OF, I recently purchased a 1966 Connie. Very long story told short... the package, that was insured and required a signature, was tossed over my fence onto the concrete walkway leading up to my house in the rain by the USPS postman. I saw him pull up to the house (after the delivery was two days late) and put shoes and jacket on to meet him at the front of my house, only to witness him throw the package over the fence on the sidewalk. The packaging even had 'Signature Required' in big letters written in Sharpie across all sides. I opened the package up to find the seconds hand had fallen off. When I took it to my local watch guy, he fixed the hand back on but warned that it may have suffered significantly more damage. Sure enough, about an hour later, the crystal popped off and the minutes hand was slightly bent. It's been a frustrating day or two, as you can imagine. The seller has been more than helpful, including sending extensive pictures he took the day before sending it to me which confirm none of these problems existed before he sent the watch. Because the USPS package was insured and required a signature, I have opened up a 'Damaged Goods' claim against USPS. Is anyone familiar with the claims process for such a delivery mishap? The packaged was never signed for and I have a bevy of evidence for the damage to the watch. Because the face/hands are all original, I would prefer Omega to do the repair work, which will obviously cost a pretty penny. Any experience dealing with the vintage Omega repair process? Thanks in advance.
First mistake, should have immediately confronted the USPS guy, baring that, gone strait to the local Station and asked for Postmaster.
Any pictures. Most of the parcels I get from guys here they could be dropped out of the plane above my house and be OK.... @ulackfocus is the king of shipping protection
i believe your best bet would have been to take you unopened package to the Post Office. Open it there in front of one of the manager and see if there was any damage. Obviously the seconds hand fell off to start with. Have the manager open your claim and go from there. Otherwise, it's your word only that the package was damaged in delivery. Hopefully the lack of the signature required will help you with your claim.
I wouldn't have been able to say anything to the postman, as he immediately jumped back in his truck and took off. But, I completely agree that I should've never opened it in the first place. It was late but I wish I would've gone straight to the office and opened it in front of the manager so that we could start the claim there. It sucks and I didn't fully understand the complete damage until the next day. Lesson learned. Hopefully, the lack of signature will help mitigate that error.
I can solve your problem on multiple levels. 1) No more asshole postman. 2) No more problems getting watch deliveries as they don't allow them in Federal Prison. What a dick. Did you get a good look at him? I'd confront him face to face the next time I saw him, and maybe even go hunt him down (sans sniper rifle). That's exactly what I expect to happen, so a toss over the white picket fence isn't even a pothole to anything inside. That's because I have so many deliveries of wine come in. The inside of those styrofoam containers make for a nice cubby hole to squeeze in a watch packed in bubble wrap, and are nearly bomb proof.
To be fair, it's not a little picket fence.... It's a gate at the side of our house that opens up a side courtyard. The gate/fence is like 8 ft tall so it was a solid alley-oop to the sidewalk. And no, I didn't catch his face. I live in the city and I don't think I've seen the same postman twice. It's almost someone different each time. They all suck now in my book.
I think member @Waynepjr has some experience inside USPS. Maybe he can offer some suggestions? Hope it works out. Be cautious about sending a vintage piece to Omega, you may not like the results..
I'm cautious of sending it to Omega for repair for price only. Are there other reasons/feedback I should know?
Omega will generally try to get the watch back to original specs even if that means using parts that didn't originally come on the model of watch. For hands only and a movement service, it may not be so bad, though *new* hands might not fit the character of the watch. They have been known to refinish cases incorrectly too. Just be very clear with them what you want, or find an independent who can do the work.
I have never had an issue with USPS, this said, IF the parcel required signature on delivery then you could have even claimed not to have received it and it would have to be covered. Note though, writing with a sharpie on the box does not apply as a requirement, so verify it was sent with signature required. If it is then the burden is on them and you have a good chance of getting it covered.
I have verification that signature was in fact required for the package to be delivered. I mentioned the sharpie note to simply describe how egregious their ineptitude was in delivering the watch. I talked to a representative from USPS on the phone and they assured me it was signed for. I laughed at them and asked to be shown my signature. Of course, they said it would take a little while to find it and then admitted they don't have it.
1. This is as good of an argument as any for renting a PO Box or private box (at UPS store, for example) for deliveries. Where I live, we have communal mailboxes under lock and key, with larger boxes for the occasional package. They just put the key for the large box in your smaller box when you have one. 2. I would have that conversation with the local postmaster anyway, even if you won't get satisfaction. If nothing else, the person on your route will be told about it. Downside is that you may never get any mail ever again. Hope this helps, gatorcpa
Ow that's a horrible experience. Hope you get it fixed up. Definitely make a complaint to the post office.
I can accept that the seconds hand fell off during shipment, and given that we have no idea how they handle packages when no one is looking, it could have resulted from the fence toss or somewhere else during shipping. I don't accept that the crystal fell off as a result of the USPS handling. And I also have difficulty believing that the watch may have 'suffered significantly more damage'. The most fragile part of the watch is the balance staff pivots, because the watch is running the pivots are fine, or at least not broken, if they were damaged it would be very noticeable. To drop a watch hard enough to be able to dislodge the crystal, but not damage the fragile balance staff pivots seems unlikely. More likely is that the crystal wasn't installed correctly, either when you received the watch or after you had the seconds hand re-installed. The crystal fell off one hour after the hand was re-installed, I think that is the answer, also, the bent hand is a result of the crystal falling off and the dial/hands being exposed. I think you are facing a difficult task in getting USPS to own up and take responsiblity for this situation, the hand should be able to be straightned, and the crystal re-seated properly. Rob