Safe VCR Mailing Procedures

[normandy]

Post #1 | 04-26-2003 12:37 PM


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I was really happy to "win" an ebay auction for 2 Cathe vcr videos at half price, but not at all happy when I opened them. They were shipped Priority mail, with just the thin priority envelope wrapped around them. One was completely smashed and the other had pieces rattling around inside it. I am curious as to what mailing precautions were taken with tapes you have ordered. I received some in the past from different sources, and they were either in bubble wrap or a box, and had "Fragile" or Please Hand stamp" on the envelope.

Between the wait to have the bidding end and the wait for the tape, and the aggravation now of getting my money back (luckily, although I paid through Paypal and they do nothing to help, it is on my Visa card so I have 60 days to straighten this out) next time I order through Cathe or Collage!

Would appreciate your letting me know how vcr's you have ordered were protectively wrapped for shipping. Thanks much!

Normandy

 

[amym3]

Normandy - just got mine (5 tapes) in a box filled with styrofaom eggs and marked fragile on the outside, haven't viewed them yet but they look fine. ordered from this website, they were sent ups.
Amy

 

[normandy]

Thanks, Amy. I wanted to make sure, because I felt something should have been marked on outer envelope and protective wrapping should have been around the tapes. You confirmed that for me.

Incidentally, did you order these directly from cathe.com, and did you ever receive tapes from anyplace else, whether a company or privately, and if so what was the wrapping like? Thanks again

Normandy

 

[wendyloo]

I've traded lots of tapes over at the videofitness exchange, and my VHS tapes have arrived in a variety of ways. I've had them sent in bubblewrap-lined envelopes; wrapped in bubble wrap inside a box; surrounded by styrofoam inside a box...
Your sender was just DUMB to send your tapes with nothing but an envelope to protect it.
Oh, also, sometimes people write "fragile" or even docorate the package. Supposedly decorating it makes them handle it more gently...
Sorry about your tapes!

 

[normandy]

Hi,Wendy -- Does writing Hand Stamp on envelope mean anything? Yes, it sure was dumb of her and now I'm on a forum when I would have been starting on Cathe!!!

Am very curious about the exchange program. How do you happen to have the exact tape a person wants from you for the one you want from them? I imagine you would really have to have a ton of tapes to be able to use the exchange. I've seen tapes I wanted on that program but unfortunately do not have many tapes and none which were listed as being wanted by anyone (stupidly I just tossed many of my tapes out years ago).

Thanks for your (and anyone else's) reply.

Normandy

 

[amym3]

normandy - I have also ordered fitprime tapes thru amazon and they were shipped same way as Cathe tapes. Amazon and cathe.com have been my only two experiences to date. Hope you get your problem resoved quickly, I know stuff like that is frustrating!

 

[schnebbles]

Hi, sorry about your tapes! I have had 2 arrive broken too.

I would think someone sending Priority should/would use the boxes! They are free and they are much better than the envelopes.

No bubble at all?

I had a tape arrive broken and the sender had double bubble packaged it.

Can you try & fix them? I have fixed both of my broken tapes with old tapes. I carefully take them apart and put the tape reels in an old plastic vcr tape, and I've been successful both times. I have probably used 2 tapes each to fix them though. But better than paying for broken merchandise! Especially broken Cathe!!

 

[normandy]

Kathy, where did your broken tapes comes from? Private or a company? Also, did they have anything written on outer envelope? I wonder if Fragile on envelope would help or not. No, there was absolutely nothing except a thin Priority envelope wrapped around the tapes.

Even though this was through PaypAl and seller got the money, since it is on my Visa I intend to contest the charge. I don't want to take the chance, even if I could, of trying to mend the tapes as my vcr is very tempermental an I don't want an added expense! But appreciate the suggestion.

What a perfect afternoon it would have been to have had Cathe. It's pouring out today and I don't feel like going out, so here I am at my computer instead of weight training! I keep turning on computer to see if there's a return message from seller, but so far nothing.

Thanks much to everyone for the responses.
Normandy

 

[wendyloo]

Hi Normandy,
I don't know about writing "Hand Stamp"...

As for the exchange--yes, it is hard if you don't have a lot of tapes. I've traded away a lot of my VHS Cathe's because I have all of her DVD's. But now I'm down to a lot of beginner to intermediate tapes that I want to get rid of, and it is harder to trade those because in exchange I want more advanced stuff. Sometimes I've bought tapes based on reviews, and they just haven't been right for me, but since they were popular they were easy trades for other popular tapes (for example, I traded a Donna Read DVD for a Chrisit Taylor DVD, and I traded an Andre Houle tape for a G-Force tape). You have to make the initial investment to get a good collection going, but once you have that, you can really get some good deals by trading. I've been able to try instructors that I didn't want to actually purchase.
Anyway, good luck on getting your money back and/or new tapes!