I don’t know what has changed about the postal service lately, but they’ve taken to crushing the cardboard mailing tubes that I’ve been using without incident for the past couple of years.
This isn’t such a problem for Journeyman whistles, but Stealth whistles are more easily damaged.
If rough handling is now simply to be expected, I have no choice but to use a sturdier container for shipping my whistles.
There is a 13oz weight limit for first class mail, so most of my shipments have allowed it as an option… but now I’m just going to have to switch to using sturdier, and therefore heavier containers to hopefully avoid any more damage claims.
All my shipments are fully insured, but it’s best to fall back on insurance only in the event of loss.
The postal service can claim ‘insufficient packaging’ unless I use the containers they provide for priority and express mail, so I’m no longer going to offer first class mail as a shipping option.
In other news, I’ve recently stopped tapering the windway to increase backpressure.
It wasn’t an issue with high whistles, but low whistles fare better with the little bit of extra backpressure you get by eliminating the taper.
Oh, and my current waiting list is almost seven months long, so if you want to order a whistle for a Christmas gift, it will have to be for next Christmas! 