Shipping games media mail.....wow.....

[wargod]

Ruh roh, we got a guy trying to ship these sega CD games by media mail. 12-19 business days to receive and breaking the law at the same time. Epic fail.

I ordered a strategy guide one time that was shipped media mail. It took 30 days to travel 1000 miles within the USA. Screw media mail. He's probably wondering why they didn't sell.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EWAX%3AIT#shId

[cheaterdragon1]

Atleast that guy put some effort into his listing.

[SpaceFlea]

USPS just needs to get rid of media mail. People abuse it way too much. Hell, there are only about 5-6 very specific things that can be legally sent that way. And the packages are subject to random inspection - leaving the addressee with the tab if it wasn't properly used.

One time a guy sent me a package of video games media mail and it took two weeks to arrive. It had been inspected and (of course) deemed not available for media mail which left me with a $16 COD fee. I rejected the package and it took another two weeks to get back to him. I informed him that games cannot travel media mail. He bitched and moaned saying, "yes they can, they are recordable media" (obviously he failed to read the specifics) and said he'd talk to his post office. After getting it back I noticed he mailed it priority instead. But the dumbass mailed it to himself and received the package two days later. Then he repackaged it a third time and sent it out media - again! And it took another two weeks to get to me. It didn't get inspected that time so no charge but seriously... WHAT A TOOL!

[ItellYaHuat]

I lol'd at "External Champions."

[Yoder]

I am just laughin' my ass off at this thread. Holy shit, you guys crack me up!

[Thorlic]

I rofled.

USPS just needs to get rid of media mail. People abuse it way too much. Hell, there are only about 5-6 very specific things that can be legally sent that way. And the packages are subject to random inspection - leaving the addressee with the tab if it wasn't properly used.

One time a guy sent me a package of video games media mail and it took two weeks to arrive. It had been inspected and (of course) deemed not available for media mail which left me with a $16 COD fee. I rejected the package and it took another two weeks to get back to him. I informed him that games cannot travel media mail. He bitched and moaned saying, "yes they can, they are recordable media" (obviously he failed to read the specifics) and said he'd talk to his post office. After getting it back I noticed he mailed it priority instead. But the dumbass mailed it to himself and received the package two days later. Then he repackaged it a third time and sent it out media - again! And it took another two weeks to get to me. It didn't get inspected that time so no charge but seriously... WHAT A TOOL!

[McMasters]

It's not "illegal" for a citizen to send video games via media mail. Violating a policy and criminal law are two totally different things. However, the citizen would have an extremely strong civil case against the USPS if they tried to upcharge or deny a media mail package based on multiple sections of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Furthermore, states like Texas could have the Attorney General sue the USPS if enough complaints were lodged for violating Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The whole media mail video games debate is based on a hard to find bulletin of a customer service decision in 2009 by the USPS Director of Standards. In the decision, Lizbeth Dobbins makes a rather arbitrary argument against the "educational value" of video games and provides an exception to DMM Standards Rule. However the DMM was never updated with this exception.

For example, let's say Walgreen's has a return policy that says they offer a 30 day money back guarantee with a receipt on everything as long as it's unopened. Let's say I buy a penis pump (believe it or not, they sell them), decide not to use it, and attempt to return it. Walgreens then refuses to return it or charges a "restocking fee" for the return. This exception is not stated anywhere but someone at Walgreens corporate makes a decision, arbitrarily, that penis pumps that are returned incur a 15% restocking fee but they do not update their policy to include this. They have now opened themselves up to those seeking damages. This is why Best Buy, Target, Dell etc have expressly delineated return policies. It's because they have been sued in federal and state courts for deceptive trade practices for charging "restocking fees" without it being an part of their official policy and not alerting the customer prior to purchase.

Businesses, including the USPS, can have whatever policies they want, but they have to adhere to those stated policies. But because this is obscure and isn't a problem for most people, it won't ever get that far. Unless someone is willing to do so. And then of course there is class action...

[wargod]

I was thinking of buying these world cup usa 94 pins from this guy but only if he promised to send them using media mail.

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-World-Cup-USA...item5adeaba36e

Upon further review, I noticed that the seller was based out of the UK, so media mail by the usps is not an option. I really wanted to use media mail so that my item will take forever to arrive. It's important to me that the seller of my item saves as much money as they possibly can on shipping while abusing a policy so that the item takes as long as humanly possible to arrive on my doorstep. It shows that they as the seller are really looking out for my best interest once the money leaves my hands. So much for my dreams of playing my copy of world cup USA 94 on Sega CD in style while flaunting the sweet pins. Oh well, my moment of glory will come one day.



Illegal or not, anyone that abuses the service should be locked up on principal alone.

[vintagegamecrazy]

Yeah the whole USPS media mail rule is bogus for video games. The whole shtick about them saying that video games aren't educational is a load of crap because you can ship movies and those aren't in the least bit educational either. Yeah the argument on their end doesn't hold water.