I had three packages stolen in less than a year - all being shipped by USPS.
They had ‘tracking’ numbers. Their tracking system is a joke. It doesn’t track.
They were insured. The value of the items, one was over $400, was clearly printed on the outsides of the boxes. Another joke. (you don’t want post office employees wasting their time on boxes worth less than $50).
To add insult to injury you have to wait A MONTH to report any package missing. (need to give them time to cover their tracks)
BTW - almost every time I have posted an anti-USPS message here on Free Republic I have received a FRe-mail from a post office worker. A nasty one!
almost every time I have posted an anti-USPS message here on Free Republic I have received a FRe-mail from a post office worker. A nasty one!
I own an online and 1 to 1 business that manufactures industrial welding machinery controls and I absolutely will not ship via the totally inept U.S. Postal service. I’ve done this since 1980. To date, no package has been sent since then through the USPS. Before then, I learned my lessons painfully as (1) shipments of product were lost and to track them was impossible, (2) no package lost was ever found, (3) their attitude was “screw you! Who the hell do you think you are?”
I still have customers who send products in for repair that use the USPS and without missing a beat, they will call in to see why the repairs have not been made and the product returned. My answer to them is “we have not received your package yet and I told you not to use the Postal service but use FEDEX or UPS. You can actually track it and it will be there when cited when you sent it.” With the Postal service it could be anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks before it’s received....if it’s received at all.
We are industrial and the loss or delay of a package (either shipped or received) is an emergency and work is shut down for the customer. With retail sales (or repairs) it’s simply an inconvenience so we absolutely require a professional service to transport our products and services to and from the customer.
The USPS is an absolute example of a government run business. Don’t say it isn’t either....it is! Check to see who actually controls it and it’s funding....CONGRESS!
A real nasty bunch at my post office. Two weeks ago I was shipping a package and thought that MLK Day fell on Monday the 14th. Highly insulted, my clerk hissed, “Don’t you have a calendar?”
Well. I have nothing against most mail carriers. Just doing their job.
I wouldn’t ship anything via USPS I wasn’t prepared to totally lose. If my birthday card to someone gets lost, I’ll apologize to the recipient and re-send it.
Ok, so here’s a non-nasty response from a Postal worker. I’m sorry that you have lost several packages. There are some of us that really do care and work hard to make the system better.
Our scanning still sucks, but we’ve made vast improvements in the past year, with percentages rising from 70% up to 90+%. (But I still can’t track my packages, either)
Putting the value on the box is just crazy. I don’t know why they did that.
Also, when mailing packages, be sure to secure the package well with tape, and use a sturdy box. You wouldn’t believe the boxes I see with a couple of pieces of scotch tape holding them together, or a 60 lb package in a potato chip box.
Again, I’m sorry you received poor service. I can’t blame you for using the competition. I do the same. Fedex delivered a package to me today. It was on-time and in good condition. Can’t beat that.