UHHHG USPS Stinks!

[Bob C]

I have been far happier with the service of the USPS than with any of the commercial carriers.

[Ozman1944]

I am trying to find a missing package (not a kilt, thank Gawd!) from Ethiopia. Not only has it not arrived, but they swear black & blue that it was delivered in May, and that I signed for it!. Am now fighting to make them show me the alleged signature, as I certainly don't have the goods, and often get mail from other streets (same number) delivered here by mistake.

[obuchiteck]

While it can be easy to get upset when a parcel ends up being delivered a day late, that can always be reconciled against the average 700,000,000+ pieces of mail that are processed for an average 145,000,000+ deliveries each day. 85,000,000 pounds of mail were delivered, per day, in 2006.

Take it from someone that has been using the services of all these companies for over well two decades - USPS is the most reliable of the bunch. And often the least expensive, to boot.

My Daddy always taught me that S**! happens, and I’m a strong believer in that. Trust me, I have patience. The problem here is, they say that it’s delivered but can’t come up with the proof of where’s it’s delivered or who signed for it. I know for a fact that UPS and Fed Ex, could at least confirm the delivery address. That’s my issue. Now I have a feeling that I’ll be Ozman1944 trying to hunt this down for ever. I have an engagement and I was looking forward to wearing my new kilt. Unfortunately I’ll be kilt less.

[Woodsheal]

A signature and delivery address will show on the USPS tracking system only if it was sent "Signature Confirmation", "Certified", "Registered", or "Express." If it was sent simply "Delivery Confirmation" (like most parcels), the tracking will show only the time/date of delivery and the delivery zipcode (no signature required!).
Get the tracking number from the sender, and look it up on the USPS website. That will show when it was scanned as "delivered", and the carrier who entered the scan could be tracked down as well...!

[obuchiteck]

A signature and delivery address will show on the USPS tracking system only if it was sent "Signature Confirmation", "Certified", "Registered", or "Express." If it was sent simply "Delivery Confirmation" (like most parcels), the tracking will show only the time/date of delivery and the delivery zipcode (no signature required!).
Get the tracking number from the sender, and look it up on the USPS website. That will show when it was scanned as "delivered", and the carrier who entered the scan could be tracked down as well...!

Sure, I did but all I get is the Zip that it was delivered to. That does me no good. In any case the establishment that I got my kilt from is sending another.

Problem solved, but I still have a loathing for the US postal service.

[RockyR]

Fedex is the only one that offers Saturday delivery. BUT, you have to pay extra for it.

Not true... USPS delivers on Sat.

[macwilkin]

I would suggest that is hard to generalize about an organization so vast. I have never once had a problem and have always found the Postal employees I have dealt with to be friendly, polite, and helpful. I don't disbelieve Caradoc's experience, which was very unfortunate and wrong. People are like eggs, most are good but the bad ones can really taint things for you.

I'd rather try to have some faith and hope for the best, rather than assume the worse.

Cheers

Jamie

Exactly, Jamie. My grandfather was the Director of Customer Service for the USPS here in Springfield before he retired. He always prided himself on listening to people -- carriers, clerks and customers -- and trying to resolve any problems as much as he was able. He insisted that his employees remembered that they were public servants and professionals. I tried to remember his mantra when I was a public servant myself with USNPS.

After working as a public servant, I am inclined to believe that some folks will never be be satisfied with what we do, simply because we are public servants. Thankfully, those folks are not as common as the thousands of visitors I met each summer. Sure there are jerks in the civil service -- but I've met quite a few in the private sector as well.

Regards,

Todd

[Caradoc]

Any man who judges by the group is a pea-wit.

I see. So, the Nazi party under Hitler was just a bunch of really cool people hanging out together, but they had a few bad eggs?

I'm sorry, but when a member of a particular group behaves badly, and the group takes no action whatsoever to distance themselves from that poor behavior, it's going to reflect badly on the group.

In the public sector, an employee who did something awful would be fired.

In the USPS, they're not fired. From all evidence, they're not even reprimanded.

Anyway, the letter carrier who pepper-sprayed my dog isn't the only problem with the local PO. We regularly find other people's mail in our box, packages are delivered with severe damage, and occasionally we find our mail (or our neighbor's mail) scattered across the lawn.

And the good old boys down at L'Enfant Plaza don't even reply to mail.

[macwilkin]

I see. So, the Nazi party under Hitler was just a bunch of really cool people hanging out together, but they had a few bad eggs?

I'm sorry, but when a member of a particular group behaves badly, and the group takes no action whatsoever to distance themselves from that poor behavior, it's going to reflect badly on the group.

In the public sector, an employee who did something awful would be fired.

In the USPS, they're not fired. From all evidence, they're not even reprimanded.

Anyway, the letter carrier who pepper-sprayed my dog isn't the only problem with the local PO. We regularly find other people's mail in our box, packages are delivered with severe damage, and occasionally we find our mail (or our neighbor's mail) scattered across the lawn.

And the good old boys down at L'Enfant Plaza don't even reply to mail.

Sir,

Your analogy of the Nazi party is way out-of-line. I removed my quote because in hindsight, it might offend. My apologies.

I'm sorry about your dog; that wasn't right. I agree, people should take responsibility for their actions, regardless of where they work.

Regards,

Todd

[Caradoc]

I'm sorry about your dog; that wasn't right. I agree, people should take responsibility for their actions, regardless of where they work.

As has been my point throughout - not only did the individual carrier fail to take responsibility for his actions, so did his supervisor, the local Postmaster, and every person in the chain of command all the way up to L'Enfant Plaza.

Which group would have been a more appropriate analogy, by the way? I'll grant that the Nazi party was an extreme case, but there are and always will be groups of people who will be judged by the actions of their own members, and their failure to curtail the problem.