shipping woes
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:36 pm
I recently ordered a package from China. The problem was that I ordered and paid using my screen name. The seller refuses to ship without requiring a signature on delivery. (Guess where this is going.)
As of right now, I have a package fool of bootleg toys sitting at JFK Airport. When it arrives in Boston, somebody will have to sign for it.
Obviously, I do not have any ID with my screen name on it.
But, that should not be a problem provided that there is somebody, (anybody), around to sign for the package. And, here is where it gets stupid.
If a package requires a signature, the USPS is not at all picky about who signs for the package. In fact, the USPS typically does not even ask for ID at the building they are deliving to. The person signing for the package need not even be *in* the building when they sign for it. In other words, simply being in the general vicinity of the front door of the building may well be enough to sign for a "very important package"....without even presenting ID.
Luckily, I have a trust-worthy, and house-bound, neighbor down-stairs. (I am not saying that all women should be at home and pregnant. But, damn, I am glad that this particular woman is.) But, I also live in the 'hood, and could just as easily have a less trustworthy neighbor.
Now, here is where it gets monumentally foolish.
If nobody is home or around to sign for the package, the USPS will take the stupid thing back to a local postal office, and leave a notice in the mail box. They might try to deliver the package again. But, given the likely size of this package, they will probably require somebody to come down to the post office and sign for it.
This might sound reasonable, until one considers the standards for signing at the Post Office. (Remember, it is possible to sign for a package outside the PO with no ID.) But, signing at the post office requires not only ID, but that the name on the ID match the name on the package's address lable. (Remember, I do not have an ID with my screen name on it.)
The fact that an ID may have exactly the same address as the address on the shipping label, (as would be the case with roommates), means nothing. The fact that I am showing an ID at all means that the PO would automatically have to know who I am and where I live. Not only would it be apparent that I lived at exactly the same address that the package was destined for, but it would be easy enough for the PO to kick in my door should they be suspicious.
And, if nobody makes it to the post office in time, the package goes back to China, and the whole damned process starts over again.
Dom
-making a point to be home as much as possible for the next week.
As of right now, I have a package fool of bootleg toys sitting at JFK Airport. When it arrives in Boston, somebody will have to sign for it.
Obviously, I do not have any ID with my screen name on it.
But, that should not be a problem provided that there is somebody, (anybody), around to sign for the package. And, here is where it gets stupid.
If a package requires a signature, the USPS is not at all picky about who signs for the package. In fact, the USPS typically does not even ask for ID at the building they are deliving to. The person signing for the package need not even be *in* the building when they sign for it. In other words, simply being in the general vicinity of the front door of the building may well be enough to sign for a "very important package"....without even presenting ID.
Luckily, I have a trust-worthy, and house-bound, neighbor down-stairs. (I am not saying that all women should be at home and pregnant. But, damn, I am glad that this particular woman is.) But, I also live in the 'hood, and could just as easily have a less trustworthy neighbor.
Now, here is where it gets monumentally foolish.
If nobody is home or around to sign for the package, the USPS will take the stupid thing back to a local postal office, and leave a notice in the mail box. They might try to deliver the package again. But, given the likely size of this package, they will probably require somebody to come down to the post office and sign for it.
This might sound reasonable, until one considers the standards for signing at the Post Office. (Remember, it is possible to sign for a package outside the PO with no ID.) But, signing at the post office requires not only ID, but that the name on the ID match the name on the package's address lable. (Remember, I do not have an ID with my screen name on it.)
The fact that an ID may have exactly the same address as the address on the shipping label, (as would be the case with roommates), means nothing. The fact that I am showing an ID at all means that the PO would automatically have to know who I am and where I live. Not only would it be apparent that I lived at exactly the same address that the package was destined for, but it would be easy enough for the PO to kick in my door should they be suspicious.
And, if nobody makes it to the post office in time, the package goes back to China, and the whole damned process starts over again.
Dom
-making a point to be home as much as possible for the next week.
And we're right back to that Post Orafice thing again! Leave it to us to take a thread that should be fairly benign and make it go all the way downhill.