8mm Forum: Terrible, sad Super 8 news ...

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 08, 2009, 01:09 PM:

At least from my perspective, as well as what should have been.

I had finally worked it out, with a fellow Super 8 enthusiast, (and past releaser of Super 8 product), to get a negative made of my 400ft 16MM reel of classic animated commercials. He had secured the machine to make the negative for (on 16MM) for Super 8 prints, and locally, in the good ole USA.

I mailed it to him Priority, and being it was just going from Idaho down to L.A. California, it should have taken three or four days tops.

It has been about a month or so and he still hasn't received it.
I can only conclude that, unless a miracle happens and it gets back to me or arrives there, that it has been lost in the mail.

After much harrassing from every angle, (to the point of the post mkaster general actually having me removed from the post office!), it appears that there is nothing more to be done. I can only hope that perhaps it arrives, way late at either destination.

Before anybody gets a slight lingering thought about it; I completely and totally trust the individual that I was/am working with on this venture. From our phone calls and constant e-mails back and forth, I have come to find that he is a proper, honorable man. Other wise I wouldn't have even given dealing with him a second thought, so, if He states that he has not recieved the reel, (and he has said so), then he hasn't recieved it. End of discussion on that one.

The sad thing, apart from an upcoming USA Super 8 release for all of us, is that it took me a good five years to compile that collection of mint and near mint color commercials, and it hurts to have it lost, due to the incompetence of some postal worker.

I have myself to blame as well. I should have mailed it by some one day service, for sign and recieve, so I hold blame as well and have not stopped kicking myself over my stupidity.

I have only had a few packages not arrive, whether sending or recieving, (three media in USA and one going overseas and two coming in from overseas, I keep records.), but this one stings even more than the lost STAR WARS feature back when I first started collecting in 2003.

Sorry to bear the sad news. Fingers continually crossed on it.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 08, 2009, 02:36 PM:

Well Osi,

There are basically two strong possibilities here:

1) It was delivered to the wrong address. In this case it's up to the kindness of the recipient to get it sent back.

2) It was undeliverable: for some reason the post office couldn't read the address (and the return address too). In this case it goes to the Dead Letter Office. It will eventually get opened up and they'll try to figure out where it belongs. Was there any kind of correspondence in the package? When I send a parcel I always make sure there is return info enclosed for this reason.

The good news is there aren't going to be a ton of 16mm reels in the Dead Letter Office these days so that may be in your favor.

-Good Luck.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on October 08, 2009, 03:03 PM:

I had a package of 40 CDs which I'd posted to Ireland go missing only to be returned to me 6 weeks later.

If you've put a return address on it I'm willing to bet you'll get it back in time.

Incidentally, what in the world were you doing that required the postmaster having to have you removed from the post office?

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 08, 2009, 03:25 PM:

Yes,

You mean the Postmaster at the local post office, not the Postmaster General in Washington DC, right? By the time you're in trouble with him you may wind up busting rocks at Leavenworth!

-you'll get ten years at Leavenworth or eleven years at Twelveworth, or Five and Ten at Woolworth!

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on October 08, 2009, 03:45 PM:

Osi, I can't believe you didn't send it insured or at least with Delivery Confirmation, which only costs an extra 80 cents! At least you could have tracked it with either of those very inexpensive services.

Posted by Gian Luca Mario Loncrini (Member # 1417) on October 08, 2009, 05:11 PM:

So sad in reading this, Osi. Maybe it doesn't help, but last winter time I was waiting for a print of THE LITTLE MERMAID sold by a member of the forum living in UK. Italy is not so far from there... I was expecting to receive it in 10/12 days. And after something like 3, maybe 4 weeks (both seller and me were almost sure it had been lost) it arrived.

So... A happy ending. I hope this will happen with you too. I know the feeling. Everybody who has waited in vain something that has never been delivered does.

Good luck. Really [Wink]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 08, 2009, 06:10 PM:

Yes Joe ...

It was incredibly stupid of me. To be honest, I didn't even think of doing any kind of delivery confirmation. To be doubly honest, I have never done a single delivery confirmation, (unless packages going overseas automatically get a delivery confirmation), on anything I have mailed. Unless asked for, I have always sent things by media mail when doing ebay auctions or otherwise.

I did put my return address on the package, as I always do, so, if it is just sitting around somewhere, it will hopefully come back to me.

Someone can verify if they desire to, but I beleive that Media mail is subject to being opened.

It was mailed very securely as well. As a general rule, I always over tape, or use tape that is quite secure.

As stated before, fingers crossed for the future.

OSI

Posted by Larry Arpin (Member # 744) on October 08, 2009, 07:25 PM:

Osi-I've checked again today and it has not arrived. I, too, am hoping it will arrive either end soon. I did do a test this past weekend and as I have not done this in so long it came close but not good enough. I expected to do at least 2 tests but it looks as though I might do 2 or 3 more. I only did 35mm to 16mm as he had only a hand crank for the reduction and it was a pain just to get it set up. It took about 4 hours all together for the test. Also, I must have done something wrong as the running test was out of phase. Like I said it has been a very long time since I have done this.

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on October 09, 2009, 03:43 AM:

It will show up. This happens regularly over here and it's generally down to an incompetent postal worker not doing his job properly.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on October 09, 2009, 04:59 AM:

I'm sure it will show up Osi...I have been sending stuff all over the world for years and only recently have I been noticing that unless you send something in the flat rate priority packs, the shipments can take forever...Media mail used to be a helpful but still reasonable option but now it i the slower than expected option.....

Posted by Raymond J. Santoro (Member # 1319) on October 15, 2009, 07:50 PM:

This is so scary, something all of us have worried about over the years I'm sure. As a US Postal employee, let me give you some cause for hope. Media Mail is the last mail to be sorted/sent. Generally it isn't far behind other classes of mail, but in the past month there have been two things happening:

1) The PO has offered a buy-out and 23,000 employees have taken it. This has caused some longer-than-normal delays in the moving and processing of Media Mail.

2) Mail volumes have shot up unexpectedly in the past month, despite the economy. Combined with fewer employees working more mail, it is not unheard of for Media Mail to take up to a month.

As long as your package was secured well with a LEGIBLE address and accurate zip code, I'm hoping it doea arrive soon. Please keep us informed.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 15, 2009, 07:56 PM:

ThanX 4 your concern and expert advice ...

However, the 16MM commercial reel was sent by priority, but I have been told from a fellow ebay seller that he has had no less than three PRIORITY packages end up missing.

Still hope. One must have hope.

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