USPS MO not so great after all...

[mo_bio]

  Have to vent a little about using USPS MO.  I have had 2 GBO related transactions lost by our great postal service in the last 2 months, 1 going, 1 coming.  The latest was a MO sent for a barrel (thanks Kevin) that was lost going.  Sent it out and never arrived.  I took the rcpt back in and was told to wait 60 days (understandable) and by the way there will be a charge of around $5 to track this and return your money.  So you pay for the MO, you pay postage, they lose it, and you pay a fee to get your money back.  I love it and want in on this racket.  Tracking numbers don't help either, it just tells you at what point along the way they lost it.  I am frustrated to the point that I may stop using USPS MO even if it costs me a great barrel.  At least with PP I know it arrived instantly.  Sorry for my little rant but thought others may have run into the same thing.

[MSP Ret]

My, my, that is a great scam. You pay them in cash, they get to use the cash for 60 days at no interest. Then YOU pay THEM five dollars to get your money back...If I could get in on this I could quit my retirment job, but then again, if I did get into it I would arrested. As good as any Ponzi sceme I have ever heard of.
The only scam I liked better than this was stopped by the Post Office, and it was not illegal!!! A gentleman posted an ad in the back of several magazines stating simply "Send your dollar now". Below that was a post office box number. Of course people being what they are, thousands of people sent in thier dollars.
Nothing was offered and nothing was recieved, therefore no crime was committed, however for some reason the gullible felt cheated. Complaints were made and the Post Office stepped in and prosecuted for using the mails to defraud.
The only complaint I see that could have been filed by the alledged victims was personal stupidity....<><....    

[r29l20]

I had a few isusses as well. Mine did work out, but if you pay for a service, you should get it. You definitly shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes. Going postal is for the customers now.

[OldSchoolRanger]

My, my, that is a great scam. You pay them in cash, they get to use the cash for 60 days at no interest. Then YOU pay THEM five dollars to get your money back...If I could get in on this I could quit my retirment job, but then again, if I did get into it I would arrested. As good as any Ponzi sceme I have ever heard of.
The only scam I liked better than this was stopped by the Post Office, and it was not illegal!!! A gentleman posted an ad in the back of several magazines stating simply "Send your dollar now". Below that was a post office box number. Of course people being what they are, thousands of people sent in thier dollars.
Nothing was offered and nothing was recieved, therefore no crime was committed, however for some reason the gullible felt cheated. Complaints were made and the Post Office stepped in and prosecuted for using the mails to defraud.
The only complaint I see that could have been filed by the alledged victims was personal stupidity....<><....    

Sounds like something that Soupy Sales did.  Remember that one?  He said: "Kids, go to your mom or dads wallet and send me those little green pieces of paper" (or something like that, my memory is kinda fuzzy, and it was back a bit, just a little ways.)  He just got a slap on the wrist (one weeks suspension from his show).

Just found this on the great liberal fact checker site, link below:

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/soupy1.asp   

[Couger]

Live and learn fellas!  Yeah the postal jerks are running a racket, with the endorsement of the congreff and UNION-THUGS!
 
Unfortunately too, the one thing I DO NOT like about the Constitution is the charter it gives (requires?) congreff to set up and regulate the U.S. Postal Department!
 
I too have had trouble with lost postal money orders, but got my money back evey time!
 
(when dealing with the local [postal] jerks, try not to have too bad of an attitude or they'll indeed get even for that too!)
 
When my postal money orders were lost, I STILL insisted on filling out the necessary paperwork (when I was sure the M.O. was lost, to try to stop payment on it!)
 
But another kick in nutts using the postal money orders is that the USPS-jerks don't care if your M.O. is cashed or not!! 
 
So if its fraudgulently taken, it could still be CASHED before that 60 day period expires!
 
Of course I paid that $4.00+ fee to 'get my money back .....'
 
But the good news is I didn't have to wait 60 days to get any of my four refunds! 
Not even 30 days. 
Still, it frosts the hell outta me having to deal with that [largely] gubmnt monopoly!   
 
 

[oldsoldja]

I always try to get people to take my check, and then wait till it clears. I cant stand walking in the post office by me. They wander around and then with a sigh, they open another lane.

[dave29]

That is the exact reason I always ask the seller if they will take a check or PayPal. If I check gets lost in the mail, I can cancel it, and PayPal arrives instantly. If I buyer asks me to take a check, I have never refused them. Hell, I usually ship most items before the funds arrive anyway if I have traded with the person before. I have never been burnt, but if I do, I guess I will reconsider my policy.

[Rodland]

I always try to get people to take my check, and then wait till it clears. I cant stand walking in the post office by me. They wander around and then with a sigh, they open another lane.

Open another lane!
Heaven forbid! Our PO has 3 lanes, 1 open for business with a line out the door, 1 with a sweety walking around with some paperwork and doesn't know what to do with it, 1 with mail buggies in it with, most likely, mo_bio's lost money orders in the bottom of it.

[PHATINJUN]

I had one they lost about 1.5-2yrs ago. Took me 90days to get my money back don't recall a fee at that time. I try and get folks to let me pay by personal check if I can...at least that way you can put a stop payment on the check and write a new one. PO don't do that it's wait 90days to see if it turns up...lot can take place in 90days   Kurt

[AtlLaw]

...I always ask the seller if they will take a check...

Me also!  I have paid for everything I've bought here with a personal check.  Two have been lost in the mail.   
 
I can only remember a couple of times when a member has held my check until it cleared, even though I tell them to feel free to do so.     But there were several times when the member shipped the item before they got the check!   
 
And Tim gets the stuff in the mail before the last pixel of the "I'll take it" prints on the screen!     The boy even sent me a PM once telling me my package was sitting on my doorstep...    AND IT WAS!!!   

[LONGTOM]

Cashiers check is the best. It is instant cash, can be traced, can be canceled at a moments notice and there is no wait time to get your money back.
At least not at my bank anyway!!!
Hate useing USPO MOs, especially the 60 days wait time!
 
 
LONGTOM

[Antietamgw]

I guess I've been lucky - the only thing lost was a shipment I sent (mailing envelope,by Parcel Post) that the buyer declined on buying insurance. It was never recovered and I got slammed a little. I pretty much figured First Class mail was pretty dependable for regular envelopes, etc. My bills never seem to get lost, they show up all the time!!  After reading this thread it is becoming apparent why some folks send a USPS MO via Priority Mail. I never have (unless I forgot to send  the $$$ the day I said I would) and haven't been bitten yet. Maybe the time will come...  I tend to worry more about a package being lost or damaged than having payment get where it's supposed to go.  I often ship something sold prior to receiving payment, especially if it saves me a trip to the PO, which is difficult for me. I figure I don't need to worry about the folks here being good to their word. I always pay with cash or USPS MO. I figure (right or wrong) that the USPS MO gives me some protection if a seller is an out and out fraud or just refuses to ship what I paid for. My only problem I have with personal checks is that if it bounces, my bank gets a couple opportunities to stick me with a service charge - $35 I think, each time they try to cash it. Happened to me once before - $70 in service charges on a part I sold for $15. Didn't get the parts back, payment ot the service charge refunded. PayPal? Why should I support a company that is so anti-gun that you have to lie to them to use their service?

[quickdtoo]

Sorry to hear about all the misfortune with the USPS, I've only had a few USPS issues, three sloooow deliveries, one on a stock shipped parcel post that took 10 days, a priority mail GBO reamer rental return that took 6 days (within my own state!!) and a priority flat rate envelope Pete sent me that took a detour to California before I got it!!  I did have a bill that I paid 35yrs ago disappear, but the recipient may have lost it, I'll never know, the check was never cashed. Other than those, I've not had any problems with lost shipments, and I've shipped hundreds of things, close to 200 just from transactions here on GBO.

For those that have a question on a USPS money order, they have a website to check the status if you have the money order number.

Tim

https://mois.usps.com/pls/pmoisnp/mois_external_pkg.main

[Couger]

Wow.
 
 
 
I thought I was an especially baaad perseon with my really poor attitude about the postal-JERKS! 
 
 
 
In the future I will consider MORE often taking personal checks, and for big purchases getting a cashier's check from my CU.     Learned alot  from the few comments since my previous post.
 
Oh yeah, I'll be glad when the whole U.S. postal system rots in HELL along with all their union-THUGS, chronies and members!!      

[AtlLaw]

uh oh...

[mo_bio]

For those that have a question on a USPS money order, they have a website to check the status if you have the money order number.

Tim

https://mois.usps.com/pls/pmoisnp/mois_external_pkg.main

Thanks for the link Tim.  I tried entered the # and it of course said no information is available.  I agree with most of you that sending a personal check and just waiting is the way to go.  Paypal is anti and I try not to support them.  that said, they must have somewhat changed their policy since ebay now has gun parts for sale and are required to be paid with PP.  Glad this is a rare thing.  I really have never had any issues until the past few months.  My postmaster did tell me today that it was a first for him.  He had 1 lost MO all of last year to track.  I was his second one today.  He was baffled.  This MO was not sent from hid PO but he was great in trying to help me.  I am lucky and there is no line in my local rural PO. 
What they are doing is a racket and if a citizen tried what they are doing we would be thrown under the jail!

[Graybeard]

Several years back Ed of Ed's TCs sent me a check in the mail to pay for his advertising. More than a month later I still hadn't gotten it so Ed sent me a replacement check. The day after his replacement check arrived the first one showed up.

More recently, I mailed a check to pay on my mortgage payment. It was in the mailer envelope they provide each month. This was June 2011. Next statement they had a late fee assessed and showed no payment had been received. I got that straightened out and got them both payments. I stopped payment on the check and wondered for months what the heck happened to it.

The check was addressed to an address in Pittsburgh, PA. This month I got an envelope from Hunter Fan Company in Tennessee and wondered what they had sent me and why. Inside was the missing check from last June. How and why it got to Memphis rather than Pittsburg I sure don't know nor when it got there but at least my long missing check isn't missing anymore.

Earlier this year we got an envelope that was mailed in Marietta, GA to another address also in Marietta. It came to my house in Alabama and my mail carrier dropped it in my box even tho the address was wrong, the city was wrong, the state was wrong and the names were wrong.

Yup and those folks wonder why they are slowly but surely going out of business. Oh yeah I have a lot of other horror stories thanks to the post office.

[MSP Ret]

Cashiers check is the best. It is instant cash, can be traced, can be canceled at a moments notice and there is no wait time to get your money back.
At least not at my bank anyway!!!
Hate useing USPO MOs, especially the 60 days wait time!
 
 
LONGTOM

I prefer using Paypal first, instant payment. Then a personal check. As Longtom said a Cashiers Check from the bank or a Certified Bank Check is as good as cash with no waitinf for it to clear. Last in line is a Postal Money Order, but some people like them for some reason....<><....

[gendoc]

you said it andy.....some people !!
i gotta postal money order in limbo right now that no-one at tha po can seem to find
its ona deal with a member here in tha handload'n supplies classifieds.
i would rather paypal or p-check any day......least we got sum kinda control over it

[MSP Ret]

One addittional bit of info. The only problem I have ever really had with USPS Priority Mail was with something on this site. I sold a Survivor Stock set to a member and sent it my preferred way, USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. The Post Office site said it was delivered on a certain date and time. The member said he met the mailman, not his regular carrier, at the mail box in front of his home that date and time and the stock set was not delivered as the Delivery Confirmation said it was. We waited a short time for things to shake out and I ended up taking another set off one of my H&R's and sendig that one the him, USPS Priority Mail, Delivery Confirmation, AND Insurance. That one was delivered and the USPS site confirmed it. HOWEVER the other member (no longer active to the best of my knowledge) said it was delivered on another date that the confirmation said it was. At that point I was out TWO stock sets and TWO delivery costs PLUS insurance. The other member offered to send me a synthetic set he said he was taking off a new Handi he was purchasing but he never followed through with his promise and stopped corresponding we me. I now doubt what he said about the first set not being delivered and think I was ripped off for the second stock set. All in all I still like the Post Office and Priority Mail, but the prices at the Post Office keep going up and up, that I don't like....<><....

[Troyboy]

If you can't take my check or pp you ain't getting my money. USPSMO is a PIA. I sent a guy some gear and It got torn up and half of it got lost. I insured it for my peace of mind. Sent him his insurance info. Never heard from him again. I now insure all purchased or sold goods. Other than one instance most times the USPS has been a great service. I support them and will continue to do so. Things happen and always will.

[halfslow]

There is very little difference between a cashiers check and a postal mo as far as safety and wait time is concerned.

Most banks require 90 days to pay a lost cashiers check anyway.  This is the law in most states, as they used to make the poor stiff wait up to a year. 
It is very nice that some banks will waive the 90 day wait for their customers.

I worked at a bank a few decades ago and we used to hear the horror stories of the people who sent their loan/mortgage company a cashiers check which disappeared.

I have never liked sending personal checks to strangers because now someone has a copy of your check, a good account number and a copy of your signature.

I guess I have been lucky, as I have not had a problem with a PO mo yet.

[nova71]

speaking of lost checks, My other hobby is restoring old cars and last year (maybe two) I pulled out a seat from a 64 Chevelle and found an envelope to Sears with a check for payment on their account, so messed up you couldn't read it but did make out part of the date it was from 1998 or 1988 it never got mailed, just lost between the seat and console . I wondered how that played out

[Sourdough]

When I lived in Washington DC, we started having mail missing.  Birthday cards, letters from family, and a few bills.  We got the bills sorted out, but wondered where the letters and Birthday cards were.  I noticed two big semi trailers sitting behind the Post Office on Bolling AFB.  I asked the postal employees there at the post office what was in those trailers.  One got huffy and told me that was none of my business.  I turned in a complaint about the missing mail.

Unknown by the Postal Employees, an inspector came along and started looking into things.  The inspector caught letter carriers dumping mail in the dumpsters around base, so they did not have to deliver it to the houses.  Then they opened those big trailers and found them full of mail and mail order items.  Of course the postal employees at the post office said they did not know what they were doing there and did not know how long they had been parked there.  I reported what I had been told by the clerk at the counter, and pointed out the person that told me it was none of my business.  The post mark on the items in the trailer was dated a year earlier.  The post office was closed for a week.  when it reopened there was all new people.   

[gendoc]

When I lived in Washington DC,   The post office was closed for a week.  when it reopened there was all new people.

seems like that needsta happen again, this time ina big white house there..................

[thejanitor]

I agree the messed up shipments can be a pain but there are also a bazillion items a day that are not.... The volume of mail that moves is almost too big for me to comprehend, and before email it used to be bigger.
 I sent a reciever to Illion and watched the tracking as it went, and it went from MN to TX on its way to NY... was very happy when I heard it got to the factory via del conf. But for the most part I think they do well for the amount of things that ship.
As for PP I have never wanted to put yet another third party in charge of my money, secure- probably, but I have only passed up one purchase because PP was the only option. So a check or the USPS MO is my option and either of those will rely on the delivery from USPS.
For the most part no complaints on my end. (yet    )
thejanitor

[tom548]

If you get a certified  bank check , look at it real good. They are counterfeited every day and unless you know what to look for they look real. I have an envelope full of them from people trying to scam  me when I have sold items in the local Want Add Digest. If you read the back of the check it will tell you the security measures on it that you can look at to see if it is real or a copy of a real check.

[Swampman]

Don't bother to insure your USPS packages either.  They won't pay.

[dave29]

Don't bother to insure your USPS packages either.  They won't pay.

My feelings exactly.

[AtlLaw]

If you get a certified  bank check , look at it real good. They are counterfeited every day...

 +1  Just about one of the least trustworthy methods of payment nowadays.