United States Post Office sucks buttermilk!!!!

[knight_muzzleloader]

Anyone had luck submitting claims with USPS?

I sent a chuck back to Penn State Industries for repair, post office lost it. I submitted claim form for the insurance. Post office lost that. I sent a second claim, denied. I sent an appeal, denied. I'm on my third appeal.

Anyone had any luck? Why buy insurance if they don't pay when they lose it? Jim

sorry for the vent, I'm frustrated. The chuck was under warrenty, but I've been fighting this since June now the warrenty is gone, even if I could get the chuck from the dead letter box, which is where the chuck is at. Why didn't they just sent it back to me. Hmmmmmmm crap!!!!

 

[cnccutter]

Jim, I feel your pain. As a vendor, every time I send a package out I have to wonder if its going to get to the people that ordered it. Over all I have had good luck, but I cringe when the guys that ship a lot chime in.

I have looked into UPS, and FedEx, but I hate to have to raise the shipping cost to my buyers to get the added benefit.

as far as you getting your pound of flesh with the post office, I wouldn't hold your breath.

Erik

 

[n7bsn]

You probably don't want to know that the stats show that USPS is actually better at paying claims then UPS or FEDEX.

In other words, any time you ship something there is a chance it will vanish and your claim will be denied.

 

[sdemars]

I fought . .

I fought with UPS for 11 months for a watch they lost.

When they finally paid they were nice enough to inform me that the route-man that delivered to SEIKO in California had been stealing high dollar divers watches sent in for battery replacements. Guess how he spotted them. You had to write "BATTERY REPLACEMENT DEPT" on the package. . . duh!

Steve

 

[workinforwood]

I had a package go missing and it never did come back to me..just happpened recently and was the first time I ever had that problem. I even had a confirmation on it and the confirmation says it was undeliverable, so I don't know why it hasn't been returned. I ended up replacing the order, and I never bothered making a claim. I ship a lot of packages and so far it's been great. I really like this click n ship thing through pay pal too..I just did that yesterday for the first time ever and I'm impressed. Now I just have to take the boxes and drop them at the post office I guess. Or can I put them in the mail box with the flag up?

 

[Smitty37]

if they fit

I had a package go missing and it never did come back to me..just happpened recently and was the first time I ever had that problem. I even had a confirmation on it and the confirmation says it was undeliverable, so I don't know why it hasn't been returned. I ended up replacing the order, and I never bothered making a claim. I ship a lot of packages and so far it's been great. I really like this click n ship thing through pay pal too..I just did that yesterday for the first time ever and I'm impressed. Now I just have to take the boxes and drop them at the post office I guess. Or can I put them in the mail box with the flag up?

If they fit...in the mail box. If at least one of them is priority mail you can go to the PO webb site and request FREE pickup at your door if where you live meets a couple of criteria

 

[Smitty37]

I can't see any

Jim, I feel your pain. As a vendor, every time I send a package out I have to wonder if its going to get to the people that ordered it. Over all I have had good luck, but I cringe when the guys that ship a lot chime in.

I have looked into UPS, and FedEx, but I hate to have to raise the shipping cost to my buyers to get the added benefit.

as far as you getting your pound of flesh with the post office, I wouldn't hold your breath.

Erik

I don't see any added benefit. I ship 1000 to 1100 packages a year (with delivery confirmation) and have not had any domestic shipments lost in the last 3 years.

International is another story but all of the losses have been in the receiving country (I suspect that half of them probably actually got delivered). Usually if a package gets lost I stop shipping to that country.

 

[PTownSubbie]

I just for the first time had a package lost. I kept watching the tracking and it would never show up as being received into the USPS system. For some reason my post office does not scan outgoing packages if they are pre-paid which makes me a little hot under the collar.

This package went two weeks with no update as to the status. I finally called and found out there was a comment somewhere saying it was in IA and was damaged. What does that mean? I kept calling and no updates.....

Finally, yesterday I recieved a letter and the original shipping label from the package stating that I could take it to the USPS and get a refund for the shipping and submit a claim.

I guess this is different than being lost because it was still there but damaged with no contents left inside.....

This is my only bad experience with USPS in a year and a half of shipping from home.

Jeff, I just put my packages in my mailbox that are outgoing. I don't make any arrangements at all. He just takes them and they get shipped.

 

[randyrls]

I would INSIST that they be scanned when they left my hands. "Let's pretend that I am paying you to do what I want! OK?"

 

[randyrls]

I sent a chuck back to Penn State Industries for repair, post office lost it. I submitted claim form for the insurance. Post office lost that. I sent a second claim, denied. I sent an appeal, denied. I'm on my third appeal

Jim; Unfortunately the appeal process works against the post office. If they have too many losses, the superiors start to inspect their operation.

 

[hilltopper46]

Isn't this a good thing? Why the 'unfortunately'?

I sent a chuck back to Penn State Industries for repair, post office lost it. I submitted claim form for the insurance. Post office lost that. I sent a second claim, denied. I sent an appeal, denied. I'm on my third appeal

Jim; Unfortunately the appeal process works against the post office. If they have too many losses, the superiors start to inspect their operation.

 

[Daniel]

Tony, No it is not a good thing. You think to much like a person that actually tries to provide good service. I work for the government, and USPS even though it is contracted is still Government. All they care is that they do not get enough claims to be inspected, and only claims that get paid are considered claims. So denial is a great way to prevent being inspected.

 

[Jgrden]

Had a similar incident. Shipped $350.00 worth of pens in July. In October they had not yet been received. Lost. No insurance so we could not file a claim. I filed a incident on-line with the post office. Two weeks later it showed up BUT here is the twist to the story. My client called and said UPS contacted him saying they had a package for him but needed a better address than Hwy 19. We did not send the package UPS, how'd they get it????

 

[PenMan1]

The only thing worse than the USPS would be NO Post Office. Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

 

[Smitty37]

Ask them too

I just for the first time had a package lost. I kept watching the tracking and it would never show up as being received into the USPS system. For some reason my post office does not scan outgoing packages if they are pre-paid which makes me a little hot under the collar.

This package went two weeks with no update as to the status. I finally called and found out there was a comment somewhere saying it was in IA and was damaged. What does that mean? I kept calling and no updates.....

Finally, yesterday I recieved a letter and the original shipping label from the package stating that I could take it to the USPS and get a refund for the shipping and submit a claim.

I guess this is different than being lost because it was still there but damaged with no contents left inside.....

This is my only bad experience with USPS in a year and a half of shipping from home.

Jeff, I just put my packages in my mailbox that are outgoing. I don't make any arrangements at all. He just takes them and they get shipped.

Some post offices just send them to their sort center without scanning but if you request it they should scan them. My carrier does it for me, I think all of the carriers have scanners or have access to them when the get back to the post office.

 

[Smitty37]

Contract

Had a similar incident. Shipped $350.00 worth of pens in July. In October they had not yet been received. Lost. No insurance so we could not file a claim. I filed a incident on-line with the post office. Two weeks later it showed up BUT here is the twist to the story. My client called and said UPS contacted him saying they had a package for him but needed a better address than Hwy 19. We did not send the package UPS, how'd they get it????

I used a small post office for awhile and both UPS and Fed Ex made regular stops there. Sometimes leaving packages for the post office to deliver. I suspect it works both ways and that UPS delivers some packages sent via Post Office.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

We ship on average fifty packages a day via USPS. We use Endicia to pay our postage and print our labels. A good benefit of Endicia is they offer their own insurance which is cheaper than USPS. Even better is they pay their claims. Having said that, we have only made one claim in over $85k of shipping in the past five years. I know it stinks when it happens but their record with us has been exemplary. We have also found that first class gets there just as fast as priority in 90% of the shipments.

We did make one claim with USPS about 12 years ago. It took more than 6 months to get paid. I know the postal worker well that helped me file the claim. He also handles all our bulk mail shipments. Our local small town post office did their job, it was the claims department that drug their feet.

 

[Smitty37]

U-PIC

If you ship very much and you want to insure use a private parcel insurance carrier like U-Pic. They are cheaper, and their claim service has always been top rate for me. Although admittedly I have not had to submit a claim in over 3 years.

 

[Jgrden]

If you ship very much and you want to insure use a private parcel insurance carrier like U-Pic. They are cheaper, and their claim service has always been top rate for me. Although admittedly I have not had to submit a claim in over 3 years.

"U-Pic" what is that??, something to eat? Are they a carrier that we can find?

 

[Smitty37]

Me Too

We ship on average fifty packages a day via USPS. We use Endicia to pay our postage and print our labels. A good benefit of Endicia is they offer their own insurance which is cheaper than USPS. Even better is they pay their claims. Having said that, we have only made one claim in over $85k of shipping in the past five years. I know it stinks when it happens but their record with us has been exemplary. We have also found that first class gets there just as fast as priority in 90% of the shipments.

We did make one claim with USPS about 12 years ago. It took more than 6 months to get paid. I know the postal worker well that helped me file the claim. He also handles all our bulk mail shipments. Our local small town post office did their job, it was the claims department that drug their feet.

I use the same setup although I ship only about 100 packages a month. .Endicia's reselling insurance by U-pic and my prior experience about 5 years ago was that U-pic was great on claims.

You are right on FC vs Priority. In fact the post office lists both as 2 - 3 days for parcels. I use FC on anything weighing less than 13 ounces.

 

[knight_muzzleloader]

I don't mind the lost package, but if I address it correctly, and pay the insurance I do expect to get the insurance. I don't like all the song and dance of the denials and appeals. Even my postman says everything looked correct when we shipped.

Oh, well I just didn't want to have to spend the extra bucks to replace my chuck. Jim

 

[Jgrden]

Had a similar incident. Shipped $350.00 worth of pens in July. In October they had not yet been received. Lost. No insurance so we could not file a claim. I filed a incident on-line with the post office. Two weeks later it showed up BUT here is the twist to the story. My client called and said UPS contacted him saying they had a package for him but needed a better address than Hwy 19. We did not send the package UPS, how'd they get it????

I used a small post office for awhile and both UPS and Fed Ex made regular stops there. Sometimes leaving packages for the post office to deliver. I suspect it works both ways and that UPS delivers some packages sent via Post Office.

Aha, as I suspected, a postal clearing house.

 

[dogcatcher]

Aha, as I suspected, a postal clearing house.

Because both UPS and Fed Ex know that the post office can deliver some packages to some areas cheaper than they can send their drivers.

Either way you look at it the post office is the best system around. According to the last report I read they have a higher percentage rate of correct deliveries, higher percentage rate of on time deliveries and do it for a cheaper price than UPS or Fed Ex.

The only way you can get a better rate from UPS and Fed Ex is to be a major shipper.

 

[Jgrden]

Aha, as I suspected, a postal clearing house.

Because both UPS and Fed Ex know that the post office can deliver some packages to some areas cheaper than they can send their drivers.

Either way you look at it the post office is the best system around. According to the last report I read they have a higher percentage rate of correct deliveries, higher percentage rate of on time deliveries and do it for a cheaper price than UPS or Fed Ex.

The only way you can get a better rate from UPS and Fed Ex is to be a major shipper.

There you go. That is what I wanted to hear.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I just for the first time had a package lost. I kept watching the tracking and it would never show up as being received into the USPS system. For some reason my post office does not scan outgoing packages if they are pre-paid which makes me a little hot under the collar.

This package went two weeks with no update as to the status. I finally called and found out there was a comment somewhere saying it was in IA and was damaged. What does that mean? I kept calling and no updates.....

Finally, yesterday I recieved a letter and the original shipping label from the package stating that I could take it to the USPS and get a refund for the shipping and submit a claim.

I guess this is different than being lost because it was still there but damaged with no contents left inside.....

This is my only bad experience with USPS in a year and a half of shipping from home.

Jeff, I just put my packages in my mailbox that are outgoing. I don't make any arrangements at all. He just takes them and they get shipped.

If you take the package to the post office, you can ask the clerk at the counter to scan it into the system... usually the next scan is on delivery... not too many in between.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Had a similar incident. Shipped $350.00 worth of pens in July. In October they had not yet been received. Lost. No insurance so we could not file a claim. I filed a incident on-line with the post office. Two weeks later it showed up BUT here is the twist to the story. My client called and said UPS contacted him saying they had a package for him but needed a better address than Hwy 19. We did not send the package UPS, how'd they get it????

I used a small post office for awhile and both UPS and Fed Ex made regular stops there. Sometimes leaving packages for the post office to deliver. I suspect it works both ways and that UPS delivers some packages sent via Post Office.

There has been an exchange of services for years... UPS doesn't have the facilities to service a lot of the smaller communities, so they contract with the post office... Back in the day when we had First Class mail and Air Mail, the service was often interchanged with what ever was most convenient for the post office... we often flew hundreds of pounds of "green" mail.... (First class mail that is normally trucked) along with our "orange" mail .. air mail that was stamped for air. Sometimes, the green mail bags would be pulled plane side, but not loaded due to weight constrictions, space or time constraints in loading... the cart would be pulled back to a staging area to wait for another plane to destination... sometimes it could sit in the stage area for a couple of days... if it had gotten onto a truck in the beginning, would already have been at destination..... today, mail is trucked to most destinations rather than flown..

 

[Smitty37]

yep

If you ship very much and you want to insure use a private parcel insurance carrier like U-Pic. They are cheaper, and their claim service has always been top rate for me. Although admittedly I have not had to submit a claim in over 3 years.

"U-Pic" what is that??, something to eat? Are they a carrier that we can find?

www.u-pic.com

 

[cnccutter]

Le Roy, I guess the part I like about UPS is that if you go on line and track it, it shows right where it is, and that tracking means something. I have shipped packages from the shop and after the driver left I signed onto tracking and they already have conformation that they had the package and it was in route. when I ship USPS and a customer calls about a package I hate telling them I don't know where it is.

I ship mostly with USPS because of the flat rate box's and the price. I would just like a better chance when I do loose something that I can claim it. NONE of the shippers want to pay out and make it as hard as possible to collect when you do have a claim. I guess that is the cost of keeping the over all shipping price down. its a game of averages.

Jim, I feel your pain. As a vendor, every time I send a package out I have to wonder if its going to get to the people that ordered it. Over all I have had good luck, but I cringe when the guys that ship a lot chime in.

I have looked into UPS, and FedEx, but I hate to have to raise the shipping cost to my buyers to get the added benefit.

as far as you getting your pound of flesh with the post office, I wouldn't hold your breath.

Erik

I don't see any added benefit. I ship 1000 to 1100 packages a year (with delivery confirmation) and have not had any domestic shipments lost in the last 3 years.

International is another story but all of the losses have been in the receiving country (I suspect that half of them probably actually got delivered). Usually if a package gets lost I stop shipping to that country.

 

[bitshird]

I've lost a total of 2 domestic Priority pkgs. and one international Priority pkg. I'm not panicking, I've shipped close to 600 packages last year. No insurance so I've gone up on my shipping charges to cover the losses. I've tried a claim against both USPS and once against UPS both were unpleasant experiences. unfortunately we have about the best and CHEAPEST postal system of any country, so imagine what they are like.

 

[Smitty37]

Self Insure

I do self insure. I charged for insurance until I got a fund worth a couple of hundred bucks than I stopped insuring packages under about $40 - $50. I figure insurance into the price of higher valued shipments and that keeps my fund up. If I get a loss I'll just bear the cost.
I agree the tracking is nice at UPS.

Le Roy, I guess the part I like about UPS is that if you go on line and track it, it shows right where it is, and that tracking means something. I have shipped packages from the shop and after the driver left I signed onto tracking and they already have conformation that they had the package and it was in route. when I ship USPS and a customer calls about a package I hate telling them I don't know where it is.

I ship mostly with USPS because of the flat rate box's and the price. I would just like a better chance when I do loose something that I can claim it. NONE of the shippers want to pay out and make it as hard as possible to collect when you do have a claim. I guess that is the cost of keeping the over all shipping price down. its a game of averages.

 

[n7bsn]

Aha, as I suspected, a postal clearing house.

Em. you do know that USPS has some contracts with FEDEX, UPS and DHL, right?

I know the local PO (a real Government one) the USPS shipment arrives at 5:30 AM, the FEDEX usually around 2PM and the UPS usually at 10AM. I don't recall the DHL time

I've had packages that were shipped UPS, that I tracked (via UPS), where the track stopped at Seattle, to appear at my PO Box. I've also held the door open for the DHL driver to haul packages in.

In many ways, USPS, UPS, FEDEX and DHL don't just compete, they also cooperate.

 

[Jgrden]

Aha, as I suspected, a postal clearing house.

Em. you do know that USPS has some contracts with FEDEX, UPS and DHL, right?

I know the local PO (a real Government one) the USPS shipment arrives at 5:30 AM, the FEDEX usually around 2PM and the UPS usually at 10AM. I don't recall the DHL time

I've had packages that were shipped UPS, that I tracked (via UPS), where the track stopped at Seattle, to appear at my PO Box. I've also held the door open for the DHL driver to haul packages in.

In many ways, USPS, UPS, FEDEX and DHL don't just compete, they also cooperate.

Aha, just as I expected, collusion.