Losing trust in the post office

[bethben]

Tell me your delayed package stories!  In the past couple of months, I’ve had two weird package issues I’ve never seen before.  One was a used curriculum that got all the way to Denver (I live in Colorado) and then wound up in lost mail because they couldn’t deliver it any further.  It got damaged or something unknown.  It was shipped to Atlanta where all the undeliverable mail goes.  Yes, I did get refunded and the seller is trying to get usps to pay up for the insurance she put on it.

Just now, I checked to see where a new package was since you could track it.  Denver.  Great!  I should receive it soon.  Unfortunately, somehow my package was diverted to Puerto Rico on it’s relatively small trek to get to me (it’s a put it on a truck type deal-no plane ride needed).  So, it’s delayed.  No kidding!  I’ve never had stuff like this happen!  I’ve heard many more people are having mail issues.  It’s gotten to the point that if I can choose a different carrier, I will-even if it costs a bit more.

Edited September 26, 2020 by bethben

[Tenaj]

I have a relative who lives in a third world country where mail is completely unreliable.  She needs me to mail something to someone here in the states who will be traveling to her country and I had a surreal moment when I was telling her that because of covid, funding, and the election, I was concerned about the timing of that envelope making it to it's destination!

[Storygirl]

I ordered something from Amazon to be delivered to DD18 at college. It got lost along the way, and I had to ask for a refund. That is the first time it's happened.

Oh, the glasses store had to reorder DD18's glasses, because they got lost somehow in transit. And DS15's glasses frames got lost or delayed somehow, and the store just got the lenses alone and had to track down frames on their own locally. That was all annoying and has never happened in the past. I think that was all related to either the post office or other delivery systems.

It has made me decide that I need to order Christmas gifts very early this year.

[SanDiegoMom]

I had problems before this -- around 3 years ago I ordered the full set of Writing With Skill (two workbooks and the teacher guide) and they got wrecked in a package sorter and all I got was the wrapping.  I was so sad (it was not insured). 

Our local post office was pretty hit or miss.  And our neighborhood FB page was always busy exchanging mis-delivered mail between houses.  This was going on for the last 4 years.  People complained and nothing was done. I had never experienced anything like that, but it was a smaller town and I have usually lived in bigger cities. 

[Bootsie]

Yesterday I walked out to my front yard and found mail in my flower bed for a neighbor four houses down.  It was not a windy day--it had not blown from the neighbor's house.  I had seen the mail carrier delivering mail shortly before this.  She was walking from the direction of the neighbor's house--so it wasn't that it fell out BEFORE the carrier made it to that address.  

I posted last week about a problem that I had with a packages.  Somehow I had paid for two packages, with two tracking codes, to two different address, but when the QR codes are scanned and labels printed both QR codes print a label to the same address and same tracking number.  So, two packages were delivered to the same person.  The USPS "solution" was the for the elderly, ill person who incorrectly got a package to go to her local post office and pay for shipping to the correct person!  Benita was supposed to get back to me about this on 9/19--when she didn't I got in touch with her supervisor (Benita had done NOTHING) and the supervisor was going to get back to me before the close of business on 9/19--well as you guess--I heard nothing.  After trying to get in touch with that supervisor, I received an email on 9/22 saying that I would be notified within 24 hours---they must be using a much different clock because I still have not heard anything.  So, not only  has there been a problem but I haven't been able to get any response/solution for the USPS.

A few months ago DD needed important documents (birth certificate, etc.) sent to Austria for a student residency permit.  It was sent rush with all of the tracking possible and took almost two months to get there--we kept watching the tracking and wondering why it was going the places it was going.  The USPS put an additional label on the packet, labelling it "Austria, UNITED KINGDOM"  All of our addressing/labelling was correctly done, but their additional, incorrect labelling (and lack of knowledge of geography) caused major problems.  We needed to send additional documents to her recently--used FedEx--and it got to her in less than 72 hours!

 

[RootAnn]

Sigh. Yes. So many problems.

I had media mail books go missing & contacted people right away bit got brushed off with a be patient notice. I contacted various post offices through official channels, phone, and in person with zero calls back. Finally, two months later, after another couple of online requests, I received an envelope in the mail that contained my address label in full & a letter stating there had been a problem with the package. No sign of the books. No insurance on media mail. I'm outta luck (as I was sending them & thus had to reimburse the patient buyer).

I think homeschool materials are getting intercepted, too. Just a theory...

I have had some nice employees & some rude or lazy ones. Same with all companies. But I always feel like I have recourse to a manager with a local business.

I have had my share of post office issues, but I have been wondering if some of the package delivery issues lately have to do with reduced airline flights these days.  FedEx and UPS have their own planes, but USPS sends packages on commercial carriers.

[LarlaB]

I have an obscene amount of USPS non or mis delivery stories I could tell.  I’m also in CO so maybe Denver has more issues?!?!  It is a ongoing point of stress at times because I spend so much time making notes for the mailman, redelivering, calling customer service, insurance issues  etc

Last month some medication was almost here then suddenly headed to West Palm Beach, FL where it was circling around for days. DAYS. I gave up and called the company.
 

We have chronic misdelivery issues here.  At least 1x a month.  Last week a small package with glasses were mis delivered to my box (although the destination was within 2 miles of my house- so I was impressed).  Our last name and zip code were the same. I put a note on it for the postman.  He never took it back but kept shoving more mail in our box. So I took to the post office myself so they could try again. This has happened more times than I can count.

 

We do not have issues with UPS, FEDEX or Amazon. Occasional but nowhere close to USPS.  

 

[Joker]

I always hear stories but I’ve honestly never had a single issue with the post office! Now, FedEx and I have had words multiple times but the post office has been non problematic for me (and I’ve lived all over in multiple states).

[MEmama]

42 minutes ago, Joker said:

I always hear stories but I’ve honestly never had a single issue with the post office! Now, FedEx and I have had words multiple times but the post office has been non problematic for me (and I’ve lived all over in multiple states).

Same. Well, I’ve never actually heard of problems other than on this site, other than the recent intentional slowdown. I’ve literally never had any issues myself. And our post office folks are so nice and helpful (if chronically over busy, which isn’t their fault)!

[rebcoola]

I have never really had a problem maybe once or twice in my life the mail has gone to a neighbor. 

[Tap]

To my house....I rarely have issues. This month I have have had 2 packages get delayed so long, I cancelled them and reordered( each were 2 weeks late). Otherwise, I probably haven't had 2 packages go missing in 5 years. We get a couple packages a week (if not daily), so that is a lot of correctly delivered mail! I kinda took it for granted. LOL

To my daughter who lives on a military base in a major city....HAHAHAHAHAHA....USPS messes up constantly. I am afraid Amazon is going to cut me off.  Probably 1 in 3 shipments don't make it to her, are significantly damaged, or say they were delivered but  don't show up  until a week later.  I just looked back for the past 3 months. This summer's ratio is 50/50 on packages arriving. OY!!!  Amazon has refunded me over $300 in 3 months!!!!  It is the driver I am quite certain, because packages often say they were delivered, but don't arrive.  She gets other people's packages all the time too. They are delivered to metal community boxes, so they aren't being stolen off the sidewalk. He UPS packages have always made it one time and undamaged. It is just USPS that has trouble. 

 

[itsheresomewhere]

They have been a joke for years here.  They will say it was delivered but actually won’t deliver it for days later, mis-deliver mail, packages and my favorite is when my stuff goes on a global tour. 
 

Recently, they had a package for DD’s birthday.  Ordered in plenty of time but it went for a drive for a few days in town instead of being delivered.   Why, because our regular postman was off and we had a fill in.  He didn’t deliver a single package those 2 days to anyone.   He even checked it as can’t deliver and left at post office.  I went down to retrieve it and nope, it is still on the truck and will get to you.  It is a complete mess here and I hate it when companies send anything through them. 

[Splash1]

We just received a check in the mail with a post mark of July 23.  We are also still missing July water bill, never arrived.

 

[EKS]

I barely had problems with this. The only problems I've had were at the beginning of the pandemic but I don't think they would due to the post office.

[scholastica]

Our regular carrier, who is awesome is off on Mondays. Her fill-in put all of our held mail from a vacation hold into our neighbors box. Our neighbors check their mail like twice a week. It took multiple phone calls over multiple days and our regular carrier found it in the neighbors box and brought it back. Bank statements, bills, etc. in there. We always pick up our held mail now. My ds takes a prescription vitamin and it got all the way from Florida to the city nearest and then went to Maryland. Another package recently did the same thing-came close and then went on a trip somewhere else, except it was one of five identical packages (shopper sent 5 of same item separately rather than packaging together) so they held four of the boxes at our post office until they figured out where the fifth got diverted to and delivered them two days in a row.  They are so frustrating to deal with. 

[bethben]

I like the stories of packages taking random trips around the country.  Makes no sense.  It’s like someone either was lazy or overwhelmed and decided not to sort the packages at a certain location and just threw them all together to go somewhere else for someone else to sort properly.  Last time my package said, “delivery delayed”, I never received it.  I have low expectations for the latest one.

[Guest]

My daughter is in the "applying for colleges" stage. So far, the two schools which have had the most trouble getting her transcripts have been the ones that needed them snail mailed because they didn't have an online way for her cover school to send them without the school subscribing to a specific service. Both are within 2 hours of her cover school office, one has had to be sent twice, and one three times to get it there at all.

 

[catz]

Well September 5 I had a soft cover text book delivered here priority mail for my college son (he was going to stay home a few more weeks and had to leave for campus suddenly).  I made a new label online to send it out priority on Sept 6 (Sunday).  I attached the new label to the priority envelope, made sure everything was covered up.  Got tracking and insurance.  Took it directly to the  post office and dropped it off.

Never showed up on tracking.  Put out a request for lost mail when it didn't show by Sept 11.  Still haven't heard anything.  I had to buy college kid a 2nd copy of that book and send it out.  Weirdest thing ever, never had any kind of problem before other than stuff getting stolen off our front step. Which is better now that I have all sorts of notifications set up for deliveries and we are just home more.

[Ali in OR]

I'm in the process of renewing my teaching credential. I took a community college course, ordered an official transcript on paper which I received, and then I had to mail that with a form to the organization which approves units. The address was in the Portland area, less than 2 hours drive away from me. The person receiving it works at home and goes into the office every other Thursday to get mail. No problem. I have plenty of time. The transcript wasn't there yet 8 days after me mailing it. It was there 2 weeks later when she went into the office again, but I was quite surprised it wasn't there in 8 days. In the future I will always do an electronic copy of my transcript.

Then I had an Amazon package get lost sitting in a Portland area location a couple of weeks ago. They refunded me and the package eventually showed up a week later. This happened during the worst of our hazardous air quality days. I don't know if that played a role or not. But I do want to have all of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. I don't want to sitting around waiting for lost packages.

[73349]

We're having issues with both USPS (which always brings our mail late anyway, and sometimes patently lies about whether something is out for delivery that day) and FedEx (uh, why has this package been sitting in Indianapolis for 6 days?). The only weird one was earlier this year, a book sent from one part of town to another going to sit for a couple of days in a town a couple of hours away. Mostly it's just failure to get things where they're going in a timely fashion.

My kid outgrew all his pants. I ordered more on the 18th. It took the shipper until the 25th to get them to USPS, and it appears they haven't moved an inch since. Baby is currently dressed in nice slacks with an athletic shirt.

[Bootsie]

On 9/26/2020 at 3:05 PM, Bootsie said:

Yesterday I walked out to my front yard and found mail in my flower bed for a neighbor four houses down.  It was not a windy day--it had not blown from the neighbor's house.  I had seen the mail carrier delivering mail shortly before this.  She was walking from the direction of the neighbor's house--so it wasn't that it fell out BEFORE the carrier made it to that address.  

I posted last week about a problem that I had with a packages.  Somehow I had paid for two packages, with two tracking codes, to two different address, but when the QR codes are scanned and labels printed both QR codes print a label to the same address and same tracking number.  So, two packages were delivered to the same person.  The USPS "solution" was the for the elderly, ill person who incorrectly got a package to go to her local post office and pay for shipping to the correct person!  Benita was supposed to get back to me about this on 9/19--when she didn't I got in touch with her supervisor (Benita had done NOTHING) and the supervisor was going to get back to me before the close of business on 9/19--well as you guess--I heard nothing.  After trying to get in touch with that supervisor, I received an email on 9/22 saying that I would be notified within 24 hours---they must be using a much different clock because I still have not heard anything.  So, not only  has there been a problem but I haven't been able to get any response/solution for the USPS.

A few months ago DD needed important documents (birth certificate, etc.) sent to Austria for a student residency permit.  It was sent rush with all of the tracking possible and took almost two months to get there--we kept watching the tracking and wondering why it was going the places it was going.  The USPS put an additional label on the packet, labelling it "Austria, UNITED KINGDOM"  All of our addressing/labelling was correctly done, but their additional, incorrect labelling (and lack of knowledge of geography) caused major problems.  We needed to send additional documents to her recently--used FedEx--and it got to her in less than 72 hours!

 

Oh it keeps getting worse.  The package that was mistakenly delivered because of this odd QR code problem was taken to the post office by someone for me in the city where it was misdelivered-relabeled, new tracking number, everything.  The USPS says it was delivered 9/21 at 4:15 pm.  The recipient still has not received it!  So, the same package is now lost being mailed from an entirely different city.  I could have hand-delivered the package!  

[MEmama]

So my hometown is burning down—again— and for whatever reason it occured to me that my parents are expecting a package this week (somewhat ironically, air purifiers). They are evacuated, as is that entire side of town. This thread popped into my brain as I thought about where their package—and everyone’s mail— might go during such an emergency, and then I started thinking about all the emergencies our country faces all the time. And truly, isn’t it simply AMAZING how infrequently things get lost or delayed despite all the hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes, ice storms, wildfires we have? I think they do an absolutely incredible job. Feeling grateful on a tough day. Just thought I’d put that out there.