I hate the Post Office

[Major Kong]

Rant on.

I paid $20 to have a package delivered- priority mail, insured, signature confirmation from Northern Ohio to East Tennessee. Total distance about 450 miles. The package shipped on the 23rd. As of the 25th the package had made it a grand total of 100 miles- in the wrong direction. My package is now further away than it was when it started.

How many freaking extra services do I have to buy to guarantee that they do their job correctly?

Rant off.

[willis68]

I hear you Fred, they Lost an expense report that I had sent 3 days Express mail to Belgium, it took 3 months to get there!

[DaveTN]

It probably had to go the other direction to go through the central smashing station. Don’t worry though; they don’t charge extra for that.

[gregintenn]

Man, I haven't had that experience yet. I send all the holsters I ship the cheapest way they'll send them, and they get there in 1-3 days. I can mail one to Oregon for less than $5, and it gets there quicker than I could drive it there nonstop. I've been amazed with the efficiency of the post office so far.

[kb4ns]

I'm with Greg. I ship anywhere from 150 to 300 packages a year, all except guns/ammo by the USPS. Had one problem in four years and it was still pretty much my fault.

[Guest mikedwood]

I've had way more problems with Fed Ex and UPS. Mainly them not leaving something and I have to go pick it up.

Everything sent Fed Ex goes to Memphis depot then out. They may have another depot by now as well but even if you ship from Califorinia it goes through Memphis.

[Gun Smith]

Only problem I've had with the post office is trying to get the mail carrier to close my mailbox. So many time I would come home in the afternoon and find my box wide open. Mail exposed to passers, wet from rain, and blown out. I would call and complain. First I was told my box was mounted too high, so I lowered it. After I lowered it to their specs, the problem continued. Then, they said I had a faulty box. Always worked fine for me, and the post master when we took the time to close it.

I finally started turning up the heat. I told the post master that my box was approved by the U.S. Postal service. Which, in turn meant they were supposed to hire people that were at least smart enough to close it. I told him I was going to keep going over his head, up the chain of command, until the problem was resolved. It took a few more phone calls, up the chain of command, but these days my box is always closed.

By the way, the post master's solution was for me to buy a more expensive box. I was not about to do that out here on this country road with the box smashers making a target out of any nice looking box.

[Oh Shoot]

...

Everything sent Fed Ex goes to Memphis depot then out. They may have another depot by now as well but even if you ship from Califorinia it goes through Memphis.

Express yeah.

FX Ground of course has extensive network of region to region. Pretty much 24-48 hours from/to anywhere on same side of Mississippi, and 3 days nation wide in the 48.

FedEx Express (and UPS Express) are both continually shrinking.

But USPS still has the most cost efficient service for packages under 5 lbs or so.

Through the last 15 years, I've probably shipped and received 2000 packages via USPS. Only a handful of problems, and most of those were international.

- OS

[Chief07]

Don't get me started with the postal carriers.

They lost my cigar order, I had to reorder from Thompson

and 6 months later I get a notice that I have a package at

the post office. I went down and picked up a box of stale cigars.

They suck.

[Jonnin]

Man, I haven't had that experience yet. I send all the holsters I ship the cheapest way they'll send them, and they get there in 1-3 days. I can mail one to Oregon for less than $5, and it gets there quicker than I could drive it there nonstop. I've been amazed with the efficiency of the post office so far.

I think that is the key... the less you spend the better it works, and the happier you will be.

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Only problem I've had with the post office is trying to get the mail carrier to close my mailbox. So many time I would come home in the afternoon and find my box wide open. Mail exposed to passers, wet from rain, and blown out. I would call and complain. First I was told my box was mounted too high, so I lowered it. After I lowered it to their specs, the problem continued. Then, they said I had a faulty box. Always worked fine for me, and the post master when we took the time to close it.

I finally started turning up the heat. I told the post master that my box was approved by the U.S. Postal service. Which, in turn meant they were supposed to hire people that were at least smart enough to close it. I told him I was going to keep going over his head, up the chain of command, until the problem was resolved. It took a few more phone calls, up the chain of command, but these days my box is always closed.

By the way, the post master's solution was for me to buy a more expensive box. I was not about to do that out here on this country road with the box smashers making a target out of any nice looking box.

I had kind of the same issue when I lived in oak ridge. The post master was to lazy to get out of his car and walk his fat butt up two flights of stairs to my apartment so instead of leaving packages he would leave me notices. Most of the time when the packages were delivered I was at home. So I called and complained after about the third one like you did to the main supervisor there in oak ridge. His solution was to suspend my mail service for a week and was being vindictive. I was nice the whole time. That really burned me up so I filed a complaint against him with the Post master inspector general. Within two days I had a written apology from the supervisor, the post master inspector general, and never had ANY more problems with my mail the rest of the time I lived in Oak Ridge.

[willis68]

I think that is the key... the less you spend the better it works, and the happier you will be.

you are correct, I sent my last expense report to Belgium this time instead of Guaranteed Express, I sent it seven to ten day delivery, they got it in three days???????

[Guest m&pc9]

Don't get me started with the postal carriers.

They lost my cigar order, I had to reorder from Thompson

and 6 months later I get a notice that I have a package at

the post office. I went down and picked up a box of stale cigars.

They suck.

I could just imagine picking them up and half of them were already smoked.

[Guest forte10]

About 6 months ago I sent some golf clubs to New Zealand and they never made it out of the US. I think they magically fell out the back of the truck...

[VolunteerGuns]

Never had any issues with USPS. Way more problems with UPS. A while back I ordered a hard drive from amazon. They shipped UPS. There was a little snow on my drive and I watched the UPS slow down never completely stop and then continue on. Couple hours later I get an email saying delivery exception package damaged in transit. I tried calling UPS but they only give detailed info to the shipper. After splainin the problem to amazon they called UPS and were told it was already on its way back to there distribution center. Amazon then overnighted another. Next day same story. Truck pulls to end of drive slows down then drives away. I call UP and get told exception-unable to deliver-inclement weather. This time I am able to arrange pick up at UPS. I get there, sign and collect my box. When I get home I open it and find two boxes, one with the overnight label and the one thatwas damaged and returned to amazon. Both in perfect condition.

[Guest tnxdshooter]

Never had any issues with USPS. Way more problems with UPS. A while back I ordered a hard drive from amazon. They shipped UPS. There was a little snow on my drive and I watched the UPS slow down never completely stop and then continue on. Couple hours later I get an email saying delivery exception package damaged in transit. I tried calling UPS but they only give detailed info to the shipper. After splainin the problem to amazon they called UPS and were told it was already on its way back to there distribution center. Amazon then overnighted another. Next day same story. Truck pulls to end of drive slows down then drives away. I call UP and get told exception-unable to deliver-inclement weather. This time I am able to arrange pick up at UPS. I get there, sign and collect my box. When I get home I open it and find two boxes, one with the overnight label and the one thatwas damaged and returned to amazon. Both in perfect condition.

LOL

[Major Kong]

Woo hoo, we're making progress. As of yesterday my package is now 200 miles south of me rather than 550 miles north of me. So, this package is going to end up traveling at least 1050 miles and take a minimum of 6 days to make it's original 450 mile trip. If I didn't mention it before, screw the Post Office.

[bajabuc]

Sold a BP(black powder) barrel on ebay. took it to the PO and asked for suggestions as to mailing it. They sold me a "barrel tube" (cardboard tube with caps) and charged me 1/2 the national debt for it. The tube made it to the addressee...no barrel. I'm out the barrel, the ebay fee, refund the purchaser, the tube fee, and the PO has no idea what happened to the barrel.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Our regular USPS mail man is great but when he is on vacation or out sick we have had all kinds of problems with the temp.

Biggest problem is he will not deliver packages that do not fit in our box. He will either leave them on the mail box itself or on the ground next to the post. Even if it is raining he will just toss it on top of our mail box. Our drive way is about 50-75 yards long so it isn't that much farther to drive or even walk. Complaints seem to have fixed the problem for now or maybe our regualr driver hasn't taken vacation since we complained.

A friend of mine has a problem with their delivery driver walking into their house to deliver without being let in. They have talked to the post master but the delivery driver still doesn't get it.

I have had huge problems with UPS in my area. I have relatives that live in the same area as me, most of them are piece of S**T criminals and such. Now the UPS driver will deliver to them and ask my F'd up relatives to make sure I get the package(s). I still suspect they have held onto packages just to delay them. Also, my mother works at a local grovery store and although she wouldn't steal from me the UPS driver will deliver packages for me to the grocery store where my mother works. I have made several complaints and it still happens, not as often as before but it still happens.

Another UPS tactic I hate is when the deliver to the post office rather than me. I check the status and it says it has been delivered so I run around the house looking for the hiding spot my package might be in. I don't find it so I call only to find out the package has been delivered to the post office. And that is where the fun begins because the post master will not release the packages to me from the post office. I am told I have to wait until the next regular mail delivery day at my mail box to receive it. She said if I had a PO box she would but unfortunately they do not have any available.

Now sending packages I have never had a problem. I send stuff the cheapest I can send it. If I need to make sure something is going to make it I send it priority mail.

Dolomite

[tnhawk]

After getting several pieces of mail for my neighbors a few times, I stopped delivering it for the post office. I mark it "delivered to wrong address" and drop it off at the post office, so they can try to deliver it again. It usually corrects the problem for a few months. UPS occasionally seems to have the same difficulty reading the address labels.