Hating the USPS right now

The USPS nightmare gets worse. So my custom blade went under the Radar on Monday stating undeliverable to current address. Already knew that would happen as the maker accidentally sent it to my old address, but I had forwarding so wasn't too worried. After 4 days of no updates I called both the PO that it is lost at and the main number. The PO said it was routed to Philly to be re-routed to my forward address but that this time of year, there is no reason it shouldn't have been re-routed and updated already. He suggested I call the main number and open a claim, which I did. They said they would have a supervisor call me back after looking into it, as of now I haven't heard back.

I'm sure you guys understand my pain, waiting a year for a blade and then having it lost in the mail due to a hiccup. It kinda kills the excitement of receiving it. Never had any PO issues in the past, he'll they forward every stupid little thing that goes to my old address, why not this?

Just frustrated all the way around with the whole ordeal.
 
I ship USPS, and I don't worry how long it takes. Being a hobby, I tend to take it easy. I have had priority packages take two weeks, while first class take a month. I am puzzled as to why USPS gets the short end of the stick, when the private players (UPS, FedEx, etc.) ain't any better. Maybe USPS is the scapegoat for other parts of the Government that we really wish to blame? ;-)
 
Just remember. Weather plays a HUGE part in 'on time' deliveries.

With the USPS new tracking it is easy to catch a package or re-route a package before it is delivered. Packages are scanned so many times before it gets to your house it is unreal. If I deliver a package to the wrong house- they can look it up and see were I was standing when I scanned it. They call up a 'street view' and rotate the icon around for a 360 view.. It is crazy micro managed, but good for the customers.
 
MattWRog said:
Here is a little interesting tidbit about mail in my city,

"Starting today, a letter mailed in Minot will travel to Bismarck for initial sorting.

The change being implemented by the U.S. Postal Service doesn't mean Minot's processing center is closing. Postal spokesman Pete Nowacki in Minneapolis said final sorting of letters for delivery will continue to be done in Minot, at least for now. However, the final sorting will move at a later date, not yet determined, he said.

The recent change is not affecting the Minot Post Office's retail and delivery services, which will continue as usual. The post office also continues to serve as business mail unit entry unit and transportation hub for Minot and surrounding post offices.

"The processing changes in Minot are part of nationwide changes to our processing network," Nowacki said in a statement Thursday. "Like any successful organization, the Postal Service understands it must make operational changes to adapt to the changing needs of the American public. The fact is, mail is changing. There are now fewer letters and considerably more packages. The network must reflect that."

Last January, the Postal Service changed its First-Class Mail Service standards, affecting about 16 percent of First-Class Mail and 9 percent of all mail. The majority of this mail will be delivered in two days rather than one. Packages, medicines and standard mail are not impacted.

Under today's change, letters mailed to Minot and regional addresses will be transported to Bismarck to be postmarked and sorted to the five-digit ZIP code level. The letters then will return to Minot to be sorted into delivery sequence and delivered. Newspapers will remain in Minot for processing if prepared to postal specifications.

Nowacki said there will be some adjustments in job assignments within the Minot facility due to the change, but no employees will lose their jobs."

The impact of this being, first class will come to Minot (where it's addressed to) via Fargo and then sent to Bismarck for sorting and scanning and then turn around and head back 120 miles to Minot again for delivery. Ridiculous.
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You've got that wrong. Mail will not go from Fargo to Minot, back to Bismarck, and then to Minot again. Anything labeled 587 that ends up in Fargo will go to Bismarck, be sorted, and then will be sent to Minot. All mail collected in Minot will be sent to Bismarck, sorted, and then shipped off to wherever it is labeled for. Some labeled with a 587 zipcode will of course go back to Minot. They article says it won't happen, but jobs in the Minot post office will start to go away. The same thing happened in Devils Lake, Jamestown, etc. Those post offices used to do most of their own sorting, but now their sorting gets done in Grand Forks for Devils Lake and Fargo for Jamestown. Both towns postal staff have been cut to a bare minimum with more cuts possibly on the way.
 
ac700wildcat said:
You've got that wrong. Mail will not go from Fargo to Minot, back to Bismarck, and then to Minot again. Anything labeled 587 that ends up in Fargo will go to Bismarck, be sorted, and then will be sent to Minot. All mail collected in Minot will be sent to Bismarck, sorted, and then shipped off to wherever it is labeled for. Some labeled with a 587 zipcode will of course go back to Minot. They article says it won't happen, but jobs in the Minot post office will start to go away. The same thing happened in Devils Lake, Jamestown, etc. Those post offices used to do most of their own sorting, but now their sorting gets done in Grand Forks for Devils Lake and Fargo for Jamestown. Both towns postal staff have been cut to a bare minimum with more cuts possibly on the way.
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I took over a post office in NYC with some 200 employees, 24 hour operation. We sent our mail sorting to a major facility downtown, along with the clerks who had been doing it in our office. This opened up more than half the work floor in our tiny, Depression-era station relieving crowding on the letter carriers.

This was in the mid-80's.
 
poolhustler said:
USPS has always been pretty damn good, but I think they are having some issues right now. Here's my experiences in just the last couple weeks......

1. Bought a couple knives from a friend who lives about an hour away from me. He shipped USPS Priority. Delivery scheduled for a Wednesday. Nothing on tracking and no delivery on Wednesday. On Thursday the tracking show that they were delivered the day before, on Wednesday and still no delivery on Thursday. I start freaking out thinking they were stolen. Head out to dinner around 7:30 and return at 8:30 to find the box in my mailbox. Weird scenario, but relieved that they showed up.

2. Shipped a custom pool cue worth a couple grand to have a new shaft made and to be refinished. Cue maker ships it back Priority and with Insurance on the 6th. The tracking shows acceptance for a week straight with no updates. I call on the 13th and file a claim and later that night it starts to show movement. Supposedly to be delivered today. Fingers crossed its still a 2 piece cue and not a 3 or 4 piece cue!!

3. Bought another knife from eBay and tracking shows delivery for a week ago. No updates as of yet. Don't really care on this one because its rather inexpensive one, so no worries.
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Probably a neighbor put it in your box hence it was delivered just not to the correct place. I have to deliver neighbors mail quite frequently and honestly think many scenarios where it says delivered but isn't there and shows a day or two later would fall under this. I've waited a day or two to find the address on a package that wasn't mine during special circumstancesor by accident-storming, snow on ground, weekend, holiday, didn't notice it till a day or two after had been sitting on countertop (yes I have a stack of mail waiting to be opened laying on countertop-I'm a procrastinator and opening mail is a big one for me) or just didn't have time to do it the same day. I've had people bring me mail as well but not nearly as many times as I've delivered it. Call it mail fraud or whatever you want. I call it being polite and getting the person their mail faster than leaving a note on it and sticking it back in my box after I've noticed it.
 
Sent two Priority Mail packages out last Monday; one to Louisiana, one to Tennessee. Both were delivered Wednesday afternoon. I've always had good luck with USPS.
 
I don't know what is going on with the USPS right now. I have used them faithfully for years, and defended them consistently. However, in the past few months their service has gotten really bad. I am currently waiting for a knife that was originaly scheduled to arrive Friday. They haven't even update the tracking to show delayed yet, and in fact still show it at a sorting facility on the other side of the country..........
I have had at least 5 packages since Christmas time that have not arrived on their originaly scheduled date. I especially love it when they simply change the scheduled arrival date and still put "on time" at the top!
 
Ernie1980 said:
I don't know what is going on with the USPS right now. I have used them faithfully for years, and defended them consistently. However, in the past few months their service has gotten really bad. I am currently waiting for a knife that was originaly scheduled to arrive Friday. They haven't even update the tracking to show delayed yet, and in fact still show it at a sorting facility on the other side of the country..........
I have had at least 5 packages since Christmas time that have not arrived on their originaly scheduled date. I especially love it when they simply change the scheduled arrival date and still put "on time" at the top!
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Ditto for me. My father ran the main PO here and faithfully worked there for 44 years. I recently had to refund a customer simply because the PO never delivered a Priority package. I could have called and opened the claim but the sale was so small, it wasn't worth the hassle. Not sure what is going on with the PO these days. Always had incredible service and ship times in the past few years.
 
Ernie1980 said:
I don't know what is going on with the USPS right now. I have used them faithfully for years, and defended them consistently. However, in the past few months their service has gotten really bad. I am currently waiting for a knife that was originaly scheduled to arrive Friday. They haven't even update the tracking to show delayed yet, and in fact still show it at a sorting facility on the other side of the country..........
I have had at least 5 packages since Christmas time that have not arrived on their originaly scheduled date. I especially love it when they simply change the scheduled arrival date and still put "on time" at the top!
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The problem with those delivery dates is they are generated when the shipper prints the label. If the item isn't actually shipped the same day it will be delayed. I know that isn't EVERY package, but some. The DELAYED scan is something new. With the new scanning system these issues should be a thing of the past.

Do you guys live in a very rural town? That might be the problem.
 
For the price, USPS is still hard to beat. Many of they delivery delays and scanning problems are most likely due to manpower. Cut backs are happening everywhere. Where I live, all mail from my small town goes around 30 miles north to Erie, PA for cancelling and sorting. That will all change soon, as that center will be closed. When that happens, all mail will go to Pittsburgh (150 mile south) for cancellation and sorting ... so I were going to send mail to someone in town here ... I would be better off hand delivering it, because by mail, it would go from here to Pittsburgh and back to my town for a nice 300 mile round trip! That said, I have never had a package lost. Here's a good example. Sent a knife to a BF member in NY (a mere 170 or so mile from me) on April 14th. It was scheduled for delivery on April 16th. It reached his sorting facility (30 miles from his location) very early in the AM on the 16th and tracking showed that it left the sorting facility for the delivery destination the same morning (16th). Never arrived. Never arrived on the 17th. On the 18th (Sat), tracking showed that it again reappeared at the sorting facility. Departed the sorting facility (again) on the 18th. Was not delivered on Monday, the 20th! Showed up again in tracking as having arrived at the delivery destination post office today (21st). Was finally delivered today ... undamaged. So, while frustrating ... it all worked out.
 
I will continue to use USPS for right now, but not much longer if they keep this up:



At least it is close now....... But I am wondering where my package has been for the past week+!!!!!
 
I have well over 200 transactions, which have been completed both here, & on CalGuns (as both a buyer & a seller), via the United States Postal Service. Although there have been times, (mainly Christmas time), where I've been worried about the status of a shipment; 100% of the time, I've either received my shipment, or the buyer's received their's...I would say, that that, is very exceptional, stellar service!

Unfortunately, we live in a society, where now, people sometime complain over the most trivial of issues. To these people: "PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE."

Try focusing on the more important matters, in life.

As long as I continue having a 100% success rate, with the USPS, I'll continue riding this awesome, perfect wave...
 
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