No wonder USPS is going out of business

[Monofletch]

You are correct-they do move our mail. but...... they are the 2 biggest sellers of Priority mail! They sell for $xx - we deliver it for $x and everyone's happy. I was suprised when the business lady told us that- shocked actually.

 

[BePrepared]

Anything you let government do will be less efficient than if it were done by a private company.

Government employees don't care about quality of service, or satisfaction of customers. Why should they? They almost never get fired for incompetence.

 

[UDDwaine]

A big +1 to this thread. Sent one to NY a few weeks ago, luckily it arrived a day or two after its trip to HI and Florida

At least yours went through 3 different sorting facilities on the route. Mine was sent back to the same one that messed up the first time...




But, like most have said... It did get there eventually.

 

[mymindisamob]

I am thinking that their "Forever" stamps aren't really about lasting forever as much as taking forever.

 

[BePrepared]

At least yours went through 3 different sorting facilities on the route. Mine was sent back to the same one that messed up the first time...


View attachment 302930

But, like most have said... It did get there eventually.

wow... an in-state shipment that went by way of ALASKA!!!

That's just about the dumbest thing i've ever seen

 

[Trijicog]

You are correct-they do move our mail. but...... they are the 2 biggest sellers of Priority mail! They sell for $xx - we deliver it for $x and everyone's happy. I was suprised when the business lady told us that- shocked actually.

I dont know what business lady you are referring to..but i have yet to pick up a priority mail package,deliver one and also know of no option that sells priority mail packages through the UPS system.

But what do i know,only been working for UPS 10 years.

I think a .gov employee was trying to make it sound like they are a vital. Gov entity to justify the loss of billions per year.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Anything you let government do will be less efficient than if it were done by a private company.

Government employees don't care about quality of service, or satisfaction of customers. Why should they? They almost never get fired for incompetence.

You do realize that the USPS is not a true Gov't agency, but is actually more like a privatized corporation, right?

 

[BePrepared]

You do realize that the USPS is not a true Gov't agency, but is actually more like a privatized corporation, right?

Sounds like government to me

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak) because it operates much like a business, but as noted above, it is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.[45]

The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the USPS's statutory monopoly on access to letter boxes against a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge; it thus remains illegal in the U.S. for anyone, other than the employees and agents of the USPS, to deliver mailpieces to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail."[46]

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Sounds like government to me

Uh, no...

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak) because it operates much like a business, but as noted above, it is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.[45]

The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the USPS's statutory monopoly on access to letter boxes against a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge; it thus remains illegal in the U.S. for anyone, other than the employees and agents of the USPS, to deliver mailpieces to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail."[46]

ETA:Additionally, they do not receive tax dollars, and only operate on the revenues they generate. That is NOT government...

 

[carbonsteel928]

they lost a package of mine for 3 weeks... i called SEVERAL times, and all they could tell me is "i don't know"

One lady actually had the nerve to say "don't worry about it, just wait 30 days and file a claim"...

Turns out it was sitting on a shelf in the post office for 17 days... they just didn't bother to look for it

Long time reader, seldom a poster but...

I sent a package off to Greece and it spent nearly a month lost at their sort facility and no one had an answer for me. I had a to wait outside the facility, befriend a sorter, and bribe said sorter into looking for my package. It took him two weeks but he found it. All the while, USPS didn't have anything resembling an answer.

 

[BePrepared]

Government appoints their board. Government sets, and changes postal rates. Government enforces their monopoly on mail delivery. The constitution created them, just like it created the Executive and judicial branches. They have their own branch of law enforcement with the legal right to search and seize mail violating their monopoly.

You can call it what you like, but they have all the earmarks of a government organization. You show me a private corporation, privately owned, that has any of those powers...

Uh, no...



ETA:Additionally, they do not receive tax dollars, and only operate on the revenues they generate. That is NOT govenrment...

 

[SpyderPhreak]

I guess you are missing the point. I said that they were not a TRUE gov't entity. They're not, otherwise they'd receive tax dollars, among other things. They're the red-headed stepchild of the US gov't. Half gov't, half (maybe more) private.

 

[Maniacal Pete]

USPS must LOVE the detailed tracking feature.

It used to be, "Why did it take so long to get here??"

Now people can sit back and say,
"What the hell?? Now it's in Argentina!"

 

[BePrepared]

I guess you are missing the point. I said that they were not a TRUE gov't entity. They're not, otherwise they'd receive tax dollars, among other things. They're the red-headed stepchild of the US gov't. Half gov't, half (maybe more) private.

my point all along was that they are inefficient because government is involved. Also, they DID receive tax dollars until the 80's... now they don't, more or less, so you're right about that. It's interesting that once they stopped getting tax dollars, their finances went into the toilet, while FexEx and UPS, both excluded from their monopoly on first class mail, are posting profits.

Whenever you allow government into business, even to a limited degree, efficiency drops. USPS is a dinosaur, and unless it is fixed, will go the same way.

 

[Maniacal Pete]

Eh, 45 cents to send a letter anywhere in the Country, and I can't remember the last time
one of my bill collectors failed to receive their pound of flesh due to USPS failure to deliver.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

my point all along was that they are inefficient because government is involved. Also, they DID receive tax dollars until the 80's... now they don't, more or less, so you're right about that. It's interesting that once they stopped getting tax dollars, their finances went into the toilet, while FexEx and UPS, both excluded from their monopoly on first class mail, are posting profits.

Whenever you allow government into business, even to a limited degree, efficiency drops. USPS is a dinosaur, and unless it is fixed, will go the same way.

I wouldn't argue with any of that.

 

[Zero_Time]

my point all along was that they are inefficient because government is involved. Also, they DID receive tax dollars until the 80's... now they don't, more or less, so you're right about that. It's interesting that once they stopped getting tax dollars, their finances went into the toilet, while FexEx and UPS, both excluded from their monopoly on first class mail, are posting profits.

Whenever you allow government into business, even to a limited degree, efficiency drops. USPS is a dinosaur, and unless it is fixed, will go the same way.

Yes, it's true they're inefficient because government is involved. Unlike a business, they can't decide to charge more for delivering mail to different places- it has to be the same rate, by mandate, leading to inefficiencies. They have a mandate to deliver to EVERYONE, not just people in cities who are profitable, so their rural services suck up more money. Oh, yeah, and unlike a business, they can't just decide to close on Saturdays to save money, nor can they decide to close said rural facilities, NOR raise prices without congressional approval. And ideological divide aside, congress is just plain inefficient for a business to depend on.

Finally, unlike private businesses, they actually HAVE to fund their pension obligations upfront and can't just screw people over when they retire, which makes them look less solvent than other comparable businesses that get to play pension accounting tricks. In fact, they have to fund 75 years of obligations in 10 years of working Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA)

USPS would be fixed if congress didn't have such a heavy hand in operating it, that's true. I just take objection to the idea that they haven't done a fine job with the hand they've been dealt. I'd love to see fedex, DHL, UPS, or some other service take on the mandates and restrictions that USPS has and turn a profit.

Zero

 

[JavaHog]

Sent an MBC to a bro in NY a couple months ago with Signature Confirm and it completely vanished. Numerous escalations but nothing. Out the knife thanks to the PO. Out the cash thanks to paypal. Confirmation alone is worthless. It has to be fully insured. Period.

 

[BePrepared]

Sent an MBC to a bro in NY a couple months ago with Signature Confirm and it completely vanished. Numerous escalations but nothing. Out the knife thanks to the PO. Out the cash thanks to paypal. Confirmation alone is worthless. It has to be fully insured. Period.

I never understood this... they are incompetent enough to lose a package, but have ZERO liability for it... it just strikes me as nuts

There's no other company that gets away with that. If you take your car to the carwash, and they lose your car, they don't just say "sorry buddy, you're out of luck"

 

[Monofletch]

I dont know what business lady you are referring to..but i have yet to pick up a priority mail package,deliver one and also know of no option that sells priority mail packages through the UPS system.

But what do i know,only been working for UPS 10 years.

I think a .gov employee was trying to make it sound like they are a vital. Gov entity to justify the loss of billions per year.

UPS and FED EX sell our products through their stores. I am a city carrier...not an executive- I only know what they tell me. She said since the Priority flat rate was started -Fedex and UPS were our largest customers. She even had a graph that showed the $$$ ammounts.
Our huge $$$ loss come from the pre-funded retirement the USPS has to pay each year. This year it was 5.5 BILLION (with a B) dollars. We are the ONLY company in the world required to prefund retirement.

The USPS does NOT run on tax dollars- there is a name for it. I will try to remember.