My box of RPG books finally arrived in Rochester (from Seattle) via USPS media mail. I shipped them to myself because I'm on a tight budget, and taking all those books on the plane would have meant an astronomical baggage fee.
Because of a SNAFU with the address forwarding, the books were mained to NY, then back to WA, and then back to NY... maybe more times than that.
When they finally arrived, most of them were considerably more worn than when I shipped them, and my GMG and Bestiary were missing from the box. I found this note enclosed:
The enclosed mail was damaged during postal handling. Our new automated system moves your packages mechanically and occasionally one becomes damaged as they are processed within our building. We are constantly striving to prevent this.
Your items are being returned or forwarded to you and the inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted.
As employees of the Rewrap and Loose-in-mails department, we suggest the following: Stronger carton or envelope, Do not over-pack, More tape — width and length.
I'm not really upset at the post office, my package was secure enough for one transcontinental trip, not 3+. I'm trying to consider the whole thing a trial of my non-attachment skills. But still, I liked those books a lot, and so I feel I should share my silly little grief with the people most likely to relate.
I'm pretty grateful to Paizo for sticking with the OGL, because under a different model this type of loss would have inhibited playing the game. Instead, because of the PRD, it's just a minor inconvenience. I can make do with the loss of a luxury (heck, I'm all about it), but at least I don't lose the game.
Anyway, it's cathartic to whine about this all to nerds who will understand. It's sweet when one's non-nerd girlfriend/friends try to empathize with this kind of nerd-loss, but it's not quite the same. Thanks for reading!
Condolences, Evil Lincoln.
Man-Oh-Man... my condolences. Props to you for handling it so well. I'm not sure I'd be doing as well as you seem to be.
Paizoians... UNITE! (Or something equally heartening and inspiring). :)
Yep, everyone please take a lesson: when shipping your collection, spring for insurance, even if you can't afford it.
Also, it helps me to look at the situation in Hungary right now. Two lost RPG books seems like nothing in comparison to the living nightmare those people are going through. The Red Danube seems like something Kurosawa would film and call it a nightmare.
Definitely siphons off some of my personal grief in sympathy for those people.
Also, it helps me to look at the situation in Hungary right now. Two lost RPG books seems like nothing in comparison to the living nightmare those people are going through. The Red Danube seems like something Kurosawa would film and call it a nightmare.
Definitely siphons off some of my personal grief in sympathy for those people.
You're not evil. False advertising?
Years ago I had a friend send me a copy of her latest novel, hardback, signed and everything. When the envelope came to me, the end had been ripped open and the book was gone. I complained to the postmaster and this is what I found: All lost books and everything are sent to one of several regional sorting centers where the public by law was allowed to come look for their lost items if the staff couldn't find them. My nearest one to Los Angeles where I was at the time? San Francisco. They thought this would discourage me. Little did they realize that I was a graduate student with a thing for books, and I had a couple other friends ask about lost books that had never got to them in the mail.
I happened to be in San Francisco the next week, however, so could take an afternoon to show up. The nice man there showed me three lost books that weren't mine. Then he showed me a small stack that weren't mine. Then, with a certain glee, he showed me five giant mail bins filled to the brim with loose books. Did I really still want to look for my book?
I did.
After obsessive-compulsively transferring the contents of about two of the bins into empty bins, finding everything from extremely valuable Victorian diaries with hand-marbled end-papers to cases of new textbooks that had burst open, he suggested that sometimes people find books kind of close to the ones they lost.
I took the hint and eventually found a small stack of books relatively close to the ones that were lost and signed a piece of paper affirming that these indeed were my lost books and blessings on the efficiency of the US postal service. Since all the unclaimed books are auctioned off to various bookstores along with other unclaimed property, I didn't feel particularly bad about that.
So, assuming you want to try the same thing and the post office does the same practice, your missing books entitle you to the same surreal day searching for your books at your regional sorting center and possibly taking a couple books kind of close if not quite really.
Yep, everyone please take a lesson: when shipping your collection, spring for insurance, even if you can't afford it.
And luckily, you probably can afford it! USPS insurance only costs $2.15 for the first $100—see the chart about 1/3 down this page for prices.
Yep, everyone please take a lesson: when shipping your collection, spring for insurance, even if you can't afford it.And luckily, you probably can afford it! USPS insurance only costs $2.15 for the first $100—see the chart about 1/3 down this page for prices.
You would be shocked and appalled at how close I am willing to come to overdraft fees when it comes to getting my books home. :/
I feel for you, I bought some dice from an online retailer once, real snazzy dice for my wife. When the package arrived it was just a completely destroyed shipping package in a plastic postal bag with a note that said basically the same thing that sometimes things get destroyed, and tough luck. The post office said it wasn't their concern and I'd need to contact the seller and the seller said it was the post offices fault... lesson learned, no more dice over the internet ><
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The lesson here: Never use USPS. FedEx is marginally more expensive, but everything comes with $100 of insurance. That and FedEx employees don't have a tendency to go on shooting rampages.
Didn't a FedEx employee try to take a hammer to the pilot and crew of a FedEx plane so he could crash it into their local offices?
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The lesson here: Never use USPS. FedEx is marginally more expensive, but everything comes with $100 of insurance. That and FedEx employees don't have a tendency to go on shooting rampages.Didn't a FedEx employee try to take a hammer to the pilot and crew of a FedEx plane so he could crash it into their local offices?
Well...he didn't shoot anybody now did he? :P
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH
they got my dice too. :(
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WOW!
WOW!
I just got a gift certificate from a fellow board member! I just have to say
As a full-time student with a fixed budget, I have to say, you've just made my week! My month, even! It would have taken me that long (or longer) to justify the replacement purchase!
That's a hell of a thing to do for a complete stranger, I hope the favor returns to you threefold!
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And that is why gamers are awesome. We may be snarky at times, but we understand what it means to play the games we love, and sometimes when the opportunity presents itself, one of us does a good turn for another. Huge thanks from me to whoever it was that sent evil Lincoln the gift certificate. You are one of the good ones, and I don't just mean gamers.
I know who it was, but I don't know what the etiquette in this situation is. In any case, he's made a friend for life here!
I'm going to use the gift cert to get the GMG back, because I got that one as a gift under special circumstances the first time.
Man, for all the griping you see on this forum sometimes, it certainly gives you a warm fuzzy feeling with some frequency — definitely more than any other online game community I've been a part of!
THIS IS NOW A THREAD OF JOY, NOT MOURNING!
I'm going to use the gift cert to get the GMG back, because I got that one as a gift under special circumstances the first time.
Man, for all the griping you see on this forum sometimes, it certainly gives you a warm fuzzy feeling with some frequency — definitely more than any other online game community I've been a part of!
THIS IS NOW A THREAD OF JOY, NOT MOURNING!
Good for you evil Lincoln, If I didn't owe the Gov't so much I'd be able to help as well...heh
The lesson here: Never use USPS. FedEx is marginally more expensive, but everything comes with $100 of insurance. That and FedEx employees don't have a tendency to go on shooting rampages.
The difference in cost is significant for media. When I shipped a 30 lb. box via USPS at media rate, shipping cost $13, plus $2.15 for $100 worth of insurance. According to the Fedex website, they would have charged about $37 for 5-day ground, their cheapest option.
Of course, when you can't take advantage of the ridiculously cheap media rate, the difference may be less significant.
Chief Technical Officer
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When the package arrived it was just a completely destroyed shipping package in a plastic postal bag with a note that said basically the same thing that sometimes things get destroyed, and tough luck.
The USPS once brought me a plastic bag containing the charred remains of an empty envelope.
Mail+Fire=Not recommended.
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I'm going to use the gift cert to get the GMG back, because I got that one as a gift under special circumstances the first time.
Man, for all the griping you see on this forum sometimes, it certainly gives you a warm fuzzy feeling with some frequency — definitely more than any other online game community I've been a part of!
THIS IS NOW A THREAD OF JOY, NOT MOURNING!
Reminds me of something that happened at GenCon Indy this year.
My friend stood up and after checking her pockets(or something, can't remember exact details) realized her credit card was missing. We searched all the places we had just been, but couldn't find! Woe! I told her gamers were good people, and that we might still find it.
We went to the Lost and Found and, wonderfully, some kind soul had turned her card in!
Gamers are awesome! WOOT!!1!
We ended up making a customer for life at GenCon 2005.
A woman had come up, bought a couple of tee shirts for male friends of hers, and had to wander off with her kid - and left her credit card.
I looked at the back, found the customer service number, called it on my cell phone and told them that if they had a way to reach person so-and-so, that we had her card for her at Booth 1204 at GenCon.
The credit card company didn't have her cell number on file, but had her home number, where her parents were house sitting, who then called her cell, and she came back.
She has basically said that because of that, she will buy one of anything new we come out with, regardless of the product line. And has kept her word. (She very likely gives them away as gifts; my read is that she's slightly more interested in getting her kneecaps broken with hammers than she is in actually playing my products. But she routinely buys one of everything we have new at GenCon.)
So...
Two things:
A) I just found out that my card decks were in the box too. So I lost my Crit, Fumble, and Plot twist decks. A little sad but...
B) I don't even know how to feel about that, since I have been the object of additional generosity and now I am basically back where I was before the move!
People have been so ridiculously generous, I am at risk of regaining my long-extinguished faith in essential human decency. It's weird, because knowing that this community is so awesome completely outweighs the lost goods.
I'm all set now. If you're reading this, and even the least bit tempted to give, I implore you to find somebody else in need on the forums! Give it to them! I am quite well taken care of. :)
Thank you.
Also, my Kingmaker Map Folio. *shakes fist*
As previously mentioned, I can't even be upset about this anymore. I'm really only posting now so that I have a complete list! :)
Every time I notice a new thing gone, I have to restate my gratitude for the help I received. Without that, each new realization would be tearing out the sutures... due to the generosity of others, it will be a LOT easier to just replace this stuff.
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Director of Narrative
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When the package arrived it was just a completely destroyed shipping package in a plastic postal bag with a note that said basically the same thing that sometimes things get destroyed, and tough luck.The USPS once brought me a plastic bag containing the charred remains of an empty envelope.
Mail+Fire=Not recommended.
Maybe it was lightning?
Yay! My replacements have arrived today!
This is great! They couldn't have arrived at a better time, since I was having a ... complicated day. Now I have something to flip through before my game this weekend!
Huzzah!
Thank you so much, everyone!
Props to you for handling it so well. I'm not sure I'd be doing as well as you seem to be.
My dad sure wouldn't have handled it so well. He worked in Malaysia for a while. On his initial trip over, they sent his luggage to Utah (teaching the unfortunate lesson that the carry-on should ALWAYS contain underwear).
Sometime later while setting up a return trip, he sarcastically asked the company if they could send his luggage to Utah. "We're sorry, we can't do that." "Well, why the #*@& not? You did last time!"
And I just heard a story on the news about another case of luggage going to Salt Lake City without the owner. That place must be a black hole or something. (Except my dad wouldn't be stupid like the story's antagonist to claim a bomb in his luggage, no matter how pissed off he got.)