I understand that it can and does happen... and maybe to only a very small percentage of packages overall.  I've only shipped about 10 trees total, so right now I'm at a 10% loss rate.  So I should expect the next 90 trees to be safe, right?? lol  That'll put it down to %1 loss.  Somehow, I don't like my odds..

I guess as long as USPS honors the claims, as a seller there's no real loss.  Only frustration for the buyer.  

I gave the buyer a full refund and filed the claim to recoup the costs.  I asked the seller to hang on to the box and tree for a while in case they ask for it.  And if they never ask for the tree back, then he could keep it, as I'm sure it will put out new leaves in a couple of weeks.

Reread your comments above,
your far from rational in any of them.

Reality check is needed for you in the perfect world of LA.

Or maybe you are the husband of one of those reality TV  wife shows,
if you are,  just come clean,
it would explain a whole lot of things.  :-)

A simple stick, that in inserted into the container
and reaches to the top of the box, secured next to the trunk of the tree.
Would have not prevented the box from being crushed,
but would have probably saved the tree from serious damage,
and potentially avoided the damage claim.

Standard method I use when shipping trees.

Oops. I can see this thread going off the rails purty quickly. Aaron's post was a definitely unreasonably aggressive and a bit out there, but you do like to poke the hornet's nest, Jack. Let's try to keep this one civil.

I poke MUCH harder  ;-)

Sorry Neil my friend I am with Jack on this one.  Of course if Aaron did smack the mail carrier we would be spared his posts so.....never mind, go ahead Aaron smack away.  

I didn't realize I was going to insight a riot here..

I must have been lucky, only 1 box damaged, took 35 days to be returned, brainless buyer.

I guess, by a couple of posts, this kind of shipping is something that we should expect, something we should accept, so life goes on, and guess what, shipping damages will keep on as long as the carriers know we expect and accept them to happen. I think the downsizing of the workforce has caused major problems not only in the delivery business but all service and other areas in our lives. But....that's another topic.

Before this thread gets deleted, I'd like to say something :)
I was impressed with the way Almost Eden shipped some fig plants I ordered last year.
They came in 4" pots.
Each pot had its soil covered with wet newspaper, which was taped down with packing tape to keep it from shifting or drying.
Two pots were placed facing each other, and stakes (longer than the two plants and their pots combined) were taped around the pots.
Corrugated sheets of cardboard were then rolled around the two pots and cage of stakes.
Amazing job. I bet you could drop that packaging from a second story window and not harm the plants inside.

Harvey does a nice job with packaging his plants too. Adding a couple of sticks really makes a difference.

I was just clearing some weeds, and I broke a branch off my Takoma Violet. It sucks...but the plant will be alright, and I get to try my hand at summer cuttings. I'm not gonna beat myself up over it. It was an accident.

In a way (not a mean way) it's kind of funny to see the "frag" or "fragile" in the shots of this crushed box.

Why would the thread get deleted?

I was reading a thread last week and when I came back to finish reading it, it was gone! I thought I was crazy or something, like maybe I imagined it. But it just disappeared.

Jack you must be a communist, I swear!

So, are you guys saying it is ok for a "union worker" like Jack A** put it to hand you a broken package and leave? and if you ask him what happened , he just say to you awe well, accidents happen. Is this good? 

Still batting 100% sparky,
hard core  CAPITALIST.

How you can infer I'm a communist is amusing,
got no clue how you came up with that,
the magic of your mind I guess.

If you want to insult me,   maybe call me a racist,
would make about as much sense as communist,
but is more politically and emotionally charged word today.
Communist would have been a good slur in the 1960/70's

In the new millennium, 
calling me a racist is far more effective.

While there is no doubt in my mind that you are an @sshole, hence calling you Jack A** every time I refer to your posts, you came to a logical conclusion... at the end. G'night.
And NO, I am no celebrity.

Can I ask a favor,
I'm really curious.
What do you do for a living/job/profession ?

Today is a nice shiny day with a lot of (catch-up) fig-work to do for me ...

Sun is shining, little chance of downpours, just another day in fig heaven.

Jon, can you close this thread.. this is serving no more purpose.

The person who started the thread can close the thread, that's you James.

I see no options to do that.