| LIFE Name me a worse company than USPS?

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I try to avoid them at all costs, but sometimes there's no way around it. For the last year or so, I've noticed that things have really taken dive (and it already was pretty bad). They make AT&T and the airline companies seem like the gold standard. Someone smarter than me answer, can we just do away with them and be ok? I view them like I view TSA. They are needed, but the whole thing needs to be scrapped and privatized.

 

[planomateo]

Anything run by the government...

 

[It Takes Eleven]

UPS, FedEx, a host of smaller carriers and now Amazon take the profitable piece and leave the mostly unprofitable volume for an unwieldy bureaucracy. It's a bit like health insurance...

 

[Skipz]

The IRS

 

[rick4bama]

UPS! I get most of my meds from the VA and it comes thought UPS. The other day I had to send back equipment that I had to send my blood sugar to them. I took it to the UPS store. Had no problem giving to them. But! As I was giving them the package, I look behind the guy. I saw package to package. It looks like the truck just toss it cookies in the building.

 

[Bamabww]

A few years ago I sold an eyepiece for a telescope to a guy in Grant's Pass Oregon. The package weighed just over 1 pound. They gave me two options, general delivery for $2.50 including insurance with 4 to 5 days delivery time or priority mail which wasI$7.50 and a 2 -3 days delivery time. I shipped it priority mail because that was the agreement I had with the purchaser. When I got back home I found I had left out the spec sheet for the eyepiece.

I emailed the guy, apologized and promised I would put it in the mail that day which I did. Just a regular envelope placed in my mailbox. I was able to do so before my mail ran that day so it was in the system the same day as the Priority Mail eyepiece.

The envelope from my mailbox arrived 2 days before the priority mail, 2-3 days delivery which took 5 days. No one at the post office could explain how that happened and no, they wouldn't refund the difference.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

USPS has a lot of issues, mostly created by government interference. UPS is just bad. Nothing I order from UPS ever arrives without at least some damage to the packaging, usually at least one corner completely crushed but occasionally the entire thing crushed. Their tracking is a joke compared to even the barebones stuff USPS has.

 

[TerryP]

I try to avoid them at all costs, but sometimes there's no way around it. For the last year or so, I've noticed that things have really taken dive (and it already was pretty bad). They make AT&T and the airline companies seem like the gold standard. Someone smarter than me answer, can we just do away with them and be ok? I view them like I view TSA. They are needed, but the whole thing needs to be scrapped and privatized.

Let me put it this way.

Teresa, who is my best friends sister and as close to one as I have (with four, mind you) works for the USPS. She doesn't trust them at all. In fact, does her dead level best to avoid using USPS on everything she has delivered.

 

[planomateo]

I've had a part for my tractor in transit since 12/2. It's 25lbs which apparently means it avoids scans. It's finally in Billings now.

I called USPS and requested a trace, which means the receiving office Postmaster has to track it down. He's been keeping me updated on the status.

I love our small town USPS, they are great to deal with. Even the ladies in Prosper, TX were great.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I've had a part for my tractor in transit since 12/2. It's 25lbs which apparently means it avoids scans. It's finally in Billings now.

I called USPS and requested a trace, which means the receiving office Postmaster has to track it down. He's been keeping me updated on the status.

I love our small town USPS, they are great to deal with. Even the ladies in Prosper, TX were great.

I sent one package USPS earlier this month, GA to MS. I sent it two-day, but it was projected to take three, which was fine. The day after it was due, the tracking info stopped, just said delayed. I went back to the post office and waited 30 minutes to inquire and make sure it hadn't been delivered and stolen. Once I made it up front, the manager was really helpful. Some of the major sort facilities were overwhelmed and the bottleneck was scanning, so someone decided to stop scanning altogether, load trucks and send them along. He said the next scan would be from the destination (Ocean Springs, MS). It ended up taking twelve days to get there, but sure enough the tracking worked.

It was crappy not knowing where the package was, but given their inability to handle peak volumes, I agree with the decision to abort scanning and just get as many packages moving as possible. My son manages a FedEx Ground facility in MS, and it's incredible what they've had to do all year long to manage volume. Christmas has been even more demanding than usual.

 

[planomateo]

See how useful this info is... 14 days to make it 42 miles... Brandenburg > Louisville

 

[footballer]

I have also been experiencing delays in deliveries to me and packages I have mailed out. Last Wed, I mailed my Brother's family a package for Christmas and it probably wont arrive till after Christmas. I called and talked to the lady at my local Po about a couple of deliveries that were very late getting to me. She said that there were 7 trucks in B'ham waiting to be unloaded. That was 10 maybe 12 days ago. She blamed a lot of the back up on the virus. I asked what that had to do with it. She said that there are people off work from the USPS all over the country with the virus. All my packages have arrived, but my Brother's in Albuquerque has not. $68.00 priority mail.

 

[planomateo]

My buddy is in ABQ, he just told me earlier today that nothing he has sent out has been delivered...

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I've been waiting of a book (gift) I ordered the first week of December. It was into the USPS system as picked up on 12/7. Mailed from TN. Still hasn't arrived, I assume it is sitting in a truck or warehouse because of the holiday/COVID backup. A book I ordered 2 days earlier from the same place, arrived on Monday. Back in October, my wife and I ordered new phones. 2nd day air by USPS or whatever it is. Wife's arrived in the mailbox. No sign of mine. Tracking said, "not deliverable". Went to the post office the next day, and it took them over 30 minutes to find the package. They were nice enough, but man... Lastly, just regular mail is a crap shoot. Obviously mistakes are going to happen, always have... but over the last year, I've gotten more and more mail mix-ups in my box than ever.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I've been waiting of a book (gift) I ordered the first week of December. It was into the USPS system as picked up on 12/7. Mailed from TN. Still hasn't arrived, I assume it is sitting in a truck or warehouse because of the holiday/COVID backup. A book I ordered 2 days earlier from the same place, arrived on Monday. Back in October, my wife and I ordered new phones. 2nd day air by USPS or whatever it is. Wife's arrived in the mailbox. No sign of mine. Tracking said, "not deliverable". Went to the post office the next day, and it took them over 30 minutes to find the package. They were nice enough, but man... Lastly, just regular mail is a crap shoot. Obviously mistakes are going to happen, always have... but over the last year, I've gotten more and more mail mix-ups in my box than ever.

Last mile delivery is dependent upon the engagement of you mail carrier. We had a guy on his last leg - I think even the Postal Service fires those as incompetent as him - and we'd just meet in the street with our neighbors and exchange mail.

 

[TerryP]

Teresa told me she delivered 240 packages on her first go-around Saturday, last week. Another 100+ were waiting for her second trip. Simply not enough room in the truck compounded by the rest of this.

 

[planomateo]

Finally got my tractor part today.