The Postal Service does NOT CARE! Get it insured.

[boomshakalaka]

The last thing anyone wants when shipping their cards is for something to happen to them in the mail. It's unfortunate but it does happen and it is beyond your control.

Recently on a trade I sent out my cards in a bubble mailer and sent them priority. Paid for the shipping and got my tracking number and receipt. I never had any problems in the past with the mail, so I didn't think to get the insurance. Well, the package showed up at their door, was ripped open, looked like it had been stepped on 15 times, with no cards in it, and a notice that stated:

"WE CARE

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 hope you understand. We assure you that we are constantly striving to improve our processing methods in order that even a rare occurrence may be eliminated.
Please accept our apologies.
Sincerely
Your Postmaster."

I couldn't even get the money I paid for postage back. I was at a total loss. Nothing I could do about it.

LESSON: If it is valued at over $20, I recommend getting it insured. It is only a bit more in change, and in instances like this, you can at least make a claim to the post office. It's rare , but this stuff does happen. With insurance, it won't be a total loss.

[mareepasheep]

I have also received a "We Care" letter upon receiving a torn-up letter that contained no cards. The person who sent it, however, did not use a bubble-wrapped envelope and did not offer compensation for the cards that were lost. I would say that the only way a situation like this can be avoided is to use bubble-wrapped envelopes and priority mail, but in your case that didn't even work.

The post office just can't be relied on and it's unfortunate. Sometimes it makes good traders on this site doubt each other when cards don't show up. Once I actually received an envelope that was badly damaged and was supposed to contain many cards but only had two or three in it. I'm not sure how they managed to hang on, but they did. Again, the trader did not use a bubble-wrapped envelope. The guy accused me of lying so that I wouldn't have to give him my part of the trade. :/