USPS is broken---I hope my ducks were stolen!!

[Sir Birdaholic]

I guess I'm the lucky one in this bunch. I ordered pigeons from Fla. to Ark. They took the birds to the P.O. on tue. morning at 10 a.m. & I got them delivered 3 p.m. Wed. afternoon.

 

[JetBlack]

I apologize for the hurt feelings of anyone who is a USPS employee, but I will pay extra to go to UPS or FedEx. I can't stand the inconsistencies of the USPS and the stolen or "lost" packages. Many of the companies I deal with will hide their real name because the packages will get stolen if they do not.

Sometimes I mail a letter to Mom, on the other side of the continent and it gets there the next day! Other times, it's 7 weeks or it simply never arrives.

If Smith & Wesson were to send me a package, with their return address on it, do you think I'd get it? Nope. Firearms are never shipped with the company name on them. Those *will* disappear.

When Rolex mailed me a watch, did it arrive? Nope.

The point of a tracking number is so that you can track the dang package. USPS... if the box goes missing and you check the tracking number, invariably, it "doesn't work". What an amazing coincidence!

If UPS loses a box, it is found and delivered the next day. It's just incredible that USPS can't keep up. I won't miss them. It sucks for all those employees who can't do anything else, who will lose their jobs but I can't think I am using them for anything right now. I'd probably dislike UPS, as much, if they delivered junk mail to my door and lowered shipping rates on the junk. I'd like it if USPS tripled the normal first class rate, on unsolicited mailings. If they want to SPAM me, via my mailbox, I want it to cost them $8 per letter. Then, when I tear my address off and stuff all the junk back in their "postage will be paid by addressee" envelope and mail it back, I want it to cost them another $8.

I'm considering attaching a used car to that "postage will be paid by addressee" envelope so it costs them a couple thousand dollars to take a hoopty off my hands.

 

[BirdBrain]

The point of a tracking number is so that you can track the dang package. USPS... if the box goes missing and you check the tracking number, invariably, it "doesn't work". What an amazing coincidence!

Yeah, I found it interesting that the link always seemed to be having "technical difficulties". My ever optimistic DH thinks they did not find a new home but got run over by fork lift and they were too embarassed to send it on. I am going to choose to think they found a new home.

I do think it is odd though that I got a call from Express Mail "central command" to file a claim before the 7 days past promised delivery date that they told me locally was the earliest I could file for a stolen package. If they know they have a problem with thieves, why not start there. Is the USPS full of people that like to got "shopping" in other people's packages? Last time I heard, it was a criminal offense to tamper with someone else's mail, or does that only apply to you and me?

I know there are probably a vast majority of USPS employees who are good and honest, and I don't mean to imply they are all potential thieves. The gal who is in charge of the express mail office at our airport has been as good as gold.​

 

[Debbi]

Jet Black,

You're not hurting my feelings one bit! In fact, that's why I QUIT the PO back in 2004. They started hiring people to fill management jobs that had NO clue as to what carriers had to deal with on a daily basis. The good days were hard enough, then factor in floods (heavy rain here would cost me a 27 mile detour for days, on an already 74 mile route), snow, angry idiots, flat tires/engine problems (rural carriers are on their own when THEIR vehicle breaks down), viscious dogs, traffic, and so on. Now, they were telling us when to come in, you had to be out of the PO by their time, and you must be back before dark. Used to go in at 6am, case my mail and be gone and on the route by 9am. Some days were so heavy with the "junk" that no one wants, and those idiotic phone books that most folks start fires with, but it all had to go. Then with Ebay and QVC coming into play, the parcel loads got so heavy, I couldn't fit it all in my truck at one time, so I had to go run parcels, come back and get my mail and other parcels, and go deliver again. Didn't get paid for that, an it all had to go. So then if you got back late because of a heavy day, you got your butt chewed for your efforts! Was the only place I ever worked that you got PUNISHED for coming to work early. They pushed our report time back to 8am, yet we were supposed to do it all within the same time frame at twice to three times the load. The PO is run by idiots, period, and they are sinking themselves into the ground. Sat. mail delivery is now supposed to stop as of October. We'll see, they've been saying that for years! As for the lost/stolen parcels, well you can thank the clerks and sorters for that part. Not saying a carrier has never done it, but for the most part, the people doing the sorting is where the problems lie. Usually, your carrier is the one who takes the best care of your parcels. Not all mind you, but for the most part. We can only deliver what they give us. Then, of course, we are the ones confronted by the angry customer, and have no way of knowing what happened to their parcel or piece of mail. Used to have a few shut-ins and elderly on my rural route that I would check on in the heat and cold, or just when I hadn't seen them in awhile. That came to a screaching halt when the new management came in. Man, that really chapped me. So, the week before Christmas, on an extremely rough day, when all of us were getting back well after dark and the Supervisor (cow that she was!) was greeting us at the door SCREAMING; I quietly turned to her and requested my "walking paper forms". "Whaaat??? How much notice are you giving me??" Looked at my watch, "2 minutes, get the papers please while I go clean out my case". Wasn't sure how I was going to survive, and at that point, really didn't care, I HAD HAD ENOUGH! Good pay, and when I started, I loved my job. After 8+ years, it wasn't what it used to be, and the stress from all sides wasn't worth any amount of money! For big parcels I send now, they go UPS. I still send quite a bit by Priority mail, and I use Delivery Confirmation. But, when you do get Delivery Confirmation, tell them you want it "scanned acccepted", and wait there till you see them do it! Otherwise, that number may never get into the system, and the only one who will scan it, (unless they are behind and the scanner isn't working as usual), will be your mail carrier when it is delivered. Hopefully, when they scan it, it is being delivered to the CORRECT address! Won't use Fedex, and I don't care how cheap they are. Some of their drivers are simpletons. Took 6 days to get a parcel from Kansas City, MO. down to me, about a 5 HOUR drive. They had it, they couldn't find my house! Finally, on the 6th day, I got it personally delivered by a supervisor, who was rude and very curt with me. He said he had no problem finding my house. Another Fedex driver left a somewhat valuble package of mine at an ABANDONED house, in the RAIN!!! Luckily, I was coming back from town, saw the package on the front steps of this house, and wondered, if juuuust maybe that would be mine. Yup, sure was. So, ineptness is all over the place. Until there are better service providers, we all have to make do. Insure all parcels and get Delivery Confirmation on all parcels, that's your best line of defense...or at least someone will have to account for their mistakes.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Both UPS and FexEx have ecellent tracking systems. At any given time they can pinpoint exactly where a package is. Even though a large amount of the USPS's packages are contracted out to FedEx, THEY DON'T USE FedEx tracking!!!

Both UPS and FedEx scan all incoming and outgoing packages, at every transfer point. USPS scans ONCE per day, wherever the package might happen to be at that time. NO WONDER they can't find things!

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

I had a box of chicks get lost in mail, they ended up in Rhode Island!! I am in FL. MPC said that they found a home for them, so hopefully your ducks found a home too.

 

[charmed one]

Quote:
Wow Debbi......I'm sure glad you got out of there. The gal that delivers my dad's mail is a real sweetie. I always go to the door when she comes and ask her how her day is going, chat a minute...etc. She has told me of the same thing you just said. It is driving her nuts. Her Dr. just took her out of work for 6 months because of the stress and what it is doing to her. Her super had no clue what the deliverers did and jumped them about everything too. I feel your pain....I have heard it before. Life is too short to be miserable!

 

[Debbi]

Oh yes! I am much saner now

LOL. When you start dreading on Sat. night, going to work on Monday morning, something is terribly wrong. The icing on the cake, right after I quit, she (the cow super) either left on her own or was asked to leave, no one is really sure about it. As for Fedex and UPS having much better scanning methods, they sure do! However, it only works as well as the dumbie pushing the buttons. I've had to fight with both Fedex (3 times), and UPS (1 time), when the parcel was scanned as "delivered". Yeh, ok, it was delivered, but WHERE???? Not here! The gal got snotty ugly with me on the phone and says, "well mam, it says delivered." Not delivered here. "Well, mam, I'll have the manager call you in a few days". Few days my fanny! Tell her to call me NOW!! After much poking and prodding, I got the manager to give me the address where the parcel was delivered. Yup, 9 miles north of me, at a CONVENIENCE STORE!! That was UPS. I paid $35.00 for that shipping and I had to drive 18 miles to pick it up?? Fedex just guesses and leaves them anywhere, like the abandoned house, in the rain. So, good tracking is only as good as the guy/gal pushing the buttons, and believe me, there are poor performers in EVERY delivery service. You just hear about USPS being the worst because they deliver more stuff. If Fedex and UPS had to deliver letters, magazines, fliers, phone books, AND parcels, they'd be having the same complaints.

 

[rscott2750]

Wish I had read all the posts about the USPS and "lost" anmals before I had to go through the same thing myself. Long story short--I bought 2 tiny Seramas from someone in Colorado to be shipped Express mail to me in NY. Never arrived, no one knows anything, no one takes responsibilityor offers any reasonable explanations. Have made many, many phone calls to no avail. What is this about filing for insurance? Do you mean to retrieve the postage or to be compensated in some way for the loss of the animals? I am out $300.00-- and any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,.
Renate

 

[australorpchick]

I try to use USPS as little as possible. I may mail something once every few months. Last week, I dropped off an envelope at the PO. It was the registration and payment for my kids sports camp, taking place at the nearby high school. I intentionally drove this to our local PO, instead of the PO near my work. I had to drive by the high school to get to the PO. They're roughly 1.5 miles apart. One week later and it still hasn't been delivered. I understand that some delayed deliveries and lost packages are inevitable. It just seems to happen way to often to me, for as little as I ship.