And people think the government is so great!

[guruatbol]

Tuesday I mailed two packages. One from Utah to San Jose, CA and one to Chicago, IL.

I chose 2 day mail for the one to Chicago in order for it to get there on Friday. Since it is pretty important that it get there quick, I felt this was the way to go.

Fast forward to Friday, I get a text that the documents had not arrived. checked the tracking numbers and it was received in Provo, UT on the 9th and nowhere near Chicago. Well, I guess it was since at 3:40am today, one day after it was supposed to arrive, it was in Chicago IL processing center.

I know I should understand what time of year it is, but if I pay for two day delivery, I want two day delivery, period!

IMHO, it is no wonder why the postal service is not able to stay above water. The hours for this time of year are ridiculous, 5PM? Really? If they truly wanted to make it work out they would;

take advantage of busy times just like the private guys.
deliver their mail on time like the other guys.
be courteous at the counter like the other guys.
Make their carriers look professional in some sort of uniform, like the other guys.
Instead of smashing boxes to fit their stupid group mail boxes, deliver them to your door, like the other guys.

All of which would likely make them have to charge more, like the other guys.

I guess I shouldn't complain, they do deliver an entire trash bag of stuff that was never sent to me specifically but instead mailed to some schmoe named Resident, in a months time all in a timely fashion.

The bright side is if it ever gets cold here, I have plenty of fire starter.

I miss our post mistress, Kay! Never had these issues when she was here. She helped me get stuff out the cheapest way and helped pack it as well. She has moved on and now I am forced to deal with the federal employees that just don't like their job! If they don't like it, they should quit and let the illegals do it! There is always one of those waiting to take your job as soon as they are made legal, by illegal order!

Just a bunch or rambling, random rants to start the Saturday morning out!

Mel

 

[Horseplay]

Never, ever send anything important via the USPS. Simply cannot trust it to get there either on time or in far too many instances, to even deliver. Been burned too many times to count. I spend just a couple bucks more to use FedEx or UPS these days. They both offer much better in route tracking info at all times and simply do what they promise.
I won't bash all the USPS workers out there for surely there are many that work hard and do a good job. I just haven't run across any in my prior engagements with the USPS!

 

[AzPete]

USPS needs to hire their employees instead of contracting individuals. According to the local Postmaster, they have no control over the contracted idiots.....they can just tell them to do better. Had several conversations with them about the idiots.

 

[Horseplay]

USPS needs to hire their employees instead of contracting individuals. According to the local Postmaster, they have no control over the contracted idiots.....they can just tell them to do better. Had several conversations with them about the idiots.

I assume you are referring to rural mail carriers. The USPS cannot get into the black as it is. I'm sure they use contractors to save money as the cost of a true employee is likely far too much to support.

 

[AzPete]

.....and the lack of good service there makes me depend on other services for my shipping. We have been so close to getting a box in town....and then they closed the two closest facilities. Another thing I hate is when UPS hands off to USPS for the actual home delivery. I have had that on a couple of Amazon shipments.

 

[Ponyman66]

.....and the lack of good service there makes me depend on other services for my shipping. We have been so close to getting a box in town....and then they closed the two closest facilities. Another thing I hate is when UPS hands off to USPS for the actual home delivery. I have had that on a couple of Amazon shipments.

When I went to the P.O. to lodge a complaint, which I detailed in another thread, the supervisor mentioned that many people in my profession chose to get a P.O. box. It felt like she was really trying to push one. Sure, lower costs for them to "deliver" the mail, more income from us. I refuse to go that route in part due to the fact there's still many places that won't send to a P.O. box.

I truly believe that the UPS/USPS deal is nothing more than movement towards privatizing the mail completely...with UPS eventually taking it over. Of course our mail costs will end up sky rocketing, no regulation and a nice tidy monopoly (and don't EVEN think anti-trust laws will prevent that, the Govt makes rules for us and another set for themselves!). Don't be surprised when it eventually happens!

 

[Horseplay]

If you are really honest and think about it who needs the service of typical "mail". No one writes letters anymore. I doubt many mail bill payments, etc. We use the internet (e-mail and bill pay services) for all that today. All I use my mailbox for is to receive junk mail that I don't want.

As far as UPS and FedEx using the USPS to finalize delivery of stuff that has been around a while. It is done by merchants who do large volume sales/deliveries. I agree, if you track the shipment is flys along until being passed off to the postal service. I have bought a ton of parts lately and stuff will go halfway across the county in a day and arrive at my local post office and it always takes them two days after receipt to deliver. It's less than 2 miles from my house.

 

[manley]

I'm not sure USPS transports any packages these days except for final mile delivery. FedEx and UPS take care of Smartpost and Flat Rate packages as far as I can tell. As a logistics manager, I prefer FedEx for speed, but their damages seem to be more frequent than UPS.

Also, I have a friend who is the postmaster for what, if I recall correctly, is considered a "medium" size area and am dumbfounded by her salary. The bureaucracy involved with handling other employees is ridiculous. I haven't figured out if her stress is a legitimate part of the job or her inability to handle it, but I enjoy my much lower paying fun environment significantly more than she enjoys her job.

In other words, if we peeled the lid back on the USPS, it is complete chaos held together by Great Stuff and duct tape.... in my opinion.

 

[gt289]

I still mail all my bill payments monthly. That is the only thing I use USPS for.
Today's mail arrivals are typical of what we receive daily..... DMV registration crap, invite for a business seminar and a come-on for Westin vacations.
Unfortunately the first two items were addressed to the prior owners at this address, neither of which have lived here in 3 years.

My favorite measure of USPS speed was getting an item from Tokyo via Japan Post in a couple of days and our postal service taking 4 days
to get a 1st class letter from Tucson to Los Angeles.