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Lost Package Derails Project To Preserve Super Nintendo Games (eurogamer.net)
A developer's quest to preserve (and validate) every game ROM for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System has hit a glitch -- thanks to the U.S. postal service. Byuu, the creator of the Higan SNES emulator, had been expecting a package with 100 games from the PAL region (covering most of Europe, Africa, South America, and Oceania).
wertigon writes:
As it turns out, someone at the USPS thought it was a good idea to lose the package, thereby robbing the project of roughly $5000 and the sad hopes of ever seeing a full indexing, like the one done to the U.S set. Byuu writes... "I do still want to dump and scan the Japanese games I already purchased. But we will never have a complete PAL set.
Kotaku reports the games were worth up to £8,000, and though Byuu says the sender never requested reimbursement, it's going to happen "because I can't live with myself if it doesn't." He's asking for donations on Patreon, adding "If the package ultimately arrives, I will be refunding all donations."
In that Thursday update, Byuu writes that the post office had finally shipped him the label from the package "and nothing else, claiming the machine ate it." They've launched an investigation, reports Byuu, adding "It's still an incredibly long shot that they'll find anything, but we'll see. I really, really hope that they do."
Naive child, maybe where you live, people are honest. Where I live, there is one angry woman (demographic withheld) who is known to slice open packages and give you empty boxes. She literally remembers faces or has a list of names. I was banished from my post office as well as my neighbor for coming in and demanding an explanation. Things of all sorts for me, from adult lubricant my boyfriend ordered to jewelry was stolen. For my neighbor, valuables were also stolen. A Yelp review had nothing but similar reviews of snotty service and things being obviously stolen or "lost". Yet another friend literally had tire tracks from a postal truck on his package. The carrier apologized and said he could reject it but he had his suspicions on why it was that way and wasn't allowed to go any further than that. This friend got the OK to look at the treads on the truck, and sure enough, the pattern matched the impressions in the package. Carrier apologized that someone would have the nerve to do it but he was not allowed to point fingers.
This doesn't happen with FedEx or UPS. Something might be stolen off the front porch, but packages aren't sliced into routinely. Real companies have real tracking and cameras all over the place to keep fraudulent employees in check. Their investigations are actually investigations.
Won't help. I had the postal service "lose" a $50 package once. They won't deal with the recipient, they'll only talk with the sender. In my case they "delivered" it during a Hold Mail order and I never saw it. They didn't care. Apparently to get my money pack, the sender would have to file a police report!
When I had five packages ($200 in merchandise) stolen from the post office, two from inside and three from the post office box outside, I did the following:
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/
The shippers verified my stolen package compliant, filed for insurance reimbursement, and sent out replacement packages. The supervisor who blew me and a dozen customers off when we complained got fired. Exterior cameras were installed to monitor the post office boxes located outside. Package handling inside the post office is no longer anonymous as initials are required for putting a package on the shelf for pick up or in the post office box.
I've also had them "lose" multiple credit cards and various other smaller packages over the years. They don't care. They don't have to. They're government.
Most people find it easier to play the victim game and complain about the government rather than take responsibility and take action..
How do the postal services get away with charging extra for insurance?
Your goods are in their care, you're paying them for a service so why aren't they legally liable for any loss or damage ?
When you take your car in for a service, the garage is responsible if they blow it up. If a builder destroys your house when remodelling, he's responsible.
In both cases they have (or should have) 3rd party liability insurance to make good.
How would you feel if you went to a hospital and the surgeon asked "would you like insurance against me cutting the wrong bits out ?"
This is what Registered Mail is for.
It gives end-to-end point-to-point traceability. At every moment between when the package is handed to the clerk and when it is handed to the recipient, it is either in someone's hands or in a locked storage container. Every time the package changes hands, the new holder has to sign for it.
The US Postal Service HATES it. They try HARD to talk you out of using it. It is a pain in the patootie for them, being forced to do their job properly.
If you ever want to see a postal clerk get a SICK look on his face, tell him "I need to trace a missing Registered Mail piece." He knows, in that instant, that one of his co-workers may be about to lose his nice cushy job, and quite possibly move into a Federal zero-star hotel, the kind with iron bars on the windows and doors.