Hi All,  I just experienced a very disappointing event with the U.S.
Postal Service (USPS).  Some years ago my wife gave me a valuable
gold watch for Christmas which I really treasured.  This year it
quit working.

I contacted Citizens, the maker of the watch, and they sent me a
pre-paid label to send the watch back for service.  The label indicated
that there was a watch enclosed.  I had the local postmaster package
the watch and mail it to the service department.

A few days later I got a message from Citizens that they had received
the box with the instructions for repair but no watch.  Someone stole
the watch from the mail.  I contacted the post office and they said
that there is _no insurance_ on items sent with a pre-paid label.
I contacted Citizens and they said that they have no responsibility
for the loss in the mail.

The watch is lost and I may never see it again.  Here's the purpose of
this message:

1) Always package your valuables securely when mailing them.
2) Always insure the package.
3) Never indicate on the label that there is a valuable in the package.
4) Take pictures of your valuable being packaged to prove to the post
office that it was packaged properly, and shows the value of the item.

I had a similar loss a few years ago when a package got "lost" in the
post office system.  They made me wait 30 days after making the claim,
and then even though it was insured they paid only half of the insured
value because I could not show photos of the item being packaged.

United Parcel Service (UPS) -- Unless you paid a UPS store to package
the product, UPS does not make good on insurance damage to an item,
so insurance is almost useless when shipping by UPS.  I won't bore you
with my UPS story.

Al Good
Waynesboro, Pennsylvania