USPS follies

[awa54]

Have any of you noticed that the alleged 2-3 day Priority delivery has stretched out a bit? With several of my recent deliveries that suggested time has dragged out to as much as eight days.

Is this a regional thing that's only happening in the northeast, or have you seen this pattern in your area too?

I know that the USPS is still head and shoulders above many other nations' postal systems, but it's frustrating when service takes a step down from current levels.

[Evil D]

Oh, how ironic. I just sent a rather stern email to a boot company about this crap yesterday. I've ordered 2 pair of boots from this place in less than a month and got impatient and went with 2 day shipping on both, and it took about a week for both orders. They said part of it was that they're a small company and can't keep up with orders like Amazon does, so orders usually take a couple days to process and ship out. OK, fine, but then there's still 3-4 days after the date they ship before they get to me, and they said that was all USPS and that they would refund me the difference between 2 and 3 day shipping and contact USPS and let them know about it.

On top of that, my new mailman is kind of inexperienced I think, as he puts mail in my box for people who haven't lived here in 5+ years (people who lived here before I did) so he doesn't even know who lives here, he just dumps anything for this address into my mailbox. I've had a lot of slow deliver issues with USPS lately, and I'll be going with another shipping option if I have the choice. It's a shame, they used to be pretty punctual.

[Ankerson]

I still get mail for people who haven't lived at my address for 17 years. :eek:

[Evil D]

I still get mail for people who haven't lived at my address for 17 years. :eek:

Man you need to have a conversation with your mailman. That's ridiculous lol.

[Ankerson]

I still get mail for people who haven't lived at my address for 17 years. :eek:

Man you need to have a conversation with your mailman. That's ridiculous lol.

I have lived in this house for 17 years. LOL

I think it's the Subs that deliver those.

Our Mailman is actually very good.

[rodloos]

I think the mail reliability varies with how well your local post office is managed. I've had more snafu's with UPS than USPS.

I'm fortunate that I seem to be the first house on my local mailman's delivery route. With all of the packages I was receiving around Christmastime, I'd often hear the doorbell ring before I even left for work in the morning, to find my boxes by the door. Nice to be able to bring them in and not have them waiting on the porch all day. And my packages have been coming pretty quickly, even the occasional Sunday delivery (sent that way by Amazon Prime, I didn't have to pay extra for it). UPS and FedEx I can never know what time of day my packages might arrive (or worse, find a note on the door but no package).

[The Deacon]

Haven't really sent much out lately, but I'm still getting 2-3 day service on Priority Mail inbound from just about anywhere in the USA. Actually got one overnight from the left coast a couple weeks back. A few have taken longer, but I'm betting the delay was between when the label was printed and the time the package was actually mailed.

[farnorthdan]

USPS does priority to AK but its never 2-3 days, usually more like 5-7 days but that's to be expected. USPS may still be catching up from the holidays so that could have something to do with slower shipping. UPS doesn't even do ground to AK so really try to avoid them all together and in fact some shippers who only do UPS ground wont even ship to me. Now FedX is a total crap shoot and I also try to avoid them. USPS works best in my situation.

[z4vdBt]

I just dropped off two click and ship labeled usps 2 day priority packages one after another into the lobby bin, around an hour before the 6pm last call pick up time, 3 days ago. Both were addressed to Shepherd MT. One was in a medium bulk rate box, and the other oblong and I had to measure. The bulk rate showed pre-shipment for 2 days, and a few hours after drop off the oblong showed received and I started getting emails every time it moved an inch. Then on the second day the bulk rate all of a sudden was in MT and got delivered on the second day. The oblong got stuck in MT and was just delivered - on the 3rd day.

[Pinetreebbs]

Overall, very good. I ship and receive a lot of USPS packages. I get pretty good delivery times unless a package gets routed thru New York, San Antonio or Atlanta. Not always, but too often it can take two or more days to exit these locations.

Our local PO carriers are very good, substitute carriers, as mentioned by Ankerson, are hit or miss.

Large shipper like Amazon apparently know how to get the most speed from USPS shipping, almost always getting their packages delivered faster than other shippers in the same locations. I'm guessing they presort and know the best time to ship. MidwayUSA does the same with UPS.

FWIW, FedexSmartPost is about the worst way to go. It always takes days longer than the USPS or FedEx alone. UPS SurePost is a little better, but not worth the bother.

[Evil D]

Is it unreasonable to expect a refund on shipping when it takes more than what you pay for? It's kind of like paying for a double quarter pounder and getting a single.

[MichaelScott]

I use USPS frequently for eBay sales. I've not had any seriously delayed shipments, except for weather which is not under government control. Yet. I've had the odd snafu with packages being delayed. Overall, considering the unbelievable volume of mail and packages the USPS deal with each day, I'd say they are extremely good especially for what they charge.

[demoncase]

I still get mail for people who haven't lived at my address for 17 years. :eek:

Yep.

And the occasional phone call for them too....God bless whomever sold them the database with that out of date dross on it.

[awa54]

I think the mail reliability varies with how well your local post office is managed. I've had more snafu's with UPS than USPS.

I'm fortunate that I seem to be the first house on my local mailman's delivery route. With all of the packages I was receiving around Christmastime, I'd often hear the doorbell ring before I even left for work in the morning, to find my boxes by the door. Nice to be able to bring them in and not have them waiting on the porch all day. And my packages have been coming pretty quickly, even the occasional Sunday delivery (sent that way by Amazon Prime, I didn't have to pay extra for it). UPS and FedEx I can never know what time of day my packages might arrive (or worse, find a note on the door but no package).

my local PO is great, but transit times from other places are beyond their control...

USPS does priority to AK but its never 2-3 days, usually more like 5-7 days but that's to be expected. USPS may still be catching up from the holidays so that could have something to do with slower shipping. UPS doesn't even do ground to AK so really try to avoid them all together and in fact some shippers who only do UPS ground wont even ship to me. Now FedX is a total crap shoot and I also try to avoid them. USPS works best in my situation.

FedEx ground is the worst by far, in every category... slow, frequent mis-delivery (fortunately small town neighbors bring you your packages that were delivered to them!) and too often damaged or left out in the rain on my doorstep :P FedEx express is a whole different story though, you get what you pay for from that service!

NYC seems to be a three day time warp for packages that pass through it... from what I have seen tracking USPS packages, NY State on the whole has routing/sorting issues compared to other areas. I know an NYC mailman, he's a great guy... must not have such great coworkers.

[MichaelScott]

FedX ground! Blah.... I gave an overnight to the FedX guy in his van. It got there three days later.

[awa54]

FedX ground! Blah.... I gave an overnight to the FedX guy in his van. It got there three days later.

interesting, my work uses FedEx at least three times a week for overnight packages and in five years there I haven't witnessed one delayed or lost parcel with the overnight or two-day services. UPS is also very good in this regard, but I have trouble forgiving them for "smartpost" which is *terrible* as far as delivery speed goes!

[Ankerson]

Send 2 packages out the other day, both USPS Priority mail, both got delivered in 2 days. :)

[awa54]

jeez, long say.... post editing fail!