Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[stoopid]

Just got back from my post office picking up 2 boxes of eggs.
Complained to the manager about poor handling on the egg boxes.
Was looked at like I had 3 heads.
Claims he will put in a complaint to the Bethpage manager.
Yeah right.... I can tell I'm going nowhere fast.
Maggie, he also told me it is impossible for your mail to go from Staten Island thru Bethpage.

 

[magsrags]

Just got back from my post office picking up 2 boxes of eggs.
Complained to the manager about poor handling on the egg boxes.
Was looked at like I had 3 heads.
Claims he will put in a complaint to the Bethpage manager.
Yeah right.... I can tell I'm going nowhere fast.
Maggie, he also told me it is impossible for your mail to go from Staten Island thru Bethpage.

Oh yes, depending on the side of the island we send mail from ......it goes to bethpage and then BACK to S.I.
I learned this when I moved down here to tottenville 2 years ago from the OTHER (north)end of this island.
At my old address a card sent to my sister 2 miles away would take sometimes 5 days.
Now a card sent to her takes 1 day. I couldn't believe it!

Remarkable................

 

[Carolyn252]

Just got back from my post office picking up 2 boxes of eggs.
Complained to the manager about poor handling on the egg boxes.
Was looked at like I had 3 heads.
Claims he will put in a complaint to the Bethpage manager.
Yeah right.... I can tell I'm going nowhere fast.
Maggie, he also told me it is impossible for your mail to go from Staten Island thru Bethpage.

Roberta and Maggie: I hate that you have all this trouble with getting your live shipments damaged. Here's what I did this morning. I called the Ridge post office out in Suffolk County and asked them for the location of their Processing and Distribution Center. (I gave them no names or any inkling whatsoever as to why I wanted it.) I then called that PDC and spoke to a very nice lady named Kim. I explained that I avoided live bird delivery problems by picking the shipment up at my local PDC here in Nassau and that I had a friend in Suffolk County that could use the same sort of solution to the problem she's been having with battered boxes of destroyed fertile eggs. She asked me which Suffolk post office was problematic and I told her that I wanted to keep that private; that it was my friend's decision to tell her or not. Anyway, she readily agreed to the following: You (Roberta) ask the shipper of your fertile eggs to put the PDC's address on the package, along with HOLD FOR PICKUP: PLEASE IMMEDIATELY PHONE name & phone number .

The woman that I spoke to at the Mid-Island Processing and Distribution Center is Kim. She works the day shift there. The phone number there is 631 755-2502. Kim's most important request is that you call them several days in advance to let them know that the package is coming. I told her that I phone my PDC every day for at least three days prior to arrival. (Truth is, I phone them a week prior, then again two days later, then every day until delivery day.) Kim seemed very happy to help. (When I told her that your eggs were smashed and ruined, she sighed a real "awwww.") The address of the Mid-Island Processing & Distribution Center is 160 Duryea Road, Melville, NY 11747.

I checked on mapquest: it's about a 40 minute drive from Ridge to Melville. (For me, that would feel like I was driving to the moon and back, but knowing you, and your ease with "truckin on down the road," it'll be a piece of cake.)

Getting your shipments this way means you vastly shorten the time that your items are in transit. The truck that brings it from the airport goes directly to the PDC. Shipments would then normally be sorted all night/early morning and loaded onto trucks for delivery to all the local post offices throughout the Suffolk area they service. That's hours and hours of time to be at risk of damage. Also, of course, picking the package up at the PDC completely avoids the rotten b*&!#!d at the Ridge post office that's been smashing your eggs.

I must add: Kim asked me if the package would be an Express Mail Overnight Shipment, and I said Yes. I now realize that that might not be true. (The two shipments that I did this way for my four-month old pullets were both Overnight Delivery; but I don't know if that's how you get your eggs shipped to you.)

Anyway, I told her that I was pretty sure that my friend would be phoning her to talk about all this. (Probably today, but I wasn't sure.) I didn't give her your name, but just ask for Kim and then tell her that you're the friend of the woman who called about sending a HOLD FOR PICKUP package of fertile eggs. (I told her that the eggs were valuable, and that you often lost $85 to $100 on each ruined package.) Kim asked me when I thought that you might be getting a shipment and I said that I didn't know, but probably within the next month or so. (I just made that part up.

)

I hope that this all works out for you. Highly recommend it for everyone who's getting live birds and/or fertile eggs in the mail. Note: my PDC here in Garden City, in Nassau County, says that every Spring, hundreds of chickies come through their facility. PDC's are open 24 hours a day. They operate all night long so that when the trucks come in from the airport they can immediately be unloaded and sorted and put on local trucks for delivery: especially for Overnight Delivery packages. When you do your phone call alerts to your PDC, remember to tell them to phone you as soon as the shipment gets there, even if it's the middle of the night. Make sure they say that if you then show up at 3am, that they'll open the door and hand you the package. Ask them which door, is there a bell or what? ( I had to bang on the glass door for a few minutes before anyone heard me.)

Maggie: phone your local post office and ask them where their PDC is. Don't let them put you off with repeated advisements that it's not open to the public, they don't have a phone, etc. If they refuse to tell you, phone another post office in the next town over and ask them. You'll get it eventually.
-Feels like Spring,
Carolyn252

 

[stoopid]

Carolyn, the problem is before Melville, it's in Bethpage.
I really appreciate all the work you put into this, but I already have the hold and call routine down pat.
It's what's happening before they get here is what's killing them.
Long story short, there's a rumor that there's a sadistic worker that shakes the life out of the boxes before they leave Bethpage.

I have a "manager" claim to be looking into this.

I have looked into Shockwatch labels, I may have to buy a case of them and distribute these to people that ship eggs to me.
A box of 50 is $145.00. A dye sensor will go off if the box is dropped or mishandled.
But right now, I don't have the money, or the strength to argue with the government.
I will be seeing someone tonight that knows the "rumor" a bit better, I will get more info.

Thank you for looking into this.
Your girls are getting big, they are 4 months old.... you need to get ready to take them soon!

 

[Carolyn252]

I will be seeing someone tonight that knows the "rumor" a bit better, I will get more info.

Keep us posted. I am SO interested in knowing how this turns out.


Your girls are getting big, they are 4 months old.... you need to get ready to take them soon!

I'm gonna need two more weeks at least before the winter tarps can come off the ChickArena and the whole setup hosed down and sanitized.

I've been contacting craigslist daylaborers to come help me with the spring chores out in the backyard. As soon as the season's windstorms are over, I can take the tarps off and scrub everything down for the annual deep clean and then the new girls can come move in.

 

[Carolyn252]

Carolyn, the problem is before Melville, it's in Bethpage.
I really appreciate all the work you put into this, but I already have the hold and call routine down pat.
It's what's happening before they get here is what's killing them.
Long story short, there's a rumor that there's a sadistic worker that shakes the life out of the boxes before they leave Bethpage.

I have a "manager" claim to be looking into this.

I have looked into Shockwatch labels, I may have to buy a case of them and distribute these to people that ship eggs to me.
A box of 50 is $145.00. A dye sensor will go off if the box is dropped or mishandled.
But right now, I don't have the money, or the strength to argue with the government.
I will be seeing someone tonight that knows the "rumor" a bit better, I will get more info.

Thank you for looking into this.
Your girls are getting big, they are 4 months old.... you need to get ready to take them soon!

OK; I hear ya. After reading your email (that the problem is before Melville, it's in Bethpage) I was curious and phoned Kim (631) 755-2502 to ask her if mail stops somewhere between JFK airport and Melville. She said that her manager wanted to talk to me and she put Keith on the phone. (Again, I assure you, I did not mention your name or town). Keith told me that his secretary Kim had told him what my previous call was about and he seemed genuinely interested in helping. He said that Express mail goes directly from JFK to Melville, but Priority Mail for zip codes that start with 117, and 118, and 119 goes from JFK to Bethpage. I told him that the email that I had just gotten from you stated that the problem was in Bethpage. That someone in the Bethpage facility is deliberately damaging those fertile egg shipments. He asked me if you had reported the problem to the Bethpage authorities and I told him that my friend (you) were an extremely capable and efficient person with years of experience managing corporate business affairs ( took a little poetic license there, but I wanted him to know that you were not a shy retiring wallflower) and that you had already made many efforts to have the problem addressed through a variety of proper channels.

Keith said that the plant manager of the Bethpage facility is John Onken and that John's been there only for about one year. (I guess indicating that if the problem's been going on longer than that, that John is not the problem.) Anyway, Keith said that you should definitely report the problem to John Onken. But Keith also then told me that if you have already reported it to John, that you should contact him (Keith) and he (Keith) will most definitely take the problem to a higher level. He then gave me his email address and said that you should feel free to contact him: [email protected] Real nice guy.

OK, you may by now be weary of me interfering so I'll stop now and leave it all in your capable hands. This has given me a more interesting morning than folding more laundry. (Only three more loads to go.)
As ever,
-Carolyn P.S. [Note to whoever is reading this: Keith said that his facility is so large, with so many employees (I think he said 1600 people working 24/7) that it's not a good idea to use just the facility's address on packages. Easier if it had the recipient's name and address and phone number and they'd be able to track it better to watch out for it when it was sorted and then call you to come pick it up. My Garden City facility is smaller, so that's why it worked for me.]

 

[littlecritters]

OK; I hear ya. After reading your email (that the problem is before Melville, it's in Bethpage) I was curious and phoned Kim (631) 755-2502 to ask her if mail stops somewhere between JFK airport and Melville. She said that her manager wanted to talk to me and she put Keith on the phone. (Again, I assure you, I did not mention your name or town). Keith told me that his secretary Kim had told him what my previous call was about and he seemed genuinely interested in helping. He said that Express mail goes directly from JFK to Melville, but Priority Mail for zip codes that start with 117, and 118, and 119 goes from JFK to Bethpage. I told him that the email that I had just gotten from you stated that the problem was in Bethpage. That someone in the Bethpage facility is deliberately damaging those fertile egg shipments. He asked me if you had reported the problem to the Bethpage authorities and I told him that my friend (you) were an extremely capable and efficient person with years of experience managing corporate business affairs ( took a little poetic license there, but I wanted him to know that you were not a shy retiring wallflower) and that you had already made many efforts to have the problem addressed through a variety of proper channels.

Keith said that the plant manager of the Bethpage facility is John Onken and that John's been there only for about one year. (I guess indicating that if the problem's been going on longer than that, that John is not the problem.) Anyway, Keith said that you should definitely report the problem to John Onken. But Keith also then told me that if you have already reported it to John, that you should contact him (Keith) and he (Keith) will most definitely take the problem to a higher level. He then gave me his email address and said that you should feel free to contact him: [email protected] Real nice guy.

OK, you may by now be weary of me interfering so I'll stop now and leave it all in your capable hands. This has given me a more interesting morning than folding more laundry. (Only three more loads to go.)
As ever,
-Carolyn P.S. [Note to whoever is reading this: Keith said that his facility is so large, with so many employees (I think he said 1600 people working 24/7) that it's not a good idea to use just the facility's address on packages. Easier if it had the recipient's name and address and phone number and they'd be able to track it better to watch out for it when it was sorted and then call you to come pick it up. My Garden City facility is smaller, so that's why it worked for me.]

I love all this detective work you are doing, Carolyn. It is helping me understand what I can do up here in Dutchess County, just in case I have another problem with shipped birds. Thank you!

 

[Harborview Hens]

Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs are great! Friendly, mellow. But Big Dog means Big appetite and Big Doggie Poops!!!!

 

[smkchick]

Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs are great! Friendly, mellow. But Big Dog means Big appetite and Big Doggie Poops!!!!

And big doggies on the furniture! I loved my labs, but I have to admit the froo froo dog is easier on the house...

 

[smkchick]

If at any time anyone out here on LI is going to use the PDC in Melville, I would be happy to go there to pick up the eggs/birds/whatever. It is literally about 10 minutes down the road from me.

Maybe we need to be focusing on picking the eggs up at JFK and not allowing them to get as far as Bethpage. Not sure how we would do this, but JFK is only about 30 minutes from me, and it would be worth the trip to save the $$ everyone is losing on damaged eggs.