The other day we asked readers if they’d pay money to choose which carrier delivers their Amazon packages, and found that about 63% of you would be willing to pay some amount for that right. And it’s no wonder people want a choice, when the United States Postal Service has carriers chucking packages filled with delicate, expensive electronics inside onto porches like it’s a box filled with feathers.
A Texas man expecting a package from Amazon containing $4,000 worth of electronic equipment from Japan was checking out his home surveillance camera footage to see if the USPS had delivered it yet, reports WFAA.com.
When he went through the tapes, he saw a mail carrier chucking the package underhand onto his porch and watching it roll to a stop before walking away.
“This was a $4,000 piece of electronics, which was just shattered when I opened the box,” he said. “She could have walked one or two seconds more and set the package down, but instead she just threw it. This is a U.S. mail postal carrier.”
He posted the clip to YouTube, asking Amazon if that’s how the company wanted its packages to be delivered. Amazon is accepting his return, but it’s not about the money. It’s about not having your stuff tossed around.
“If you go to someone’s house and take the mail out of their house — that’s a federal crime,” he said. “Well, it’s also a federal crime to destroy U.S. mail.”
The post office issued a statement to WFAA apologizing, saying that postal employees have a lot of pride in their work. Sure, and also their athletic prowess, it seems.
“We apologize for the inconvenience this customer experienced in Carrollton, TX. Postal employees take great pride in their work delivering for the American public. The Postal Service invests in training all employees to ensure the proper handling of all packages entrusted to us. If we discover an incident of a package being thrown or mishandled, we investigate and take appropriate steps to remedy the situation with the customer and to prevent future incidents by the carrier or clerk involved.
A thrown or mishandled package is unacceptable and does not reflect our commitment to our customers and the careful efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers and clerks in our workforce.”
It’s not all the USPS, however — from UPS to FedEx, we’ve seen packages chucked, tossed and otherwise heaved by a variety of delivery carriers in the past.
Carrollton man steamed after USPS carrier throws package [WFAA.com]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist