Right Stuf customer care

Visual Novel Community Anime/Otaku Discussions
#21

Yes but the Pony Express also only lasted from April 3, 1860 through October 1861, slightly over a year, it was perhaps too good and yes it scares me too that I knew those dates without having to look them up.

So it’s not just me that thinks as mail service is starting to charges more the quality is starting to go down? What if that is the cause here and it is not RightStuf itself but the postal service, yeah CS was not great in responding, but if this is mostly the Postal Service’s fault, what would you do then, use RightStuf again but a different means of shipping like UPS or something?

#22

RightStuf defaults to shipping UPS so that they can track your order… however, I don’t like using UPS because they only deliver when I’m not home (usually), which means I’m not there to sign for the package, which means I have to go through a song and dance in order to actually get the thing delivered… To make a long story short: it ends up taking longer to get it delivered UPS with a lot more hassle than to just go USPS and take the risk that something might happen along the way. Usually there’s no problem, but perigee was apparently that 1 out of 1000 situation…

#23

Yeah it is a problem with UPS but the joke is when they do deliver at times I am there, half the time they don’t have me sign anyway, though I am very glad they are cautious enough to just not leave it outside my door.

However, even if it is harder at least you or he would know that the package is at say the “Anytown USA” UPS Depot, rather then somewhere between his house and Moscow.

Knowing where it is might be very helpful even if it means having to sign for packages, espcially in times like this, but any time really this would apply. Of course saying that I admit to not using UPS unless I can be fairly sure it should arrive on a day I can be there to sign for it, and since UPS is coming around 6:30 at night anymore that is becoming increasingly eaiser knock on wood for the time being at least it is easier.

[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 08-01-2004).]

#24

Actually righstuff is located in Iowa. And they are situated really close to a distribution hub for the USPS, which is why Media mail shipping from them is usually very quick compared to other companies. Unfortunately the insurance that RS uses seems to be the cause of your problems

#25

It often says third part insured, the postal service offeres insurance of sorts, do you think they use them for their insurance on shipping?

#26

I don’t think so, my guess is third party insured means exactly what it says a third party not the USPS is insuring the package which could be the reason for the delays in claims and stuff. Usually if you insure something with the post office it will be stamped with insured only on the package.

#27

As I said before

quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
I checked the insurer’s web site (pipinsure.com), and they say all claims are paid within 7 business days of filing. That encourages me to wait a while longer before giving up on RS.

I’ll let you know how it all works out, but a general word of advice - when it comes to media mail, caveat emptor.

Today is the 27th day since “shipping confirmation”, and the planets must be in a rare alignment, the postal demons must have been appeased, they must have found a more comfortable stool in the mail sorting room - because you know what? A large, well-crushed, several times rewrapped box arrived on my porch today. The missing RightStuf shipment is here!

I looked for a cancellation stamp on the box. The original RightStuf label appears to have been neatly trimmed off with a knife, and in its place appears a USPS address label with the notation Received without address opened and forwarded from the Mail Recovery Center, St. Paul. MN. The postmark is July 28th.

I’m left with several unanswered questions like why is all unmarked mail routed to St. Paul, MN? Why does it take three weeks to decide whether a package needs to be opened? Why did the Post Office find it necessary to examine the merchandise as well as the shipping notice [the DVDs were still wrapped, but the free sample Viz Manga was creased open at a page showing a young nude girl in a shower scene]. Perhaps there are some things I’m better off not knowing. I’m just glad this drama had a happy ending.

[This message has been edited by perigee (edited 08-03-2004).]

#28

Whee! Glad to know everything turned out okay, perigee!

#29
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
I'm left with several unanswered questions like why is all unmarked mail routed to St. Paul, MN? Why does it take three weeks to decide whether a package needs to be opened? Why did the Post Office find it necessary to examine the merchandise as well as the shipping notice [the DVDs were still wrapped, but the free sample Viz Manga was creased open at a page showing a young nude girl in a shower scene]. Perhaps there are some things I'm better off not knowing. I'm just glad this drama had a happy ending.

Good to have a happy ending, for once.

Well as to why did they trim the old label off and was it an accident is another question worth asking at this time.

I have gotten letters and packages from friends that come from Atlanta (2 hours by car) which have a stamp showing they were routed through Santa Fe (not 2 hours by car) with apologies on them having been opened, nothing is ever missing, at least nothing I know about, but it does make you wonder.

#30

Hmmm… This sort of stuff definitely makes me wonder. I’m glad it all worked out, but under normal circumstances, mail tampering (i.e. opening someone’s mail) is a felony offence. I don’t see where they should be able to get off just opening up a box to check out the contents for what ever reason–it’s not like we’re living in China, or something… Are we?

#31

Two words Patriot Act.

Though that is something worth asking, how come if you or I opened the package it’s a fine, jail time, community service or something, but “in the name of providing you with excellent service” or some other crap, the Postal Service can get away with it with only a apology for the delay. Unless they are smart and will say they opened it to get the order sheet inside which gave the address to ship it to the correct address since someone, but not them of course, had removed the address, hey it’s a great excuse to look through what’s in there and one that is plausably defensable.

[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 08-04-2004).]

#32

My guess is that somehow the label got smashed, crashed, and dirtied beyond recognition. So they opened the package to see if there was a shipping address in the packing slip. That or there’s a secret police, looking through your stuff looking for preview manga with naked girls to read

Anyway glad everything worked out in the end. At least your package wasn’t permenantly lost.

#33
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:

I looked for a cancellation stamp on the box. The original RightStuf label appears to have been neatly trimmed off with a knife, and in its place appears a USPS address label with the notation Received without address opened and forwarded from the Mail Recovery Center, St. Paul. MN. The postmark is July 28th.

I'm left with several unanswered questions like why is all unmarked mail routed to St. Paul, MN? Why does it take three weeks to decide whether a package needs to be opened? Why did the Post Office find it necessary to examine the merchandise as well as the shipping notice [the DVDs were still wrapped, but the free sample Viz Manga was creased open at a page showing a young nude girl in a shower scene]. Perhaps there are some things I'm better off not knowing. I'm just glad this drama had a happy ending.

[This message has been edited by perigee (edited 08-03-2004).]

I can offer some baseless speculation, if it would help.

* As for why the Post Office felt the need to inspect it, I can think of a few reasons. One, they needed a way to find out where it was supposed to go. Two, if you were going to send a bomb through the mail (or try to bomb a mail processing center) then sending an unmarked package through would be one way to ensure the Post Office couldn't process the package and had to put it in storage - they probably were examining for explosives. (Why that necessitates creasing your Viz sampler to a suggestive scene, I don't (want to?) know.)

* Why did it end up in St. Paul, MN? I have no idea. But there are probably only a few of these unmarked-mail-processing plants. There just aren't that many opportunities for packages with no address to get into the system; just walk into a post office and try it. (Actually, I wouldn't, they'd probably think you were up to no good.) So they had to ship it to a central location, probably.

* As for why it took 3 weeks ... probably there's a backlog. Either that, or post office policy entails a waiting period where you hold it at a local post office for a week or two, so that people have the opportunity to realize they're morons, and go to the post office begging to see if the unlabeled package is still there.

#34
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
As for why it took 3 weeks ... probably there's a backlog. Either that, or post office policy entails a waiting period where you hold it at a local post office for a week or two, so that people have the opportunity to realize they're morons, and go to the post office begging to see if the unlabeled package is still there.

Actually, I think that they were just taking their time enjoying the picture in the Viz sampler... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]

#35
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
I can offer some baseless speculation, if it would help..

Okay in the name of baseless speculation, why was the original label "neatly trimmed off with a knife" and who (someone inside or outside the Postal System) do you think might have been able to do it once it was in the Postal System?

Perhaps I agree with their reasons for slowing it if there was no label but for the label to have been neatly trimmed off? Even if it got dirty why remove it and not just slap another one on top of the old?

#36
quote:
Originally posted by SCDawg:
Okay in the name of baseless speculation, why was the original label "neatly trimmed off with a knife" and who (someone inside or outside the Postal System) do you think might have been able to do it once it was in the Postal System?

Perhaps I agree with their reasons for slowing it if there was no label but for the label to have been neatly trimmed off? Even if it got dirty why remove it and not just slap another one on top of the old?

As for that, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. It is quite mysterious; after all, if you're going to tamper with the package why not just steal it?

#37
quote:
Originally posted by Nandemonai:
As for that, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. It is quite mysterious; after all, if you're going to tamper with the package why not just steal it?

Just one of my speculations here:
Because the insurance company would be pissed off and investigate the case on their own?


#38

So the “moral” of this story might be : Tampering, such as was done with that graphic novel sampler, is okay if you are the Postal Service but outright theft is wrong? Okay maybe that’s not the moral, but it seems like it could be a “moral”

#39

Maybe the inspector was a manga fan and wanted to read the sampler Well in any case everything turned out ok. And you can go back to buying from TSRI, especially since the new weekly specials just got posted

#40

With all these questions still up in the air, for some reason The Animaniacs “Wheel of Morality” keeps coming to mind. “Wheel of morality turn, turn, turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn. . . and the moral of today’s story is…”