USPS Rant

Vynuladikt

Vynuladikt

Journeyman
Joined
May 4, 2016
Messages
458
Location
Northeast Iowa
Tagline
Love great audio, beermaking and pyrotechnics
Is it just me or has the USPS degraded to the point where it seems to be completely incompetent?
It seems like every time I have something shipped by them it takes a long random route to distant locations to be delivered several days late. Even a simple letter now days takes a week to go 60 miles. The pony express did it in a day!
The package below is destined for Tripoli, Iowa. Halfway between Des Moines and St Paul. Des Moines would be the correct hub.
I had one a couple of months ago that went from Illinois through Des Moines to western North Dakota, sat for 5 days before going back to Des Moines and then to me.


USPS.png
 
Vynuladikt said:
Is it just me or has the USPS degraded to the point where it seems to be completely incompetent?
It seems like every time I have something shipped by them it takes a long random route to distant locations to be delivered several days late. Even a simple letter now days takes a week to go 60 miles. The pony express did it in a day!
The package below is destined for Tripoli, Iowa. Halfway between Des Moines and St Paul. Des Moines would be the correct hub.
I had one a couple of months ago that went from Illinois through Des Moines to western North Dakota, sat for 5 days before going back to Des Moines and then to me.


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The USPS infrequently will end up bouncing around erroneously. No service is perfect. The agency has majorly improved services over the last several years and has become quite reliable for USA deliveries. I ship a lot and use them pretty exclusively. I do not use them for Intenational shipments as they hand off to other country providers which results in delays of up to a month in some cases. I have gravitated to use only UPS for international shipments. More of a pain to use UPS but they are reliable on the international front.
 
They seemed to correctly deliver over 100 pieces of political advertising to me in the last couple months.

I've had packages take a tour of different facilities before getting to my door.

Must not be a good route from SoCal to Iowa.
 
As a relatively new online trader I'm discovering the vagaries of sending (and losing) things via different postal services.

Most of my Etsy sales to the US go via our national postal service here in NL 'PostNL' who's partner in the US is USPS.
Fortunately, as some of you here will know, those deliveries have made it without too many diversions or disasters. Being cables, they are mostly able to be posted through a letterbox/mailbox so I don't worry too much about porch pirates stealing these deliveries and me having to pick up the tab for an 'unsuccessful delivery' as Etsy calls it.
It's still a latent anxiety whenever I send anything larger to the US however that packages can still be left on peoples doorsteps in full view of potential thieves / porch pirates to just take. Usually the sender has to pick up the bill for this and for me that means lost time and lost revenue.

I'll be withdrawing from Etsy, ebay and all other selling platforms once my website is live so the savings by not having to pay sales fees to those platforms means I can transfer that cost component to insured shipping for all deliveries without charging customers extra for it.
It won't prevent packages being stolen by porch pirates but at least it will give (some) peace of mind that I'll be able to claim restitution for lost deliveries perhaps.

It shouldn't be like that of course - you shouldn't have to take out separate insurance against theft with the courier to ensure your deliveries make it to their destination, there should be an automatic guarantee in place that things will not go missing via their system when you do the handover, but that's the catch-22 situation we're subjected to these days.

I will never ever use DHL where I can help it as I was told by someone who worked there that gangs and individuals operate within the distribution centres in order to find and steal valuable items. I've incurred many losses via DHL and would advise anyone not to use them in favour of any other courier service.
I was out cycling in the middle of nowhere once a few years ago here in NL and passed a DHL van parked on the side of this quiet road.
I thought it was strange because there were no houses or buildings to deliver to - just open fields. I slowed down and as I passed I caught a glimpse of the driver in the back of the van with a box-cutter in his hand and with a startled 'busted' expression on his face. The idiot had the side door wide open, possibly because it was a hot summers day, but if you're going to indulge in nefarious activities by opening up other peoples packages you may want to conceal it from a passing member of the public. What an ass-hat. I should have reported it but I didn't.
 
Hind site is 20-20, perhaps should have reported it.

In addition to the problems expressed, are personal instances where my packages have been dropped off at our gate and left without a plastic bag for protection from rain.

Once a computer hard drive delivery was tossed 20 feet down our driveway. Luckily, it did not hit the railroad ties, and survived.

In speaking to my regular UPS/FEDEX and UPS delivery personnel about this, it appears these instances usually happen when a substitute driver is making the delivery for them, giving ones who take pride in their job and company they work for a bad name.

MB
 
Over two weeks now and still no package. Supposedly on its way from Min/St Paul since the 7th. About ready to file a claim with the seller and have it re shipped.
Have to spin the wheel to see who I should trust to ship it.
 
Seems like most of the (unexpected delays) that happen to my orders end up in that Houston - Jackson MS) table tennis championship as well.

Also regarding the point about overseas shipments, I thought the good ship Lollipop had been retired after the turn of the century however alas I now know it is the trans oceanic usps prime mover for any audiophile door to door package :(
 
I'm an experienced USPS victim and victor. I began my relationship with them in 1996 when I joined eBay and X.Com. Since then, I have worked with Etsy, CraigsList, Mercari (or whatever,) OfferUp, LetGo, and a couple other catz n dogz. I also work regularly with buyers and sellers of antiques in Belarus, UK, Spain, Italy, Argentina, and occasionally, the Czech Republic or whatever they're calling themselves this month.

My USPS experience has been generally very good. 8 or 8.5. I have had the experience of a waylaid package maybe a dozen times in all those years. Two of mine sent out never arrived and one of mine to be received never arrived. Perhaps ten have taken a ridiculous amount of time to make the trip one way or the other. Not a bad performance record considering the volume of stuff in my orbit.

My greatest lament is with those who fail to pack properly. They clearly don't understand that the USPS is a combat zone. No matter how you feel about their expedition, their treatment of material is feloniously inappropriate.

Enter the Pelican ... or as I've just seen here, the Cabbage. Ok. I'm done.
 
The original Cabbage Case for the 400's and 700's I had built in 2012 has saved me gobs of money over the years, just in packing supplies...
 
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