USPS loses a lot of money because federal law
REQUIRES them to fully fund the pension for 75 years. Yes, pensions for future employees who aren't even born yet are covered 100%. It will take an act of Congress to change it to something reasonable. Like fully funding the pensions of people currently working for or retired from USPS.
Yes, Bruce, this is another point to cover - an act of Congress? TeeHee - they can't even agree to disagree let alone pass reasonable legislation! As long as their pockets are lined why should WE or LOGIC matter to them? Unions own them.
And how do you know that it was the USPS person who slapped the FedEx sticker over the phone number? I rather doubt they have any FedEx flight instruction paperwork. I'll ask my wife when she gets home.
I wish now that I had saved the paper 8x11 slapped over my info on the outside of the box with the flight information. Very impromptu and just a computer printed paper and not any official form taped on - if FedEx had done it there would've been a FedEx form since they have official stickers, tags, and paperwork for all their steps - they even leave official paperwork at your door when they deliver so the assumption has to be someone at the USPS Montpelier location where the birds were shipped from.
Plus, you shouldn't be talking to the mail man/woman, the people who deliver the mail take out what is given them to take out. They are given their 'stuff' by the person sorting the incoming mail - that is NOT the delivery person. For all they know, someone had requested delivery to their house. True, they should have checked to be sure and the sorting clerk could have used the phone book to find a number to call. BUT - You should be talking to the clerks or Post Master at the P.O. where the birds will arrive to let them know that you are expecting the shipment and what day. If you do that and leave your number, it doesn't matter how many stickers cover up the phone number on the box, they will be expecting it and will call you. I got my chicks that way and my wife has called people for chicks, ducks and bees. I expect she'll see Christmas turkey poults soon.
I went to my local P.O. in person and talked with a front desk person and a back room supervisor regarding my expected shipment of LIVE birds and they said not to worry that they receive bird shipments before. They assured me that I would get a call for pickup - that it was their policy with live birds. When my breeder let me know the tracking number and time of shipping from the East Coast I notified my local P.O. the birds were on the way. The next morning instead of calling me the mailman had my birds on the mail truck when I called the P.O. to see if my birds were there yet. I hollered (politely but sternly) that those birds not be driven around in a hot mail truck all day and to deliver them immediately! I had them door-delivered within a half hour. Now mixups can happen but REALLY this was THEIR office mishandling CLEARLY - they didn't even follow what they said was their own policy. Ours is a small community Post Office - no reason for big office mixup when I did everything but camp-out inside the P.O. myself! Bruce - like I previously stated there are some people who do their jobs but without THINKING sometimes. There are only a few rare individuals who are quick to pick up on things that don't seem quite right or to question something out of the ordinary since receiving live birds at the local post office is not that common an occurrence - you would think some employee or supervisor would pick up on something really different. When my second shipment of live birds were expected I notified my P.O. but I also caught every mailman on my street route for 3 days alerting them to call and not drive around with live birds. I even left notes for them in the mailbox to not deliver live birds but to call me for PICKUP ONLY. This method worked best because the mailmen switch out days so I made sure to catch all 3 different persons to alert them. Sometimes they can't help what their supervisor doesn't tell them either.
You might be surprised at what the USPS people have to deal with.
- Some of the postal codes in Sao Paulo, Brazil are the same as the 5 digit zip codes in Vermont. If the person sending a letter to SP doesn't put BRAZIL in the address, it shows up at a P.O. in Vermont. Guess who has to fix that? They COULD just do a return to sender but they send it to Brazil. And how much does it cost the sender? ZIP! NADA! NOTHING! even though the sender screwed up.
I agree about the out-of-country postal addresses and blame the sender for not NOTING the COUNTRY on the envelope. That was common sense since the 1950's that I can remember as a kid. But since USA breeders don't ship out-of-country that is moot for this topic.
- Mail sent to an address when the people have no mailbox but have a P.O Box. Send it back as undeliverable? Or look through the P.O. box owners and find the correct box because the carrier knows the people don't get mail at their house? Maybe because the offices are small (and that does NOT mean they aren't busy as all get out with incoming mail) they know more about the people on their routes than people at really big offices.
- Mail sent to a P.O. box but the people now have a mailbox at their house and the P.O box belongs to someone else? It gets delivered to the house even though there is no street address given.
You are talking about USPS problems not associated with live bird shipments. No breeder I know of is dumb enough to ship live birds to a P.O. address!!! Even department stores will not ship to P.O. boxes.
- My wife once got a letter mailed from outside the US addressed to the Isle of Man - at the Isle La Motte, VT post office. It was 'forwarded' to Isle of Man.
- She was sorting mail one morning and had a piece for a post office box that didn't exist at that P.O. because the town was wrong (and the town names are not in the least similar) but she recognized the name and PO box as being legit at one of the other offices she works at so she sent it on. Could have just shipped it back, address unknown and someone else who didn't work at the other P.O. probably would have.
Your DW is one of the rare ones to go the extra mile as everyone I deal with is nice but not very bright - when I'm at my little P.O. I feel like the desk clerk just wants their day to be over and not really paying much attention to your transaction. You tell them in a clear voice what you need and they ask the question all over again in a dreamy fog - not a good confidence builder IMO.
Frankly, now that I have 'seen' some of the inner workings of USPS, it is amazing that you can send a letter anywhere in the U.S. or its territories for 49 cents. Two blocks away, 5,000 miles away, makes no difference. You can send a first class letter
ANYWHERE in the world for $1.15. The P.O.s she works at are not far from the Canadian border and many of the "summer homes" are owned by Canadians. They come down every now and then in the winter to collect their mail and check on their places. They post mail in the US because a first class letter sent from Canada to the US costs $1.38. Canada to Canada is $1.15, $2.88 to send it to Venezuela. From the USA? $1.15 MAX.
USPS prices are always going up but the service doesn't get any better from the consumer's point of view. No wonder internet transactions are getting popular and for free. Government, utilities, business are always looking for an angle to make money and it only goes to the C.E.O.s in most instances. (I worked many years for a major utility and never got any pension - only frozen promotions, down-graded pay, forced retirements, and severances along with 3,000 others yet all the removed CEOs got free medical for life for their family, million$$$ severences, and glowing recommendation letters or new positions in newly created subsidiary divisions - how they can get million $$$ severences and bonuses still working within the same affiliate is just wrong and little Joe Blow homeowner is paying for it.)
Where is the VT breeder and what breed? I wasn't even aware we had any breeders. Maybe I might want some of that breed and can get it "locally"
My VT breeder was fed up with snow and moved to MO for better climate and just in time before the Eastern sea-board winter storms hit last year. Still breeding and showing birds but in the Midwest now and loving it!
