Matt Stevens Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 (edited) Gang, does anyone have weekend Contact info for CINELAB in MA? Their phone goes to weekend VM and there is no response to my emails. I sent my film to them yesterday via USPS, insured and at an amount that requires the package to be handed to a person. But the Postal delivery person left it "on porch" today according to delivery information. Needless to say, I am in an absolute complete panic here. My project, which cost me every penny that I have to my name, will be toast if the box is stolen or destroyed by the elements. WTF!!!!! I had it shipped priority, so it should have arrived on Monday, G*d d@mmit. I cannot believe my insane misfortune. This is the biggest project of my life and at the moment is at risk of being completely destroyed. Edited October 4, 2015 by Matt Stevens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Cunningham Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Keep posting here Matt. Rob is on this forum pretty often so you might get lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted October 4, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted October 4, 2015 I just sent Robert a personal email about it. Best I can do from here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg MacPherson Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 They may have an after hours drop box there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Sponsor Robert Houllahan Posted October 4, 2015 Site Sponsor Share Posted October 4, 2015 There is no "porch" at Cinelab it's a big old New England mill building, our local USPS usually delivers it to our indoor window box on the second floor or holds packages till the next business day if they can't get into the building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Stevens Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Okay, this at least sounds reasonable. I completely freaked out when I read the delivery message. Never mind that I sent it restricted delivery. I'll have the hard drive and one last roll mailed Monday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'm sure it will be fine. But going forward some friendly advice, never ever ship on a Friday. You never know what will happen over a weekend. Always ship via FedEx or UPS, never use the postal service no matter how cheap or competent they sound. They can never match the level of service the professional couriers can offer. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 USPS took a week to get a Steenbeck belt 60 miles to Boston, Mass. airport from Dwight Cody. It then got to me in a day because I assume they don't do the flying part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Sponsor Robert Houllahan Posted October 5, 2015 Site Sponsor Share Posted October 5, 2015 The film was just delivered to Cinelab by the USPS, the info from them that they had left it Saturday was not correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 The film was just delivered to Cinelab by the USPS, the info from them that they had left it Saturday was not correct. :lol: USPS doesn't get a very good press, does it? How on earth did they manage to update the tracking info without the package in their hands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Sponsor Robert Houllahan Posted October 5, 2015 Site Sponsor Share Posted October 5, 2015 USPS can be hit or miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Hartman Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 USPS quality, depends on the mail carrier. With pickup, I've had the package listed as picked up when it was still sitting there. However I caught FedEx throwing packages like it was a football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Bill DiPietra Posted October 5, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted October 5, 2015 However I caught FedEx throwing packages like it was a football. I always use UPS and avoid FedEx like the plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk DeJonghe Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 We always use Fedex, had bad experiences with UPS into Paris. Depends on the local people I guess. Did you contact customer service? So far, nothing beats the service we got from Chronopost, not entirely their fault. A brand new blow-up print for a feature was shipped to a Paris suburb for subtitling. In Malakoff, France, the van was robbed by armed men, everything valuable was taken out, the van was then burned with the film inside. We made an new print in emergency, it was subtitled, not robbed and sent in time to the Cannes festival where it won the main award in its category (Camera d'Or). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Will Montgomery Posted October 7, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted October 7, 2015 If you really like to gamble, try sending it via USPS Media Mail. Remember, motion picture film qualifies for this amazingly inexpensive transportation method. I've shipped 16mm movies weighing like 15 lbs. for less than $10. Never had anything lost (knocking on wood right now) but it can sometimes take a week to get somewhere. Good luck with the postal workers trying to explain what Media Mail is...especially when you have film. They usually say no, then I have to tell them to get their supervisor who at first says no then I say look it up and they come back and say, "oh, you're right!". Funny since it was originally made for transporting educational films around the U.S. back in the 60's and 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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