How is your USPS service?

[Bambam]

We used to have a wonderful USPS delivery person. She brought packages to the door and left them protected from any weather - placed under large doormat. If she brought a package to the door, she also rubber-banded the regular mail and tucked it under the packages. We have informed digest, and 99.9% of the time, that mail all arrived that day. If it didn't arrive that day, it arrived the next. 

She had to have an operation and so was out for 2 months. Our mail was random. We still got informed digest, but no telling if that mail would arrive today or four days later. We got the neighbor's mail.  Packages were stuffed into mailbox. Packages were not protected from weather.  If packages made it to the door, the other mail was in the box. Mail came at irregular times. We didn't like it, but we figured we had a variety of temp folks. 

Regular mail person came back. Mail was smooth, delivered, on time, timely, etc. 

Now she has retired. Mail is sporadic again. I walked neighbor's mail over to him last night as we got ours and his. Regularly folks are posting pictures of packages shoved into mailboxes - often left hanging out. Or packages aren't arriving. People are regularly complaining (FB neighborhood group) about not getting mail or getting someone else's mail. One person had a hilarious video of mail delivery person backing up in their driveway but wildly misjudged all sorts of things and drove over the yard a couple of times (just kept going). So far, we've gotten all our mail (I think partly due to informed digest), but no telling when it will actually arrive. 

Is this typical of USPS delivery everywhere? Seriously, we don't get a lot of real mail any more, but I'm thinking about signing up for more paperless billing since this is getting ridiculous.  I see them begging for mail delivery people locally. I thought this used to be a good job but hard to get as there was a difficult test to pass before they would hire you. 

[SKL]

We get some mistakes, but not enough to complain officially.  I do get other people's mail fairly often, but I just put it back in the mailbox and put the flag up.

Now that I have a dog who thinks it's his job to destroy delivery people, I am happy when they leave the boxes somewhere other than my porch.  It used to bug me though ... particularly in the rain and snow.  Things were bad for a while, years ago.

[QueenCat]

I've never had a mailperson attach my mail to a package. I don't think I'd like that. But yes, we have other issues like you when there is a sub. Mostly with delivering to the wrong house. 

[HomeAgain]

Ours is usually quite good.  Every once in a while I end up with our neighbor's mail (our street is numbered poorly) but it's not a huge problem.  Our regular carrier is a very nice woman who takes care with our packages when it comes to weather and our postmaster is extremely responsive.

FWIW, I like our usual Amazon delivery driver, too (young gentleman who rocks out, singing as he drives around the neighborhood) and our UPS driver. 

USPS at our previous home, though.........I cringed when they shoved a rather expensive book into our little slot instead of dropping it by the house.  They were always a bit surly at the main office, too.  Our main office here had a shipment of birds last time I was in and the clerks were amused by the unintentional music their day had.

[Pawz4me]

We don't have any significant problems. Two or three times a year we get some of our elderly neighbor's mail. Once about four or five years ago our other neighbor got some of our mail one day. Considering the volume they have to deal with I'm surprised there aren't a lot more mistakes.

[KungFuPanda]

::raises hand:: What is informed digest?

[Kassia]

Just now, KungFuPanda said:

::raises hand:: What is informed digest?

It's great.  You can see the mail that has been scanned to be delivered to you before it's delivered.  https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

[73349]

Our mail is regularly late and some days they clearly just don't get to us at all, but we don't often have misdeliveries.

We're last on the route and they haven't kept up with population growth in the area. I don't expect packages to be delivered promptly, and I've given up on the pick-up service. They would literally mark a package picked up from the front door when they didn't come at all. (It's like 20 minutes' drive to a PO since they closed the closer one and their even closer facility has no public service.)

[knitgrl]

We used to have the best mail carrier on the planet. He did the rubberband thing, and wrapped packages with the regular mail so we didn't have to walk down the long driveway. It was always here by 11:30am. Then he got a better route because the last stops on ours is in a rough neighborhood. We got a new carrier, and never knew when it would show up. Maybe not until 6pm. And then two winters ago, she refused to deliver mail to our mailbox because it wasn't shoveled out to her liking. She refused to deliver packages because our driveway was too slippery. We talked to the post master, and she said that it's illegal for them to deliver mail to a house unless you have a circular driveway. We went back and forth with them a few times. Once the driver came up the driveway when it was a little icy (though we had salted it) and snowy and gunned it like a bat out of hell in order to prove how dangerous our driveway was. We ended up picking up our mail at the post office a few miles away because it was a big headache. Last winter we had no problems. Mail is usually delivered by 3-3:30. I still miss our old carrier.

[WildflowerMom]

Our mail people are great, no problems here.  But the other day I sent a priority box to ds 1.5 hrs away and for some reason it went all the way to Texas before going to Florida.   🤷🏻‍♀️  So I think there’s some issues with the distribution center, but not our local post office.   

[Faith-manor]

Worthless. We don't use it. We have packages sent to our mother in law's house, all bills are electronic statements. The post office is open 10 am to noon, and 2-3 pm only, and no rural delivery in town so we have to have a PO box because the county refuses to send the property taxes to an address outside the township, ie. mother in law's address. Of course the township tax person is 83 and not computer proficient, might even have dementia so ya...a problem. Anything mailed in this town can take up to a week to be post marked and leave the office. The "postmaster" as a t.v. in the office, and watches t.v. while on the job. Those rare hours that the window is open, it is like pulling teeth to get her to wait on a customer. The number of formal co.plants to U.S.P. is OFF the charts for this office. Bottom line is she is the niece of someone elected to legislature in Lansing, and unless she sets the building on fire deliberately or cannibalize a human, she is basically unfireable and she knows it.

Mother in law has absolutely wonderful mail service. The post office serving her area is top notch. When I have to mail something, I always drive there. We really like the postmaster. He is a great person.

[stephanier.1765]

Ours is always late in the day. I'm always shocked when someone gets their mail in the morning because mine is closer to dinner time. That could just be the way her route is set up though. We do occasionally receive the wrong mail but not nearly as often as we did years ago. The worst thing is the delivery of packages. Our mail is delivered to a metal set of boxes with each home getting their own box. There are two larger boxes for packages and, if one is ours, a key to the box is put in our regular box so we can open it up. However, if those boxes are already full or our package is too large, the mail person will delivery it to our front walk. Just barely off the grass and another ten feet to our door. We have a front porch where every other delivery person manages to put our packages. Some even attempt to hide them behind the plants so no one from the street can see them. It also rains here nearly every day this time of year so our packages on the porch are nice and dry. So the delivery of our packages to the front walk really gets my goat. One more second of walking and she could be to the porch so it's not saving her time at all. Just ugh!

[Plagefille]

Terrible. At our last house, we had 3 certified letters sent over a few months period and we were only made aware of one of them. They never even attempted to deliver the other two. The one they did "attempt" to deliver, was not actually attempted. They just left a not in our mailbox to go pick it up at the post office. Said they missed us, but we were home all morning doing school in the front room right next to the front door.

At our new house we have lived in less than a year, in a new state, it has been worse. Packages regularly left in the wrong mailbox, at least 3 times so far. They lost a certified letter and never found it. My husband says his work gets stuff for others about twice a week. 

[rebcoola]

Our is pretty good most of our packages come from a seperate person than regular mail. They either put it on the stoop or in the box a few open the screen and put it between that and the door.

[prairiewindmomma]

It was decent until the purposeful slowdown through the removal of sorting machines. Now it’s terrible.

[itsheresomewhere]

Ours is horrible.  We used to have a great one than they moved her.  Now we are stuck with the ones who I can’t figure how they have a job.  I’ll get informed delivery so I have an idea on what is missing.  It might come today, it might come tomorrow, next week or the best was 8 months later.  If I could avoid using them, I would. For most things, I get it shipped ups or Amazon or fedhex ( not a typo just my feelings on my particular driver who delivers where she feels).  Besides not getting it, I would really like it if the mail person could not put my mail in his armpit while he walks around my area.  It comes sweaty, smelly and ripped.  
 

I have complained for years…..

[Ting Tang]

It's been pretty good lately, but I used to have one who was stuffing packages into our mailabox, and I couldn't get them out.  And I had some school materials damaged.

[Tenaj]

Ours is fine.  It usually arrives by 10 or 10:30.  Packages are put on our porch unless they fit into the mailbox.  Very few mixups.  Once in a while a package gets held up by a day.  Usually what comes matches my informed delivery email.  I guess we are fortunate.

[elegantlion]

Mine is great. We live in an apartment and never have trouble with packages. They mostly get left in parcel lockers, but the previous mail carrier left them at the door - we have no issues with porch pirates even in an apartment complex. 

Last week I ordered a package from a new company. I had put in the wrong shipping address. It's an address that doesn't even exist. I didn't realize until the package was out for delivery and didn't arrive. I filed a report online, visited my post office the next morning - they looked for 10 minutes for the package but couldn't find it. Got a call back from the local office an hour later and they noted it would be delivered in the my mailbox that day. It was. 

I previously had an issue with a package going to the wrong address (different mail carrier). I was able to call my local post office and have it dealt with that day. 

I'm actually quite pleased with my postal service. 

[Corraleno]

Our mail guy is cranky but efficient. He gets very put out if someone parks on the street less than 10' (to the inch!) from the mailbox and he will put a notice on the windshield every. single. time. Also, because of where my neighbor parks and the fact that DD leaves for work before the trash gets picked up, I have to put the trash cans close to the mailbox on trash day, and then I have to make sure to bring them in within the short window between trash pickup and mail delivery, because he gets cranky about that too.

But on the positive side, he comes around the same time every day (except during the holidays) and he always walks larger packages up to the porch, along with mail bundled with a rubber band, and leaves them right at the door so they won't get wet even if it's windy. I get someone else's mail maybe once a month, but I just stick it in the correct box and I assume others do the same if they get my mail. Most of the UPS, FedEx and Amazon drivers here are really good about leaving things close to the door, out of the sun & rain, and they usually hide smaller packages behind a plant.

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, knitgrl said:

We used to have the best mail carrier on the planet. He did the rubberband thing, and wrapped packages with the regular mail so we didn't have to walk down the long driveway. It was always here by 11:30am. Then he got a better route because the last stops on ours is in a rough neighborhood. We got a new carrier, and never knew when it would show up. Maybe not until 6pm. And then two winters ago, she refused to deliver mail to our mailbox because it wasn't shoveled out to her liking. She refused to deliver packages because our driveway was too slippery. We talked to the post master, and she said that it's illegal for them to deliver mail to a house unless you have a circular driveway. We went back and forth with them a few times. Once the driver came up the driveway when it was a little icy (though we had salted it) and snowy and gunned it like a bat out of hell in order to prove how dangerous our driveway was. We ended up picking up our mail at the post office a few miles away because it was a big headache. Last winter we had no problems. Mail is usually delivered by 3-3:30. I still miss our old carrier.

The rubberbanded mail is a big no-no even though some people find it convenient.

The timing thing (not necessarily in your situation, but lots of people have mentioned it)—sometimes when a person retires, they don’t get replaced with a full-time person dedicated to that route. Also, mail volume, vacation/sick time contribute to high substitutes—think surgery where you might be out for weeks, etc.

Some of the other stuff might seem picayune (and others mentioned similar stuff), but a mail carrier that follows the letter of the law is the type that usually has good service. It’s not always the case, but the rules protect either you or them in some way. It sounds like yours was maybe more Goldilocks than is called for though!

For anyone with bad service, complaining means they can document it and have a higher chance of getting rid of bad employees even if it seems like it’s not helping a lot. We’ve had some bumps over time, but when they can justify getting rid of the bad ones, it smooths out again.

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

It was decent until the purposeful slowdown through the removal of sorting machines. Now it’s terrible.

There are some people who would like to see the USPS go down/privatize, and they are looking to make bad service a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are a LOT of changes since my dad retired ten or so years ago, and those changes are often not great. That said, sometimes the unions don’t want to give an inch either by turning walking routes into curbside service, etc. 

 

[Corraleno]

10 minutes ago, kbutton said:

The rubberbanded mail is a big no-no even though some people find it convenient.

Why is rubber-banding the mail that gets left with packages a problem? I assume they do it to prevent the individual items from blowing away?

[kbutton]

1 minute ago, Corraleno said:

Why is rubber-banding the mail that gets left with packages a problem? I assume they do it to prevent the individual items from blowing away?

I assume because mail belongs in the mailbox. If your parcels always fit in the mailbox, they would not be bringing them to the door (unless your mailbox is on your porch).

We used to have a mailman that for a while rubber banded the regular mail together but not to the parcel, and then left it with (but not tethered to) the parcel to blow away. That was fun. He said he wasn’t supposed to leave the mail with the parcel but that “people liked it that way.” So, it might simply be that the USPS likes to avoid leaving things up to random people’s likes, dislikes, and individual judgements so people can’t [legitimately anyway] play one carrier off of another.

Also, lots of things are about what works across the board and not what works today or on an individual level. They will redo routes based on what you can accomplish under ideal circumstances, not the majority of the time. It’s a balance of being efficient and never planning for adverse circumstances. I am sure my dad could draw a diagram of all the downstream problems, lol! He had worked as a sub in a lot of different post offices and seen a lot of crazy stuff; it gave him a lot of context. He was frequently treated as less than human by management, though much of that was in the context of an entirely on foot route. Some of the rules about slippery driveways and such are for those reasons, and those things can’t always be separated out from banding loose mail to a package in ways that are not obvious to the public.

[Clarita]

The temp people I've gotten usually isn't good. Essentially our whole neighborhoods mail gets delivered all over the place. When we get a person who starts to do our route regularly then it becomes good again. I don't know if they get used to the route or when you are on a temp route that person is overworked because they are just taking over for a bit or what.

[Annie G]

We live in a small town and our service has been excellent until the past month when our carrier had a medical emergency while on vacation out of the country. She’s back in the US, but hospitalized in Miami and might never be able to work again. Our substitute carriers have been hit or miss, though it’s gotten better as they’ve learned the route. 
If we have a package too large for our mailbox the carrier brings it to our covered porch and puts the ‘regular’ mail rubberbanded together under the package so to doesn’t blow away. I always appreciated that and assumed it was to keep someone from having to walk to the mailbox- just a kind gesture. 
Our little post office is open all day M-F and half a day Saturday. They’ve almost always been friendly, though there is an occasionally a kind of crabby interaction. (I’m sure they could say the same about me)

[Garga]

No problems here! In the past 20 years of living here, I think the only time something was mis-delivered, it came from UPS and not USPS. 

[J-rap]

Ours is very good, and always has been, wherever we've lived.  

[Katy]

Ours is fantastic. The previous two places were fine. The one in Oklahoma though… ooof, terrible.