Wren Hand Tools News - Toptul

[wrenhandtools]

Hi all,

Sorry I have been absent from this forum for quite sometime. Please know that the membership is always very important to me. I have been just plain busy and I can see right now there are many pm's I haven't yet seen and I have emails that I am late in responding to at the business.

The topic / concern is shipping. Just today I was informed of the 4th time that a Flat Rate box shipped Priority via the USPS was damaged so badly that my customer was worried that some tools may have fallen out. Let me tell you, he sent me a pic of the box and it looks like it had been literally to hell and back. And this is at least the forth time for this to happen. Strangest thing of all is get this..........there were 3 brand new CRAFTSMAN ratchets in the box that 'someone' out in there before 'they' taped the box back up!! I mean are you frickin' kidding me!!!!! Neither one of us have ANY idea whatsoever where the Cman ratchets came from.

SO, I would like to ask any that are reading this post if they agree with me that I shouldn't use the USPS unless specifically requested by the customer (you).

Your thoughts?

And yes since I'll be wanting your input I'll be logging on daily here to check for input.

As always thank you so much for your business. there will be more news forthcoming in the very near future.

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Mike Wren

 

[lbgradwell]

Hi Mike,

Other methods may be acceptable/preferable for the US, but USPS is pretty much the only way that will make small orders (anyway) feasible to Canada.

UPS is a criminal organization specializing in shakedown "fees" and other forms of extortion when operating in Canada and I would VERY STRONGLY advise against any Canadian ever using their ****** "service".

 

[Bull]

Mike, that sounds like a bad situation.

I am sure that I ship about 1/1000th of the tools you do, but I have sent many tools in flat rate Priority boxes and envelopes. I have not had any buyers tell me they arrived beat up or anything like that.

Is there any chance for you to secure the packages more carefully, NOT because I think that you are not already being careful, but just to offset the gorilla tactics of the Postal employees who seem to be handling your packages?

 

[Hiball]

You can send my 3 ratchets back to me now, I was wondering where they went.

 

[tw33k2514]

Whenever I sent flat rate I Tape the **** out of the boxes.

Get this though... this is BS. I went the other day to ship some stuff, and I had one item in a flat rate envelope. Now when I packed it I noticed the seal on the envelope was not what I would call acceptable in strength. So I simply put a piece of tape over the envelope.

The lady at the post office tell me that the piece of tape over the seal constituted she charge me an extra $7.... I almost flipped out on her, and she said she would give me a break this time, but next time i would be charged.

Thats BS.. I was pissed off!

 

[wrenhandtools]

On Friday I am going to call the Fedex rep and see if the "ground prices" will be comparable to UPS. The one thing I do like about the USPS is that I don't have to buy the box and they work on Sat. But buying boxes is cheap if I have to. I agree with UPS via Canada......just completely out of line.

And frankly also why I have never carried the large boxes.....high shipping costs.

Which brings up another point. If a few people really wanted the large tool chests from me, I could get togther some pre-orders, have you guys prepay, and get the boxes to you with maybe just a 15% markup from my buy price...maybe less even.
The point would be to just give good service and to get the boxes into the hands of people that will appreciate them and give good.....OBJECTIVE ...reviews. The price would be low enough that I KNOW no one would be unhappy about the quality.

Just a thought!! I'll shut up now!

Mike

 

[Hiball]

Whenever I sent flat rate I Tape the **** out of the boxes.

Get this though... this is BS. I went the other day to ship some stuff, and I had one item in a flat rate envelope. Now when I packed it I noticed the seal on the envelope was not what I would call acceptable in strength. So I simply put a piece of tape over the envelope.

The lady at the post office tell me that the piece of tape over the seal constituted she charge me an extra $7.... I almost flipped out on her, and she said she would give me a break this time, but next time i would be charged.

Thats BS.. I was pissed off!

As long as the the Sealing location is not disfigured, in other words as long as the flap touches the envelope it doesnt matter how much tape you put on it, But there cant be a gap between the two. It is a Flat Rate envelope so it cant be maniplulated to where it wont seal on its own etc... otherwise they will attempt to charge you. I was in the P.O the other day when the Postmaster was explaning it to a customer.

 

[Bull]

Go to another Post Office. I go to the one in the town next to mine because the ladies working there are super pleasant and helpful. I asked them when I started shipping if tape was ok, and they said absolutely. At the PO in my town, you are more likely to get some petty functionary throwing their misinformed adaptations of policies around.

Whenever I sent flat rate I Tape the **** out of the boxes.

The lady at the post office tell me that the piece of tape over the seal constituted she charge me an extra $7.... I almost flipped out on her, and she said she would give me a break this time, but next time i would be charged.

Thats BS.. I was pissed off!

 

[tw33k2514]

As long as the the Sealing location is not disfigured, in other words as long as the flap touches the envelope it doesnt matter how much tape you put on it, But there cant be a gap between the two. It is a Flat Rate envelope so it cant be maniplulated to where it wont seal on its own etc... otherwise they will attempt to charge you. I was in the P.O the other day when the Postmaster was explaning it to a customer.

That is the thing though, The seal sealed just fine, and seated just like it should. I just did not trust it so I put tape over it. This lady, who was acting like her job made her want to kill herself told me tape over the seal in any situation makes the charge go up. I think that is complete BS, and I almost want to call someone about it. But alas... I am to lazy.

Go to another Post Office. I go to the one in the town next to mine because the ladies working there are super pleasant and helpful. I asked them when I started shipping if tape was ok, and they said absolutely. At the PO in my town, you are more likely to get some petty functionary throwing their misinformed adaptations of policies around.

I will have to try another one next time I guess.

 

[Merkava_4]

Strangest thing of all is get this..........there were 3 brand new CRAFTSMAN ratchets in the box that 'someone' out in there before 'they' taped the box back up!! I mean are you frickin' kidding me!!!!! Neither one of us have ANY idea whatsoever where the Cman ratchets came from.

Let me get this straight:

You sent out a package of tools to a customer and somewhere during transit, the the package took on 3 additional Craftsman ratchets?

 

[Bull]

She's off her rocker, dude. I wont ship one of those envelopes out unless I have put tape over all four seams/edges, overlapping from one face of the envelope to the other so the seams can't split.

 

[Hiball]

She's off her rocker, dude. I wont ship one of those envelopes out unless I have put tape over all four seams/edges, overlapping from one face of the envelope to the other so the seams can't split.

Same here, ive sent tons of stuff in them and that is how i do it also. I use strapping tape even, Im sure that lady was having a bad day because that is not how they interperet exceeding the flat rate size requirements. Tweek next time she gives you some **** about reinforcing there crappy envelopes ask to talk to the postmaster.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

I've been receiving(mostly) and shipping tools for a long while now and i never received a flat rate box that was damaged or opened. They're made out of some pretty strong cardboard and if it wasn't for the easy pull strip it would seem pretty tough to open.

The only way i see a flat rate box being damaged or opened is a deliberate theft covered up by beating up the box to make it appear as if it was "damaged in shipping."

Its a tough deal when you're shipping out tools as a business because you're always going to get someone trying to scam you,not saying this is what happen,but you can't put it past some people.

 

[Bobby B.]

I had a PO guy give me some crab about tape once, then out of the blue he handed me a big roll of the USPS packing tape. He just said "use this, it's free." Hey, it also meant I didn't have to go buy more packing tape, as I was out anyway.

As far as the boxes go, I always grab extra. Use them to double up the boxes or pack the **** out of your stuff. Why buy packing material when the USPS is kind enough to provide it for you?

 

[wrenhandtools]

Merk....that is EXACTLY what happened!!!

I didn't realize I was so good at getting tools to people!!! EVEN more than they purchased!!! ha!!!

And as to the damage....I have to say I would agree that any reasonable person would think that the box would be ok, but let me tell you these pics that I have seen of these boxes have been totally beat to hell and burst open. I have the pics so now I am very wary of continuing the use.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

A box is a box,whether its a plain brown box,shoe box or flate rate box,it's going to suffer the same fate if someone is deliberately abusing it or stealing out of it.

 

[TireTracks]

Thats pretty weird.

How the Hell would the person know that there was Ratchets in the box, to them steal the toptuls, and replace them with craftsmans?

 

[mossyboy6]

if it happens that often, just start insuring the boxes for way over what they are worth.

 

[t100]

it doesn't matter what carrier you use, bad guys are everywhere.

friend of mine owns an electronic business, he does his own import. one thing he is really specific is the shipping marks(overseas) and shipping label(domestic). he had 3 boxes of MP3 players stolen at the U.S. Customs holding yard just because that particular factory used cartons had "*** electronics" on there.

in your case, don't use **** Tools as the shipper, use your name on the return address. not business name.

 

[Hiball]

if it happens that often, just start insuring the boxes for way over what they are worth.

USPS shipping is a bit on the Pricey side at least last time i bought some.

 

[FuriousGeorge]

Thats pretty weird.

How the Hell would the person know that there was Ratchets in the box, to them steal the toptuls, and replace them with craftsmans?

It sounds like the other ratchets weren't missing, just some new ones appeared. I'm guessing it's just random chance and post office ineptitude instead of something deliberate. Two boxes with tools busted open. Post office worker sees open box that has tools in it and figures the loose ratchets he found goes in there and puts them in and seals it up.

That said, I still prefer to use USPS for the most part. They're the fastest and the cheapest to me and I haven't had any problems yet. Tracking is pretty worthless of course. My worst experiences are with Fedex ground. Air is fine, but ground is pretty bad. Those guys aren't even affiliated with Fedex, it's just local contract workers.

 

[Joelfke]

Let me get this straight:

You sent out a package of tools to a customer and somewhere during transit, the the package took on 3 additional Craftsman ratchets?

adding or replacing cman ratchets with toptul stuff is just a massive insult to toptul and mike

as far as usps i have not had any problems when i ship flat rate and i havent received things too bad a shape when gotten from them. Hell my first order from you the screwdriver case was cracked thanks to UPS. I can't really say one is better than the other, except in price. So my orders from you I will probably request flat rate boxes via USPS.

I worked for UPS for 4 years. Ive seen boxes intentionally get ripped apart and I've seen boxes just get caught in process and ripped to shreds. ESPECIALLY if the equipment being used is outdated and/or handling more than it was meant for, as this is the case with the Edison NJ UPS facility.

 

[eborcim]

FedEx is staffed on Saturday around here.

Mike, the PO is supposed to stamp an open/empty package with their location when they discover it to try and track the problem.

 

[Hiball]

FedEx is staffed on Saturday around here.

Mike, the PO is supposed to stamp an open/empty package with their location when they discover it to try and track the problem.

Yeah i was thinking the same thing, Ive received stuff on Sat from Fed Ex but never UPS. It might be that way because everything comes out of Columbia, MO and theres no local hub here.

 

[Kjbakke2]

i used to work for DHL and all i can say is....for gods sake dont use them!!!!!!

mike i sent you an email and a follow up a little while back but never heard anything
just wondering if you ever got it

thanks man
Kjell

 

[Joelfke]

Yeah i was thinking the same thing, Ive received stuff on Sat from Fed Ex but never UPS. It might be that way because everything comes out of Columbia, MO and theres no local hub here.

UPS does not deliver on saturdays because they charge extra for it. It is a special service. So, in other words...theyre WAY too greedy to deliver on saturday for free

 

[wrenhandtools]

Joelfke............................AWESOME CAR!!!!

!!!
Well from reading these posts, maybe I won't react with too much haste~!! But I am very wary now ...using any shipper.

Maybe I need to talk to Mr Warren Buffet about starting out own shipping company!!! lol!

 

[Stuey]

Is the issue with flat rate boxes in particular, or USPS's priority boxes as well?

Mike, this may be a stupid question, but have you checked with UPS or FedEx about getting discounted business rates?

 

[quneur]

Strangest thing of all is get this..........there were 3 brand new CRAFTSMAN ratchets in the box that 'someone' out in there before 'they' taped the box back up!! I mean are you frickin' kidding me!!!!! Neither one of us have ANY idea whatsoever where the Cman ratchets came from.

Toolmosis? Maybe you should separate the 'man' tool from the 'gal' tool before packing.

 

[t100]

Mike, this may be a stupid question, but have you checked with UPS or FedEx about getting discounted business rates?

Both Fedex and UPS has "preferred account" rates, it's totally depends on the volume($$$). you are not getting a big discount if your monthly shipping expense is less than $2000. my friend's business gets 27% off the published rate from UPS ground, he's monthly bill before the discount is over $10,000.

I don't think UPS/FedEX would be an answer. you need to keep up certain volume for them to have free pickup service.

 

[Even 11]

I have bought tools from 2 members on here lately and they both used flat rate boxes. One was incredibly well packed and was ready to withstand a ride in a cement truck. One was on my doorstep opened and looked like it had been through the cement truck. Fortunately there were no tools missing from the latter. Although the first shipper probably took an hour to ziptie the tools to a card before putting them in the Flat rate box with most of a newspaper to cushion them. The second shipper used some fast food napkins and they did their job. I got some tools from UPS on Evil Bay a year or so ago and didn't get all of the items I bought. But that was just a padded mailer too. I had a pistol shipped to me via UPS and it came drenched in Soda to me (at the gun store I used to work at) I don't think any of the shipping companies are really trying to keep from damaging the Shipped goods, although I have never heard of any adding parts before!?

If we pack to survive anything, they will all get there okay. Impacts, crushing weights, fluids, etc...

-Dane

 

[Joelfke]

Joelfke............................AWESOME CAR!!!!

!!!

What do you think ive been doing with those tools i ordered from you?

1970 Chevrolet Impala 2 dr Convertible with a 350V8 Turbo350 Automatic Trans

 

[Homoudont]

I used to work at UPS at several different facilities. I am going to make an assumption that USPS facilities are similar except they weren't designed to handle small or large packages. What happens is their belts carrying these boxes get jammed and the packages break open. A huge $hitload of tools come rolling down the chute and some grabs a tapegun and throws everything in the box and retapes it and off to its destination. What happened was exactly what another poster described. Employee just gathers up whatever comes down the chute retapes and ships off.

 

[expatriated]

Mike, I'll buy from you whatever shipping method you use. The packages I have received from you in the past were fine but if you want to switch to something else, I won't mind if it costs more.

I worked at the USPS years ago at one of their major sorting facilities and all I can say is, if the general public knew what went on there....

 

[Bull]

I worked at the USPS years ago at one of their major sorting facilities and all I can say is, if the general public knew what went on there....

Are you able to share any interesting stories, or is it Top Secret?

 

[krooser]

You can ship via UPS and FedEx with USPS boxes... just cover up the USPS stuff.

 

[expatriated]

Are you able to share any interesting stories, or is it Top Secret?

Nothing secret Bull. I worked there after college as one of their temporary workers for about 6 months. On the night shift, 6 days a week, 12 hours a day--ugh!

Compared to what I thought the post office would be, it was totally bizarre. It was a huge, factory-type facility with several hundred people working there. Some weirdos. And some of the laziest people I've ever seen. And literally hundreds of pieces of mail just all over the floors and everything.

I remember part of my job, we used to have to sort packages and they would have about 12 or so 4'x4' cages in front of us, each one labeled with a different zip code. We would have to sort huge bales of packages by throwing them to the right zip code. Literally THROWING them. It didn't matter if it was marked FRAGILE or whatever, they all got thrown up to about 20-30 feet. Many, many times they landed in the wrong cage and no one did a thing about it. Sometimes, we'd miss and they'd just land on the concrete floor after having been thrown overhand for 30 feet. Here's another surprise, the "priority" boxes came in with all the other boxes and we sorted them all the same. They were not given any priority; they went out with all the regular boxes.

I remember the main thing everyone was worried about was a postal inspector planting money or merchandise somewhere sticking out of a box or piece of mail as a plant. Then, as soon as you touched it, they would swoop down and arrest you. It was pretty clear to me that there probably aren't too many postal inspectors working midnights watching several hundred people but that was everyone's fear. Or at least their excuse for not dealing with something like a broken box or mail laying on the floor or whatever. Anything that was found open required that you immediately went and got a supervisor. THen you would be questioned about it to determine if you had anything to do with it, maybe a postal inspector would be notified, etc. So, it was much easier just to not touch an empty box or just leave it where it was and not deal with it.

Occasionally, you'd find a tray of mail that someone had just stuck in a corner and you'd look at the date and it was 6 months old.

Just the most inept business you have ever seen in your life. There was never an end to the mail so people just went in, moved some **** around for a while and then left.

And the cops showed up regularly, too. There were fights and people threatening to kill their supervisors and stuff. This was in the 90's when going postal was still en vogue

I could go on forever but it was just the most incompetent operation I've ever seen anywhere. I'm still to this day amazed at how many packages and how much mail I receive that is correct. It's unbelievable that it operates as efficiently as it does, given my observations.

 

[48548]

I just got in an order of hex sockets/torx sockets and 5/16 bits from Mike yesterday in a small flat rate box, and it was in mint condition and the stuff was fine, thanks for the great packing and tape job Mike. Also sad I was hoping for some free craftsman ratchets, but oh well. Also another note, I ordered a socket adapter for a 3/8 drive that would convert a 1/2 inch ratchet wrench to a 3/8 ratchet, as I broke mine beating on it with hammer to drive out a bushing out of a snap on ratchet. Well I messed around with my adapter and fixed it, and mike had the post office pull the package so I didn't have to pay for a tool I didn't need. I was honest and going to pay for a new one (Since I wasn't using the right tool for the job and he sent out this part by itself) and it was around a little less than 5 dollars, but I told Mike if it hadn't gone out not to send it as I fixed mine. I just thought that was great customer service and Mike went above and beyond what he needed to do, even to lose a sale, but save me 5 dollars, thanks Mike.

 

[plinker]

I have never really had a problem with UPS or USPS in regards to them damaging them package. (Not getting here on time is another thing)

Dont really see Fedex too much, but havent had a problem so far.

From my experiance, insurance is cheaper from UPS than USPS.


I had bought some sockets on ebay a year or so ago never showed up, seller sent replacments. six months or so later the sockets that got "lost" showed up in a tyvek type large envlope (w/ no packing) and appeared to have been caught in a sorting machine.

Back in november, I bought a few tools from another ebay seller.
Showed up with two holes in the envlope(larger flat rate type) and one bit socket missing, I was amazed the rest of the stuff was still in there.

Alot of people dont know how to package anthing and that is where most of the problem is, I find.

 

[Stuey]

You can ship via UPS and FedEx with USPS boxes... just cover up the USPS stuff.

This is why USPS rates go up and box quality goes down, because too many cheapos do exactly as you're encouraging.

If a business or retailer tried pulling this stuff when shipping one of my orders, I wouldn't do business with them ever again. Reusing boxes is okay, but a business misusing USPS materials would lead me to question their sales and business ethics.