A Year In Pen Shipping

[pajaro]

Great info. Almost every package I send with USPS gets there in a couple of days. However, I sent a package to Bearcat, in-state a couple of hundred miles away, on 12/15/10, and USPS still doesn't know where it is, so stuff does happen. We were cross-shipping pens, and I got his in 2 days. Well, there is always Murphy. I am glad I insured that package.

[Warriah]

As an Italian I'm ashamed that the (private) postal service works well under developed countries standards. I have to say that the big problem is the slow ckecking for incoming/outcoming packages from/to countries outside EU vastly due to inefficient fees application.. Other than this problem, shipment is usually affordable..only a bit slower.

[amb]

The mail delivery correction rate in Metro Chicago area is only 91% in 2009, meaning 9 out of 100 mails delivered to the area got lost, mis-delivered, or unable to be delivered.

I'd be curious to know the breakdown of that; lost and mis-delivered mail sounds like a USPS problem, but "unable to be delivered" mail is likely the fault of the sender.

 

When I was in an apartment building with a lot of turnover (mostly students), there was a huge amount of mail showing up for people no longer in residence, and I wonder how that sort of thing (and incorrect addressing in general) contributes to the statistics. I don't think the post office has ever lost something of mine that was clearly and correctly addressed, though some have suffered strange delays.

 

Any way you slice it, though, 91% sounds really bad!

[watch_art]

I get mail to my house all the time addressed to past residents. Each time I write "no longer lives here. return to sender" but I keep getting their mail. Not just junk mail either. The state sends paperwork all the time that some poor people aren't getting. I guess they just don't care if they send things out to the correct address. If so then it takes them YEARS to correct their databases.

[Tommy]

Thanks for a very informative post, Bob. I've started selling some pens abroad, and this info is just what I needed. It's been a few years since this thread was active. I'm curious if your list of high risk countries to ship to has changed since then.

 

Tom