Unfortunate USPS Story

[black hills tj]

Well I recently shipped off a boatload of hornwort wrapped in a paper towel soaked in tank water, placed in a large plastic bag, then placed in an envelope. I went to the post office and informed the person that helped me EXACTLY what was in the envelope. Sadly the following is the end result. This is a message from the AA member that I sent the plants to.

"Envelope arrived today, wet, wrapped in 3 plastic bags. They all have this message printed on them:

Dear Postal Customer:

We sincerely regret the damage to your mail during handling by the Postal Service. We hope this incident did not inconvenience you. We realize that your mail is important to you and that you have every right to expect it to be delivered in good condition.

Although every effort is made to prevent damage to the mail, occaisonally this will occur due to the great volume handled and the rapid processing methods which must be employed to assure the most expeditious distribution possible.

We hope you understand. We assure you that we are constantly striving to improve our processing methods in order that even a rare occurence may be eliminated.

Please accept our apologies.

Sincerely,

Your Postmaster

When I opened it everything was mushy and smelled cooked, quite similar to steamed spinach. The paper towels were stained green. I suspect the envelope was microwaved somewhere along the line. I remember hearing something about that being done as a security measure after 911, and a shipment of mail catching fire as a result. I suppose a leaking envelope made someone set off someone's paranoia, if it wasn't simply done as a precaution. In any case none of the plants were alive, much less intact."

I'm going to ship a new batch to him when I get some...in a box this time. However, this is still dissapointing to say the least.

 

[evercl92]

Sounds to me that USPS pretty much said:

'We screwed up, it happens occasionally, sorry about your luck, but we're not gonna fix our mistake.'

Kinda crappy


On a side note, I've had better luck shipping plants wrapped in a paper towel that was damp, rather than soaked. Tends to make the plants rot faster, if they do end up dieing.

 

[LandGhoti]

When I mailed my used filter cartridge to a member on here, I didn't tell the USPS what was in it. I stuck it in one of those white-locktop ziploc bags and wrapped it further in a bit of bubble wrap in case the bag broke and it leaked. Then I taped up the bubble wrap and stuck it in a box. So if it had leaked, no one would've known. It arrived just fine.

I know the USPS asks you if there's anything liquid, flammable, etc. Just say no.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I always tell them no to liquids when I ship plants. There is nothing liquid, just something damp. And definitley always ship in a box. You can get FREE USPS Priority Mail boxes either in the post office or online (you don't even have to pay shipping and you can get hundeds of boxes!). Definitley safer that way.

 

[Algenco]

The priority boxes are great. Mark the package LIVE PLANTS that may prevent the microwaving

 

[JustOneMore20]

I always pack my plants in a damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag. And I always say no liquids. I've had nothing but good luck shipping. Sometimes though, I've received plants that were cooked looking, but I know it was from the summer heat, especially if the package came from all the way across the country.