USPS rant

[chilidog]

So I bought a shotgun and the seller shipped it usps ground. It was shipped on May 13 supposed to arrive on May 17. All the tracking number says is “ delayed”. It left Covington Tennessee on the 13th and no more updates. Talked to a window person at he post office today and all she would say is you know it was shipped by the slowest possible way don’t you? I asked why they said it should arrive May 17th then? I said it would have gotten here quicker by the pony express. She didn’t even crack a smile......
Next time no usps!

 

[Dave P.]

I know I've been bad mouthing the post office for the last year or so and I'm
not stopping now!
We send and receive lots of checks through my business and those lost forever
or delayed several weeks and in some cases months are steadily growing all the time.
I'm actively switching all our bill paying to some version of electronic transfers.
Credit cards where possible to avoid the exposure of our bank account numbers
to hackers. If they get a credit card number it's not near as big of deal.
I won't order anything anymore that gets shipped through the post office.
If you can't or won't ship UPS or FedEX I'm not buying.
We get other peoples mail in our box ( well marked ) at least twice a week now.
Used to just drop it where it was supposed to go if close, now I write in a big red
felt marker "delivered to wrong address" across the front and stick it back in
the mail box..
Dave

 

[Kevin]

sounds like it's more of a rant about the seller than USPS.

 

[chilidog]

What does the seller have to do with the usps not updating their progress or taking more than two weeks to get it to the destination?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

The Postmaster General won't be in there much longer and his efforts to sabotage the Post Office will soon be over. Hopefully there will be an effort to revive and to improve service from the ground up.

 

[Bob Wright]

We subscribe to TV Weekly. Yesterday we received two issues, one stating "to be delivered by May 8." And the other "To be delivered by May 22."

Yesterday was May 26th.


Bob Wright

 

[Pat-inCO]

I dropped off a payment for the water bill TWO WEEKS before it arrived at the city
office, which is less than ten blocks from the post office. Normally it is posted the
next working day.

sigh.
The sound of being underwhelmed. :roll:

 

[Kevin]

What does the seller have to do with the usps not updating their progress or taking more than two weeks to get it to the destination?

I’m just saying the seller because you wrote that the postal worker said it was shipped the cheapest, slowest method possible.

Was it shipped with insurance?

 

[Rick Courtright]

The Postmaster General won't be in there much longer and his efforts to sabotage the Post Office will soon be over. Hopefully there will be an effort to revive and to improve service from the ground up.

Hi,

Louis DeJoy was brought in to do one job: destroy faith in the postal service prior to the election. His job is done, and if he were to get hit by a bolt of lightning walking out the door today, it wouldn't be a waste of electricity.

I have a PO Box for my business. For close to 30 years, I could go in the PO 24/7/365 and get my mail from that box. That "feature" of having a PO box has been a selling point for probably over a century. Last summer, we got a new PO, courtesy of a big bucks company who wanted the land the old one was on, and they obtained land and built a new building at almost no cost to the USPS. Good deal, right?

Well... They opened it up, and I stopped by on a Sunday to pick up my mail. Door's locked. Sign says the box lobby is only open Mon-Fri 5am to 7pm, Sat 5am until 6pm. No Sundays or holidays.

So now I have to plan a special trip to get there during essentially just "regular" hours. My renewal slip is due next month, and for all this great service, a year's renewal will be very close to 50% higher than last year. And a fun fact pops up in a search for DeJoy: he's got some $70 mil invested in companies that compete with USPS. Can anybody be so naive as to think he's gonna HELP USPS?

Thanks, Louis!

Rick C

 

[P89DC]

And the postman walks across your lawn! Oh, the humanity!

 

[hittman]

What the postal service has become is no fault of the regular front line and behind the scenes folks who work there. Their issues / problems / inefficiencies are political in nature and the pandemic habit of order-by-internet just added to it.

I was in business for 40 years and always viewed PO Boxes as a Ponzi scheme. You could sit in your office or home and have mail delivered 6 days a week or ..... you can PAY them to keep it and then spend your time, fuel, etc to travel somewhere and pick it up. Totally illogical for my “needs”.

 

[jimd441]

I too am cautiously optimistic that USPS will turn around. For decades I enjoyed prompt reliable service from the USPS. The last year or more has been a disaster with my experiences along the lines of those posted here. Plus, we had a big issue with the large USPS hub in Greensboro where out-of-town mail passes through. Apparently the hiring due to the increased volume of mail included some thieves. My understanding is that at least some were caught and fired but the problems persist. Hopefully things will improve...

Jim

 

[chilidog]

What does the seller have to do with the usps not updating their progress or taking more than two weeks to get it to the destination?

I’m just saying the seller because you wrote that the postal worker said it was shipped the cheapest, slowest method possible.

Was it shipped with insurance?

Thankfully yes

 

[Kevin]

Good luck….

Lately, I’ve had good experiences shipping with Fed Ex….

I’ve said several times I wish the USPS would be privatized…Yes I know it would cost more but there would be many fewer posts about lost USPS packages.

Hmmm….What costs more, a package that arrives on time or a package that is lost in transit?

 

[Dave P.]

What the postal service has become is no fault of the regular front line and behind the scenes folks who work there. .

So who's fault is it when other people's mail is left in my box on a semi-regular
basis.
Who's fault is it when somebody on a different road brings me my mail
dropped at their house?
Complaining to the local post office has as much effect as my typing this
post.
Dave

 

[hittman]

Yeah you’re probably right ..... everybody who works there is an incompetent turd. May even be an organized conspiracy against you personally.

 

[blume357]

Reality is the USPS does a great job but screws up on occasion... especially over this past year.

I had a gun shipped from Greeneville TN to my FFL here in SC last year.... shipped Priority mail but was still supposed to take 4 days... got here in one then went up to Pittsburg and bounced between two Postal places for two days and finally came back down here and was only one day late in arriving....

For some reason, some packages just sit in a place for a day or two... had one package last December must have fallen behind something and sat for 3 weeks here in town before being delivered.

 

[Uncle Howie]

What the postal service has become is no fault of the regular front line and behind the scenes folks who work there. .

So who's fault is it when other people's mail is left in my box on a semi-regular
basis.
Who's fault is it when somebody on a different road brings me my mail
dropped at their house?
Complaining to the local post office has as much effect as my typing this
post.
Dave

As explained further up this thread, the USPS was intentionally sabotaged, through politics.

There’s only so much a line worker (i.e. letter carrier) can do to correct systemic problems that start with corrupt political appointments at the top.

When the price of lumber goes up, I don’t blame the guy loading the 2x4s onto my trailer.

 

[Dave P.]

What the postal service has become is no fault of the regular front line and behind the scenes folks who work there. .

So who's fault is it when other people's mail is left in my box on a semi-regular
basis.
Who's fault is it when somebody on a different road brings me my mail
dropped at their house?
Complaining to the local post office has as much effect as my typing this
post.
Dave

As explained further up this thread, the USPS was intentionally sabotaged, through politics.

There’s only so much a line worker (i.e. letter carrier) can do to correct systemic problems that start with corrupt political appointments at the top.

When the price of lumber goes up, I don’t blame the guy loading the 2x4s onto my trailer.

And if he's loading plastic drain tile onto your trailer while the 2x4s are heading down the road on somebody
else's trailer?
And then you have essentially no recourse to recover your 2x4s that are gone because somebody somewhere
didn't do their job properly.
I'll agree that maybe I don't know exactly who is screwing it up but the bottom line is the same, mail is
going someplace it's not supposed to be.
Dave

 

[Montelores]

The Brookings Institution has a pretty good summary of the USPS's situation.

The embedded links offer more background information, for those who are interested.

The phrases "broken business model" and "pension obligations" seem to summarize nicely.

Often, large corporations or entities can adapt to a changing environment, sometimes, not.

Electronic transactions have changed the landscape forever. You might not use them, but the rest of the world does, including businesses.

Monty

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/08/26/how-is-the-u-s-postal-service-governed-and-funded/

ETA: P.S. Every branch of the federal government has been used to "influence" elections. The IRS (think Lois Lerner, most recently), DoD, SSA, State Department, on-and-on, you name it. Every administration, too.

It's not right, but it's reality.

 

[Paul B]

When I get my water bill from the City of Tucson, somebody "splain" to me why when it gets mailed from Tucson AZ it has to go to Phoenix AZ and then back to Tucson AZ and my mail box? I've ordered stuff from out of state that has bounced from one stat to another and back again before ever reaching my home. A while back my daughter in New Mexico sent me a cheese cake for some reason. I forget what the occasion was but it took over two week to get to me and was of course thawed out and spoiled. Basically I got tango sierra type of response. My daughter then sent another which when I got it was partially thawed so I stuck it in the freezer and saved it. Supposedly both were sent by Fed Ex but they then passed it to the P.O. for delivery. WTF?
Paul B.

 

[Pal Val]

Two things: The elections were over 6 months ago. Put that myth aside. Second, the USPS has been this bad for a long time. Back in 1974, a jury duty notice was delivered to my home address several weeks after the date. By then, I had gone away to the Army and the matter ended up causing a mess because a judge issued a bench warrant against me.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Saw a notice that the USPS is going to RAISE FIRST CLASS Postage to $0.58 this summer. Didn't see a "start" date also I assume (foolish I know) that your current first class stamps with no numbers posted will still be good.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Saw a notice that the USPS is going to RAISE FIRST CLASS Postage to $0.58 this summer. Didn't see a "start" date also I assume (foolish I know) that your current first class stamps with no numbers posted will still be good.

Hi,

The stamps marked "Forever" are good for one ounce of first class mail regardless of when they were purchased and what the rate was at the time. So if you've got some you paid 55 cents for, maybe 50 cents, or even less, they'll still be good when things take a jump.

Rick C

 

[P89DC]

I haven't bought stamps in three years. I still have one from a ten pack. I never mail checks. Its much easier to use my bank's service to mail checks and the stamp is included. Out of eight monthly bills only one doesn't take electronic payments.

The biggest waste at the USPS is home delivery. I don't need daily mailman visits. Every other day would be fine. No SSI, pension or welfare payments are made by mailing a check. Think how much could be saved by reforming home delivery to today's needs instead of two decades ago.

 

[Rick Courtright]

The biggest waste at the USPS is home delivery. I don't need daily mailman visits. Every other day would be fine. No SSI, pension or welfare payments are made by mailing a check. Think how much could be saved by reforming home delivery to today's needs instead of two decades ago.

HI,

Louis DeJoy would love to hear from you... why not save billions and just stop all delivery? Once a week you simply jump in the car, take an hour or two hour one way trip to the closest processing center and pick up your mail. Right...

Oh, wait, we already do have people on this very forum who live so far off the beaten path they already have a similar hike just to go their mailbox out on the paved road. Or, for the PO boxes are a Ponzi scheme crowd, they may have to drive extended distances just to get to their PO box because there is no delivery in their neighborhood. Period. How's that work, guys?

Just because the USPS isn't a big part of your life doesn't mean it needs to go. There are other people in this world, with other needs.

Rick C

 

[trebor44]

My Amazon order was on Thursday (06/04/2021) and is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday the 8th. It is being shipped from the Amazon facility in Nampa (ten miles from Boise) to Salt Lake City and then back to Boise. Glad it is not perishable! Gotta luv them thar computer algorithms for quick shipping! ROTF LMAO!

From the USPS tracking:
Tracking History
June 7, 2021, 12:10 am
Departed Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84116
Shipping Partner: AMAZON
Your item departed a shipping partner facility at 12:10 am on June 7, 2021 in SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84116. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date.
June 5, 2021, 8:25 pm
Departed Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
NAMPA, ID 83687
Shipping Partner: AMAZON
June 5, 2021, 11:01 am
Picked Up by Shipping Partner, USPS Awaiting Item
NAMPA, ID 83687
Shipping Partner: AMAZON

 

[foxtrapper]

Job went from a good paying (career) job. Pension and health bennys. To a hourly pay job. Folks that can’t cut it at McDonald’s are welcomed at uspo. No offense just saying

 

[Igor]

My Amazon order was on Thursday (06/04/2021) and is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday the 8th. It is being shipped from the Amazon facility in Nampa (ten miles from Boise) to Salt Lake City and then back to Boise. Glad it is not perishable! Gotta luv them thar computer algorithms for quick shipping! ROTF LMAO!

A couple of weeks ago my black printer cartridge went south. It was 8 am, so I got onto Amazon and ordered a new one at 8:20 am. It was delivered to my house at noon..........the same day.

 

[Captain America]

I have removed the USPS from my life, if it weren’t for the NRA sending my wife and I renewal packets 20-30 times a year I would rarely get mail…if I get something from Amazon through USPS it gets delivered by someone in an unmarked van.