck in their machine and that was the end result. I couldn't believe that they actually sent it to me that way LOL

Hi twoey68, I have received a small shipment and it was ok but had never sent any out. Tamara