I sent a package to the east coast and sent it three day Priority Mail. It took 8 days! Someone sent me a package from the east coast 3 day Priority Mail and it took over a week. Now I ordered stamps from the USPS and guess what? They sent them Priority Mail and here it is a week later and nothing. From the damned Postal Service no less. They cannot get their own parcels or envelopes in a timely manner!
Okay, what goes on? I heard that because so many commercial flights are cancelled due to COVID-19, there are fewer planes to ship Priority Mail which usually goes via air. So the postal service ships by ground and it then takes at least a week coast to coast, or in the case of the stamps, a week or more from the Midwest to California. Of course you have to pay the same outrageous Priority Mail fee regardless of how they decide to send your package or letter. In contacting the USPS their answer is wait ten more days and then file a claim. Idiots!
UPS and FedEx use their own planes so they don't do this. If you ship two day air it goes by air. Ship ground and it goes ground. They guarantee their services and the post office does not. Unless you use Express Mail they could care less about timely service. And good luck in making a claim for lost or undelivered packages. They take an eternity, IF you ever get reimbursed, and make you think you did something wrong rather than them. And of course, your postage cost is gone forever.
When mailing for the holidays, ship early. I am talking about right after Thanksgiving or even sooner. If their current handling of mail and parcels is any indication of their performance, two weeks or more could become the norm. Maybe if they would get rid of the dead wood at the post offices and distribution centers we could have Amazon like performance for a decent cost. Of course, that will never happen. The unions protect the dead wood and I know from people who are actually good workers how difficult it is to get rid of a poor or non-performing employee in the postal service.
It simply amazes me at the inefficiency of the United States Postal Service. The lack of training, inefficient shipping and plain idiots who handle our mail leaves little doubt on why the system is always in trouble.
For example, we have mail to be picked up and have even purchased large labels asking that it be scanned. Hmm...latest is the the idiot who picks up the mail just leaves it in the box and never takes it. We not only have to place notes that say SCAN ME but also PLEASE TAKE WITH YOU AND SCAN! WTF? And they complain that people are not supporting them. Why should we when we now have alternate means to ship most larger parcels.
I have an item coming from overseas and it arrives within 3 days at Los Angeles. Then it sits for 4 days before it moves to the relay facility who then ships it 38 miles further away from where the destination is. What? The distance from LA to here is about 90 miles but they ship it north an additional 38 miles so it is now 128 miles away. And it took then how many days to do that?
I have to laugh when Royal Mail can get things overseas in less than 3 days and it then takes the USPS another week to get it less than 100 miles to the end point. Brits, don't complain about your Post, just be glad our government is not running it and bailing it out.
Complain to the USPS and it does little to ever correct the situation. Apparently the hiring process is no better than it was over 50 years ago, with IQ absolutely not a requirement to handle or deliver mail. Every time we get a new mail carrier, we need to trade mail with neighbors. Hell, when we get a good mail carrier, they transfer them somewhere else. We just get the dregs.
Amazon can deliver in a day or two and the USPS can not. Amazon does it for free with Prime and even with Priority Mail you never know when things will be delivered. Pay 18 dollars for a large box with two day delivery and it even says two day on the label and it takes four or five. And the USPS just yawns again.
And the government, the taxpayers, just continue to bail out this archaic system. Privatize it and we will pay more they say, but maybe we will actually get timely service? I've never had FedEx or UPS fail to pick up a package so why can't the USPS do it? Food for thought.
UPDATE: The registered mail, which the USPS touts as being ultra secure and handled so carefully, was never scanned by the local post office before going out for delivery. I called in and asked if it was out for delivery and was told it must be because it is not here? WTF? That is secure?
Add to that the news this past weekend that 33 employees of the USPS either had warrants or were arrested for stealing mail and/or its contents. One person stole 199 cell phones and they found 43,000 pieces of mail at another postal workers house! One of them is the ex-president of the Mail Handlers Union! And, the news last week also showed surveillance video of a mail person dumping mail in a dumpster so she didn't have to deliver it. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-usps-mail-theft-20160827-snap-story.html
The U.S. Postal Service spends what appears to be millions of dollars on commercials telling us how much better their service is now, with more frequent scanning of packages and the new two and three day Priority Mail service. It's so good, the two and three day service is printed right there on your label for all to see. Plus they now have spent untold dollars more to use Spiderman as a mascot in their website. Must be because his hands stick to the mail and slow it down, just like the slowness of many real USPS employees.
Well, hold on a moment. First of all, I have been informed that the two and three days labeling is no more than hype by the Postal Service. I guess something to soothe the public as they once again raised rates on their lackadaisical and lackluster service. The two and three day statement only means that they will attempt to get the package there in two or three days but it could take longer and there is absolutely no guarantee how long. Nor is there any recourse if the package take a week or more to arrive. The only guaranteed service is Express Mail which is now called Priority Mail Express, where it's delivered the next day overnight or you can fight to get your postage fees back.
Two or three days can mean 8 days as we found out in early December. Not wanting to chance late delivery, we shipped very early via Priority Mail with the "two day" statement on the labels. two packages to the same address. One arrived 4 business days later and one 8 days later. What happened to the two days? And why didn't they arrive the same day? First Class mail, which used to take one day within a city now takes two or three many times, and cross country flat envelopes can take several weeks, depending on the post office. I've had flats to New Hampshire swirling around and around for up to two weeks and finally had to call the local New Hampshire post office to see what was going on and have them track the piece of mail. No help but a few days later it was delivered.
Scanning is terrible. Mail is often picked up and never scanned until late in the day at the post office. The carrier is supposed to scan the packages at pickup but they often do not. Must we post a note on all packages to please scan at pickup to assure the packages get scanned? Interim scanning is spotty at best. We have had packages that were never scanned at all until they were delivered. Sometimes they are not even scanned at delivery, and in the case of an item of value, have to rely on the recipients honesty, as if they state they never received it, we have no way to prove it was received. We're then out the money and the Postal Service can't track it either. Oh, did I mention the Postal Service doesn't consider anything "lost" until 30 days have passed?
Packages that end up on the wrong truck or in the wrong bin for delivery and re held up for days require a call to the Post Office as they will not find their mistake. We had a package that was out for delivery for two days and finally called to see what was going on. A supervisor stated it was in the wrong "bin" and we could come in and get it or he would place it in the correct bin for next day delivery. If we hadn't called, I wonder how many days it would have gone along on that cycle?
Sort Centers are another problem where mail can sit for days unless it is handled properly. But again, adequate supervision and getting rid of the dead wood at these stations would go a long way towards moving the mail more efficiently.
The first class postage rate increase to 49 cents was noted to be temporary an is supposed to be reduced to 47 cents as soon as the Postal Service bails itself out of the current mess it is in. Fat chance! With the type service we are getting, we're starting to rely more heavily on other services that have more time defined delivery and better customer services,
Speaking of customer services, the USPS really sucks at that. They have a toll-free line that lets you sit on hold eternally because either they have so many complaints they can't handle them or they really don't want to know what you have to say. Send in a written or e-mail complaint and you get a response from your local post office even if the issue is not with them. Then they want all the specifics, so you need to scan and cut and paste and send it to the original place where you couldn't send it to in the first place. You know you don't get an e-mail for your local PO to do so.
So, when the Postal Service wonders why they're going bankrupt, it's simple. The service is really bad and getting worse. And customer service is bad. Been to a Post Office with 30 people in line and watched a clerk close his window because it's his time to go on break? While you stand in line even longer as nobody comes to open his window? That's difficult to explain to the customers who have businesses of their own or children crying or taking time from their jobs. I was informed that's the way it's run and the union rules. Break time comes and all else stops...screw the customers. If you ran your business they way, you wouldn't survive either.
So, people turn to e-mail, texting, paperless banking, paperless bill paying, FedEx, UPS, OnTrac, and all sorts of other alternatives to the Postal Service. For years, it was not cost effective to use FedEx for consumers shipping packages, but with the new ground services available, in many cases it's less costly than the Postal Service. With 5 day delivery, $100 of insurance included too.
April 24, 2014:
Here's yet another view of the stellar service I receive. A package with "2 Day" service gets to San Diego, CA yesterday. Leaves that facility last night yet doesn't make it to my post office less than 35 miles away to be delivered today. Thus two day turns into three day at best. Why?
Postal Product: Priority Mail 2-Day™
Features: $100 insurance included USPS Tracking™
Date & Time
Status of Item
Location
April 23, 2014
Depart USPS Sort Facility
SAN DIEGO, CA 92199
April 23, 2014 , 10:39 pm
Processed through USPS Sort Facility
SAN DIEGO, CA 92199
April 22, 2014
Depart USPS Sort Facility
LOUISVILLE, KY 40231
April 22, 2014 , 4:13 pm
Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility
LOUISVILLE, KY 40231
April 22, 2014 , 2:58 pm
Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility
SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY 40165
April 22, 2014
Electronic Shipping Info Received
NOTE: The $100 Insurance you actually pay for. I shipped three articles out Priority Mail and wanted to insure them for $100 and the USPS wanted me to pay an additional $2+ for the insurance over $50 which was free. So the "included" is a bunch of bull in my opinion.
Speaking of scanning, a piece of mail that required scanning went from my box with a NOTE on it requesting it be scanned (never was) to the Carlsbad 92011 Post Office (Never Scanned) to the San Diego Sort Center (Never Scanned) and God knows where else. The FIRST SCAN was 4 days later in Indianapolis where some conscientious person actually did their job and scanned it. Half way across the country and 4 days later before anyone scanned it. We presumed it may have been lost. Great service, eh?
Yet the Postal Service continues to advertise their wonderful services with pricey television commercials and thtat costly Spiderman theme. Why not spend that money on actually doing the job we pay them for. Privatize the whole damned thing and let the chips fall where they may. Dump the Postal Unions so they can get rid of the useless slackers who don't do their jobs. We must have a bunch of them locally because why else would the mail be in such a mess?
Here's a surprise...you spend ten bucks to ship a package and the Postal Service misroutes it within its own unit then doesn't update the tracking information. Why? Because they don't want you to know just how badly they might have screwed up the shipping of a simple priority mail package.
Let's start with the facts. This package was handed to the carrier about noon on July 1st. How in hell it didn't get scanned by the Post Office about three miles away until after 3 AM the next morning is way beyond my comprehension. And then the real screw up starts as follows:
What is so weird is that apparently the Post Office KNOWS it has missent the package at 8:17 AM but continues the sort and sends it on out for delivery at 8:37 AM anyway and 14 hours later doesn't update the status of the package because they likely don't know where in hell it is, or don't want anyone to know how badly they mishandled it! And 15 hours later there is still no indication where that package might be. It should be in the hands of the recipient but that isn't going to happen on time!
So, the USPS wants me to trust them with all my shipping. And touts two to three day shipping to boot. Yet why won't they give me a refund if it takes them a week to get my package to the receiver, when it's clearly their fault? Not the weather or another act of God? It's the idiocy of the incompetent postal service at work. Sad that there are some good employees and some idiots who cannot get their crap straight if it were on their head. This isn't the first time this has happened but it's the most recent and it's documented it's Carlsbad that screwed up so no tossing the blame this time. Nice work folks. And you worry about your jobs? I bitch about SmartPost, but at half the cost, maybe it does take ten days, but you're getting in the same category for twice the price.
July 6 Update: With no further scanning except the delivery scan, the package arrived on July 6. The 2-3 day Priority Mail took 0ver 5 days to get there, which in itself is probably no biggie considering there was a holiday, but not to scan it at any time after they bobbled it locally? Shows the quality of the USPS. Sorry, if bankruptcy is on the horizon, they're doing it all by themselves.
