I needed to send a package to a friend of mine, but I did not have one of them priority boxes with me. Once upon a time, the mail man would carry some supplies for the public in his vehicle, but it seems that is no longer allowed. You can order them online to have the mail man (or in my case, mail lady) or foot your butt to the post office and get some yourself. I like my regular mail lady too much, so yesterday afternoon I went to the post office (sans gun but not unarmed) got the boxes and returned home.
I made the mailing label, paid online but it would not give me the PDF to print. The package appeared, had a tracking number and everything, but the site refused to show it to me. Just in case it was a booboo in the payment, I started from zero, made another label, paid and voila! The PDF appeared….and a double charge. So I had to demand a refund for the double payment and went ahead and scheduled a pick up for today at home.
At 9:03 AM, I get an email from USPS announcing that my package was successfully picked up!
Only one problem: I was staring at it because it was on my desk still. Effing kid you not.
I spent the morning doing stuff and waiting to see if anybody showed up. My mail lady usually delivers mail between 11:00 and 11:30 every morning, but she did not show up at the usual time. My idea was to just walk over her vehicle and drop the box with her as she filled the boxes with the regular mail. So right after lunch, I decided once again to make the trip to the post office, park really quick, drop the box in the package drum slot and come back home, (Yes, again without a gun) No sweat, right? Ha! all the slots for packages were locked for some reason and I had to go and wait in line to deliver the package in the hands of one of the behind-the-counter employees. I was already chewing nails and ready to express some unkind thoughts, but luck had it I was taken care by one of the sweetest young ladies ever who works in that facility. I am an asshole, but not that much, I simply can unload on a nice person because she happens to be downrange.
Deed done, I drive home, get there at around 12:30ish and guess what?
Not-my-regular Mail lady was at the boxes. I have no idea if she dropped by already or not and really do not care.
Burn the whole thing to the ground and rebuild it the way it is supposed to be.
Monday we got an email from Amazon. They were sorry but the USPS could not find our address on our street so we could take delivery. Bad enough that Amazon is using USPS, but we have lived at this address for almost 30 years! USPS can’t find our address??? What fresh hell is this? Just look on the frigging mailbox. The sad thing is this is par for the course for the USPS out here.
Rufus, check the links in that email. I’ve been getting fraudulent emails at the rate of several a day, all claiming to be from USPS trying to deliver me a package. They all have links to xyz.jar files — meaning Java programs, i.e., viruses — at random web sites. I just delete them, too much trouble to try to see if the criminals originating them can be tracked.
I just sent an envelope to Illinois. It was supposed to be there in 2-3 days. It took 14 days.
But, no worries about them handling millions of mail-in ballots. Got it covered. Or not.
Unbelievably Stupid Postal Service. (USPS)
Had a friend mail me a package from 45 miles away. It got lost twice and took nearly two weeks.
It’s like they’ve taken all the jokes made about the USPS and made them official policy.
I’ve found that the people at the counter at the Post Office tend to be friendly and reasonably helpful. It’s the people in the back that screw everything up.
My wife once sent a letter from her office in Chicago to another office five blocks away. It took eight days. (But since both offices were in the Loop, it crossed through three ZIP codes. Maybe that had something to do with it.)
And remember, the reason you can’t carry in a post office is because the employees, not the public, were shooting the places up and killing employees.
The Post Awful is collapsing, I suspect. Between 8 -12 Feb, I had three Priority or First Class packages sent to me here in eastern Washington. Two (from Massachusetts and Kentucky) arrived no issue on the 16th. The one from Portland (OR), shipped on the 12th? Initial claim was delivery by the 16th, and when that didn’t happen it just dropped to “late but in transit”.
Nothing more for eleven days.
Finally, on the 23rd, it arrived!
In Buffalo, NY.
2400+ road miles from the origin.
But, it was in transit to the destination!
Next day, it was in Rochester, NY.
Actually got to the local PO on the 27th, claimed to have attempted delivery.
To the business that not only is closed on the weekends, but doesn’t get deliveries – our mail is held at the PO for a courier service to pick up on business days.
Finally was thrown in the pickup bin and got in my hands Tuesday. Only 19 days and 4400+ miles after initially hitting the PO (gotta go by when they accept the package, because tracking starts when the label in created).
Next package was out of Illinois on the 17th, claimed delivery day of 22 Feb but LOL nope, and went into “late but in transit”. Finally arrived at the local distro center on the 2nd, hit the correct PO on the 3rd, and due to the courier pickup was dropped off today, yay.
Both of theese got “customer service” contacts, which oddly enough did not get addressed until after the tracking actually updated, and which both got the BS boilerplate of “COVID/storms/we’re overworked”, when they closed the tickets.
Which I’d be more willing to accept if those initial two packages hadn’t come through just fine, even after the temperature and snow dropped. And another package (from PA, just across the Jersey border) shipped 24 Feb, arrived on the 26th.
Also the whole “Pony Express to Buffalo/Rochester” thing.
Oh, and the customer service contacts? They took such care to ignore the “respond via email” request (in the initial contact filing process) and made sure to call me voice. When I was at work, doing my job properly and promptly.
The U S Snail: “We’re the cheapest. And you get what you pay for.”
Ive recently revived a package from Singapore more quickly than a package from Florida to New England.
USPS used to be acceptable but this past year they have gone to completely unreliable. Luckily I havent lost a package lately and everything seems to get where its going but man the delays tracking a horrendous.
I sent a package 2 months ago with an insured value of 3k and signature required and it is still saying out for delivery even though the recipient confirmed it was delivered….
Multiple times ive gotten registered mail just left in my mailbox and signature required items just left.