Keep an eye out for USPS stolen door handles

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Hello all,

I just thought I'd post on here to see if anyone comes across someone selling Beetle ice pick style door handles for the 56-60 models.

They were bought from a guy on a Facebook page and proof of postage and weight given but the package was tampered with and 4 of the 5 handles were removed from the box.

Now this could have either been a USPS worker or AusPost worker that tampered with the box as the box was re-secured with AusPost tampered with tape at some point once in Australia.

So it could have happened in either country so I'm posting both here and in the main Aus forum to see if anyone comes across some ice pick handles being sold to let me know as be nice to try and catch the light fingers bugger who pilfered my hard to find door handles.

Cheers,
Mike

[vwracerdave]

Don't be so damn quick to accuse a USPS employee (or Aussie) of stealing your shit. Everybody should take a tour of a sorting facility. Your packages are run thru machines and miles of conveyer belts tumbeling and turning all the way. You package probably got caught in a log jamb on one of these machines. Your missing door handles are laying on the floor or underneth one of these machines. A Fork lift driver could have damaged the package while loading a pallet of parcels on a truck. There is a 98% chance the person finding the door handles have no clue what they are. USPS employees can loose their job and go to prison for stealing your shit.

Most of the damaged packages are from bad packaging from the sender and not because of USPS handeling.

Did you file a claim with the USPS or Aussie Post ? There is a chance your door handles are sitting on a shelf in the lost property claims room at the sorting facility.
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[coad]

Yeah, Dave's right.

Think about it, with all the iPhones, iPads, and misc. high priced stuff from Amazon rolling through the system, do you really think some postal worker decided to make his big score by stealing some old VW door handles? Makes no sense.

One year my wife got the Christmas presents from her family in Germany, and it was obvious that some boxes had broken open and the guys had just shoved stuff into whatever box looked right and called it good. Instead of the presents her family had sent we got totally random stuff. I made out like a bandit because I got a sweet Swiss Army Knife instead of the stupid sweater her Mother had sent, but it was just luck of the draw, and I suspect something like that happened to your door handles. That's why you get insurance.

[awreed]

Certain types of international mail are subject to inspection for a variety of reasons. Postal inspectors will usually reseal the parcel with a green tape with a printed notification on the tape indicating that the parcel was opened and inspected. This doesn't account for your missing items, but it does happen.

As far as a postal worker tampering with your parcel, it does happen and it has happened. It certainly seems like a moronic risk for a postal employee to take, but keep in mind that not every postal employee who handles your mail makes the same amount of money. I've been delivering mail for almost 17 years; my hourly pay is almost double that of the new carriers being hired today, and it will forever be that way until I leave the service. The USPS is changing and is being replaced with a workforce on a dramatically reduced compensation package. Based purely on my own office and what I've heard through the grapevine, the attrition rate today is well north of 50%. Theft is a real possibility.

That said, Dave made a great point about destroyed/damaged parcels. Shit happens, and if you saw what happens to your parcel at a processing and distribution center (P&DC) you would not ship with USPS or anyone else ever again...... or you just wouldn't ever bother writing 'fragile' on your stuff. Always pack your parcel as if it's going on a wild-ass ride- and buy the insurance.
I've seen some hilariously destroyed crap in my 17 years. Not so funny for the person who paid to have their correspondence torn/smashed/squashed, but there it is.

I am the last employee to handle correspondence- when I get the mail/parcel, it is at the very end of a long process of being handled by many different other people. I've very rarely seen international parcels damaged in the way you described: clearly tampered with, re-secured, and lighter than when shipped. This usually happens to local stuff, but only by virtue of the local stuff making up a far greater percentage of the USPS business.

How exactly did you package the handles? The parcel certainly could have run into a log jam as Dave said and subsequently spilled out it's contents that were spread far and wide across a very, very large facility. For this to happen you basically would have just dumped the handles inside an empty and too large box. For this reason (and other more logistical ones) Amazon, for example, does the Russian nesting doll crap with many of their shipped items- a box inside a box.... and sometimes inside another box. Never hurts to be too careful.

If our P&DC clerks run across a parcel that is torn open they'll shove whatever spilled out (if it's obvious and close) back inside, tape it up, and send it on its way. If a clerk at a post office comes across a damaged parcel, they will do the same, but the spilled contents are usually contained to the container that was loaded onto the truck and are more easily re-packaged.... but not always. You could try finding out the post office responsible for the final delivery and ask them if they came across 4 ice pick handles. Failing that, contact the P&DC and ask them if they came across any VW handles.

Or it could have happened in Australia.

Mailing a parcel internationally is a logistically insane process that involves an impressive number of people, facilities, and transport. There are dozens of places where your parcel could have run afoul, dozens of hands that could have pawed through it, dozens of opportunities for damage and theft.

[hitest]

I bet I saw at least 25 icepick handles for sale this past weekend at two swaps- so the rare idea is a little tough for me...

If you are missing two matched pairs- and received only the rusty one- maybe suspect. But if you ordered 3 lefts and 2 rights but got a shiny righty, call it an accident.
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[Mike Fisher]

I shipped a pair of late model Type 3 disc brake calipers USPS. They found the empty box in their Philadelphia facility, but never found the calipers which are big & heavy and seem hard to lose! It's the only time I've had parts lost in shipping in the US & overseas.
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[Pruneman99]

I've had stuff stolen from the mail. Last Christmas my father sent my kids a silver coin. The envelopes were neatly cut open, cards removed, tape holding the coins neatly cut. Cards were put back, and arrived coinless at my mailbox. A machine jam-up didn't neatly remove them.

And why the F&$#@ do I need insurance?! I'm paying you to deliver my goods to the address I need them delivered to, and I expect them to arrive in the same condition I sent them. Yes, I still package my stuff very carefully, but I don't have to buy "insurance" from my plumber. I paid you to fix my crapper, and that's what he better do!

[YDBD]

Working for the DoD, we get our stuff shipped USPS to our APO, FPO addresses (THANK YOU TO VENDORS WHO SHIP TO US OVERSEAS!!). The boxes go to a consolidation point and then picked up by commercial carriers, such as airlines that handle cargo, from there the boxes end up another consolidation point to be handle by the military postal unit on the base, then USPS PSC or CMR on the base.

Many years ago, packages going to Okinawa went through the consolidation point in Oakland CA, only to be "zipped" by All Nippon Airways (ANA) employees (Americans) and delivered empty to us stationed overseas. A USPS Marine stationed at Camp Foster Okinawa noticed many boxes like this and started the inquiry that ended up finally in an arrest of six ANA employees for over $100,000 in stolen mail items.
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[60ragtop]

Who knows what happened ? I sent a HTF 60-61 turn signal switch out and the person received a set of hand knitted slippers in it's place. The box was opened in front of the USPS carrier as it wasn't heavy enough for a switch. It was insured but they wanted a switch not their money back.
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[mark tucker]

I'm usualy home when they arrive hear, sofar they haven't tried to steel my door handles. but if they did how would I get out of my house to go after them USPS steels my stuff.

[[email protected]]

There was a perfectly torn hole in the end of the USPS box the sender posted them in and I've been in contact with the sender about this.

It seemed far to convenient a hole that it was just large enough to slip a handle out. I'm not saying it was a postal worker from either country but it seems likely given the hole in the box and the packing tape around the sides beiing so nicely picked open.

It could e ven be the seller being undaerhanded as it's taken him the better part of a month to lodge a claim with USPS only after I found it can be done online.

If the box was not so neatly damaged then I wouldn't be so suspicious but it is far too suspicious a hole.

AusPost claim was filed and nothing found so as it's not them who sent the parcel it now liays with the sender filing with USPS.

[scrivyscriv]

Just to give my perspective as a buyer whose stuff was lost in transit.. a few years ago I bought a keyed ignition and new set of keys for my '72 bus (RIP), from a vendor on the samba based in PHL. He shipped them in an unpadded envelope, and tracking showed it as lost. I called the USPS claims line and left my info. The clerk told me the only way I'd know if they found my parts would be if the parts showed up in my mailbox from the USPS.

I was irritated at the attitude from her, but two or three months later the parts just happened to show up in a beat up, torn and taped together envelope.

Now I work around cargo all the time.. I see the 'in transit' portion of a lot of mail and packages. Everything I ship now is taped all over and secured with multiple layers and inches of bubble wrap or padding (NOT NEWSPAPER).
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[ZENVWDRIVER]

... I sent the funds for a part in Connecticut on 5/20... as of yesterday, not received, says the buyer. Generally, I have no problems with our USPS usually, but this makes me wonder what's going on... over two weeks for a letter from Oklahoma to Ct? YIKES.
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