USPS Delivery Problems

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter Has anyone been in a post office lately? Straight out of the 1950s. UPS store or FedEx is night and day compared to a post office.

Yup, was there today. Not the large one in the "city" here (always a line there) but the smaller one in the country that is actually closer. No line, fast, courteous service, mailed the state tax forms, in & out in less than 5 minutes. Probably took 2 minutes.

And yesterday two boxes from Amazon were delivered on time and one was even a day early.

It must the the people in different areas, or the management. Or perhaps the alignment of the moon & stars but I just haven't experienced any issues with USPS. Not doubting you by any means but just pointing out that the experiences clearly vary widely.

[pablo]

Not sure this is directly connected to the post office issue described, but I recently had a 'fun' PO experience:

I was named the executor of an estate and opened a PO Box as the estate's mailing address as well as having all mail of the deceased forwarded to the PO Box. Note that the PO Box was in a large, busy PO which is open 24/7. Of course, I started getting mail for the prior boxholder, in this case, American Express. There was A LOT of mail for AMEX and it seemed to be crowding out the mail the estate should have received. So I complained to the PO manager directly and this resulted in having ONLY mail from AMEX delivered! All estate mail was turned back! It took a letter to the regional PO manager (or whatever that person was) suggesting that they were involved in an identity fraud scheme and I then began to receive estate mail again. But the AMEX mail still kept coming! And it wasn't just any AMEX mail - it was mail containing names, card numbers, etc. I know this from the several items I opened in error before I returned them to the PO. The solution was only achieved when I contacted AMEX headquarters in person (they were down the block from the PO). I spoke with someone from their executive office and they ended up giving me a nice credit on my AMEX card for my trouble. AMEX mail has now virtually stopped coming to the box.
Point of this is: the PO only added aggravation!

[anethum]

I have had awful experiences with UPS & FedEx. In recent months, UPS started leaving large boxes containing dental supplies at my mom's front door. They never rang her doorbell. The name on the address labels was a dentist, but the address was my mom's. The boxes had been shipped from multiple suppliers. I googled the dentist and learned that his office was near my home. Eventually, the dentist & I figured out why this kept happening. UPS was trying to deliver his packages after 5pm when his office closed. After 3 failed attempts, they would put on a new address label with what they believed to be the dentist's home address. However, somebody at UPS got his home address by typing his home phone number into a database, but they mistyped one digit and entered my mom's phone number. My mom's address was "permanently" put into UPS's database as the dentist's backup delivery location, so they kept churning out incorrect new mailing labels each time.

I live 10 minutes from my mom and am there often. Whenever there were boxes for the dentist on her doorstep, I would call the dental office and tell them what arrived. Usually I would deliver them myself to the office since it's less than a mile from my own house. Sometimes, the dentist would drive over to my mom's house.

Meanwhile, the dentist & I both spent a few hours on the phone with UPS trying to fix the problem. I thought I had finally reached someone at UPS who had the authority to modify their database, but then 3 more boxes were dumped at my mom's door. Fed up, I googled the UPS CEO's e-mail address and sent him an e-mail describing in detail what was happening and why, explaining what they needed to do to fix the problem, and semi-seriously requested that they send me a free pair of those cute shorts their deliverymen wear in the summer (I even included my waist size), since I had been delivering their packages for free.

A couple of days later, I got phone calls and e-mails from 3 different people at UPS, and an assurance that they had fixed the problems. (There were 2 problems: They needed to deliver the dentist's packages during normal working hours, and they needed to correct his backup address.)

The errant deliveries have stopped, but I never got a free pair of shorts. Maybe they delivered them to the wrong address.

[Tandemlovers]

I'd like to put in a little plug for the USPS.

We don't seem to have delivery problems like some of the posters here.

In fact, I can recall only one instance in my 35 years of adult life when a bill I mailed got lost in the mail.

I think it's terrific that Amazon has partnered with the postal system to deliver its packages, and I can't recall a single late delivery of an Amazon package ever!

I think some people like to complain about "the government." It's an easy, anonymous target. So when someone experiences a late delivery by the USPS, they are quick to join the warm brotherhood of fellow government complainers. Reminds me of people who complain about the weather.

I prefer to focus on the millions of pieces of mail and packages that are delivered promptly. When you do the math, you see that lost packages and lost mail is not the norm.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandemlovers I think it's terrific that Amazon has partnered with the postal system to deliver its packages, and I can't recall a single late delivery of an Amazon package ever! I think some people like to complain about "the government." It's an easy, anonymous target. So when someone experiences a late delivery by the USPS, they are quick to join the warm brotherhood of fellow government complainers. Reminds me of people who complain about the weather. I prefer to focus on the millions of pieces of mail and packages that are delivered promptly. When you do the math, you see that lost packages and lost mail is not the norm.

Sorry but the best grade they can get is a "c". My package was late and I've had stuff lost in the mail before. All you need to do is to walk into a FedEx office, spend 5 minutes, then walk into a post office, spend 5 minutes.

[FrankiesGirl]

The USPS tracking is a total joke. I was told that (nicely) but a service rep when a package concerning papers and a check from my father's estate was sent priority and it disappeared. They literally told me that they had no idea what happened to it, and the tracking number didn't help at all as the package basically went missing in a sorting facility.

It showed up 4 months later, and due to the nature of it being "just paperwork and a check" they refused to refund the shipping charges let alone the stop check fee we had to pay. So some lazy SOB probably dropped it and it slipped everyone's notice until maybe a cleaner swept it out of whatever hidey-hole it was shoved, and we just have to take it.

Absolutely horrible overall, and avoid using them for anything now. The good/responsible workers are probably rare as unicorns. I think it must be a requirement to be lazy and incompetent to work there.

[Telly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandemlovers I'd like to put in a little plug for the USPS. ........I think it's terrific that Amazon has partnered with the postal system to deliver its packages, and I can't recall a single late delivery of an Amazon package ever! I think some people like to complain about "the government." It's an easy, anonymous target. So when someone experiences a late delivery by the USPS, they are quick to join the warm brotherhood of fellow government complainers. Reminds me of people who complain about the weather.

Ugh! I dread Amazon using "Smart Post" or the like, where they use UPS or Fedex to deliver my package to the local PO, and then the local PO eventually delivers it somewhere, sometime. Both UPS and Fedex have good tracking systems. But once the USPS gets it, anything goes.

A recent example - Amazon package was delivered by decent trackable delivery service to the local PO. It then sits there for a day. Then says its "out for delivery". Then at 9:45 AM, USPS system says "Delivered". Where? Not here! Check with neighbors, no got. I was here the whole time. I call PO. No answer. Wait 15 mins. and call again. Repeat. And repeat. Finally, get someone, who needs to transfer me to another spot where he can check. I'm on hold almost 15 mins. Finally comes back, tells me the route guy must have scanned it as "delivered" when he put it on the truck. Should I get it at my usual mid-afternoon delivery? Yes.

Mid-afternoon, mail truck speeds by dropping off mail in the boxes. I run out, no package. I run after mail truck. Driver has no idea, no package for me. I explain about calling in the AM. He has me repeat the story multiple times. Finally says he DID have a morning package run, but there was nothing for me. I said I guess I will have to call the PO again. He has me repeat the story again. He starts thinking, he had one package delivery way down the street in the AM, maybe he swapped address numbers. He goes and checks, yes, my package is outside their front door! So I get my package.

I always sort through my mail at my mailbox post, to look for neighbors mail in with mine, so I can walk over to their house and put it in their box. Sometimes the whole neighborhood mail delivery has been shifted by one address!
Sometimes we had speedy woman, who slows down, not stops, to put mail into boxes and slam the door closed, or damage them. I even saw her totally miss my box one day, and slam the door closed. The mail was on the ground three feet beyond my box. She saw me, stopped, backed up, got out, and put the mail into the box and then zoomed off.
In the past, my April Auto Issue of CR has been obviously looked through, pages folded, bent, pages dirtied up. I assumed someone at the PO looked at it while on the can in the PO on break time or lunch.

We have had magazines delivered that had coffee-ring stains on them.

Official college graduation pictures that DW paid $$ for get delivered, well and thoroughly folded up, into our large mailbox. Why were they folded? Our mailbox could have taken them unfolded just fine. Right on the friggen photo delivery cover, in BIG BOLD capital block letters it says "DO NOT FOLD - PICTURES".
I run after the mail truck, and catch it. The woman, a different one than speedy, says she didn't do it... and I see in her truck next to her, what looks like a yellow wood Coke bottle case, like you saw a Coke delivery person use to deliver Coke bottles with many decades ago, and all the mail is jammed into the holes! And she says she didn't do it... and that's what they said she was to use.

I could go on and on, but I think that the easy, anonymous target is making it very easy for us to point out their failings... not that they seem to care. How 'bout we fire them, and use another companies service instead, that'l fix'em! Oh right, we can't, it's a monopoly. No incentive to excel. Paid the same one way or the other.

[Big_Hitter]

my late USPS package had a tracking number on it....but they lost the package. How does one lose a package with a tracking number? What a joke.

[Lakedog]

USPS has always provided good service wherever I have lived, but FedEx is a different story. They have claimed on multiple occasions that they attempted a delivery to my address when a signature was required but no one was home (when I stayed home waiting on the deliveries). Tracking shows out for delivery then later that night they change it to unsuccessful attempted delivery. Usually it arrives the next day but sometimes the attempted delivery is shown as occurring for multiple days. FedEx also lost an overnight delivery of a document that I sent a couple of years ago. Their customer service is fairly useless.

UPS has been great for me. Based on my experience, there is no comparison between UPS and FedEx. I can only assume that FedEx does better for others or they could not stay in business. In my view, USPS and UPS provide good service but FedEx leaves much to be desired.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakedog In my view, USPS and UPS provide good service but FedEx leaves much to be desired.

My experience says the quality of the three carriers - two of them especially - varies with the quality of the local individuals delivering the package.

We live in a rural area and had really poor USPS service. It got so bad that at one point we went for more than a week with no mail delivery whatsoever, then for a month or more with intermittent service, and when we did get mail it was first class mail only. After a near-riot and a "get a rope" moment at a community meeting with the local postmaster and his boss, things began to improve. A new postmaster and a new route delivery person completely turned things around and we now have very good service from the postal system.

Our FedEx experience has also been spotty, but improved once the old local contract carrier was replaced with someone more conscientious.

UPS has been the most consistent service by far. Sam, our long-time UPS guy, retired a few months ago and I was expecting a decline in service, but the new guy has continued to do a great job for us.

[ChiliPepr]

I had a package delivered using USPS priority mail... Ordered yesterday, shipped yesterday from Florida at 6:20pm, delivered to my place just north of Boston at 11:30am today.

Very happy with that, especially since the package included live animals and it is rather cold today.

[anethum]

A few years ago, FedEx left a loaded suitcase on my neighbor's doorstep without getting a signature. The suitcase belonged to previous next-door neighbors who had moved back home to Europe 5 years earlier. My former neighbors were supposed to come for a visit, but their infant son was denied boarding by United Airlines because the baby supposedly didn't have the correct type of passport to visit the USA under the Visa Waiver program. United failed to get all of their checked luggage off the plane (IMO a much bigger security breach than if they had allowed the baby to board the plane). United kept the suitcase at the USA airport for a week despite a lost luggage report, never noticing that the owner of the suitcase had never boarded the flight to come to the USA. Instead, they handed the suitcase off to FedEx to deliver on the wrong continent. The address in the passenger record was in Europe, yet at either United or FedEx, someone found a 5 year old address in the USA for my former neighbor. The new neighbor who found the suitcase on her doorstep had no idea who the person was on the FedEx address form. She brought it over to my house because she mistakenly thought it might be mine. Fortunately, I was still in contact with my former neighbors and contacted them in Europe. They were incredulous to discover that their lost luggage was sitting in my living room on the other side of the Atlantic.

[ziggy29]

At the PO where I work as a clerk, we get a lot of drop shipments from UPS and FedEx to deliver "the last mile". UPS is very consistent. They show up every day, almost always the same driver, they ring the back door and we sign for the packages they send to us.

FedEx? A lot of times they just leave the packages in a cart on the dock and leave. They sometimes don't even ring the bell; sometimes they come during our lunch hour when we are closed and if no one is there, they just leave them all on the dock. They seem to come whenever they feel like it. Sometimes they will come three days in a row and other times we won't see them for 3-4 days. I have a feeling sometimes they are sitting on some packages for 2-3 days before sending them to us for delivering "the last mile" (and the USPS clerks, carriers and/or postmaster will be blamed for the delay). I suspect FedEx uses a lot of contractors who are paid rather poorly.

[braumeister]

Package delivery is certainly a tough business, whoever you work for.

About a week before Christmas, I had to laugh at what they must go through. I was out for a walk and saw a U-Haul truck drive by, the 10 foot size. It stopped at a neighbor's house and I watched a guy in a FedEx uniform get out and open the back door of the truck. It was full of packages, and he grabbed one, left it at the neighbor's door, and drove on. Obviously, they ran short of FedEx trucks that day and had to make an emergency rental of a U-Haul.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo My experience says the quality of the three carriers - two of them especially - varies with the quality of the local individuals delivering the package.

+1

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo My experience says the quality of the three carriers - two of them especially - varies with the quality of the local individuals delivering the package. We live in a rural area and had really poor USPS service. It got so bad that at one point we went for more than a week with no mail delivery whatsoever, then for a month or more with intermittent service, and when we did get mail it was first class mail only. After a near-riot and a "get a rope" moment at a community meeting with the local postmaster and his boss, things began to improve. A new postmaster and a new route delivery person completely turned things around and we now have very good service from the postal system. Our FedEx experience has also been spotty, but improved once the old local contract carrier was replaced with someone more conscientious. UPS has been the most consistent service by far. Sam, our long-time UPS guy, retired a few months ago and I was expecting a decline in service, but the new guy has continued to do a great job for us.

Similar experiences here on another rural route. USPS local delivery was not reliable so we got a PO box (15 miles away) and that helped a lot. Not perfect, but a lot better. We still get some misdelivered mail and package delivery can be a real PIA and often requires a second trip to the Post Office when the office area is open. I "think" I eventually get all my mail.

FedX is a joke. More than once they said they couldn't find my location. (911 address). But other times they have no problem. I suspect it depends on the driver on any given day.

UPS has been almost flawless, so far.

[dtbach]

I had a very important document to get to the Navy last month. Mailed it Certified and 2 days later it just got stuck. Put in a claim and basically got the "Sh_t happens" letter. Glad I paid an extra $3.40 vs a standard stamp.