Anyone Else Find Their Postal Service Totally Incompetent?

[Elyptic]

In the US, I have had hit-or-miss service from the US Postal Service. The local delivery driver just changed at my house. Instead of ringing the bell and delivering packages that don't fit in my relatively small mailbox, they instead leave a note in my box and tell me to pick it up at the local office. Fine, I can do that. But the local office (we live in the country mind you) is only open for you to pick up packages between noon and 2 pm every day. And if you don't pick it up in two days, they return it to sender.

 

With this current arrangement, I cannot receive anything over letter sized at all. It's absolutely miserable.

 

On the other hand, I can easily receive anything from UPS as they have the courtesy to actually ring the bell (my wife is home all day) and deliver the package.

[mirosc]

No, german postal system (Deutsche Post, DHL) have always been superb. Not a single letter or parcel were lost, damaged or forgotten in the past decades. In most cases there is punctual delivery on the next day.

Ok, it could be a little bit cheaper, but if they keep up with the high standard, it's fine with me.

I'm very satisfied.

 

Others may have made other experiences.

[them700project]

Increasingly so. I have a differant driver everyday. Often I find them playing games on their phones sitting in their truck. Anything that requires a signiture will require me waiting at least 2 more days to receive as the drivers wont come to the door. I have seen them pull up to the mailbox while I was sitting on front porch and watched them pull away only to find a pink slip saying Sign for package. When this happens I either have to drive to the post office and deal with the post master who deserves all sorts of horrible things to hapen to him, the only person on the planet I dislike. Or sign it and leave it in mailbox in which case I will get Package 2-3 days later.

[watch_art]

If you go online to USPS.com/redelivery or something like that, you can tell them to bring your package the next day. You still need to leave the pink slip in the box.

[Keyless Works]

I think they dropped the cursory limit to around 2k before it's "looked" into.

Is it USPS only because I have had other foreign origin packages delivered by other carriers with no delay? Boat, air frieght (KLM and American Airlines), EMS, DHL, and FedEx. By boat usually takes a week and air freight is a couple days in customs.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Keyless Works

[odd_soul]

I tend to use USPS for most things. They aren't bad most of the time. I've never had any issues sending things. I've only ever had issues receiving things. Once, I put my mail on hold and then they didn't deliver all of they mail they were supposed to deliver after the hold was up, so I didn't get a package until 2 weeks after it was supposed to arrive, and only because I asked them about it. Another time, it took me a week to get a package because they were unclear about what they needed from me in order for them to deliver it, so everything got all screwed up and it was a very frustrating time for me. But it all worked out.

 

I don't have any packages sent to my home address anymore because it's just so much easier having things delivered to my office, where I don't have to worry about missing the delivery people and therefore my deliveries.

[FLZapped]

My local mail isn't too bad, they deliver everything, including fictitious people, the previous owner(more than 30 years ago), and my mail. I have had a 50% success rate with a friend in Moscow and a long wait for a friend in far Sault St. Marie, Michigan - as long as a 2 week delivery time.

 

Around here, UPS destroys things. Fedex is pretty good. I saw both delivery men in my Doctors office one day. The packages the UPS guy had looked like they were dragged behind the truck and the Fedex packages looked brand new.

 

-Bruce

[Keyless Works]

Around here, UPS destroys things. Fedex is pretty good. I saw both delivery men in my Doctors office one day. The packages the UPS guy had looked like they were dragged behind the truck and the Fedex packages looked brand new.

 

-Bruce

Were the UPS packages large? They do a lot more heavy weight stuff than FedEx does. FexEx is very good at overnight stuff as they have a larger fleet of airplanes but UPS has more man power and market share. I have never had anything destroyed by either. UPS has the best reputation of all three (and obviously USPS has the worst). I like UPS better but for small overnight envelopes FedEx is superior.

[Left FPN]

I have not had any problems but maybe it is because I am a shareholder and I don't post too many letters outwith.

 

Pens I have delivered using signed for or next day and they are very good. I recently shipped a pen camera body to France and although expensive it arrived safely within 3 days.

 

The only problem I do have is with junk mail still being delivered even after completing the Opt Out form...twice.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Force

[david6]

Not sure where this belongs, but the postal system is paraphernalia to pens I guess.

 

Anyway, lately have been having problems with Royal mail losing quite a lot of my mail, that has required me to fill in a lot of lost mail forms.

 

It is getting to the point that I want to start a blog on hate for the Royal Mail, as I am missing letters I should be getting, and lovely letters I have written simply do not turn up.

 

Does anyone have any issues with their national mail service?

Yes, I've had this problem many times with the Royal Mail. The most annoying time was when they left a note advising that an item couldn't be delivered because it was too big to go through the letterbox and it therefore had to be collected. Drove all the way to the Royal Mail depot to be told that they didn't have the parcel. The incompetent fools had lost my parcel in their depot and never did find it

[sarahfar]

I have found Royal Airmail to the US superb.

 

USPS, FedEX, DHL, EMS Japan all very fine. singpoat expedited Ok too....

 

UPS, can't be as complementary about though. And we are are all anecdotes in a large number of packages, so insure use the best possible and hope for the best......

[Uncial]

For the last year or so I have found that anything that passes through the UK or comes from the UK has either been hugely delayed or has been lost. I've been told that Royal Mail has a lot of theft at the moment, but I'm not sure how true that is.

[scrivelry]

My local people at USPS, who are currently tracking down a package that went from the regional post office here (Northeast US, five miles from my house) to Omaha Nebraska on its way to me, are incredibly lovely and go out of their way for me whenever I call them.

 

Omaha, by the way, is not between that regional post office and my residence...

Edited September 26, 2014 by scrivelry

[darkizz_89]

I do. I hate the almost totally crappy Italian Postal system.

 

Delivery times are between biblical and infinite -excluding the random mail sent only two days before, but it is rare as heck-, even Signed For mail is slow.

 

Stolen mail? Not so common, but it happens.

 

Tracked services? Most of them stop at the customs.

[scrivelry]

When I was a student in Italy we were told that if we really wanted our mail to get to the States, the best bet was to mail it from the Vatican post office. I think the Italian mail has actually improved since then. I doubt this is any sort of comfort to you...

[GatzBcn]

I ship frequently. The only issues I have had have been with Mexican post and USPS because they delayed like 7 weeks on Christmas time. It was both fault.

Also, once USPS returned one of my packages saying "unknown addresse", but the address was correct and the receiver never had any note or anything.

I have never had any problem with Spanish post.

[FLZapped]

Were the UPS packages large? They do a lot more heavy weight stuff than FedEx does. FexEx is very good at overnight stuff as they have a larger fleet of airplanes but UPS has more man power and market share. I have never had anything destroyed by either. UPS has the best reputation of all three (and obviously USPS has the worst). I like UPS better but for small overnight envelopes FedEx is superior.

No. The quality of service with UPS seems to vary by region. They destroyed a $5000 Accordion I ordered. Good luck collecitng insurance. They make it impossible.

[KBeezie]

And now they want to deliver your groceries

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/09/25/mail-and-milk-struggling-postal-service-wants-to-deliver-groceries/

[Keyless Works]

And now they want to deliver your groceries

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/09/25/mail-and-milk-struggling-postal-service-wants-to-deliver-groceries/

That sounds questionable. I think I will stick with Amazon Fresh.

[KBeezie]

That sounds questionable. I think I will stick with Amazon Fresh.

We could have threads after threads just talking bout all the different ways we've received our groceries with USPS... hell some people might get it after it's been sitting in the truck for 4 weeks.