I have 4 instances of receiving an item in the mail that has been obviously damaged. We're not talking a scratch or a slight bend in the packaging. We're talking about postal workers who think they're re-enacting the opening scene of Ace Ventura (the first one--the second doesn't count). Massive dents, corners buckled in until they're about ready to come out the other side. No question somebody decided to play kickball with my precious, fragile prize. Okay, fine. That happens. That's why I used to buy insurance on my packages. And you know, of those 4 instances where something was damaged, how many times did I get reimbursed? None. Zero. Zip.

Every time, and I mean every single time, the Post Office would say,"the Seller didn't package this properly", and then proceed to do absolutely nothing. Oh, they would "look into it," send it through their "process" but every time it was determined to be a seller packaging issue. And one of the 4 times that case could be made. Still the other 3 were not a packaging issue. So what happened when I told the seller it was packaged improperly? Nothing. Not their problem. They "packaged it according to the Post Office standards". They bought the insurance (with my money). It's the Post Office's issue. Tough luck, pal. More examples of sellers doing a half-assed job at my expense.

So, I lost out the item, the money for the item, the shipping cost, the insurance cost and my time wasted trying to get reimbursed. As far as I can tell, buying insurance is a waste, at least through the Post Office. Unless somebody there actually physically boxes the thing up themselves, has the Post Master General standing over their shoulder giving the thumbs up and the President of the United States having the Secret Service hand deliver it through the system, it's apparently not their problem. They can do no wrong.

If someone has a solution on how to not get rooked when it comes to this, I would love to hear it. From now on I'm not buying anything that can't withstand a tumble over Niagra Falls. And I sure haven't bought again from sellers who don't offer to help out when problems like this come up.