Posted on 06/14/2013 5:42:50 PM PDT by grundle
This scan of a completely blank signature card is what the USPS offered up as proof that the customer’s package had been delivered.
A woman in California recently sold a laptop computer of hers on eBay for $1,300, but it never arrived at the buyer’s house. The seller had paid the U.S. Postal Service for insurance and delivery confirmation on the package, so she should be able to get her money back and see who signed for the package. Not quite.
She tells CBS Sacramento’s Kurtis Ming that USPS denied her insurance claim because the package was delivered and signed for as requested, but when she asked to see the proof of signature, the box was blank. So either the recipient had signed in invisible ink or no one had signed at all because the package was lost or stolen in transit.
Nope, insisted USPS, that’s a signature. She appealed her claim twice and no one would admit that there was absolutely no proof that the package had been delivered. In fact, all evidence seemed to show that the package had not arrived.
Meanwhile, the eBay buyer was able to get his $1,300 back through PayPal. And so the seller was out $1,300 and the laptop that vanished into thin air.
“Quite honestly I kind of feel like I’m being robbed by the Post Office,” she tells Ming.
Of course, once CBS got involved, the Postal folks suddenly cared… well, sort of.
The USPS admitted that the woman’s insurance claim should never have been denied, but offered no explanation as to why it denied the claim three separate times.
“We don’t know for sure what happened,” a Postal rep tells Ming, presumably before looking up at the clock and deciding to take a 90-minute lunch.
But now that USPS admits this package went missing and is out $1,300 of its own, surely it will be looking into the matter.
Oh wait.
“We are not investigating,” says the rep.
That’s the spirit!
Quite frankly, I’m amazed the unsigned card made it back. They are union slackers and I still can’t figure out why they even show up for work at all. No one can actually fire a federal unionized employee - it’s just about impossible - so why show up? Anyone know how many of them are on some kind of disability?
isn't there some kind of timestamp involved in the delivery??? if no time stamp, no delivery...
buyers on ebay have been pulling this scam for ages, the sellers have absolutely no rights on Ebay. They will take your money and you will be out the money AND the item. And all the buyer has to do is lie and say they didn’t get it.
USPS. Pfff!
I ordered a lawn mower blade online that cost less than $20. USPS tracking, which is usually totally useless, actually said it would arrive today. When I got home, no blade.
I went online and was told the delivery was attempted today at 2:09 PM but no one was home. Imagine that! and that I could arranged for another attempt or come to the post office and pick it up. They also told me a notice was left.
What a crock. No notice was left, and why do they need someone home for a $19 item? They actually want someone to sign for it?? I have signed for maybe three items in five years since this is a safe neighborhood. I doubt the seller would require that.
I think the lazy SOB carrier didn’t want to walk the 100 feet from the street to my door. There was NO notice left because they were too lazy to write it up.
So tomorrow I go to pick up my valuable super special high security blade at the post office. I want to yell at someone, but I know it isn’t necessarily their fault.
I hate it when someone sends me packages by USPS.
When I was in the process of being hired for my current job, the HR manager, my current boss, sent my new hire paperwork to me via FedEx but mistakenly marked as “signature required”. And last year, I ordered a new CC to replace one that had been damaged and requested it be shipped to me FedEx next day as I needed it for an out of town business trip and it required a signature. As I work during the day, I wasn’t home to sign for either package but FedEx left a note on my door to say they had attempted to deliver and the note gave the website and the tracking number and instructions on where the package was, when the next delivery would be attempted and how to opt to pick it up at the local FedEx office and a 1-800 number to call if I preferred to speak with someone.
In both cases I went on line, entered the tracking number and selected the option to hold for me to pick up and it even let me choose from among several FedEx locations – which ever was more convenient. It was very easy and the FedEx website also automatically gave me Google Map directions on how to get to the FedEx location I chose with an option to have those directions sent to my phone if I wanted, the FedEx location which BTW was open till 8PM during the week and on Saturday and half days on Sunday. And within a few minutes of me selecting the pickup option, I received a phone call from FedEx customer service from a very nice and polite woman (English speaking BTW), confirming that I was going to pick the package up, providing me with their hours and asking me if I needed directions, had any questions, etc. I went the next evening after work and got in and out in less than 5 minutes.
At work I’ve sent packages via FedEx and you can really see nearly up to the minute detailed tracking information.
While UPS is better than the USPS in my experience, I contrast FedEx to UPS when a few weeks before Christmas 2011, a package was delivered to my address but to the woman who used to live at my address, it was from some sort of packaging supply company. She (the woman who lived in my apartment before me) evidently owned a small bakery/coffee house and the supplier must not have updated her new home or business address. Long story short, I tried calling UPS several times and got hung up in an endless loop of options, none of which included what to do to have a package picked back up if mistakenly delivered and none of which allowed me speak to a real live person. I went to the UPS website and again, there were no options to have the package picked back up or any way to contact their customer service via phone or email since I was not the shipper. I tried contacting the shipper but couldn’t get through to them either. As a last resort, I Googled the name of the woman’s bake shop, found her phone number on her website and left her a voice mail, telling her I had her package. She called me back an hour later and was very grateful that I called her. We agreed that I would leave the package in front of my apartment door the next morning for her to pick up which she did, leaving me a thank you note and a coupon for a dozen free cupcakes – which were very yummy BTW so that was a good thing : ).
I’ve had other issues with UPS over the years; surly drivers, damaged and a few lost packages, etc. Last Christmas I ordered gifts from Amazon that was delivered UPS. Even though the individual packages were not very large or bulky nor did they require a signature, since I wasn’t home, the UPS driver took it upon himself to deliver them to the apartment rental office. The woman at the rental office told me that he told her he was concerned that they might be stolen and I truly appreciated his concern. But I order from Amazon fairly regularly, many packages left in front of my door and I have never had a problem. The problem with him delivering my packages to the rental office was that 1) the rental office is only open M-F 9 to 5 and from 9 to 11 on Saturdays and 2) as I was going to be out of town that Saturday, the Saturday before Christmas, so I had to leave work an hour and a half early one day during the week to get to the rental office before 5 and, 3) since it was more than one box, the rental office charged me a package delivery fee. Doh!
And don’t get me started on the USPS. The last time I ordered something from Ebay (a cell phone case, screen protectors and some iPhone small electronics accessories), it was sent USPS and the postal person jammed the a bit too big box into my not quite big enough mail box to the point it tore the box, crimped the screen protectors and forced me to pry the contents out. As I only paid about a $1 for the screen protectors, it wasn’t worth the hassle to file a claim. And the last time I had a piece of “certified mail” (a “love letter from the IRS on taxes they claimed I owed) again I had to take time off from work to pick it up as they have crappy hours of operation, not once but twice mind you as the first time they couldn’t find the certified letter and claimed it had been sent back out for delivery and oh, there is nothing like taking time from work and standing on line at the post office for 30+ minutes, not once but twice in the same week for the very same letter.
If sending anything or given a delivery option, if it is any of any value or time sensitive, I go with FedEx even if it costs more. UPS is my next option. But USPS? I can’t tell you the last time I’ve used them. I receive all my bills electronically and pay them all on-line via secure websites. I don’t mail letters or Christmas cards anymore, I get invitations to events or birthday parties via FB or email, I even have some magazines delivered in an electronic format. The only USPS mail I get now days is pure unsolicited junk mail and that goes from my mail box to the shredder straight to the recycling bin.
The USPS could shut down tomorrow and I wouldn’t miss it at all.
I received a package today; UPS delivered it by 5pm. I received an email last night that the package is coming, and I received an email five minutes after delivery notifying me that the delivery has occurred. That's how it should be done.
A week ago I received a package from Amazon, via USPS. The mail carrier dropped the package near the mailbox and didn't even bother to push the intercom button. I noticed the package later this day, because per USPS the delivery was scheduled for the NEXT day and I wasn't looking for it. If USPS is a day off in their very careful calculations of local delivery, talking to them about timestamps is entirely pointless.
very true, but if they said somebody SIGNED for it, shouldn't there be a time stamp???
Yes.
Plus she got the $1300 after all.
Stupid headline.
One of the Post Offices in the area made a big deal a couple of years ago about having “extended hours” and staying open until 6 pm for the convenience of their customers.
Except any mail gathered after 5 pm is processed the next business day.
They may have fixed this since I noticed it, but I doubt it.
I agree entirely about the FedEx experience. I’ve not had any notable trouble with UPS.
I have to laugh at you, just for basic general business reasons.
I have the cell phone numbers of my UPS drivers.
If I don't have anything for them, I call them and tell them to skip the scheduled pick up.(as a courtesy call)
If I know I will have over 20 packages for them, I tell them when they deliver the am run, or call them in the afternoon, and tell them to come to the big loading dock in the afternoon.(also a courtesy call).
“My” UPS drivers know what I am flexable about, and what I won't tolerate.
But then, it does make a huge difference if you have an UPS shipping account worth thousands of dollars each month, as opposed to some guy across the street in a house, waiting for a once or twice a year package delivery!
OMG!
How awfull that UPS Ground assumes it is better to deliver packages to home residences after normal business hours, when you are far more likely to be home to receive them!
If you get a lot of UPS home deliveries, you could tell your UPS driver that you would prefer morning deliveries, whenever possible.
If you don't know your local UPS route driver by sight or name, well, best you STFU and understand that you are not as smart and important as you think you are...especiaully when you are not paying for daily pick up/delivery rates
I had a friend who lost a piece of merchandise that had been shipped to him because the shipping company swore it had been signed for. They were adamant that receipt of the item had been confirmed by a signature, as the recipient had specified. They even had an image of the signed receipt to prove it. The "signature" said:
F RONTDOOR
According to them. Swear to God.
It took quite some time before they finally admitted that they were morons and that the delivery man had left it outside the apartment...
I’m still waiting for the USPS to deliver my package to my mailbox that should have been here yesterday according to the tracking. The package I got earlier this week was sitting in the package section of my community mailbox for a couple of days because the idiot mail carrier mixed up the keys. The key left for me was for somebody else’s package and vice versa. I had to leave a note for the carrier to leave me the right key because he’d never know otherwise. A lotta good Amazon Prime 2-day shipping does me if the delivery service sucks.
And in a few more months, these people will be in charge of administrating your access to health care.
Wow, what utterly unwarranted hostility and condescension.
Good point, because all computers are identical and cost the same amount.
One very important question that an engineer would ask right away is this. "Where is the time coming from, and how do you know that it is correct, and how do you know that the record hadn't been altered?"
With FedEx and UPS the answer to that is relatively simple. Their portable tablets are communicating with the mothership wirelessly, whenever they are in range. Time in tablets is periodically synchronized; but the very fact that a tablet reported delivery around, say, 3:45pm, indicates that the transaction was at least marked as completed by the driver around that time. The time comes from the central mainframe at UPS/FedEx HQ, and it can be trusted to be correct within microseconds (NTP etc.) As soon as the record lands into the database, it's there for good. You can't even delete it if there are dependencies.
USPS has no such technology. All they have is various handwritten cards and other pieces of paper that are worthless as proof of anything. But why should USPS change if they can always ask legislators to authorize another rate increase, while reducing the services? Life is good in USPS land.
Admittedly, UPS and FedEx processes are not entirely secure either. A driver can scan a package, draw some chicken scratches on the signature pad, and then throw the box into a ditch. Once a UPS driver claimed that "nobody was at home" - but I was at home, and the gate was open, and the camera was continuously filming the driveway, and there was no door tag, and there was no truck... I called UPS immediately and let it be known that I am displeased. They apologized and delivered on the next day. I cannot imagine the driver getting off scot-free if he continues to falsify company records. But USPS? I'd expect just that from them, and nothing less. You can't even complain because there is nobody you can call and be heard. Occasionally a mail carrier is arrested because a nosy neighbor, or a fireman, or a police officer finds, entirely by accident, tons of undelivered mail in his garage. How many carriers are lazy *and* smart enough to use recycling bins instead? How many deliver to remote locations only every other day? There is no way to know.
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