Another USPS screw up

[Ditto]

I know this topic pops up on occasion so I thought I would share their latest screw up.   Part of the reason for sharing this is to keep my temper from fully exploding because it involves a Christmas present.  DH mailed the package last Wednesday, paying for 3 day delivery (meaning it would arrive this past Saturday).  It was going to a state 3 states away from us.  Tracking initially showed it left the local post office.  Then dropped off with no updates until Saturday when it stated it would arrive late but was in transit.  As of this morning it has arrive in the city next to ours at the "local distribution center".   Which means, if past tracking of packages is any indicator, that it should be delivered back to us tomorrow or Wednesday.   If this arrives back on our doorstep instead of the recipients I can assure you I will never mail another package with them again.  The incompetence boggles my mind.

[Tenaj]

Yes, I'm not trusting the USPS now, especially any priority delivery.  I had a similar situation in September/October.  I was mailing a package that had to be in a destination by a certain date.  Mailed it 10 days ahead and paid for priority mail which they assured me would be delivered two days later giving it a whole week of "cushion".  It never left our city until way past the deadline.  Finally showed up at its destination 6 weeks late.  I opened an investigation with the USPS and was basically told, "yep, we delivered it late, file a claim for the postage you paid".  It's ridiculous . . but yet I am getting packages from businesses through the USPS in a timely fashion.  I wonder if it's only individuals who have having issues because they are prioritizing businesses right now?

[MEmama]

The USPS is woefully underfunded, under staffed and has been hit hard with a pandemic. I’m amazed every single day that we continue to get mail and that that everything g we send out reaches its destination.

Honestly, these attacks feel tired to me. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, that’s true in any enormous service. But dang, I feel that they deserve a freaking award for working as hard and as diligently as they do, and under enormous pressure with so few resources.

I have notes on my mailbox thanking our carrier for their service. 
 

Edited December 8, 2020 by MEmama

[Pawz4me]

21 minutes ago, MEmama said:

The USPS is woefully underfunded, under staffed and has been hit hard with a pandemic. I’m amazed every single day that we continue to get mail and that that everything g we send out reaches its destination.

Honestly, these attacks feel tired to me. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, that’s true in any enormous service. But dang, I feel that they deserve a freaking award for working as hard and as diligently as they do, and under enormous pressure with so few resources.

I have notes on my mailbox thanking our carrier for their service. 
 

I totally agree. Sure a package I was waiting on last week was delayed a few days. Still, I think overall they're doing an awesome job considering the circumstances, dealing not only with the pandemic but with being royally jerked around by politicians who very intentionally want to break them. But OTOH I do understand why @Dittois frustrated. I hope the package makes it to the recipient.

[itsheresomewhere]

30 minutes ago, MEmama said:

The USPS is woefully underfunded, under staffed and has been hit hard with a pandemic. I’m amazed every single day that we continue to get mail and that that everything g we send out reaches its destination.

Honestly, these attacks feel tired to me. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, that’s true in any enormous service. But dang, I feel that they deserve a freaking award for working as hard and as diligently as they do, and under enormous pressure with so few resources.

I have notes on my mailbox thanking our carrier for their service. 
 

I wish I could say I felt that way.  But here we have had such bad mail service for so long it is a running joke.  There is a 9 out of 10 chance that the mail they put in my box is not even for me. 
 

OP-  I refuse to send anything USPS.  They have lost, relocated so many packages.  I have complained before but nothing changes. 

[Tenaj]

33 minutes ago, MEmama said:

The USPS is woefully underfunded, under staffed and has been hit hard with a pandemic. I’m amazed every single day that we continue to get mail and that that everything g we send out reaches its destination.

Honestly, these attacks feel tired to me. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, that’s true in any enormous service. But dang, I feel that they deserve a freaking award for working as hard and as diligently as they do, and under enormous pressure with so few resources.

I have notes on my mailbox thanking our carrier for their service. 
 

If they cannot meet their promises on priority mail services then they need to stop offering/selling those services.  It wasn't a delay of a few days, it was 6 weeks and made a mess for a person who was waiting on the contents overseas.

Yes, pandemic, yes, underfunded, but they need to start being honest and stop offering services if they can't fulfill them.

[historically accurate]

I'm sorry, Ditto. I've had a few packages go on walkabout lately. I'm a huge fan of the USPS as my aunt, uncle and mom all worked there for decades, so I know the system. I wish we would fund it fully so it would function better. 

[Katy]

I had a similar experience recently. I ordered a few dresses and tops from eBay.  The most expensive item shipped first, from somewhere in New England. Priority Mail. It somehow went to Chicago then back to New Jersey, then to Indianapolis, then back to New Jersey. Other items were sent first class with tracking and they all arrived 2 days before that priority item. 

[Ditto]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

The USPS is woefully underfunded, under staffed and has been hit hard with a pandemic. I’m amazed every single day that we continue to get mail and that that everything g we send out reaches its destination.

Honestly, these attacks feel tired to me. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, that’s true in any enormous service. But dang, I feel that they deserve a freaking award for working as hard and as diligently as they do, and under enormous pressure with so few resources.

I have notes on my mailbox thanking our carrier for their service. 
 

It is never my intention to upset another poster.  But the fact remains that they took my hard earned money in exchange for a service that they have not provided correctly.   Many businesses are affected by the pandemic and many are understaffed (and some underfunded I am sure), but they still are held accountable for providing the service they offer.   I followed the USPS rules, I mailed super early,  I paid extra money for tracking and 3 day delivery.  When it did not show up on time, while irritated, I  reminded myself it is a busy time of year (and I did not come here and post either) and moved on.  It did not show up yesterday, and still I stayed quiet and reminded myself that it is busy.  However, when almost a week later this package has either not left my region or has taken a journey and is now back on it's way to me,  I have no sympathy.    This present is important to me and when someone states on my, very justified, thread they are tired of the complaints on the postal service, it undervalues (to me) the real frustration I am going through.  What happens if this gets lost?   I am out not only the money to ship it, which was not cheap,  I am out the money for things in the box,  the recipient is out a Christmas present, and I really doubt the postal service will do a thing about reimbursing me.   Not to mention the anguish and frustration it has caused my family.    They need to be held accountable for their continue incompetence.

 

[Ditto]

37 minutes ago, JanOH said:

If they cannot meet their promises on priority mail services then they need to stop offering/selling those services.  It wasn't a delay of a few days, it was 6 weeks and made a mess for a person who was waiting on the contents overseas.

Yes, pandemic, yes, underfunded, but they need to start being honest and stop offering services if they can't fulfill them.

I am really sorry for all that you went through.   I will never ship with them again.  You are right, they took money for a service they can't fulfill and that is shameful of them.   They list the rules for shipping to get items to their destination on time, I followed those rules, yet here we are.

[Ditto]

43 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I wish I could say I felt that way.  But here we have had such bad mail service for so long it is a running joke.  There is a 9 out of 10 chance that the mail they put in my box is not even for me. 
 

OP-  I refuse to send anything USPS.  They have lost, relocated so many packages.  I have complained before but nothing changes. 

I am with you, I will never again send anything USPS.   You are right, nothing changes.  And these issues were long before the pandemic.

In additional to the overall USPS incompetence, our mail carrier is horrible.  

[Ditto]

52 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

but with being royally jerked around by politicians who very intentionally want to break them.

Now I do agree that what the politicians did to them is unconscionable.  The politicians involved should be punished for their actions.   

[itsheresomewhere]

59 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Here, the accuracy of normal mail delivery depends on which carrier is delivering that day. If a certain carrier is delivering, everything is fine. If not, we get other people’s mail on the regular. A friend of ours in a nearby zip code claims the same. We’ve lived here for years and it has never been like this. Several times we haven’t received a utility bill or something, and I paid it online just before it was overdue. 
 

And....sigh.....I’m almost 60 so I’m no where near breastfeeding age, but I ordered nipple cream from Amazon. BECAUSE right now there is nothing out there that will give me dry skin relief except petroleum based products, and I can’t use that. Nipple cream is nothing but lanolin, which is a close second to petrolatum. You can get just a tub of lanolin, but it stinks. The lanolin in nipple cream is ultra purified to be safe for babies and is clear and odorless. And effective. And affordable. So nipple cream for lips, hands, and face. Everything is good. Until yesterday when the second tube I ordered was lost in the mail. If the person who got it is honest, they will put it back in their mailbox. If not, may they enjoy their nipple cream. 

You might get it 6 months later and partly used with an we are sorry tag ( we actually had something like this happen). 
 

 

[TheReader]

4 hours ago, JanOH said:

If they cannot meet their promises on priority mail services then they need to stop offering/selling those services.  It wasn't a delay of a few days, it was 6 weeks and made a mess for a person who was waiting on the contents overseas.

Yes, pandemic, yes, underfunded, but they need to start being honest and stop offering services if they can't fulfill them.

while I've certainly experienced more than my share of USPS mishaps (oh my word, the stories I could tell....), I'm surprised that they offered you any kind of guarantee at all with overseas/international shipping; when we were living in Brazil/mailing things internationally, that was NEVER a guarantee option at all; they could only guarantee the transit time here in the US but then it's out of their hands.  Six weeks for international isn't, really, unheard of, unfortunately. 

[Spy Car]

Perhaps putting a guy--Louis DeJoy--in charge of USPS who sought to destroy the postal service so he could monkey-wrench an election wasn't the best of ideas?

This is fall out from the deliberate sabotage of a Constitutionally authorized public service.

Bill

[athena1277]

In my experience, it’s not just USPS.  Everything is taking way longer than it should.  I don’t expect to see anything I order for at least a week. Some are taking much longer.  I’m just trying to get all my online shopping done this week to be sure it gets here before Christmas.

[RootAnn]

11 minutes ago, athena1277 said:

I’m just trying to get all my online shopping done this week to be sure it gets here before Christmas.

I'm ordering a bit extra just in case something doesn't make it. Then, I can hold onto the late/extra items for birthdays. 

[Bootsie]

We have recently had a number of problems with USPS.  I have found mail for neighbors in my flower bed a couple of times over the past few months.  I have found mail addressed to a state several states away in my yard.  That has nothing to do with funding.  When I receive mail for Sally Rodriguez, 123 Tulip Street and my name is Susan Miller, 8254 Magnolia Avenue (with a different ZIP code) --the only thing was the first letter of the first name--that isn't funding.  When I take a package properly addressed to Austria, Europe--with proper postal code and everything) and after I give the package to the USPS their worker adds "Austria, United Kingdom" and sends the package to London (when it is important documents needed for a residency permit)--that has nothing to do with funding.  When, I have to go in to the local office to try to straighten out a mess when they deliver a package to an entirely wrong city and the workers can't keep their masks on, they has nothing to do with funding.  If the employees of any other business acted like I have had USPS workers acting recently they would be fired or the business would not stay in business.  

[Spy Car]

7 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

We have recently had a number of problems with USPS.  I have found mail for neighbors in my flower bed a couple of times over the past few months.  I have found mail addressed to a state several states away in my yard.  That has nothing to do with funding.  When I receive mail for Sally Rodriguez, 123 Tulip Street and my name is Susan Miller, 8254 Magnolia Avenue (with a different ZIP code) --the only thing was the first letter of the first name--that isn't funding.  When I take a package properly addressed to Austria, Europe--with proper postal code and everything) and after I give the package to the USPS their worker adds "Austria, United Kingdom" and sends the package to London (when it is important documents needed for a residency permit)--that has nothing to do with funding.  When, I have to go in to the local office to try to straighten out a mess when they deliver a package to an entirely wrong city and the workers can't keep their masks on, they has nothing to do with funding.  If the employees of any other business acted like I have had USPS workers acting recently they would be fired or the business would not stay in business.  

 

LOL. The current Postmaster is actively trying to drive the enterprise out of business.

It is shameful and an intentional abuse of power.

Bill

 

[rebcoola]

I haven't paid attention to the details.  I know they are underfunded and lots of people have issues.  While our mail seems as reliable as ever.  We have never had packages arrive more than a day or two late and it's not common.  Maybe once a year we get a letter meant for next door.  So why such huge differences??

[City Mouse]

I’m sorry that you are having such a difficult time. Where I live USPS is ok, but slow. FedEx is even worse for us because their delivery drivers are contractors. We have the best luck with UPS. (And my dog loves the brown truck)

[Tenaj]

4 hours ago, TheReader said:

while I've certainly experienced more than my share of USPS mishaps (oh my word, the stories I could tell....), I'm surprised that they offered you any kind of guarantee at all with overseas/international shipping; when we were living in Brazil/mailing things internationally, that was NEVER a guarantee option at all; they could only guarantee the transit time here in the US but then it's out of their hands.  Six weeks for international isn't, really, unheard of, unfortunately. 

It wasn't overseas shipping.  An acquaintance was leaving to fly to the same country and that's the only secure way to get a new credit card to this person.  I was mailing 3 states over so that person could personally deliver it.  It should have worked with plenty of time to spare.  Ended up canceling that card, requesting a new one and sending it with a different couple a month later.  It ended up getting to her sooner that the original package was delivered to the original address!

[stephanier.1765]

Last month I paid for Priority delivery. I was told it would take 3 days. Perfect, it would arrive a day ahead of my granddaughter's birthday, except it didn't. It arrived 6 days later. USPS FAIL.

[RootAnn]

1 hour ago, rebcoola said:

So why such huge differences??

Some is people. We could go years with amazing service locally, then have our carrier retire & end up with late deliveries, missed deliveries, no mail at all on certain days, packages left on the wet ground in the rain by the mailbox instead of on the covered/dry front porch, etc. because of a different employee or substitutes.

I think the delays are also people, but also the underfunding & problems with transportation & machinery.

I think some employees are bad ones (either lazy, mean, or greedy --in the case where packages are "lost" but I highly suspect contents were stolen). I'm sure the same range of good, bad, and greedy work for private carriers but perhaps when it is a for profit company, there is more pressure from above to fix themselves or they get fired.

The local postmaster probably makes some difference. Ours has been a revolving door in the last several years.

[TheReader]

1 hour ago, JanOH said:

It wasn't overseas shipping.  An acquaintance was leaving to fly to the same country and that's the only secure way to get a new credit card to this person.  I was mailing 3 states over so that person could personally deliver it.  It should have worked with plenty of time to spare.  Ended up canceling that card, requesting a new one and sending it with a different couple a month later.  It ended up getting to her sooner that the original package was delivered to the original address!

Ah, I missed that part. That is a mess! 

[BusyMom5]

Even regular mail is ridiculously slow.  DD has had several college things take over 2 weeks to get here.  I just got a few BF mailers this week!  

[Selkie]

22 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

Even regular mail is ridiculously slow.  DD has had several college things take over 2 weeks to get here.  I just got a few BF mailers this week!  

I was just talking to someone who works at the power company. She said that the mail has slowed down so much lately that it takes about 20 days for checks to arrive.

[J-rap]

We've always had terrific mail service, and it's always amazed me.  Only one time did we have a problem, when I returned our kids' standardized testing answers to the company (to be checked), and apparently the truck carrying that envelope was in a bad accident and the envelope burst open and all of my kids' answers landed in piles of mud!  (That was years ago!)

I think the politics and the pandemic are causing lots of disruptions now.  I'm still amazed that almost everything gets to where it needs to go, even if it's a little slower than it used to be.  Our downtown post office has only ONE person working at the service counter now!  They are so underfunded.  This is for a state capital city downtown!  I feel so badly for them...  They work so hard, and are underfunded and politicized, and caught in a pandemic.

I sent our dd a package to Europe (where she's going to school) in March, and it took three months to get there, but that was because of the pandemic.  It actually went back and forth across the ocean three times (I could track it).  Her country wasn't accepting overseas packages because of the pandemic and would keep sending it back, but the international post office accepting the package stateside would just send it back to her country again.  I'm amazed that it finally got there at all.

Postal workers work so hard.  There will always be exceptions, but please give them a break.

Just now in the news, I'm hearing about car-jackers who are driving off in Amazon trucks when the driver has left it for a minute to deliver a package to a door.  When the trucks are finally found, all the packages are gone.  So, yeah, now delivery people have that to deal with around here too.  (Maybe other cities have been experiencing this already, but this is new for us.)

[skimomma]

15 hours ago, J-rap said:

We've always had terrific mail service, and it's always amazed me.  Only one time did we have a problem, when I returned our kids' standardized testing answers to the company (to be checked), and apparently the truck carrying that envelope was in a bad accident and the envelope burst open and all of my kids' answers landed in piles of mud!  (That was years ago!)

 

We have also had pretty good luck with USPS and our carrier and local office workers are great.  But we had this happen to us once!  We actually got an email saying the truck our package was on was in an accident and therefore packages might be delayed or destroyed.  They even included details that the accident involved a fire.  In our case it was FedEx.  Our package did arrive, unscathed, and on time(!), but it made me think this must happen with some degree of regularity.

We have a much bigger problem with UPS.  We have not had a package delivered on time at all this year and they often deliver to the wrong address.  It is so predictable that we know which houses to hit up if a package is really late.  Unfortunately the most common address they mis-deliver to is a vacant house so there is no one there to return it to sender.  It is very obviously a vacant house.  As in, the roof is caving in.  I can't imagine what the driver must be thinking.  I have a monthly delivery of frozen pet food and this past summer we had two boxes of completely ruined food because a box sat somewhere hot over a weekend due to delayed deliveries.  They also SPEED all over my residential neighborhood and routinely run stop signs.  I have called to complain several time.

[alisoncooks]

For the most part, I'm okay with our mail service, though they consistently mix up our mail with another house. Say our address is 123 Road Name Rd. and another house is on a parallel state hwy, with the address 123 Hwy Number.  We've just gotten to the point where we regularly drop pkgs off on each other's porches, instead of sending the items back into the system. 

Funny recent incident: they got a letter addressed to Not Their Name, 123 Hwy Number. They sent it back into the mail and then it came to my house -- with neither our name or address on it. Seriously? LOL. 

[Ditto]

On 12/8/2020 at 8:45 AM, Indigo Blue said:

And....sigh.....I’m almost 60 so I’m no where near breastfeeding age, but I ordered nipple cream from Amazon. BECAUSE right now there is nothing out there that will give me dry skin relief except petroleum based products, and I can’t use that. Nipple cream is nothing but lanolin, which is a close second to petrolatum. You can get just a tub of lanolin, but it stinks. The lanolin in nipple cream is ultra purified to be safe for babies and is clear and odorless. And effective. And affordable. So nipple cream for lips, hands, and face. Everything is good. Until yesterday when the second tube I ordered was lost in the mail. If the person who got it is honest, they will put it back in their mailbox. If not, may they enjoy their nipple cream. 

I had no idea that nipple cream was good for so many things besides nipples!  Thanks for the advice.   And I really hope whoever got yours is honest and gets it back to you.

[Ditto]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:22 AM, Margaret in CO said:

I'm keeping my fingers crossed on ds' packages I sent yesterday. We don't have overnight here at all (with any carrier) and priority is a joke!

I am crossing my fingers for you too.

[Ditto]

6 hours ago, skimomma said:

We have a much bigger problem with UPS.  We have not had a package delivered on time at all this year and they often deliver to the wrong address.  It is so predictable that we know which houses to hit up if a package is really late.  Unfortunately the most common address they mis-deliver to is a vacant house so there is no one there to return it to sender.  It is very obviously a vacant house.  As in, the roof is caving in.  I can't imagine what the driver must be thinking.  I have a monthly delivery of frozen pet food and this past summer we had two boxes of completely ruined food because a box sat somewhere hot over a weekend due to delayed deliveries.  They also SPEED all over my residential neighborhood and routinely run stop signs.  I have called to complain several time.

It really is interesting that everyone's experiences are so different.  Here UPS and Fed Ex are fantastic.  No problems at all.  They are also good about not speeding.  Now who does speed, and in general drives super dangerously through our neighborhood is Amazon.  They are going to cause an accident or kill someone walking one day.  How they drive is bloody criminal.  

 

[Ditto]

Update:  There is no update.  The package is continuing it's journey to who knows where, tracking has stopped (it just says "making it's way through the system"). It has been a week since it was mailed.  The postal service refuses to give even a partial refund to us, despite them not fulfilling the job we paid for.   The recipient is being awfully kind about this mess, which is nice.   I am not happy at all and as I have stated, will never mail a package with the postal service again.

[Bootsie]

I am sitting in my living room and just hear a lot of commotion outside, including a lot of loud, foul language.  It was the mail carrier on a cell phone, carrying on a personal conversation so loudly I could hear it within my house, while putting mail in my box.  I remember when mail carriers conducted themselves in a professional manner--in dress and in manner.  

[SquirrellyMama]

Our mail carriers are fantastic, and we haven't had problems. I don't doubt that people do have issues. I have heard horror stories of mail carriers stealing birthday cards, throwing mail away, etc... I agree that many problems are area/carrier specific. Many businesses are similar.

I have a fun Amazon story that made me happy today. We received 2 packages this afternoon. The driver was blaring music so we heard him coming. It reminded me of an ice cream truck but Amazon delivery. Ice cream truck for adults. 

I have had trouble with Fed Ex. We joke that packages are coming by Fed Ex pony cart. 

Kelly