Cue stolen out of box Priority Mail

[poolandpokerman]

I sent my cue to Wes Hunter to have a new shaft built and some refinishing work done. I received it today and the box was empty. I called Wes and he said the cue was in the box when he shipped it. I have no doubt that he sent the cue, some where between New Mexico and my home in Florida the cue was taken out of the box. It has a butt and 2 shafts and has a HC 99 on the butt end of the cue. I do not blame Wes, he is a stand up guy and a great cue maker, I am only posting this in case someone sees my cue in a pool room or pawn shop. If you do please contact me. I did insure it but not nearly enough, have never had a problem until now.

Tom Harris
poolandpokerman@yahoo.com

 

[Z-Nole]

Sorry Dude. Hope you get it back somehow.

 

[alstl]

My advice in the future would be to use registered mail. I don't think anybody listens but I continue to give the same advice every time I see a thread like this.

 

[Ched]

That really sucks - very sorry this has happened to you. Hope you do manage to get it back.

 

[Black-Balled]

Boooooooooo!

 

[crabbcatjohn]

Well that ain't right Tom..I'll keep a eye out for it. Darn it!

 

[HoldemRw]

That is horrible if I see it posted anywhere I'll definitely keep a eye out. I always was worried about that cause u figure if somebody working for postoffice sees a box with a big makers name on it. Such as hunter Searing etc... they have to know what's in the box and they Prolly know it would be almost impossible to catch them. I always thought to tell cue makers I ordered from to use a different name when they ship but I never have. I bet I do next time after reading this.

Hope u get ur cue back safely AZ is a big community so maybe somebody will see it in near future. I know I'll be on the look out

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[ROB.M]

Cue

I'd like to see the box... Can we see pics of the box and how it was sealed up close??

If the box was fool proofed with renforced tape I'd bet the thief would of never tried...
It's also a good idea to packing/stretch wrap the box from accidentally opening...
And as others suggested, when shipping high value cues to use priority mail express.


Rob.M

 

[timothysoong]

This is scary, now I don't even know what's actually safe to ship cues with.

I'll keep an eye for you too and make sure this cue doesn't travel overseas too.

 

[cuenut]

My advice in the future would be to use registered mail. I don't think anybody listens but I continue to give the same advice every time I see a thread like this.

Totally agree. Everyone who touches the package has to sign for it and it is stored, if an overnight is required, in a room separate from the other parcels.

 

[Chopdoc]

Totally agree. Everyone who touches the package has to sign for it and it is stored, if an overnight is required, in a room separate from the other parcels.

It need not be registered for special handling AFAIK. If a USPS package is insured over a certain value then every person who touches it is of record. They have to sign for it. It is handed directly from one carrier to the next.





Anyway, I had a custom shaft stolen that was shipped to me. It was in a triangle box. It looked like the box was damaged. The shaft was pulled out leaving the packing behind. It was only at my door for less than 5 minutes. Could have happened anywhere along the way. Very upsetting experience.


IMHO never try to save money on packing, and never try to save money on shipping by skimping on insurance or levels of tracking.

 

[poolandpokerman]

Thanks for all the kind words, I have heard of this happening but nothing like this has ever happened to me, I must of had over 100 cues, cases and other pool stuff shipped to me or from me and this is the first, it really makes you doubt if it is worth it to try out new cues and cases.
Tom

 

[qbilder]

Almost every shipping issue I ever had was while I lived in NM, near Wes. He & I used the same PO, and both know the post master personally. I promise you nobody feels worse about the incident than Wes, except maybe the post master. And I promise you Wes hurts in his gut over it. The problem is that it's a remote location, so the mail gets picked up, sent to a bigger town, sent yet again to an even bigger town, then trucked to the air port if Express, or loaded on a truck if ground. There's just no easy or fast way to get to & from Wes' area.

I had the exact same issues. Boxes would show up to me empty, or cues I shipped would show up as empty boxes. No real damage to the box, just cut open on the end. Sometimes they'd even tape it shut. I began using USPS Express exclusively and that cut the issues down almost nil. Before that I went through the stages of using cardboard, to PVC tube, PVC tube inside cardboard, etc. Nothing worked until I started using Express.

 

[chefjeff]

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

It's a start.


Jeff Livingston

 

[9Ballr]

Thanks for all the kind words, I have heard of this happening but nothing like this has ever happened to me, I must of had over 100 cues, cases and other pool stuff shipped to me or from me and this is the first, it really makes you doubt if it is worth it to try out new cues and cases.
Tom

"...I must HAVE had over 100 cues..."

 

[poolandpokerman]

I have talked to Wes and Cindy several times, and I do believe they feel worse then I do about this issue. They are great people and all we can do is hope and pray that something turns up. After all the things people are going thru in this world, I am sure losing a cue is not the worse thing that could have happed to me. I will pick myself up and continue to love to play pool.
Tom

 

[jay helfert]

I sent my cue to Wes Hunter to have a new shaft built and some refinishing work done. I received it today and the box was empty. I called Wes and he said the cue was in the box when he shipped it. I have no doubt that he sent the cue, some where between New Mexico and my home in Florida the cue was taken out of the box. It has a butt and 2 shafts and has a HC 99 on the butt end of the cue. I do not blame Wes, he is a stand up guy and a great cue maker, I am only posting this in case someone sees my cue in a pool room or pawn shop. If you do please contact me. I did insure it but not nearly enough, have never had a problem until now.

Tom Harris
poolandpokerman@yahoo.com

Insurance?

 

[pocket]

Insurance?

He said it was under insured Jay. Whole situation stinks.

 

[tucson9ball]

My advice in the future would be to use registered mail. I don't think anybody listens but I continue to give the same advice every time I see a thread like this.

Yep, what he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I've been in the USPS for over 32 years now. If you want security like no other, ship using "registered mail".
Every person who touches it will have to sign for it and it is separated from the regular mail stream. It does not go through any processing machinery....NONE!

Regular insured packages only go up to $5,000 worth....."registered" will insure up to $25,000.

I will add this....it's a lil bit of a pain to wrap for registered mail because all seams have to be covered with a special brown tape that the USPS provides. But, if you are shipping a one of a kind cue worth 4K or so....would you rather gripe about damage or just get it delivered in perfect condition without worrying?

Done,,,,,,,,,

 

[JoeyInCali]

My advice is to insure the cue for $501 every time you send out a cue .
$501 is the magic number for signature required.


The cues also need to be in a tube . Not just some plastic wrap.