Drama of the highest order

First of all I would like to apologize that I haven't posted in awhile but I've been very busy trying to take care of some priorities. With that said, I want to share a story.

Two months ago I had bought a gold solidus of Zeno on FORVM. I'm sure you guys remember it. Well, the coin never arrived. I called FORVM and they did a claim with the post office. The post office refused the claim because they said they delivered it. Their GPS said the package had been delivered across the street, and as far as they were concerned that meant it was delivered to me. I went and asked the people across the street and they said they never received a package for me, so with that there was pretty much no hope I'd ever see the gold solidus.

With that news, I thanked the people at FORVM for at least trying to help me, as it was not their fault the US post office messed it up. I was disappointed but accepted it. What else could I do?


Well, tonight my neighbor from two houses down the street knocked and said his wife had set aside a package for me a few weeks back but they had forgotten to give it to me, and only just found it while they were cleaning their home office. He then handed me an envelope and I saw the FORVM logo on the envelope. My knees almost gave out from the shock of realizing what it was.

So guess what? She's home with me at last. After all that drama the coin I never thought I'd see is finally in my hands. I'm jumping for joy here tonight.

 

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Happy ending!
My local post office is garbage as well. They constantly deliver our mail to a house with the same number but different street about a mile away and vice versa. It has been a huge pain in the...
I'm glad you got your coin. It is absolutely beautiful!

 

Boy, that ended well. Amazing how lax the mail service can be. I am happy you got your beautifull coin also that you have a very honorable neighbour.....

 

Yeah, I'm so happy that I don't even care about the time or the hassle I went through. I'm just glad that it turned up, and that they gave it to me instead of tossing it out.

 

Wow, that is great that you received it in the end.

Looks like a really nice coin that deserves a thread.

John

 

I'm glad the coin showed up. We hear stores of errors by the Post Office, but I want to put in a good word for them--at least my local people. They are very helpful in ways I won't enumerate, but couldn't be better. I love my Post Office!

 

Wow! What a nice surprise! Hope that never happens again, though.

 

..wow...nice coin....good neigbors and glad to C ya again big O....

 

Awesome coin. So glad you finally got it. Can we see a pic of the other side of this coin please. I would take the neighbors out to lunch for saving it for you. Thank you.

 

Here's the FORVM image. As you can see, it is a nice coin. It does have two scratches on the obverse, but no flat spots or clipping. I don't mind the two scratches. No coin is perfect, and this one is nice enough that it deserves some love. And it's my first gold coin, so that in itself makes it special.

 

The best PO story I have:
I received someone else's debit card in the mail.
The envelope was one of the typical ones with the plastic window.

I used a black sharpie and wrote "RETURN TO SENDER."

A few days later, I get it back again.

Okay, this time I CROSSED OUT THE ADDRESS WINDOW.

A few says later, I get it back again.

Guess what? Some PO worker actually cut open the plastic window so they could see the address underneath, and delivered it to me AGAIN.

With all that effort, it would have been easier to simply return to sender.

Christ almighty.

 

Indeed a happy ending. Every coin I purchase is delivered to our po box and there has yet to be a mistake. The regular carriers have rotating days off and the substitutes are often not familiar with the routes. I've had problems with the other non USPS carriers and damaged items in the delivery. It's frustrating.

 

Wow @Sallent your neighbors deserve a big thank you and you raise a glass to their honesty

Q

 

Sallent, Congratulations on recovering your Zeno solidus ! I have a similar story that didn't end as well. About 8 years ago I was living in Rochester, NY on the east side, about two blocks from East High School when I ordered 3 common date U.S. $10 gold coins from a NJ dealer. The coins cost me $1,800 & were sent by UPS, but I never received the coins . At that time a lot of kids were skipping school & hanging out behind houses in the neighborhood, smoking pot & doing other stupid things . In fact once a week I would collect all the empty "nickel bags" in my back yard (sometimes they even had some leftover pot in them). After contacting the dealer & waiting several weeks I called the local UPS office & they sent the delivery driver to my house. He said he made a late morning delivery & left the coins at my side door, ringing my doorbell before he left. He said the company policy was a signature wasn't required if the package was valued less than $2,000 ! I asked him if he was sure he rang the doorbell & he said yes & went outside to do it again, but the doorbell was dead . In a cavalier way he said "sorry buddy" & left. I'm sure some kid playing hooky made off with the coins . Anyway, I filed a small claims lawsuit against the local UPS office, & shortly after receiving their summons they sent me a check for $1,800 . I got my money back minus the court fee but didn't press the matter any further .

 

I had a similar experience ... yesterday! In the Netherlands, there is an option for insured mailing: you pay a bit extra, and are required to 1) ID yourself upon delivery, and 2) sign before you receive the package.

So yesterday, the postman delivered a package. I expected an insured package, but he assured me: it's a normal package (so no ID or signing required). And very hurriedly left. I did not expect a normal package, so I shrugged, did not open it, and waited for my insured package. Which did not come. Then, I checked the online tracking system:

(In Dutch)

Lo and behold: the package was already delivered!

To my astonishment, there even was a signature:

... which is not mine (not even close).

I did receive both coins though (in fact, I've posted a thread about one already). Still, I filed a complaint.

 

Glad that the neighbors are ones you trust!

We used to have a great mail carrier but she retired about a year ago. Her replacement has zero respect for the importance of her job. I've never been able to verify the signature on a registered package on USPS' website, but a couple times I found packages containing over $500 worth of coins just sitting in the mailbox when I got home. Tracking said it was signed for.

Probably my favorite post office story, though was from early in my ancients collecting days. I had purchased a small lot of coins off of ebay, and even though tracking showed that the coins arrived at the local P.O., I still hadn't received them over two weeks later. I called, and it turns out that there is one person in charge of international packages and one in charge of international letters. Package guy got it, said "this is a letter" and sent it over. Letter guy said "this is a package" and sent it back. They did this for ten business days until I called to complain.

 

@Sallent that is a lovely coin. I am glad it is now where it belongs.

 

Glad it worked out!

I had a neighbor knock on my door with an envelope in her hand. She had found the registered letter containing a coin in the middle of the road as she was crossing! It had tire tracks on it but the coin was unharmed. Unbelievable.

 

My mailman is pretty good, always scans the mailbox while making deliveries and is sure to scan my coin packages and ring the doorbell for my signature even if the coin was shipped from some obscure locale, which they often are. I've never had a package go awry (stuck in customs for weeks, yes) but knock-on-wood, so far so good.

 

This is why I always tip my postal carrier at Christmas--it ensures good service.