I sold a Redfield 3200 to a guy in Minnesota. UPS notified Me it was delivered. I sent a message to the buyer because they didn't get a signature. 2 minutes later I got a call from a woman that they had the package. The woman and her husband delivered it to the buyer. Scope $460.00, $35.00 to ship, NICE WOMAN IN MINNESOTA... PRICELESS.

All current news broadcasts need to be moved to Comedy Central channel.

My last UPS delivery showed delivered and a picture of somebody else's porch! Luckily the picture showed a house painted black, and there's only one on our block! I walked over and sure enough my package was sitting on the step. Just grabbed it and didn't bother the people.

ups's motto is "  we ship and destroy",  haven't used them in years and don't intend to in the future.  i ship a lot of stuff, if someone insists on using them i tell them as soon as it's out of my hands it's they're problem.  tony<><

There are so many weak links in any shipping service.
How to limit the known deficiencies is a challenge.

While in college I worked as a pre-loader at UPS from 2:00 AM until 8:00AM.
The pressure to get every package (that was going into one of the 5 trucks I loaded) off the conveyor belt to the right spot in the right truck, label it with a zone (magic marker) was intense.   

That belt never stopped. That was 53 years ago so things might have changed. I understand today with modern cascading sorting chutes things are more organized but still chaotic. 

Round tubes are especially prone to being ejected in the bends of the sort chutes..NEVER SEND A ROUND TUBE via one of the big three

Another challenge when sending small packages UPS, the deal they have worked out with USPS to deliver is to have the postal service deliver for them in what they call 'Last Mile' so they don't have to dispatch a big truck for a dinky package.

One thing that should help tracking going forward is the placement of a RFID bar code on all packages at UPS. (at least that's what they tell me)

I've has several wayward packages be located in the last year or so by using Apple AirTags. If I'm expecting someone to send me something of value, I mail them an AirTag in advance that they put in the package.
This costs me, the price of postage to the sender but worth it. for tracking purposes. 

When I ship a rifle, it goes into a well foamed / padded hard shell gun case, with locks all the way around, which in turn goes into box made for same. 


marlinguy wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2026 at 10:11am:

Only a week late with USPS is good. I've had items take a month to get here, and on one occasion just days shy of a year! I'd already filed a claim and got paid many months before it suddenly and finally showed up at my door.
I had a Wilkinson-Ballard powder measure make 5 trips back and forth between Ohio and Oregon, and never got past a distribution center on each end. Had to file a complaint before they finally got it to me. But the day it arrived the tracking showed back in Ohio, and 5 minutes later it was delivered. USPS has really screwed the pooch with their tracking and misrouting.