Just venting

[Ken B]

I am usually complaining about UPS here. Well now it is USPS. I mailed a 100 ml. oil sample First Class with tracking to Blackstone for a very long
trip of 120 miles. My receipt says it will be delivered in 2 days (not guaranteed). Well it now has been 10 days and it is still in transit. After
initial mailing in NW Indiana it went overnight to a sorting facility in Forest Park, IL. After sitting in Forest Park for 5 days and my complaining
to the USPS Consumer Affairs people, it was scanned and sent on it's way. I was verbally told by the USPS investigating person that it would be
delivered the next day. Well we are now 4 days later since it was found and sent on it's 150 mile trip to Ft. Wayne and it is lost again. I actually
got a phone call on Saturday from USPS saying that they are working on it.

What I haven't mentioned is this is the 4 shipment this year to Blackstone that they have screwed up. Two were lost and never heard of again and one
arrived 6 days later instead of 2. These 4 were sent from four different post offices in two different counties but all were forwarded through Forest
Park Bulk Mail sorting facility.

Sounds like a systemic problem to me.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[jim kanomata1]

Ken,
All the package handlers do it more than we like.
When the part lost is a rare part it really hurts and most of the time our
customer does it believe us.
Thanks for bringing it up.

> I am usually complaining about UPS here. Well now it is USPS. I mailed a
> 100 ml. oil sample First Class with tracking to Blackstone for a very long
> trip of 120 miles. My receipt says it will be delivered in 2 days (not
> guaranteed). Well it now has been 10 days and it is still in transit.
> After
> initial mailing in NW Indiana it went overnight to a sorting facility in
> Forest Park, IL. After sitting in Forest Park for 5 days and my complaining
> to the USPS Consumer Affairs people, it was scanned and sent on it's way.
> I was verbally told by the USPS investigating person that it would be
> delivered the next day. Well we are now 4 days later since it was found
> and sent on it's 150 mile trip to Ft. Wayne and it is lost again. I
> actually
> got a phone call on Saturday from USPS saying that they are working on it.
>
> What I haven't mentioned is this is the 4 shipment this year to Blackstone
> that they have screwed up. Two were lost and never heard of again and one
> arrived 6 days later instead of 2. These 4 were sent from four different
> post offices in two different counties but all were forwarded through Forest
> Park Bulk Mail sorting facility.
>
> Sounds like a systemic problem to me.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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>
--
Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk
http://www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502

 

[Ken H.]

Jim,

Did Y'All ever get the missing Manny Front Axle? Or settlement from UPS?

Ken H.

> Ken,
> All the package handlers do it more than we like.
> When the part lost is a rare part it really hurts and most of the time our
> customer does it believe us.
> Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[jim kanomata1]

Ken,
To be honest with you, we have lot of lost parts in libo status, that I
need to follow up with our shipping guy and see.

On Sun, Oct 29, 2017 at 10:26 AM, Ken Henderson
wrote:

> Jim,
>
> Did Y'All ever get the missing Manny Front Axle? Or settlement from UPS?
>
> Ken H.
>
> On Sun, Oct 29, 2017 at 1:16 PM, Jim Kanomata

>
> > Ken,
> > All the package handlers do it more than we like.
> > When the part lost is a rare part it really hurts and most of the time
> our
> > customer does it believe us.
> > Thanks for bringing it up.
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

--
Jim Kanomata
Applied/GMC, Newark,CA
jimk
http://www.appliedgmc.com
1-800-752-7502

 

[Ken B]

Jim, I'm not giving up on this one. I'm going to keep on their case until they fix their problem. This delay has put me one week behind. People are
telling me I am wasting my time. We will see.

Have you ever tried to get through the USPS 1-800 number call prompter. It runs you in circles. I spent 1/2 hour playing with it trying to get to a
live person. I finally got to a message to leave my phone number and they would call back after at least one hour. They did eventually call back.
Today I got a call saying that they routed the investigation to the postmaster of my home post office and she is unavailable right now. NONE of these
parcels were shipped from that post office and the postmaster there hates me after I complained about a delivery problem about 6 months ago. I NEVER
use that post office. I have no choice on inbound mail.

I am learning more about the USPS system than I really want to know.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Ken B]

Hey, Hey. The scanned it at 11:51 PM Sunday night at a distribution Center in Ft Wayne. Not bad. Only 4 days to travel 140 miles from Forest Park
(Chicago) to Ft. Wayne and 10.5 days since it was mailed. Now let's see when it actually gets delivered.


--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Matt Colie]

> Jim, I'm not giving up on this one. I'm going to keep on their case until they fix their problem. This delay has put me one week behind. People
> are telling me I am wasting my time. We will see.
>
> Have you ever tried to get through the USPS 1-800 number call prompter. It runs you in circles. I spent 1/2 hour playing with it trying to get
> to a live person. I finally got to a message to leave my phone number and they would call back after at least one hour. They did eventually call
> back. Today I got a call saying that they routed the investigation to the postmaster of my home post office and she is unavailable right now. NONE
> of these parcels were shipped from that post office and the postmaster there hates me after I complained about a delivery problem about 6 months
> ago. I NEVER use that post office. I have no choice on inbound mail.
>
> I am learning more about the USPS system than I really want to know.

Ken and others,

Remember this website: [URL="http://gethuman.com"]gethuman.com[/url][/url]

Not only will it give you a corporate phone number (as Ken related, that can be near useless), but there is often a key sequence to get you out of the
phone maze to a real live human being.

Just from experience, try not to take out your frustration on that unfortunate that drew your call. You can be angry (I often am), but remember that
you are angry about the situation and not that person that you are talking to just then.

If this might be a multi-call situation, ask for a direct number so you don't have to re-explain things with every call. At least ask for a name. I
have usually have to ask twice and write it down. This helps to "Humanize" the situation and that can help both of you a great deal.

Just so you know, Western Union has discontinued their "Blast-O-Gram" service. That means you can no longer arrange for people to arrive for work at
a smoldering foundation marked with a little note there, "Courtesy of Matt at Marco". Now that I am actually retired, I have few bad suppliers.

Matt

--
Matt & Mary Colie - '73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan
OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit

 

[Ken B]

Package was delivered at 9:50 AM today. Just a few hours short of 11 full days to get there. I am still waiting for the Local postmaster to contact
me. She was assigned to follow up on case but from past experience with her I expect nothing will happen. She has not returned my calls.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[thomas phipps]

My favorite method to get attention of all those 'customer service agents,' when they have asked me to hold. When they finally return to your spot in
the que, and 'thank you' for being on hold.
I very carefully explain that I was a hostage. Hold is a minute or less in my book. This definitely interrupts their 'game.' They seem to place more
careful attention and actually listen to what I have called about.
My second favorite thing is to punch random numbers, occasionally you do get into their internal phone system and a real live human being answers. On
one or two occasions, the random numbers actually put the system offline.
JWID
Tom, MS II
--
1975 GMC Avion
KA4CSG

 

[robert mueller]

Don't know if they have the systems here in the USA but Downunder quite a few companies have a call back system. A recording advises
you will be on hold for xx minutes (I have been told over an hour on occasion) then it asks if you would like a call back, if you
say yes it asks if you want to be called on the number you're calling or another one and then it asks for your name. When they call
back a recording tells you when "Rob" is on the phone push 1. A few seconds later VOILA you've got a live person to talk to.

Regards,
Rob M.
The Pedantic Mechanic
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808


-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Thomas Phipps
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 5:54 PM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting

My favorite method to get attention of all those 'customer service agents,' when they have asked me to hold. When they finally
return to your spot in
the que, and 'thank you' for being on hold.
I very carefully explain that I was a hostage. Hold is a minute or less in my book. This definitely interrupts their 'game.' They
seem to place more
careful attention and actually listen to what I have called about.
My second favorite thing is to punch random numbers, occasionally you do get into their internal phone system and a real live human
being answers. On
one or two occasions, the random numbers actually put the system offline.
JWID
Tom, MS II
--
1975 GMC Avion
KA4CSG

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GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[Ken B]

> Package was delivered at 9:50 AM today. Just a few hours short of 11 full days to get there. I am still waiting for the Local postmaster to
> contact me. She was assigned to follow up on case but from past experience with her I expect nothing will happen. She has not returned my calls.

As expected she did not call. So I went in person in the late afternoon and stood in line. Luckily she was helping someone else at the counter
rather than hiding in her office so she had to help me. She called me by name and acted like she did not know why I was there. Then she said that
this was not her problem and that I had packaged it wrong. (She had never see the package.) I told her to close out the problem so I could call
back and open it again and ask for some else. Then I showed her a copy of the letter that I sent to the Consumer Advocate's office and she changed
her tune. She promised to help. We will see.

I think I figured out what they are doing wrong causing the problem. I will with hold it for now until I hear back from USPS on their findings.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[justin brady1]

We deal with this every day. It's a huge pain in the ass.
Last month we had a 2nd day air go ups. It took over a month to arrive.

To be fair though We ship 500+ packages a week and have a less than 1/2% defect rate through the post office or ups. So it's really not as bad as it
seems it's just infuriating when it doesn't go as planned!
--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455

 

[Keith V]

Never buy insurance it's a joke.

I'm sure I said this before, but I'm old...

I used to work with a guy that sent very expensive racing timing equipment, laptops and hardware, all over the country, like every week it shipped.

They had invested in heavy duty shipping containers, 1/4 plastic with custom cut foam to protect everything. Large containers, like 2' x 2' x 4' Must of cost a fortune each time.

Shipped insured for multiple years.

one got run over by a truck, just demolished it, broke stuff encased in 6" of foam.

UPS's response? you didn't pack it good enough!

Luckily his club has a few lawyers in it and they sued. Even then they only got $.50 on the dollar to replace the equipment.

You will never pack it good enough to get insurance.

________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Justin Brady
Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2017 7:58:54 AM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting

We deal with this every day. It's a huge pain in the ass.
Last month we had a 2nd day air go ups. It took over a month to arrive.

To be fair though We ship 500+ packages a week and have a less than 1/2% defect rate through the post office or ups. So it's really not as bad as it
seems it's just infuriating when it doesn't go as planned!
--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455

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Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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[johnny]

I was usually on the receiving end of expensive stuff when I was working. The makers always insured it heavily and the shippers wrote 'Hi Value' on
it, and if there was a mark on it I'd note it on the receipt. All the packaging had been submitted by the maufacturer for testing, so thwe stuff they
broke they went ahead and paid for promptly. Some they came and got, some the abandoned in place.

--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased

 

[hal stclair]

I sent a core steering box back to Dave L via UPS. The box was bolted to an 1 1/4 thick piece of marine plywood with IIRC were1/2" grade 8 bolts. They
managed to smash the plywood, bend the bolts and bend the steering gear -something I'd have thought impossible. They then refused the insurance
claim. Go figure. Hal
--
1977 Royale 101348,

1977 Royale 101586, Diesel powered,

1975 Eleganza II, 101230,

1974 Eagle Bus 45',w/slideout,

Rio Rancho, NM

 

[kosier]

Keith,

They did well to get $.50 per dollar for their loss. Several years ago I
bought a 1942 Sun Distributor Machine in Utah.
I asked the man to package it carefully as UPS had destroyed the only other
one I'd seen on E-Bay. He had it
professionally packaged. Strapped down on a pallet, and shrink wrapped with
a big sticker that said "DO NOT STACK".
So, of course, some idiot set something down on top of it and crunched it.
I put in a claim that got nowhere. So I
called and asked the "No Help" lady to talk to her boss. He proceeded to
tell me "Well, son, by law our liability is
limited to ten cents a pound. Since your shipment weighed 110 pounds, your
claim is good for eleven dollars".
I made a vulgar comment and hung up. You can't win against the big boys.

Gary Kosier
77PB w/500Cad
Newark, Ohio

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Keith V"
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2017 2:41 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting

> Never buy insurance it's a joke.
>
> I'm sure I said this before, but I'm old...
>
>
> I used to work with a guy that sent very expensive racing timing
> equipment, laptops and hardware, all over the country, like every week it
> shipped.
>
> They had invested in heavy duty shipping containers, 1/4 plastic with
> custom cut foam to protect everything. Large containers, like 2' x 2' x 4'
> Must of cost a fortune each time.
>
> Shipped insured for multiple years.
>
>
> one got run over by a truck, just demolished it, broke stuff encased in 6"
> of foam.
>
> UPS's response? you didn't pack it good enough!
>
>
> Luckily his club has a few lawyers in it and they sued. Even then they
> only got $.50 on the dollar to replace the equipment.
>
>
> You will never pack it good enough to get insurance.
>
> ________________________________
> From: Gmclist on behalf of Justin Brady
>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 1, 2017 7:58:54 AM
> To: gmclist
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting
>
> We deal with this every day. It's a huge pain in the ass.
> Last month we had a 2nd day air go ups. It took over a month to arrive.
>
> To be fair though We ship 500+ packages a week and have a less than 1/2%
> defect rate through the post office or ups. So it's really not as bad as
> it
> seems it's just infuriating when it doesn't go as planned!
> --
> Justin Brady
> http://www.thegmcrv.com/
> 1976 Palm Beach 455
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[Ken B]

I talked to Blackstone today and the lady there informed me that she had a call this week from someone in Illinois and that it took 23 days for their
1ST class sample to be delivered. I was informed that I do not hold the record for the longest in transit time by USPS from a US address.

She also told me that they are trying something new. They are sending out sample bottles with a pre-printed "material return" (to them) label with
tracking and they pay the postage on that end. The post office has approved of the label and what they are doing. It is kind of like a business
reply mail. That kind of mail is always first class. I do not know if that will help keep some sorter in Forest Park, IL from throwing it in the
Parcel Post bin anyway. The mailing cost is the same $3.16 but they pay it on their end.

We shall see.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[d c *mac* macdonald]

I sent a sample in by First Class. It took three days to get to Indiana, but another three days before Blackstone picked it up! From that point, another week went by before I got two more Postage Paid bottles from Blackstone and one more week until I received the report. They may simply be backed up due to a big increase in people using their services.

I suspect the provision of the prepaid sample bottles may improve overall cycle time.

D C "Mac" Macdonald
Amateur Radio K2GKK
Since 30 November '53
USAF and FAA, Retired
Member GMCMI & Classics
Oklahoma City, OK
"The Money Pit"
TZE166V101966
'76 ex-Palm Beach
k2gkk + hotmail dot com

________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Ken Burton
Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2017 05:19
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting

I talked to Blackstone today and the lady there informed me that she had a call this week from someone in Illinois and that it took 23 days for their
1ST class sample to be delivered. I was informed that I do not hold the record for the longest in transit time by USPS from a US address.

She also told me that they are trying something new. They are sending out sample bottles with a pre-printed "material return" (to them) label with
tracking and they pay the postage on that end. The post office has approved of the label and what they are doing. It is kind of like a business
reply mail. That kind of mail is always first class. I do not know if that will help keep some sorter in Forest Park, IL from throwing it in the
Parcel Post bin anyway. The mailing cost is the same $3.16 but they pay it on their end.

We shall see.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

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[d c *mac* macdonald]

I sent the sample in by First Class. It took three days to get to Indiana, but another three days before Blackstone picked it up! From that point, another week went by before I got two more Postage Paid bottles from Blackstone and one more week until I received the report. They may simply be backed up due to a big increase in people using their services.

I suspect the provision of the prepaid sample bottles may improve overall cycle time.

________________________________
From: Gmclist on behalf of Ken Burton
Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2017 05:19
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting

I talked to Blackstone today and the lady there informed me that she had a call this week from someone in Illinois and that it took 23 days for their
1ST class sample to be delivered. I was informed that I do not hold the record for the longest in transit time by USPS from a US address.

She also told me that they are trying something new. They are sending out sample bottles with a pre-printed "material return" (to them) label with
tracking and they pay the postage on that end. The post office has approved of the label and what they are doing. It is kind of like a business
reply mail. That kind of mail is always first class. I do not know if that will help keep some sorter in Forest Park, IL from throwing it in the
Parcel Post bin anyway. The mailing cost is the same $3.16 but they pay it on their end.

We shall see.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

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[Jim Hupy]

When I send Blackstone samples, I request email results. They reroute those
at the speed that electrons travel. Never had one lost by a mail carrier
that put it in the wrong mail box, either. Something to consider if you
have running battles with your postal service representatives. Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

> I sent the sample in by First Class. It took three days to get to
> Indiana, but another three days before Blackstone picked it up! From that
> point, another week went by before I got two more Postage Paid bottles from
> Blackstone and one more week until I received the report. They may simply
> be backed up due to a big increase in people using their services.
>
>
> I suspect the provision of the prepaid sample bottles may improve overall
> cycle time.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Gmclist on behalf of Ken Burton <
> n9cv>
> Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2017 05:19
> To: gmclist
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Just venting
>
> I talked to Blackstone today and the lady there informed me that she had a
> call this week from someone in Illinois and that it took 23 days for their
> 1ST class sample to be delivered. I was informed that I do not hold the
> record for the longest in transit time by USPS from a US address.
>
> She also told me that they are trying something new. They are sending out
> sample bottles with a pre-printed "material return" (to them) label with
> tracking and they pay the postage on that end. The post office has
> approved of the label and what they are doing. It is kind of like a
> business
> reply mail. That kind of mail is always first class. I do not know if
> that will help keep some sorter in Forest Park, IL from throwing it in the
> Parcel Post bin anyway. The mailing cost is the same $3.16 but they pay
> it on their end.
>
> We shall see.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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> 7C5b951275d56b4209a3df08d521db473f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaa
> aaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636452148041662071&sdata=7zINy2o0ZxuXw6V7MJHx6yD80sQzXT
> aaJ9QuPAuYEaA%3D&reserved=0
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