another USPS SUCKS thread

Pete1977

Pete1977

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I bought a military and dodo from two separate forumites this past weekend, and the military shipped usps priority mail SATURDAY afternoon. The dodo was recieved for shipping on MONDAY. I have yet to recieve either of them as of today's mail (recieved at 1.45PM)

what routes do I take to file a claim with the post office?

It is ridiculous that the military, shipped sat afternoon PRIORITY mail is not here by TODAY. I have a tracking number which isn't recognized on the usps site, and I have a photo of the shipping reciept from the person who I bought the military from. (it was shipped from California)

USPS where are my knives!!

peter
 
I've had okay luck with both USPS and UPS -- knives have always gotten to the right destination eventually. But I definately agree that the USPS tracking is pretty poor. I've never received up to date information from it, and in one case it didn't even recognize the tracking number (yes I had the right number) until after the knife arrived at its destination.
 
Sorry to hear about your luck. I just got a package in sent from Oregon to here in Texas. It's postmarked the Monday Feb 13th, came in about an hour ago. I've had pretty good luck so far with USPS. Then again, I know where the mail man and lady sleep at night. I have caught them driving off after dropping a signature card in the box, and not bothering to knock on the door. They might have a ton of junk mail or Wal-Mart flyers to deliver today, and are working to you.....
 
The last delivery I got they did just that, dropped off the ticket and didn't bother to even come to the door. It has happened often with me, and the PO won't do anything about it.

the mail has already come for the day, but I HAVE had them come back later with an amazon.com package once, so maybe....

doubt it though.

I am f*cking IRATE right now. The biggest problem is that even when it gets here, IF it gets here, someone spent the 6 bucks on priority mail, and may as well have sent it media mail, and NO ONE will be held responsible.

peter
 
USPS tracking NEVER shows anything until the package is delivered. (and they wonder why they are losing market share). You should be able to go to your local post office and they can tell you where the package is in the system though. I've pretty much decided Fedex Ground is the way to go for shipping in the Continental United States.
 
I have had instances like this happen and I asked about Priority Mail at my Post Office. It turns out (per the postal clerk) that Priority Mail is not a guaranteed delivery option. Every attempt is made to get it delivered in two to three days, but there really isn't any penalty if it doesn't make it. In fact, one of those instances was a package I sent to TRITON for some scabbard work. It took almost two weeks (with attendant heartache) to arrive.

Also, Delivery Confirmation isn't really tracking. Sometimes the package tracks because the postal clerks "read" the label. But all it really means is that someone is supposed to sign for it on delivery.

I still use USPS Priority Mail, but most of my stuff is sent via commercial carrier because I want to track the package throughout the delivery.
 
well, the usps website was absolutely no help, nor was calling the 800 #. both "tracking" numbers are useless to say the least.

If priority mail isn't 2-3 days then why pay for it?
I probably will be using a private carrier from now on as well.

can you tell I am impatient?

pete
 
Of course both "tracking" numbers are useless, because they aren't tracking numbers. USPS tracks Express Mail and Registered Mail from point to point along the way. The Delivery Confirmation number should be scanned when the Post Office gets the piece and when it's delivered. It was never meant to trace the path or position along the way.

Priority Mail is supposed to make it in two to three days, depending on the area and the local volume, but panicking before a week is up is overly impatient. Priority Mail is generally on time and the price isn't bad, either, especially since you get the box, too, if you want it.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Of course both "tracking" numbers are useless, because they aren't tracking numbers. USPS tracks Express Mail and Registered Mail from point to point along the way. The Delivery Confirmation number should be scanned when the Post Office gets the piece and when it's delivered. It was never meant to trace the path or position along the way.

Priority Mail is supposed to make it in two to three days, depending on the area and the local volume, but panicking before a week is up is overly impatient. Priority Mail is generally on time and the price isn't bad, either, especially since you get the box, too, if you want it.
Click to expand...

Pete1977 said:
can you tell I am impatient?
Click to expand...

I stand corrected :)

I am more pissed because the dodo was a gift for my girlfriend, and I was excited to give it to her.

I have cooled down now :)

I still want my knives.

Thanks fellows for letting me vent.

Pete
 
I think she'll like the DoDo. I keep mine handy. It's an amzingly strong little knife, even if it looks like it was designed for space aliens. :eek:
 
Esav Benyamin said:
I think she'll like the DoDo. I keep mine handy. It's an amzingly strong little knife, even if it looks like it was designed for space aliens. :eek:
Click to expand...

unless I take it from her :eek:
 
My Sharpmaker was mailed to me USPS priority last Thursday and it took exactly 1 week to get here. I just got it yesterday. Sometimes it takes 2 days, sometimes a week.

Shao
 
well, here we go again with this.

on friday the 10th I sent a spyderco police to an ebay buyer in van nuys ca usps priority mail insured. as of saturday feb 18 it still hasn't arrived.

I have NEVER had this happen with priority mail before and now 3 times in 3 weeks....I sent the same buyer a caracara on the 15th. I wonder if that gets there. we will have to see.

pete
 
This is unusual. I have literally sent and received 100's of USPS Priority Mail items over the years since it was offered as an option. The only times I've experienced delays on either end was during the holiday season. Hopefully, your knives show up soon.

Somebody mentioned this above, but the PO does do electronic and standard delivery confirmation (complete with numbers), but they are definitely not tracking numbers. All you get is confirmation of delivery once it happens.

Razz
 
I think that everytime they raise the postal rates the quality goes down a little more. I've had recent Priority Mail packages take 15 days for delivery from Washington state to Massachusetts.
 
well, it seems the buyer posted feedback for the caracara I sent to him on the 15th, so he must have recieved that one. That doesn't explain the missing police, except he claims that usps personnel have stolen packages from him before. Now, I insured the knife when I shipped it, but now I can't find the reciept to begin tracking this package at my end.

Razzierb, I have never, until this past ten days or so, ever had a problem sending or recieving packages usps priority mail. Hopefully it is a result of the winter storm last weekend (11 and 12 feb) and/or valentines day that is causing this delay.

I will update when I know more.

edited- I found the reciept in a week old trashbag! yay, now it doesn't look like I scammed the guy!

pete
 
I'm sorry to hear this is still an issue.

I've not started any new passarounds, too much hassle with getting the packages to someone. (at least using usps)
 
well, Dave, I'm sorry to hear that.

and I have now seen this from both sides of the coin, as a buyer first, and then as a seller.
the one hope I have is that it is an isolated incedent, because the packages were all shipped around the same weekend Fri 10 feb and sat 11 feb, and monday 13 feb. This puts them around the severe winter storm that occured in the eastern states that weekend, and valentines day. hopefully this is the problem and not that someone in van nuys CA actually pilfered that man's knife.

peter
 
One of the best ways to improve poor service is to complain. That's why we have The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. The Postal Service has customer complaint cards and email, including email to the Postal Inspectors for items completely missing.

They do track these complaints, but they can't find patterns if no one tells them about it. So complaining here is a good first step, while we all try to get some perspective on it. But even when I was a Postal Service manager, and people told me about occasional problems, I told them to make a formal complaint every time, because that would help us pinpoint the weak point.

Also, the local manager or postmaster can have a lot to do with how diligent his employees are. Most delays occur in transit, from post office to post office, and at a distance, at the airports, especially when planes don't fly due to rough weather. But it doesn't hurt, if you're seeing a current rash of delays, to let the local postmaster hear about it.
 
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