USPS rant

Normally, in threads like this I am a defender of USPS. My experiences, overall, have been positive, and certainly no worse than FedEx or UPS. Until the last two months.

1) Sold an item to a gentleman here on POTN in Canada. Somehow the item got lost. It shows as being scanned outgoing at my local regional distribution center, then *poof*, lost into a black hole never to be seen or heard from again.

2) Was sent an envelope via USPS 3 day priority mail. Was mailed on July 14th. Three days, mind you. It arrives at my post office, and is scanned in, on July 19th, five days later. Here's the kicker: It wasn't put into my PO box until July 26th... 7 days after that!!!

It is something that I have to respond to, and is time sensitive, and is due back in their office by July 29th, so tomorrow I have to pay expensive overnight shipping fees to get it back in time. Grrr!!!

Needless to say, I'm shipping it back FedEx, not USPS.

Sorry for the rant, but I had to get that off my chest. Thanks for listening.

We should really have an ongoing "shipping rant" thread so we can vent.

A couple of weeks ago I was expecting a new toy on a Friday. Had confirmation from UPS that it would be delivered. It was sig required, so I hung around waiting for it. Never showed. Got updated after 7PM. Delivered on Monday. Thanks Big Brown.

I know that stuff happens, but we all tend to think that the USPS has the worst tracking system that can't be trusted. Reality is they all have issues with all parts of their processes (at times), and sooner or later we will all run in to one.

This happens, ship enough stuff with any of them and something will go wrong.

I have shipped a ton with FedEx, UPS and USPS... Never once had an issue with any of them. I used to ship USPS 90% of the time, but now it is UPS and FedEx since I work right by both for easy dropoff and far better tracking.

I think I had one weird moment with USPS now that I remember that it floated around in a weird manner for an extra two days. But it made it OK.

I once shipped a package to my daughter in TX from MN with delivery confirmation. Their system showed it as delivered but she never received it. She checked at her local small town PO - the carrier said oh yeah - it was delivered......then about 6 weeks later the package shows up out of nowhere. From then on we shipped packages to her business office.

I ship daily with USPS, and yes, things get lost quite a bit, at a higher rate than they should. As to your priority issue, priority is a "guideline" or a "goal", it is not guaranteed by USPS, so delivery can happen after the 2-3 day window they advertise.

I won't ship anything I value via USPS unless the recipient requests it and accepts all liability.

UPS wears brown for a reason and I avoid them whenever possible.

FedEx may not be perfect but they have a superior tracking system and they accept responsibility for losses.

I've had bad experiences with both UPS and FedEx, but never any issues with USPS. I nearly always go with USPS flat rate boxes, they usually end up costing less than either UPS or FedEx.

groundloop wrote in post #17063861
I've had bad experiences with both UPS and FedEx, but never any issues with USPS. I nearly always go with USPS flat rate boxes, they usually end up costing less than either UPS or FedEx.

Wait until one of those boxes vanishes...

Erik S. Klein wrote in post #17063938
Wait until one of those boxes vanishes...

What happens when an insured priority mail shipment vanishes?

mpix345 wrote in post #17063949
What happens when an insured priority mail shipment vanishes?

Excessive paperwork (submit proof of shipment, proof of value, etc,) excessive wait times (we have to wait 45(?) days to see that the package is really lost and then it takes forever for the PO to process stuff.) and the very real likelihood that they'll deny the claim arbitrarily, followed by appeals, more paperwork, etc.

USPS service ain't what it used to be. Consistently the tracking system shows a delivery when the package is still at the post office. Across many post offices, it appears that the crew have not been trained properly in the use of the tracking scanner and they mark a package delivered when it is still sitting around. Given the financial straits USPS is in, there's not much expectation that they will get any better soon.

On the other hand, I remember when Federal Express said "absolutely, positively overnight" and they seem to have let that mantra fall by the wayside.

brucea wrote in post #17068705
USPS service ain't what it used to be. Consistently the tracking system shows a delivery when the package is still at the post office. Across many post offices, it appears that the crew have not been trained properly in the use of the tracking scanner and they mark a package delivered when it is still sitting around. Given the financial straits USPS is in, there's not much expectation that they will get any better soon.

On the other hand, I remember when Federal Express said "absolutely, positively overnight" and they seem to have let that mantra fall by the wayside.

Good post.

I believe that the USPS's problem with tracking is what you say combined with a deep set mindset (within the ranks) that they are too good for that. They shouldn't have to be bothered.

I'd forgotten about the FedEx slogan... and Domino's doesn't promise delivery within 30 minutes anymore, either.

Nah, I would say USPS problem is that they have no money but congress won't let them make the changes required to even return to breaking even and being competitive.

tkbslc wrote in post #17069019
Nah, I would say USPS problem is that they have no money but congress won't let them make the changes required to even return to breaking even and being competitive.

That's why I dismiss people when they say the USPS is a self-sustaining entity. They are only in as much as is convenient for the government. The mundane stuff. When you get down to it, all significant decisions still have to be approved by others, quite often Congress itself.