One Year Later, USPS Looks Into Gamefly Complaint

Last April, we discussed news that video game rental service GameFly had complained to the USPS that a large quantity of their game discs were broken in transit, accusing the postal service of giving preferential treatment to more traditional DVD rental companies like Netflix. Now, just over a year later, an anonymous reader sends word that the USPS has responded with a detailed inquiry into GameFly's situation (PDF). The inquiry's 46 questions (many of which are multi-part) cover just about everything you could imagine concerning GameFly's distribution methods. Most of them are simple, yet painstaking, in a way only government agencies can manage. Here are a few of them: "What threshold does GameFly consider to be an acceptable loss/theft rate? Please provide the research that determined this rate. ... What is the transportation cost incurred by GameFly to transport its mail from each GameFly distribution center to the postal facility used by that distribution center? ... Please describe the total cost that GameFly would incur if it expanded its distribution network to sixty or one hundred twenty locations. In your answer, please itemize costs separately. ... Does the age of a gaming DVD or the number of times played have more effect on the average life cycle of a gaming DVD?"

Re:Is it me?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it me, or is GameFly being dicked around?

The USPS is a for-profit company backed by the federal government. They don't dick around; they find people in the Alps.

Re:netflix vs gamefly

[blackraven14250]

I don't know about Gamefly, but if they're in cardboard, they should be much better off than Netflix. Netflix's shipping method involves about 4 sheets of paper, not even glued together.

Re:Is it me?

[stephanruby]

Some of the questions look valid, but others are completely obtuse and look like they are designed to waste GameFly's time and resources, not resolve the problem.

I agree. That being said, as a Netflix customer, I can pretty much testify to the fact that my mail man used to break an awful lot of DVDs trying to shove them in my mailbox and then try to close it (so he could get back his keys, I live in a four apartment building so it's a set of four mailboxes he opens together). It became such a problem, I took down my subscription from 4 DVDs to only 1 DVD at-a-time. Usually, it's when there was more than one DVD in there, that at least one of them would break (or at least warp so badly, that it became completely unplayable).

One fix would have been to ask my landlord that he install a bigger set of mailboxes, but the space in the brick wall is so limited, that any change would become a major construction project to replace anything (so I didn't even ask). Another fix is to try to talk to the mail man, but for some reason, my route is not considered a good one (although, it's still a good neighborhood), so it's nearly a different person delivering the mail every week. Another fix would be to have an additional mailbox made especially for DVDs (that, assuming there was an easy way to attach it to my existing mailbox, I would buy in a jiffy).

Re:netflix vs gamefly

[Sycraft-fu]

Well couple things may be in play, other than the USPS being meanies:

1) Netflix may well consider a fairly high rate of loss acceptable. Depending on the prices they have to pay for the discs, it might not matter to them. Remember that the media itself is cheap. In large runs I'd be surprised if you could get a disc to cost $0.10. So if they have a situation with the studios where they can buy the discs cheap, separate of the rental rights, it might not matter to them.

2) Video discs may be able to take more damage. If there's an error on a video disc, it isn't necessarily a show stopper. Could manifest as a minor visual glitch, maybe a couple frames get dropped. Whatever, movie still works, most people won't bitch. With data DVDs, doesn't work like that. Either everything reads 100% and passes the verification or it says "Shit is broke, we can't install."

Not saying the post office might not be causing problems, but there are plenty of other possibilities. Netflix may have accounted for breakage in their business model and Gamefly may not have

Aussie Post Works Their Magic Too

[GumphMaster]

I am amazed at the sheer skill displayed by postal services in breaking CDROMs. Australia Post has broken the last couple I have mailed. The disc is in a paper sleeve glued to the inside of a 10mm thick A4 paper manual inside a heavy paper "Toughbag" envelope. The envelopes and manual arrive with no outward signs of distress but the CDROM has been broken cleanly in two. One went to the far side of the country, but the other only a few suburbs away.

You can grab a bare CD and bend it in half without physically breaking it... it takes compressive force on the fold before the CD shatters. How this happens in transit without damaging the containing envelopes beats me.

Re:Did they try to work it out or just FILE FILE F

[Alpha232]

From the original complaint, the USPS apparently does treat them differently as far as machine handling... it would be interesting to see what happens.

The issue here is why does GameFly have to jump through hoops and spend alot more on packaging to survive automation even when the class of service they used allows for non-machine sorts, while the other companies get separated for special treatment.

Re:Aussie Post Works Their Magic Too

[Anonymous Coward]

This is why (at least in the states), I always use an actual cardboard box, of at least 5cm thickness, lined with large cell bubble wrap. By listing the contents as "Media", a special shipping rate is given. ("Media" covers anything from printed books and photographs such as posters and what-not, to audio and video recordings. Digital data devices can also qualify as 'Media'. "Media" type packages usually ship FAR cheaper for their weight than traditional packages. USPS on Media Mail [usps.com])

By using the "Large" box, the package gets sorted manually instead of through the envelope sorting machine. This can be further enhanced by stamping the box "Do not bend or fold."

Granted, this doesn't look nearly as "Sexy" as a thin, cardboard sleeve does when it arrives in the mail, but the disc is much more likely to arrive in a use-able condition.

(I have sent a disk from the Midwestern US *TO* Australia this way, and had it arrive safely.)

Well, I can attest to the losses

[AnswerIs42]

When I use to have a gamefly account, I would loose 3 out of every 5 disks in transit (had something like 30 games not show up over the 5 years I had an account). I would get ripped open envelopes that were taped shut.. I had cut open ones show up. I had one envelope show up so badly mangled they put it inside another envelope. ALL of them had the disks missing.. sometimes I would get the empty game holding envelope.

I looked into the transfer route after the first few are missing.. Gamefly center -> receiving office -> transfer location 1 -> transfer location 2 -> local post office

The post office tried to tell me that is was AFTER the mail was delivered that the thefts happened. I had a PO Box... so that still tells me it is within the system they went missing.

When gamefly went to the current packaging, the missing disk numbers did drop back to 1 in 10 or so. but when they did go missing, I would not even get an envelope in the mail.

Re:Is it me?

[tophermeyer]

W...T....F.... USPS are you serious? So, if I call you and say "hey my mail keeps disappearing" are you going to tell me "what are YOU doing to stop it?"

Regarding this point, I think this is pretty much a USPS standard policy. I have had two separate instances where packages delivered through USPS have gone missing. USPS claims they were delivered, I never received them. On both instances, I had the same kind of response from them, and it didn't really surprise me. After all, they are leaving video game disks in mailboxes that are frequently not secured. It seems logical that there are people in the world that will steal those disks, and it also seems logical that USPS would not feel inclined to take responsibility for that. Its crappy customer service for sure, but I can understand the thinking.

GameFly disks come in a largish stiff cardboard packet that does not bend. Netflix disks come in similarly sized paper envelopes that do bend around the corners. Netflix mailings are relatively easy to stuff into a small mailbox because they literally have a footprint the size of a DVD (small). GameFly's mailings are not nearly as flexible, so again it does not surprise me that USPS is questioning why kind of research GameFly conducted to determine that this package was the most appropriate.

Re:netflix vs gamefly

[ktappe]

funny since gamefly's disks are wrapped in rigid cardboard and much more secure than netflix...

Which makes them larger and therefore more likely to be difficult to fit into some mailboxes. That makes them more likely to be bent by mailcarriers, leading to damage. This is something GameFly probably needed to put more R&D into and on that point, score one for the USPS.

Re:Is it me?

[Myopic]

Yeah, it definitely fits the stereotype of a government agency.

But, to be clear, the USPS is not a government agency. Like Major League Baseball or Fannie Mae, it is a private agency which has a special relationship with the government.

Re:Is it me?

[PalmKiller]

No, semi quasi true, but no on the profit... Until 1970, the U.S. Postal Service functioned as a regular, tax-supported, agency of the federal government. Now, under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the U.S. Postal Service is a semi-independent federal agency, mandated to be revenue-neutral. That is, it is supposed to break even, not make a profit.

Re:"Destinating"

[bws111]

What exactly is wrong with that? It's called defining your terms, and is quite common in legal documents. I would much rather read a document that had terms defined like that at the beginning than one that was full of do/did, each/every, thing(s), and/or, any/all ... "Did/do you ship any/all games(s) and/or movie(s)?"

Re:netflix vs gamefly

[bws111]

One thing you can be sure of is that Netflix and Blockbuster are NOT paying retail. They are not going down to the local Best Buy and purchasing 1000 copies of some movie. Unless you have some info to the contrary, we don't know anything about their arrangement with the studios. It could be that they get the disks for free, and pay the studios a fee every time a disk goes out. Since they are also able to offer movies on-line, they obviously have some arrangement other than 'buy a retail disk'.

Re:Is it me?

[PalmKiller]

Now I did say supposed to break even, but as of late, they are turning a net profit in the low billions range each year...so it makes you wonder why the price of stamps keeps going up...something smells very fishy.