the USPS price were raised AGAIN

[AussieSharon]

How is it their prices go up but their service stinks worse than usual?

6 days for a letter I sent first class to go 40 miles.
5 days for shipped eggs sent priority to reach me in Va from Michigan
5 days for a priority letter to get from Va to MS.

5 days for priority mail is unacceptable, especially when it's the same end of the country! It makes shipping eggs safely very hard. The PO answer.... we don't guarantee priority, if you want it faster ship overnight or express.

Thanks for letting me have my PO rant. LOL

 

[speckledhen]

In other words, we'll take money for a service we really do not intend to provide = FRAUD.

 

[AussieSharon]

Cyn it really is fraud. I paid $4.80 to send a letter priority mail and it took as long as first class. I could have just put a regular stamp on it and got it there in the same amount of time. The PO has lost a lot of my business. Every bill I can pay online I will be from now on. Instead of sending gifts to family in Australia I'll just paypal them the money and save on postage.

 

[wilds of pa]

Yup we get a discount on shipping as we pay and print right at home online. You get commercial rate...Bit cheaper that way. You need good scale so your weight arent off and a credit card.....
plus free delivery confermation inculded.
Charlie

 

[hinkjc]

I agree, the service is certainly not improving with the increases.

I had two packages of adult live birds take 3 days with Express shipping.

And now a box of eggs sent out on 5/9, still hasn't arrived yet..a week later. Most of my Priority packages have gone from the usual 2 day up to 3 days or longer more consistently over the last couple weeks. And to top it off someone emailed me to tell me their box of eggs looked like a truck ran it over. The service is certainly lacking and getting very frustrating.

Jody

 

[greyhorsewoman]

In defense of the post office, I think they still do a great job. Consider that the mail carriers still bring your mail to your door daily, how much has their bottomline been effected by the increase in gas prices? MOST of it gets where it's going in a reasonable amount of time and intact.

As to first class / priority ~~ they actually ARE the same in handling by the post office. So if you have a small package that can go first class .. don't think priority will get it there faster. However, if you DO use priority, the post office is nice enough to provide you with a wide array of boxes/envelopes free of charge. Anytime you go past the Mississippi (east or west), things take longer. The post office using the standard airlines to move their mail ~~ have any of you noticed the chaos of cancelled flights in that venue lately?

If you use the online clicknship, you will get an initial base discount for using that service to print your priority label and FREE delivery confirmation. If you regularly do business that way, you will qualify for additional discounts each quarter. If you ship international, again, there is a discount to use online clicknship and I've had great success with global priority getting to its destination in reasonable times.

My mail carrier and my postmaster are great folks. Once my mail carrier rerouted an AIRBOURNE package to my house that they left on somebody's doorstep on the other side of town. It happened to be time sensitive closing documents for the refinancing of my house. My mail carrier could have easily told that fellow to call Airbourne and I would have missed a deadline.

My postmaster dug out two packages for me minutes after I mailed them, (when I got home and discovered I'd switched labels!) And, they called me in a timely manner to tell me my 'peeps' were there and waiting for me (and they were cute, since they'd peeked at them).

I agree that doing online bill paying has it's advantages and I do a lot more of that to. I still shipping options on larger packages, but the post office is still a competitive way to get stuff to where you need it to go.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I used to feel the same way Greyhorse...but not anymore. This is a service they provide to customers and UPS, FedEx, Airborne and DHL are becoming more and more competitive...and they are MUCH more reliable. I do agree that USPS is easier for most folks to use. Even before gas prices started going up many years ago, they increased their prices because of Ebay...and the fact that more and more people are using email. You would think they would LOWER prices, but they had to make up the difference for the decrease in usage. I say...shop around. Also, if you have something large to ship...like we had a clawfoot bathtub that we needed to have picked up from Illinois and brought to Florida...try Uship.com. They are a subsidiary of Ebay but a great solution! Many even transport live animals...like chickens!!

 

[AussieSharon]

I think my postal carrier is a great guy. Nothing against him. I eveng gave him some homemade jam last week. It's the time it's taking for mail to get from one destination to the other.

So I pay $4.80 to ship a letter because the lady at the PO says it will be there in 2 days but it takes 5. Other than free boxes what is the point of priority mail then? I pay more and it doesn't get there any faster.

And the eggs that were shipped priority mail to me Wednesday from PA to VA didn't arrive today. What a surprise!

 

[Barnyard]

Quote:
Sorry I didn't see this......

The flat rate here is $8.95 plus tax with delivery confirmation...... It hasn't changed for me.

 

[Florida chick]

Well Barnyard they are a lil behind in your neck of the woods. Enjoy the old rate. LOL It has been increased nationwide.