I almost don’t know where to start with this one.  I’ve been sitting on it for some time now trying to figure it out.  Over the last year or so I’ve been watching how the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Amazon do business.  It is not making me happy what I’m seeing/experiencing.

Replacement order package. Personal information censored.

Before I start dissecting them I’ll make it clear.  If I like doing business with a company I’ll do things to help them.  A few examples are, give them a good recommendation, pick up an item off the floor that I didn’t put there and place it back on a shelf or notify an employee of a slip hazard such as water on the floor before some lawsuit zombie shows up.  One thing I will not do is enable a company to stay in business if I believe they’re doing something illegal, harmful to others or crappy business practices.  I want to have a good experience with a business to share it with others so they are successful.

Replacement order other corner damage.

I grew up where everyone in the post office knew me by name.  Watched me grow up.  I know the USPS can do better.  Previous experiences with the USPS in recent years has led to disappointment.  I lived at an address where the carrier would have the package in the truck, yet deliver the mail with a “missed you” notice.  The notice stated we weren’t available so they left the notice.

Bottom of replacement order package.  Properly taped it works like this.

Only problem with that was I was tracking the packages.  Sitting in the front room waiting so I could watch the mail carrier walk up to the front door.  I did watch the carrier.  He got out of the truck with a handful of mail in hand, quickly walked past the front door to the mail box, dropped in what he had brought and left as quickly as he arrived.  After that he delivered mail to the other houses in the area.  Several times.  Of course I didn’t film it.

These air cushions don’t hold up well with heavy or sharp products.  Many are flat.

He was there and gone before I realized he had left the notice.  I then checked the tracking information to verify I had not misunderstood.  Called the post office they said it was on the truck.  Weren’t interested in why the carrier would leave a notice without trying first.  I was sitting there watching him!  I finally got the package.

Replacement order package inside damage.

Shift to the more recent experience with Amazon and USPS.  Tracking my package because I need what I ordered.  Morning -package out for delivery.  Midday -not here. Almost 5pm not here.  Sometime after 6pm package delivered.  That’s odd I thought, I never heard a knock, the door bell and the dogs never said a thing.  The tracking information said it was delivered so I went outside to look around from the mailbox to the front door I could not find a package.

Original order package as left at the front door.  Personal information censored.

Aware of the package thievery going on I was sure someone had taken it between the time it was delivered and the moment I looked for it.  As soon as I realize the package was not here I contacted Amazon.   I told them the package was not here. They said the package was here.  In the mail box.  I’m thinking, what like the one in the featured image? If not there it might be a the neighbors house.

Original order package.  Personal information censored.

So lets follow that, I’m at home, no one knocks, rings the bell or does anything to alert my dogs then decides to leave the package at the neighbors house?  I asked how would that happen given the fact I was at home.  Did the carrier decide to suddenly take it next door without leaving a notice?  What the…..?  So now I’m supposed to walk around the neighborhood and try to figure out where it package is.

Bottom of original order package.  3 tapes and stretch wrap visible.

So much for the “delivered to your front door” idea.  And, hell, no I am not going to look for a package not delivered as agreed.  The reason I say delivered to the front door is because the package will not fit into a mailbox.   The largest mailbox I’ve seen won’t handle that size box.

Close up of corner damage.

Back to the Amazon call.  I let Amazon know I was not looking for packages around the neighborhood like an easter egg hunt.  That I wanted them to resend the order.  They did.  It was there early the next day to their credit.  Here is the major problem as I see it.

Close up of USPS tape, stretch wrap.

Enabling.  Integrity.  As the Amazon employee was reordering my missing items I was able to ascertain the following practice by the USPS clearly condoned by Amazon.  The employee stated that I might want to wait until the next day to see if the package would be delivered.  Said that the USPS will mark a package as delivered when it has not been then make the delivery the next day.

Deflated packaging.  This is how it looked when I opened the package.  Nothing was touched before the photo was taken.

That to me demonstrates a complete lack of integrity by anyone participating  in the practice.  I repeated back to confirm what I had heard and the employee did confirm I understood correctly.  Twice!  If a representative from either one of them reads this and attempts to explain it away remember this, “I repeated back to confirm what I had heard and the employee did confirm I understood correctly.  Twice!”

The shinny side of tape.  Workers who use paper tape dispensers know what this means.  Notice the cardboard box below it.  Not a hint of adhesion.

We have the USPS marking packages as delivered when they clearly have not been and Amazon telling customers to wait for their “already delivered” packages until the next day for it to be –delivered!

The place where the cardboard is disturbed is where the clear and USPS tapes were applied to the box.  The paper tape properly applied should to the same thing to the box.

NO and NO!  Not only is it a total lie it looks like fraud.  An attempt to deceive.  Are they doing it so they don’t have to refund shipping fees or to keep up quotas?  There is something going on.  I won’t participate in crap like that.  This reminds me of when I was an investigator.  I always seem to stumble onto some kind of crap going on when I’m not looking for it.

Shinny paper tape and nearly no damage on the box where it would have been attached.  Why I think the box was not delivered that day.

More on the delivery.  Next day, I’m at my desk, the dogs and I alert when we hear an unfamiliar dropping sound near our front door.  We investigate.  I notice two packages at the front door.  The top package looked ok with a little damage the one on the bottom was trashed.

There they were.  My original order and the replacement setting on top.  Somehow my original order magically appears at my front door.  The package falling apart.  The box had Amazon tape and what looks like three other types of tape and stretch wrap on it.  The contents were undamaged.  That was a surprise considering what the box looked like.

Based on my experience using a tape dispenser it looks like the Amazon tape did not get either enough or any water on it so it did not stick.  A few of the photos show how shinny the tape is on the adhesive side.  If the tape had the proper moisture on it, it would have stuck to the box.  My photos aren’t that great but it can be seen. Have to check the water level on those dispensers or this kind of thing will happen.  I know from using one.

I want the USPS practice of marking packages as delivered when they have not been to stop.  It’s fraud and lying in my view.   I want Amazon to package their products better and stop using the USPS as long as they do business like that.  I’ve stopped ordering from Amazon and using the USPS for shipping anything other than everyday mail.

Wasn’t sure what to do with this now. It’s all here.  Sorry it’s taken me this long. -13