Anyone Else Find Their Postal Service Totally Incompetent?

[inkstainedruth]

USPS is inferior to UPS, FedEx, and DHL in terms of reliability but USPS is cheap and relatively fast.

 

On the whole I have not found that to be the case.

While I have not dealt with DHL, I have had UPS claim to have left a "failed to deliver note" on my front door; and then my husband had to stand out at the street corner and flag the truck down (this was for my first computer). I have also had the same UPS office leave a heavy but brittle package on my stoop in such a way that I could not open the door (not even a doorbell ring to let me know it arrived. I called to complain that they hadn't bothered to even notify me that they had left it and was told "Oh, you live in a safe neighborhood". At which point I pointed out that it was pouring rain outside. I had to wait till the guy went back to their facility. He was po'd that he'd had to be sent back out in the rain (he probably thought he was off-shift before that). Boo hoo. They were the NEXT TOWN OVER.

And FexEx? Well, they left a package on our porch while we were away over Christmas last year. For someone else in another town (okay, the USPS does this too -- there are 2 different towns which have the same street name -- but different zip codes -- in the Pittsburgh 152xx area). Our cat sitter brought the package in and put it on our kitchen counter. I called FedEx (on New Year's Eve) and was told to just leave the package on the porch for pickup. In 20° weather. And then they didn't bother to come get it. So, after it sat out all day I brought it back in (hoping it wasn't something perishable -- it came from some department store so could have been anything). And the next day, instead of calling, I went on their website and filed a written complaint.

Yes, the USPS screws up too. But I *know* how to deal with complaining to them. If it's First Class mail, I contact a Postal Inspector.... Immediately....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[EclecticCollector]

I recently tried to mail a pen back for a nib swap and USPS refused to sell me insurance for the full cost because (1) the address was for the repair department so "it must be damaged and we don't insure damaged goods" and (2) "it's just a pen, there's no way it's worth that much". They looked at the nib swap form but wouldn't budge, and refused to accept a PayPal receipt as proof of value. I escalated it all the way up to the station master to no avail, so I just went across the street to UPS.

[Plume145]

I'm pretty happy with my local NMC (national mail carrier), Hellenic Post. Technology-wise it's kind of backwards lol, like many services in Greece unfortunately - for instance, you can't print off postage online - but the actual service part of getting the mail to its destination is really solid and reliable and the workers are for the most part friendly and hard working. It's cheap too! So no complaints there.

 

Also a major fan of the USPS. I mean, less than a week from like, California to Athens, Greece - woah! For under $10, too, and it wasn't just once or anything! Pretty awesome.

 

But I have experiences similar to those of many others here with Royal Mail - they are a giant PITA! There's been some serious head-scratchers, like signature packages ending up in a whole different country, usually nowhere near Greece, marked delivered. Who the heck signed for that? well, not me that's for sure. Then there's all the packages getting chewed up by their automatic sorters

 

I have a bunch of hobbies, interests, and favorite activities that aren't terribly common or popular here, so I have to go online for quite a lot of what I need, there's not much in the local high street. It's been like that for several years now, so it adds up to probably close to 2.5K parcels total, from anywhere in the world? In all this traffic no other NMC has given me as many headaches as RM have, proportionally to how much of my mail they actually handle. More epic fail than Royal Mail basically

 

But you know what the worst of it is? It's the prejudice that some UK sellers display when they refuse my business because I live in Greece, because - get this - 'we can't trust your postal service'! Sometimes the refusers have actually gone so far as to say that greek customers are lying about parcels not turning up to get a refund or a free item (sometimes it's put more subtly, but not always).

 

Don't get me wrong, usually if someone refuses my custom, I just roll my eyes and skip on to the next business selling the same thing, but sometimes I can't find the item(s) anywhere else!! It happened again just two days ago, for something I really wanted too, so this thread couldn't have come at a better time! Hence the long rant

Sooo yeah, if anyone's starting a Royal Mail Haters' Club, count me in lol

edit: typo hell

Edited September 28, 2014 by Plume145

[Koyote]

I find the USPS to be remarkably efficient and reasonably priced, too. I wish some businesses were run so well.

[Sasha Royale]

This device, on which I am communicating to you, is a primary source of problems in all nation postal services.

I send two dozen emails monthly. I shop digital catalogs online, and order online, and pay online. My credit

card statements are received and paid online. These cursed ads, that continually interrupt me, use to be
"junk mail" in the mailbox. Mail volume is declining dramatically, as is revenue..

 

Relative to revenue, expenses are soaring ! In 1994, the mail truck and driver went from city A to city B everyday,

carrying 5000 pounds of mail. Today, the public mandate requires the same trip be made, even if the mail volume

is 1000 pounds, or even 1000 letters. The resources are no longer available to mask mistakes (Everybody makes

mistakes.), so all mistakes are visible and felt.

 

Imagine your 100-year-old Parker fountain pen as your only pen. As your family grocery store declines in patronage,

so does your income. Maintaining the old Parker gets harder. The old Parker has performed well for so many

decades, without repair, that repair and adjustment services are no longer available.

 

"Totally incompetent" is unfair hyperbole. "Increasing incompetence and general decline" is more accurate.

 

The captain of the SS Titanic apologizes that your shoes are wet, and . . welcomes any suggestions.

[Keyless Works]

I wonder if I will ever get this pen.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab201/unroyalwarrant/Untitled_zps0cce7e42.jpg

[Skyppere]

I have to say that my mail delivery service is just about letter perfect. In the 8 years I've been back, I can count on one hand the number of items that have been accidently delivered to my mail box. The mail is delivered in a timely fashion. If there's something too big for the box, the carrier drives down my driveway and puts it on my porch. I could not be happier with my service.

skyppere

[Plume145]

This device, on which I am communicating to you, is a primary source of problems in all nation postal services.

I send two dozen emails monthly. I shop digital catalogs online, and order online, and pay online. My credit

card statements are received and paid online. These cursed ads, that continually interrupt me, use to be

"junk mail" in the mailbox. Mail volume is declining dramatically, as is revenue..

 

Relative to revenue, expenses are soaring ! In 1994, the mail truck and driver went from city A to city B everyday,

carrying 5000 pounds of mail. Today, the public mandate requires the same trip be made, even if the mail volume

is 1000 pounds, or even 1000 letters. The resources are no longer available to mask mistakes (Everybody makes

mistakes.), so all mistakes are visible and felt.

 

Imagine your 100-year-old Parker fountain pen as your only pen. As your family grocery store declines in patronage,

so does your income. Maintaining the old Parker gets harder. The old Parker has performed well for so many

decades, without repair, that repair and adjustment services are no longer available.

 

"Totally incompetent" is unfair hyperbole. "Increasing incompetence and general decline" is more accurate.

 

The captain of the SS Titanic apologizes that your shoes are wet, and . . welcomes any suggestions.

I do think 'totally incompetent' was meant as hyperbole, and that none of the people who used it or similar expressions intended it to be taken quite literally. I don't presume to speak for them but that is how it struck me while reading what they wrote.

 

However I'm not sure it's true that mail volume is decreasing, I think it's more that there's a shift in the kinds of mail that people send and the reasons why they send it. The trend for the past several years is away from letters, postcards, and bills, and towards packages with goods inside. And these are increasingly the result of a business transaction as opposed to a present posted to loved ones living far away. The degree to which a postal service recognizes this shift and responds to it is what makes this postal service look more or less reliable right now.

[KBeezie]

I wonder if I will ever get this pen.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab201/unroyalwarrant/Untitled_zps0cce7e42.jpg

If it was out for delivery on Saturday, and you didn't get it yesterday, then I'm going to guess either the mail carrier was in a fiery car accident, or tracking is bull, or someone stole your pen. Guess you'll find out Monday.

[Icywolfe]

This is sort of funny:

 

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/03/21/what-happens-if-the-united-states-postal-service-express-mails-a-very-important-package-to-the-wrong-country&view=comments

[FLZapped]

I find the USPS to be remarkably efficient and reasonably priced, too. I wish some businesses were run so well.

They can't be very efficient, they are losing money hand over fist.

[EclecticCollector]

They can't be very efficient, they are losing money hand over fist.

Having to fully fund the pensions of future employees who are not even born yet will do terrible things to your bottom line.

[Koyote]

I find the USPS to be remarkably efficient and reasonably priced, too. I wish some businesses were run so well.

 

 

They can't be very efficient, they are losing money hand over fist.

 

 

Actually, the public postal service losing money probably is a sign of allocative efficiency - it's a somewhat complicated concept from economics, but highly relevant. In short: for some industries with large economies of scale, the marginal cost (e.g., stopping at an individual house) is below the average cost (which includes the overhead), and it is efficient to set the price at the marginal cost -- and hence it must be subsidized in order to achieve the efficient quantity. We often price energy the same way, and ditto for the old landline telephone service.

 

People often assume that profitability is a sign of efficiency, but that is often not the case - at least not in an economic sense.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Koyote

[Left FPN]

I wonder if I will ever get this pen.

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab201/unroyalwarrant/Untitled_zps0cce7e42.jpg

they use the same software as Yodel here in the UK. Sometimes it has been delivered before despatched.

[VivienR]

Yep, Hungarian postal service is in the LOL category, completely unreliable bunch of retards. They not even known what to mean the "Do not bend!" mean.... its like an invitation to bending... Like Bender from Futurama, they only good for bending...

Although except one package every package shipped via Royal Mail is arrived,

[Misfit]

USPS is my first choice. When there was enough snow to stop delivery, it was for one day only. But UPS claimed weather and delayed delivery.

 

USPS is not perfect, but they are closer than the competition.

[Misfit]

Having to fully fund the pensions of future employees who are not even born yet will do terrible things to your bottom line.

+1

[Floreat]

The Royal Mail in London is frightful. I recently sent ink samples out by first class post to a couple of members here, and they took over two weeks to arrive. I ended up sending out replacements via Special Delivery just so I could be 100% sure they would arrive, which obviously cost a lot but this was my first attempt at sending stuff to other members and I wanted to make sure that people got to know me as a trustworthy person to deal with!

 

I particularly hate my local post office as the guy there has messed me about several times. I had an envelope to send to my godchildren which I'd carefully painted (I love mail art) so I asked if it was possible to send it insured without sticking a giant stamp/label on it. The guy said yes, then proceeded to stick about ten old Christmas stamps along the top (he could have used plain stamps but obviously wanted to use up his old stock of Christmss ones). It was August and the stamps wrecked the look of the envelope just to add insult to injury he then said he had to stick a big label on anyway, and covered some of the artwork up. I was gutted, and e was smirking while he did it. Nasty man.

 

And on Friday I was expecting a parcel so I opened the door just as the postman was shoving stuff in our letter boxes. He had a "Sorry you were out" card for me on top of his pile....I said "well obviously I'm not out, so please give me my parcel" and he mumbled some crappy excuse about another postman who tried to deliver earlier on in the day but there was no reply when he rang the doorbell. When I asked why that postman hadn't filled in the "Sorry you were out" card himself there and then, he just shrugged > this happens all the time, the postmen can't be bothered to deliver so they leave a card for you telling you to pick your parcel up from the sorting office. Sometimes your parcel will have mysteriously vanished from the sorting office because the postmen nick off with them - in fact so many of my parcels used to go missing that I had to arrange to have things delivered to a friend's address instead.

 

I've been fighting cancer for the past four years and a couple of years ago I was struggling to eat and lost a scary amount of weight, so I was advised to drink sherry (this apparently gives you an appetite and they used to dole it out on OAP wards!!). A bunch of friends on another forum clubbed together to send me a bottle of really excellent sherry, and as an extra treat they also had a beautiful orchid in a vase sent from a specialist grower. Both things got pinched - i had the "Sorry you were out" cards but when I went to pick them up, they'd disappeared. I was so gutted for everyone who had contributed, and for the girl who arranged it all

 

Top tip: an envelope sent via Special Delivery costs over six quid to send. For the same price Hermes will come to your home and pick up a shoebox-sized parcel full of stuff and they'll deliver it within three working days. Feck the Royal Mail.

 

Sorry for the rant, but thanks for creating the opportunity for me to let off some steam!!

Edited September 30, 2014 by Floreat

[Koyote]

Having to fully fund the pensions of future employees who are not even born yet will do terrible things to your bottom line.

 

Yes, it would be much better if the USPS operated like private firms: raiding their pension funds for profits and higher CEO pay, and leaving the workers without their promised retirement benefits.

[EclecticCollector]

Yes, it would be much better if the USPS operated like private firms: raiding their pension funds for profits and higher CEO pay, and leaving the workers without their promised retirement benefits.

Straw man argument.