Post office confiscated my light: “Suspicious Package"!

Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious Package\"!

In early July I mailed my HDS 60XR back to Henry (head of HDS) for repair. On Tuesday I got this response (It's usually inappropriate to quote emails verbatim, but this is a partial quote and purely informational)

Your express package was confiscated by the Post Office and they have been sitting on it since July 13 – they just notified us today that they were holding the package. They claimed it fit their description of "suspicious packages". They are still holding it but have promised they will deliver it "shortly". If you want to complain you can call.... etc.

Need I mention my level of frustration?

Brightnorm

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious Package\"!

I'm surprised you didn't know how many people use the HDS 60XR to build a bomb.....................frustrating, but a sign of the times we are living in. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

You have to keep in mind that postal workers are postal workers first. Being a bomb expert (or whatever danger) comes in way down the list. Often times people in those positions get rudimentary training about how to spot such things. Your package might have had oil on it, a smeared address, or any number of "telltales" that would trigger an overzealous reaction. There was recently a traffic stop near my home that precipitated the bomb squad being dispatched. The officer who did the traffic stop had found fireworks in the trunk.

Bummer that your flashlight was falsely accused.

Scott

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

Blind fear of terror prevails over common sense.

"OMGWTFBBQ ITS A BOMB"

It's a bloody light, some folks need to get over it. It is precisely THIS fear that the terrorists want to plant in our midst. If we give in to that, or the 'authorities' give in to that, they have won - and wasn't the whole idea to let them know we are not afraid and that THEY WILL NOT WIN?

Besides, July 13th to July 29th - if it hasn't done anything unusual by now, chances are it never will.

Henry needs to send them a picture "well, here are THOUSANDS more from where THAT came.. genuine honest-to-goodness American made flashlights just like That Other Brand"

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

Kevin: OMGWTFBBQ... BBQ? lol.

That really sucks. I'm surprised they are just holding it. You'd think if they thought it could blow up then they would have someone act on it right away instead of just putting it aside for a while.. If it was sent express mail, well maybe you could get a refund for the shipping since they didn't deliver it on time. Unless they say well since it was suspect... blah blah blah /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Re: Post office confiscated my light: ?Suspicious

Gee,
I hope they don't decide that they'll need to destroy it, just to make sure it's safe. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xyxgun.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Re: Post office confiscated my light: ?Suspicious

Hello Brightnorm,

Perhaps you left it on and the batteries just wore down... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Tom

Re: Post office confiscated my light: ?Suspicious

lol KevinL, yes it is a flashlight, to us. If I were working in the postal service, I wouldn't want to press any button on some strange looking thingy to find out what it does, especially if the talk of bombs in packages was prevalent at the time. I'm sure they wouldn't be paying me enough to do so...

Re: Post office confiscated my light: ?Suspicious

Screeners have a logic all their own. I used to watch as they'd peer through the viewfinder of my point-and-shoot camera. This screening procedure evidently arose to make sure a bad guy wasn't smuggling drugs or a bomb in the pentaprism system of an SLR (single lens reflex camera); the screener wanted to make sure s/he had a clear shot from eyepiece to lens. But on a point-and-shoot, your eye has a straight shot from the eyepiece to the front of the viewfinder. Many times I've wanted to ask, "Why are you examining this when it's not an SLR?"

Another time, I was attending an outdoor rock concert with my two daughters. I was turned back because I had two $30 1970s rangefinders cameras; they feared that I might be a professional who would sell his shots. Meanwhile, girls with $600 digicams and camcorders were allowed through.

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious Package\"!

Brightnorm-

I know all of us would be very interested to find out what caused the USPS to deem this particular package suspicious.
They should be able to tell you this.

As a group we buy and sell, ship and receive flashlights by the thousands. I have not had any problems nor I have I heard of this happening before.

As a complete guess, I think it is more likely to be your packaging or addressing as opposed to contents.

Please let us know. Hope you recover your light very soon.

Mark

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious Package\"!

Just a guess - your package might have been X-rayed. Imagine what the X Ray profile looks like. Pipe-shaped form, some odd electronics (who ever heard of a flashlight with a small circuit in it?!) perhaps a battery. The delay is probably having some competent authority schedule a visit to look at it.

Its a PIA but perhaps a sign of the times. Hopes it works out right for you soon.

Alan

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious Package\"!

Here are the types of things they look for:

http://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2005july08extra.htm

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

If I worked at the post office, I'd "confiscate" all of the HDS lights too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

That is a real bummer.

The USPS probably make about the same amount of mistakes as any other
carrier -- now as far as following through and fixing those mistakes goes,
that's a whole 'nother matter. There is no incentive in any not-for-profit
endeavor to waste any time whatsoever on such foolishness.

USPS has been my carrier of last resort for over two decades. They
were an unreliable mess way before 911 complicated their sorry operation.

I will always gladly pay a higher price to have my stuff shipped by any
other carrier if given a choice by the seller/vender.

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

[ QUOTE ]
Lmtfi said:
Just a guess - your package might have been X-rayed. Imagine what the X Ray profile looks like. Pipe-shaped form, some odd electronics (who ever heard of a flashlight with a small circuit in it?!) perhaps a battery.

[/ QUOTE ]

I got pulled aside at the airport once because a bottle of Listerine in my bag happened to sit edge-on to the X-ray machine, which made it look roughly like a pipe bomb.

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

My sympathies, Norm.

At least it wasn't vibrating when the PO first had possession of your light. About a year after 9/11, at Newark, I was asked to get up from my airplane seat to accompany the nice stewardess and two other gentlemen, so I could unlock my suitcase - it was vibrating. Embarrassed as I was, at least the source of the tremors wasn't anything to be even more embarrassed about.

My razor had switched on - talk about rough handling.

Even though you didn't have any choice... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif...thanks, Norm, for letting me attempt some hijack hilarity...or not.

Hey! Good luck with your light. I'd be sooooo upset. I've been playing with my U60 since I got it last Friday.

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

WTF? I understand that one has to be careful and everything, but what they did was an over-overreaction. I mean, perhaps theyve never seen a luxeon at the base of a textured reflector, but to think its something dangerous? We have to get some flashaholics into the postal service, FAST.

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

What about the ladies whom bring along their vibrating toys? would TSA confiscate them to test them out too? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

I have had the same thing happen to me, six months later I saw my package

Re: Post office confiscated my light: "Suspicious

Just a year or so before 9/11, I had a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) shipped back to me. Since I didn't tell the shipper to disconnect the terminals of the sealed lead acid battery inside, the UPS was technically still receiving power.

For whatever reason, it managed to turn itself on in transit and beeped all the way across two countries. MIRACULOUSLY, the postal service STILL delivered the package all the way to my doorstep where it kept beeping.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

I would have understood perfectly if I had been called up over that package, but I wasn't.

Kudos to them for doing the Right Thing(tm), but I feel bad putting them through all the inconvenience. You can be $#*(! sure that next time I'll pull the wires and tape the terminals prior to shipment, well, if there is ever a next time.