USPS Rant

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LagniappeRob

Member
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
866
Location
New Orleans, LA
I gotta rant about the USPS...

On Wed. I mailed a overnight package from New Orleans to Baton Rouge (~60 miles)... even the counter person tried to tell me it would be there next day anyway. But since I needed it there by Friday, I went with overnight giving me an extra day "just in case".

So much for that "guarantee"... It's still sitting in the B.R. post office. It got there on Thursday am and they SAT on it for 23 1/2 hours before even sorting it.

"Guaranteed by Feb 7, 2012 12:00pm". Supposedly it went "out for delivery" on 2/8... yet it did not get delivered then either.

This was for a juried show and included 2 pens that will have to come back and be re-sent, or live there until next time. And they won't meet again for 6 months...
 
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ARRG!

Just got back from the US PO... they won't refund the postage until the package is delivered - even though it is WAY past the guaranteed time. Of course, they 1st tried to tell me it was delivered on time but just not scanned. I had to point out that the Baton Rouge PO scanned it as "sorting complete" the day after it was supposed to be delivered. Meaning - I have to go back AFTER it's been delivered and re-file for the refund.
 
I notice in the last two months their shipping has been getting worse. I only ship via USPS. I will not touch UPS only because their shipping has been very sloppy. I will only ship it via FEDEX only at the last resort only because of the price of shipping. I remember I had to get a package by 3:00pm on the day I shipped it. Had to go via a private delivery company who flew to the customer location cost $900.00. Needless to say I did get the job.

Alan
 
Private Enterprise

I don't know whom I'm quoting.

"Don't trust the government to do what private enterprise does best."

Generally I've got to say the USPS services have been great.

I just sent a click cigar pen, in Casein, Atlanta to Springfield, MO 800 miles. Sent Tuesday 3:00 PM, arrived Friday, Mid day. #1 son is happy with his "Chefs pen" birthday gift.

Charlie
 
That's too bad they messed up your delivery. I mail a few hundred packages each year via USPS and they've been 100% spot on in deliveries and generally pretty reliable in shipping times. I'm not saying they're the best shipping service out there but they work for me. UPS, FedEx, USPS and the rest get routinely bashed in all forums for the dump things they do once in a while. To simple bash them because they are part of the US government is a little shallow.
 
I went beyond what I thought should be necessary to get it there in time... Regular 1st class should have been enough to get it there by Friday (the deadline). Just to be sure, I went Express Mail. When it didn't arrive Thursday, I started to have a cow, but then saw it went "out for delivery" - except it did NOT get delivered. At 9:xx PM, it got updated again as "no status update". WTH? a status update of "no update"? What does that mean anyway?

Pat -
Ever tries to get anything "unusual" from the PO? A year ago or so, I had a counter person tell me they could not look up a zip code. Their multi-million (probably multi-billion) point of sale system couldn't look up zip codes? I pulled out my phone and did it right there in front of her. People bash them because they ACT LIKE they are part of the government. In other words, expect no customer service... expect bureaucracy, ridiculous rules and slow & uncaring employees who know they can't be fired. And people wonder why so many people FEAR them becoming more involved in our lives.
 
I once sent two boxes to the same address about 200 miles from me. One made it in 3 days and the other never made it. Amazingly enough, someone did find the mailing label and was able to send that back to me. The label looked like it had been carefully removed from the package with a razor blade while the box and it's contents were never found.

I filed all the proper paperwork for recovering my stuff from the Mail Recovery Center and was told that I should hear from them within 90 days. That was over a year ago.

The most frustrating part was dealing with USPS customer service. It seemed like no one had a clue as to what I should do or who to call. The lone bright spot was a worker at the PO in Iowa that received my packages. He was very helpful even though the rest of the employees didn't have a clue.
 
I sent an Express overnight package last week - it was delivered in CA before it even arrived at the sort facility - at least the customer called me with package in hand before it had arrived in the system.
 
Oh well. All my rants about Penn State don't amount to anything. Neither do my rants about products made in China. So I think I would have driven them the sixty miles.

I love the U.S.P.S.

However, I have empathy for your rant and would have reacted, and may, the same.
 
Maybe "Express" mail goes by airplane. And the employees are not bureaucrats, they are "union" members who get paid regardless. And I remember reading an article in American Woodturner and one of the artists told his story about problems shipping high dollar pieces and finally determined that using USPS and "registered" or "certified" mail (I don't remember which one) solved all his problems. The reason was that the Postmaster at each Post office had to sign his/her name and it could be checked so they are very careful.
 
nativewooder said:
Maybe "Express" mail goes by airplane. And the employees are not bureaucrats, they are "union" members who get paid regardless. And I remember reading an article in American Woodturner and one of the artists told his story about problems shipping high dollar pieces and finally determined that using USPS and "registered" or "certified" mail (I don't remember which one) solved all his problems. The reason was that the Postmaster at each Post office had to sign his/her name and it could be checked so they are very careful.
Click to expand...

It is registered mail, and each employee that has control over a registered piece of mail signs for it. The only time a postmaster will sign for it is when the post office is a one person post office and the postmaster is then responsible for the that piece of mail.
 
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