I received a envelope from Nitro today with nothing inside but the paper he had wrapped them in. A nice green fluorescent sticker over the rip where the sinkpads where that reads “Received Unsealed, Received Damaged and Received Without Contents”.
They where 15 Sinkpads in there when they left Ohio.
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As far as I know there was no insurance on the envelope.
Is there anything that I can do or maybe talk to at USPS that could help.
Or am I just out $44.
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Has anyone had any luck at getting reimbursed with proof of contents.
Sorry to hear that. 
As far as I know, without insurance, you are indeed out $44.
Did USPS put that green tape on?
Hi,
How was it shipped? Was it Priority Mail? I thought I remembered that with Priority Mail that it’s automatically insured for $100, but not sure…
BTW, the same thing happened to me, but I was the sender, returning some batteries to a seller. He said all that he got was an empty envelope with my letter in it.
How do these things happen anyway? :~
Yes, they put the green tape on there and I have not opened the envelope for proof when I get to the post office.
You can feel that there is absolutely nothing in there but Nitros extra paper wrap.
I was toured through a sort facility years ago. It happens when those thick sinkpads in a normal envelope are running through those sort machines at a high rate of speed. I have seen oversized normal envelopes jam in the sorter. Normal anything oversized is suppose to be pulled from the sorter before it gets there if I remember correctly. I’am sure the equipment has been updated since I was there. It’s made to sort envelopes with paper inside. When you stick something thick in the envelope you can see where this might cause a problem, you get jams that are being forced through by the rollers contacting the paper envelope and the contents are to large to get through the rollers in time before destruction.
If it is not insured, there will be no compensation. It should have never gotten sent in a regular envelope. The information is clear on thickness of a regular envelope and it's just a gamble as to getting there. If they shifted in transit, they very well could have bunched up and jammed the machine.
I too am curious about the shipping method used? First Class Letter? First Class Letter + nonmachineable surcharge? First Class Package? Priority?
Speaking from personal bad experiences...
With priority and first class, if the package is damaged, and there is no insurance, there is absolutely nothing that USPS will do about it. At best you'll get a shrug and "Sorry. Accidents happen, we process A LOT of mail."
Still, anything that has potential for ripping should not be shipped in a paper envelope. Plastic only, or boxed.
International express mail gets automatically insured for $100. I'm not sure if the same if the same holds true for domestic.
Talk to the seller. Take a couple of pictures of the ripped up package.
Most people are reasonable and understanding. Not uncommon to split the difference.
My sinkpads arrived from Ohio today. No problems here.
They were mailed in an ordinary #10 envelope via what looks to be regular first-class mail. The side of the outer envelope was taped shut. Inside the envelope was part of another envelope that was wrapped several times around the sinkpads to provide padding and then thoroughly taped to the inside of the outer envelope.
I can see how a post office sort machine might have problems though. Especially since a sheet of sinkpads isn’t flexible like the same thickness of paper would be.
You definitely want something like that in a padded envelope.
If Paypal was used for the transaction, the buyer could probably win a Paypal claim and get his money back.
The seller/shipper is responsible for the package until it reaches the buyer. In this case, since it looks like the package was damaged/items lost because the package wasn’t secure enough and/or an improper method of shipping may have been used, the seller would be at fault.
Also, it’s the responsibility of the seller to buy insurance. Postal insurance covers the seller, not the buyer. The buyer wouldn’t have any use for insurance because, technically, he’s not responsible for the package if it gets lost. The seller would bear the cost of that, not the buyer.
How much tape was used. I always try to tape the edges and then some more on the corners.
Kumabear is the packaging master.
Nothing should be put in a letter envelope, except…a letter. Letter sorting machines are not set up to deal with foreign objects that cause jams. A small size mailer packet should be used. These are sorted on packet sorters.
For what you paid Nitro per sinkpad for shipping there is no excuse for them not being shipped in a small padded envelope for a couple sinkpads. For several of them their is no excuse for not using a small priority flat rate box @ $5.80. Pack as many of the sinkpads as possible...20 lb package? Still only $5.80 and the box is free. Shame on him.
EDit: I see now that he only charged $4 per order. When he started I recalled it being $2 or $2.50 per sinkpad which is why I never ordered any from him. But even still, you can get a pack of 5 small padded envelopes for just $1 at the dollar store.
yes, padded envelope is the way to go. they are something like $1.59 if you buy them from USPS but can buy them way cheaper elsewhere.
small sellers really need to cover their own butt. i always try to do insurance if its more than like $15. any mishaps by USPS (and they will happen) can kill all profit, and even put you in the red
im sure in the end it will be sorted out though
It’s a shame, but the Seller is at fault here for not using a proper padded envelope, a standard letter envelope that gets through w/o damage is lucky; according to usps guidelines you should never put anything but paper in those and for goodf reason. I buy bubble packets all the time, wallyworld has them on the cheap there really is no excuse for not using them. Seller should re-ship or eat it, sorry; the buyer did nothing wrong, the seller however did.
Sorry that you lost your parts!
Its amazing that any of the sinkpads made it to the destination in those letter envelopes. My enevelope arrived in perfect comdition.
Mine came ok, but yes, it's high risk shipped like that. I know nitro probably felt pressure on costs and time so maybe he was trying to keep it simple, but it doesn't sound good the way it turned out.
Guys I do appreciate all the comments. I just can’t bring myself to completely blame Nitro. Yes, they should have been packaged better I agree.
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The thing is Nitro paid usps to delivery the envelope with its contents. When nitro handed the post man this envelope if there was a good chance of it being damage he should have said “this envelope may get damaged going through the sorting machine” something like “it happens all the time sir”. And he did take all these to the post office at the same time. They where other members that received their envelopes either tore or sinkpads in a plastic bag outside the envelope. Mine just happen to be missing in action.
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This is a very common thing from what I gather. So does the problem lye in the shipper putting something in a envelope besides paper or the postal service damaging or losing the contents of a envelope because anything in the envelope besides paper gets destroyed in their sorting machine. Nitro paid them, they where suppose to delivery it and they did accept the envelope and took his money (well my money).