Say WHAT???

Neal

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In this instance, USPS is a business, competing with other shippers. So, there does have to be accountability, or people take their business elsewhere.

I still expect to be fully compensated. Still no phone call from USPS this afternoon. And no email from the representative who this morning promised to open a case and email me a case ID.
 

GuildFS4612CE

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I'm going to add something from personal experience...some years ago I had purchased a guitar that was being shipped cross country via USPS...it didn't arrive...checking with the PO they tried to track it wherever and finally said it had been returned to sender and picked up by him...checked with his PO...they said it was picked up by him...it was an expensive guitar...most expensive guitar I'd ever bought...seller refused all attempts to communicate...like Neal, I thought a fraud was being committed...was going to file a claim with fleabay...finally got seller's phone number after two weeks...borrowed a phone and reached him to ask what was going on? Claimed he didn't have guitar, it had not been returned to him...asked why he didn't communicate for weeks...oh, says he, how do you think I feel?...he had the money, I had no guitar...went back to local PO to see if I could file anything...all of a sudden, the box turns up at my PO...when I go to get it, I figure out what had gone wrong and why after seeing it...used guitar box, older bar codes not taped over or removed, AND the seller got creative with his addressing...he had turned the rectangular box on the short end and stood it up...wrote TO at the top front and wrote my PO address across the short end where you would normally put a return address and FROM lengthwise with his address in large letters horizontally across the long side...the assorted stickers on the box showed it had travelled cross country all the way to my PO where someone had read his return address as the sending address and returned to the senders PO where someone apparently caught it and sent it back again...somehow it was entered in the system as having been picked up by him...the fault was basically his...the poor guitar, which did not have weather checking when first sent out travelled cross country twice in winter...you can guess what happened to the finish. The fault was mainly the sellers. And because he'd used regular ground shipping when I had asked him to use Priority Mail...he didn't want to pay for it and didn't ask me to pay extra...total idiot. I would ask your PO to search again for the package...if your pink slip was anything like what we get here, it is just a notification to pick up a package and doesn't state your address or anything else...easily put in the wrong box...if it had the wrong package number on it, 'your' package could be showing as picked up by whoever also had a pink slip and was expecting a package...the package numbers could have been switched on the notification slips...someone could have picked up their own package...yours might be misnumbered and still hiding somewhere in the PO. I would also check with the buyers PO...don't leave it up to him...call directly yourself to see if it has been returned. Yes, a fraud is possible, but so are a lot of other mistakes. Judging from the number of wrong things that end up in my PO box, forgive me Steve, right PO box number...wrong PO...wrong state...easily caused by the automated address readers in transit, and the clerks don't have time to read and double check everything...and the human error...putting things one number off when sorting into PO Boxes...misreading something...there are a lot of possibilities besides criminal actions...yes, at this time the guitar is missing...but it may still turn up. Good luck in any case and try not to let the stress get to you until you are sure. At least the package was insured.
 
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richardp69

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This is a good "lessons learned" and one any of us who ship guitars should remember. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Cougar

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The supervisor took a much more conciliatory tone with me, acknowledging that someone at USPS goofed, and that USPS will do whatever is necessary to compensate me for my monetary loss. I will know more about what that means, exactly, by COB today.

I think it means he knows the USPS is completely liable, and you should get the full price of the guitar, with the buyer getting his money back.
 

geoguy

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I've also had previous shipping labels remaining on a box cause packages shipped by FedEx to be misdirected, and I wouldn't be surprised if that can also happen with USPS shipments.

Wileypickett has described a similar tale where a guitar box intended for him was delivered to some nearby address other than his home, but I don't recall which shipper was involved with that situation.
 

Westerly Wood

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This is a good "lessons learned" and one any of us who ship guitars should remember. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, my no ship policy does reduce access to sweet Guild acoustics big time. I suppose I can drive to PHX or just continue to wait on Tucson local shops and CL. :)

But Neal has shipped many many guitars over the years I have been on the LTG, and this is the first real major issue I can recall...
 

Neal

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Well, like a little lost puppy, the F-50R is back home, no worse for wear.

I got a call from the postmaster this afternoon, saying that she had discovered who had my guitar. She drove to the home of the person who had been given it by mistake, gave them their proper box ( also containing a guitar), and brought my guitar to me at my workplace.
 
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Christopher Cozad

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Quite a journey for both the Guild and you! I am happy to hear the outcome and am most impressed with the efforts of your postmaster. If she likes chocolates...
 
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Outstanding!!! I was hoping against hope that it would show up!! Sometimes it just takes Faith... and an honest , hardworking postmaster!
So... take a deep breath... chill for a second or two...and let's proceed with plan B!��
 

Default

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Again.

Require a signature. Like I tell you to do every time there is a shipping issue with any shipping service.
 

Rich Cohen

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Well, like a little lost puppy, the F-50R is back home, no worse for wear.

I got a call from the postmaster this afternoon, saying that she had discovered who had my guitar. She drove to the home of the person who had been given it by mistake, gave them their proper box ( also containing a guitar), and brought my guitar to me at my workplace.
WHEW! I'm elated to hear that the F50R is back with you. I have a connection to that axe in a way, as you know. :topsy_turvy:
 

fronobulax

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Well, like a little lost puppy, the F-50R is back home, no worse for wear.

I got a call from the postmaster this afternoon, saying that she had discovered who had my guitar. She drove to the home of the person who had been given it by mistake, gave them their proper box ( also containing a guitar), and brought my guitar to me at my workplace.

Glad it worked out. Any suggestion as to why the other person got the wrong box?
 

txbumper57

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Congrats Neal, One of the very few times that everything works out as it should after such a big handling mishap by the carrier. Glad to hear it is home safe! Any reason why the person it was given to by mistake didn't bring it back to the post office after discovering the mistake?

TX
 

Neal

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Again.

Require a signature. Like I tell you to do every time there is a shipping issue with any shipping service.

The guitar was shipped insured, with signature required. I was not home when delivery was attempted and the guitar was held for pickup at the main post office. It was there that a USPS employee released it to the wrong person. And it was their signature, and their address, on the wrong pink slip, that led to its recovery.
 

Neal

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Congrats Neal, One of the very few times that everything works out as it should after such a big handling mishap by the carrier. Glad to hear it is home safe! Any reason why the person it was given to by mistake didn't bring it back to the post office after discovering the mistake?

TX

I presume the other customer either didn't truly appreciate what they were supposed to be receiving, or they decided what the USPS gave them was way better.
 
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