Among Friends

[dex]

I want to send a ring to my son and was wondering if anyone has  advice on the safest way to be sure it gets there.

[Janey2]

Fed ex it overnight

[patbz]

Harry Winston sent the Hope Diamond via registered mail; so that works for me!

[gizmogal]

Along the same lines as @Janey2, I’d suggest UPS Next Day if Fedex is not a good pick for where your son lives.  You have it insured and the delivery is guaranteed next day. You can also use UPS next day morning delivery, but because it has to be delivered before noon, it becomes excessively expensive. 

Both Fedex and UPS are reliable and well organized shippers with bonded drivers and legitimate insurance coverage as long as you do not invent or exaggerate  about the object you ship or its actual value. Though the postal service tries hard, I don’t think they have enough consistent tracking and delivery protocols to have confidence handing them something small and expensive. 

One more  piece of advice:  don’t pack it in a very small box or packet, just because it’s a ring.  Small packages get lost easier. But the cardboard shipping envelopes from a FedEx or UPS are quite ok if the ring is inside something fairly sturdy. 

[gizmogal]

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@patbz wrote:

Harry Winston sent the Hope Diamond via registered mail; so that works for me!

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Good one!  That piece was carried in November 1958. Somehow I’m not convinced the post office delivery has stayed as reliable as it was then, just basing it on how many complaints there are about receiving orders via a Smartpost and bad luck with returns from QVC customers. 

I’m sure in 1958 the post office did fine work. Now maybe not. 

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/hope-diamond.pdf

[dex]

Thanks everyone .Fedex or ups it is and no small boxes.

[Kachina624]

I'd use registered mail where they keep it in a safe.  FedEx would be my last resort because they lose and mis-deliver too many things.  Put it in something like a shoe box so it doesn't look like jewelry.

[Sooner]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I'd use registered mail where they keep it in a safe.  FedEx would be my last resort because they lose and mis-deliver too many things.  Put it in something like a shoe box so it doesn't look like jewelry.

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I'd use registered mail as well and have someone sign for it when it gets there; all tracking; insured, etc.  FedEx would be my last resort as well to send anything.  They are a disaster.

Also, most USPS people are career employees with a good retirement on the line.  And UPS parks those trucks all over the place and jumps out and leaves them on the curbs. 

[KLevineFan]

Do NOT use UPS...a Shirley Temple collector paid $15K for a dress and cape worn by Shirley in The Little Princess.  She insured it for $10K thru UPS and they lost it and sold it to an auction type site in less than 3 weeks after the loss.  They have neither recovered the dress nor paid the insurance.  The collector wants the dress back from whomever bought it for $100, who don't know what it is. This has gone on almost 2 months now. She hopes a $5K reward will make someone turn it in.

[itsmagic]

My one piece of advice is if it has to be signed for then make sure someone will be home to do that.  If no one can be home during any of the delivery attempts to sign for it then they can go pick it up at Fedex or UPS but depending on where he lives sometimes the UPS or Fedex building are not in a location convenient for pickup (several miles away). We are lucky that the UPS and Fedex buildings are only a couple miles from our house so it makes it convenient to pick up if we need to.