Before I say anything else this is NOT anything to do with Mountain Electronics, I do not blame them at all, they were VERY helpful and very accommodating.
I regularly read on here members in various states of annoyance about postage from China/HK and often wonder why since I have literally ordered hundreds of items over the years from there and never had a single one not arrive or that have been opened. None of those parcels was ever insured either, or tracked, hence in my naivety I didn’t insure/track this letter from the USA.
Well, I ordered a driver from MTN which they very kindly agreed to send by letter post to keep the extortionate USPS postage charge down - this was completely my choice and I do not blame them for what followed at all - just look at this!
All I can say is wow! Bearing in mind like I say I have never had any trouble from anywhere else in the world like this - those in the USA might very well have had their stuff that went missing from China lost in the USA!
Now I don’t know for sure this was done in the USA but the evidence would point towards that. Someone must have thought there was 1, yes 1 coin in there and tore the letter open (although it would not have felt like a coin - just the shape).
I was stunned, and still am. Very sad state of affairs indeed 
.
Probably got ripped open by an automated mail sorting machine. Designed to sort letters, not envelops containing hard, sharp objects
I suppose, but it had no springs or wire on (basically a flat disc) - and I’m pretty sure that one on the top was done by hand- the tears are to neat - if it had caught in a machine it would have mangled/marked the letter much more.
Surely this could’ve happened anywhere?
Yes indeed it could, I have no idea - but never had it happen in 42 years inside the UK, plenty of kids cards with money in/badges on cards etc over the years.
Letter sorting machine.
Letters are not supposed to contain anything but folded paper. They move at fast speeds through series of belts and rollers. Any small object can jam up an entire machine. I see it every day. I’ve been working there for forty years. Small object = small packet.
There’s a reason they call it letter mail, it’s for letters.
Fair enough, lesson learn’t anyway. More than likely it could well have been a machine though I would have expected to see damage caused to the envelope (crumpling etc) and letter inside where the driver ripped through it to escape. The letter is intact with no damage at all, as is the envelope barring the rounded tears.
I have my own theory though just to please my inquisitive mind lol! looking at the tears - the top tear (easiest to do) wouldn’t have enabled the driver to be removed as it was between a folded letter, hence the second tear on the end to get it out.
Looks pretty believable to me. 
I had never seen such a thing until six months ago.
I get my parcels shipped to my parents house so I check the mail for them on a fairly regular basis, and three times now they have received letters like above, the worst was ripped in half and had black lines all over it, it came in a postal service envelope with an explanation.
Say what? Machines?
Wow, I thought this documentary was showing how it works
Here in France and before in The Netherlands the mailboxes have slots, if a parcel fits through that slot it will arrive and not being trashed by the machines of the post company.
He#$ in Holland you can mailorder roses, they come in a box throught the mailbox the next day, the box unfolds to become a vase. The machines are perfectly capable of handling those.
The reason for not arriving in The Netherlands is the decline of the postal service by hiring cheap labour without honor in their work.
If the US postal service machines can’t handle letter sized packages, it need to either update them or make the slots of maiboxes thinner.
Feeling sorry for a person working there to solve jams and feeling scared a jam means a bomb? Really?
I would think having jams means having a job, and feeling scared by doing your job means time to look for something else.
EDIT nice videos Sharpie!
That’s true.
Even with it being in a standard envelope when it’s being sorted they must have a machine capable of deciding how it can go through and be sorted without it causing problems.
If its a standard letter it can contain something inside of it as long as it does not exceed 1/4” in thickness.
You can pay a non machinable charge and add more postage.
You can also use USPS flats which is a lot cheaper than normal First Class Mail for small and light objects. Its about $2.4 or so for 1 oz and around $1 per additional ounce for international. It can be up to 3/4” thick as long as there is no more than 1/4” thickness variation.
It’s crazy to me that now a 1oz letter is like $1.20 but a 1 oz package or bubble envelope is like $12.80 over 10x the cost of the letter.
For something like a driver, I’d recommend sending it via first class flats for about $2.40. Then it can be sent in a bubble mailer as long as it is <3/4” thick and less than 1/4” variation in thickness.
By the way, I think we might have the most expensive shipping rates in the world for 1oz international package items now…
They can mark an envelope or package “Non Machinable” if it has something inside that is bulkier than a piece of paper, but you have to tell them when you ship it. It just gets sorted a different way. I’ve had a couple issues with USPS. Those machines are supposed to be able to handle anything up to 1/2” thick. The post office I go to has a piece of cardboard with a slot cut out, if it doesn’t fit in the slot it won’t go through the machine and needs marked “Non Machineable” but with stuff like this you have to specify for them to mark it EVEN IF it does fit in the slot. They will look at you sideways but just stick to your guns…don’t carry guns in a post office that is a figure of speach.
No matter how well they design the machines that sort mail and parcels to minimise damage, there’s always the risk that all their hard work will be let down by the human interface part of the postal service ;) :)
Like others have said, hard objects in plain letters can be torn up by their high speed sorting machines. You must keep in mind how the machines process letters and take precautions. The driver should not be loose in the letter, instead cut a driver sized hole in a piece of cardboard and tape the driver into there. The purpose is to give the letter an even thickness and to shield the hard edges of the driver from being caught. Then fold a piece of tyvek around the cardboard + driver. Tyvek is very tough against tearing, if the machines cause a tear in the paper envelope the tyvek layer will prevent it from reaching the contents. The usa postage service provides free large tyvek envelopes for priority mail that one can cut up and use for this. Though you’re not technically suppose to use free priority mail supplies for any other use except priority mail.
coins can break through envelopes like that.since the driver was likely in a bag tape it to the paper or the inside of the envelope.
Yeah, well, how about when you sent a small flat rate box to Shenzhen China and it never arrives? After paying for insurance at $25 and then they won’t do anything about it? I sent Neal a triple X6, it vanished, some custom’s worker somewhere is probably enjoying it immensely. But why won’t the USPS honor the insurance?
I gave up trying, seems pointless as they don’t ever respond aside from saying they have the complaint.
Use box-type corrugated cardboard — as thick as the driver — not ‘shirt cardboard’ thickness.
Tape it in place. And +1 on then wrapping that all in Tyvek.
And then get the “Non-machinable” stamp on it.
All this should be passed on to whoever packaged that up for you so they can do better next try.
The 1/4” rule only applies to smooth, evenly distributed materials like folded paper or photos. Anything lumpy should get the non-machinable charge(extra .22) but if it gets sent through the sorting machine anyway it still gets ripped. Blank pcb’s in sheet foam can get by but assembled drivers won’t. I’ve used photo mailers which are heavy weight hard paper envelopes that require only normal postage but still got hit with both the non machinable charge and international rate charge and even then a few of those still didn’t survive international travel while non of those that stayed in the country came to harm. Photo mailers are a better option than a paper envelope but nothing is totally safe and theft occurs everywhere including your doorstep. I got tired of having mine stolen and installed a locking mailbox but that only protects those items that fit. You might check with your local constabulary to see if mail theft is on the rise in your area.
Ditto this. It’s not enough to just tape something to a piece of card. For your own fun, do that to a large coin, place it in an envelope and seal. Holding the envelope at one end, ‘whack’ the long edge into your palm. Within a few tries the taped coin will break loose from the tape and fly out a self-made slot right into your palm. The postal worker then just continues with the letter through the system. Where did I learn this trick? My Dad was a USPS worker for a short while back in the 70’s, and it was within his first few days that somebody there showed it to him so you can be certain they all still know about it. Do it like Halo says and the coin can’t be removed this way plus it goes through the machines smoothly.
Phil