FEDEX “unable to complete delivery…”

DHL, yes. Though I wonder if the Department of Homeland Security might involve less bureaucracy!

 

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Many years ago I had a $100 coin that had been sent to me without insurance or tracking disappear in the mail. After a couple of months of back-and-forth, I finally got a refund from the eBay seller. Bummed about it, but no financial loss. About one year later, the coin showed up! I contacted and sent payment to the seller. I called our small, rural Post Office to ask if they had any explanation for the delay in delivery. They said yes, the envelope had been found behind a set of old sorting shelves during a renovation of the building.

 

I recently have been ordering from London Ancient Coins. On the mailing menu was the dreaded DHL (and my little order would have been 30-something dollars to ship). The USPS registered was expensive (around 16 bucks) and slow, but my first order arrived safely, so I'm happy.

Perhaps British customs are slower; the French order came ultra-fast.

I've only had one coin end up as truly lost over the years. Unfortunately, it was a really nice Sassanian drachm. I had ordered it at the same time as an Allen Berman inexpensive order. The AB eventually showed up, undamaged inside, but obviously having gone through some kind of mail sorter mishap.

I also endured the post office destroying a very rare radio-related record; the earliest known 1942 episode of Duffy's Tavern. The record was slighly warped and was concerned about it snapping, so the sender packed it in a pizza box and it wasn't exactly bulletproof packing. The only consolation, it had been dubbed before mailing.

 

On the whole I've had pretty good luck with shipments coming through undamaged. However, just today my shipment of Verdicare arrived, package soaked.

I contacted Wizard today to see what my options are.

 

That stinks. Did it get inside the bottle?

I'm assuming you meant taht it got left in the rain. Have you considered a package box? Even a Sterilite opaque container works well, although a deck box is better.

 

Actually some pressure must have forced some of the bottle's contents out. It is over a quarter empty by my estimate. The package was inadequate. The bottle should have been shipped in a small box with protective padding. Quite a mess!

 

Ah, well that makes your case for a replacement much stronger.

The stuff is purple?

 

No, it is clear. The purple staining must be some kind of chemical reaction, perhaps with the adhesive, or it might have been caused by the package coming into contact with another package or envelope, I don't know. The bottle still has the tape around the neck, but apparently that did not prevent some of the liquid from leaking, leaving an oily residue. I wonder if this chemical dissolves plastic. There is absolutely no description of the chemical make-up of this solution on the bottle's label, just some precautions.

 

Did it freeze in the mailbox?

 

It didn't freeze here, in Cupertino. Perhaps in transit? I don't know what the freezing point is for this solution.