Shipping and Murphys Law

[gilmore]

....BTW... for what it's worth, I've found a good way to get results is to go to your local post office and speak (NICELY... realize it wasn't THEM that made the mistake) to the clerk or postmaster. Having them help you wade through the sea of red tape will sometimes yield FANTASTIC results. Generally, they're a little better at helping than the phone maze you have to go through to get information about a lost package you already know from their website... hahaha

That hasn't been my experience at all.

I have had more than one thing mailed to me that wasn't delivered. All my politeness resulted in was being shuttled from one person who knew nothing and refused to take responsibility to another, again and again.

The worst was a misplaced registered letter that contained a check I had written and was being returned to me. The original carrier falsely said that I wasn't home when he tried to deliver it. Then it just disappeared at the post office. No one could locate it, nor was anyone particularly interested. I was advised to call all sorts of people myself to track it down, all of whom were both clueless and uninterested. I wound up haivng to put a stop payment on the check and make a bank to bank wire transfer, a much more expensive proposition.

[Kilted-Marine]

We once sent a package out UPS 2 day delivery for a wedding. I received a call that the package did not arrive. When I checked the tracking number in the system. It said that it was sitting in colorado on a rail car that was out of service....

[The Wizard of BC]

Does anyone remember the story from about three years ago about the Kilt package that was found in a large company mailroom?

I've tried to do a search for it but can't find it.

It seems a guy was expecting a Kilt that was supposed to be delivered to him at his work address in a large company. After calls to the Kiltmaker, USPS, and inquires with the mailroom clerk, to no avail. Then some months later he was approached by a janitor who told him about a box with his name on it sitting in a storage room. He found the box, empty.

Any one know the rest of the story? Did the guy ever get his Kilt?

[Kilted-Marine]

We have had:-(

UPS deliver package to house next door - and the neighbor took 3 weeks mention there was a package for his nieghbor

Fedex fail to deliver on saturday for a Broadway show in NY City

I once rushed a package to a UPS center had them wrap the package and at the same time I purchased some supplies. they missed charging me for the package (even though it was sitting on the counter and they had just wrapped it) - 6 weeks later i get a call that we had a package sitting there..i thought it was for us....not from us.... They had held the package for 6 weeks waiting for me to return to pay...they had all my contact info but never called.

Temp (regular guy was on vacation) Postal guy fail to show for 3 days because nobody told him to stop and ask if we had packages

overnight stuff is always the worse - It scares me everytime I do you for a special event... Because once I hand it to ups.usps.fedex.. i no longer had control

In the big picture.. we shipped about 3700 packages last year and the percentage of BAD things was very very small...

[Ian.MacAllan]

A few years ago a reel of magnetic tape was mailed to me---Special Handling. It took 54 days to travel the approximately 15 miles from Bladensburg MD to Silver Spring MD.

A few months later I discovered on a Sunday evening that my car registration would expire the following Saturday & I couldn't go stand in line at the DMV because I had to travel out of state the whole week. I filled out the application and put it and a personal check in the mail that night. The registration certificate and tags were in Saturday's mail.

Sometimes you really don't know whom to hate.

.

[1oldsarge]

My best one was a gift a relative sent to me VIA UPS. English muffins. It was raining, so the delivery guy put it in the front seat of a broke-down car we had in the driveway, no note left. We happened to glance in the car and see it some time later - pretty much a science project by then...

[KiltedPilot]

One Tuesday, a few years ago, I received a courtesy invite, by e-mail, to a meeting that I might be interested that afternoon. I had time, and it interested me, so I wandered over to the meeting room at the appointed time, but no one was there. Puzzled, I returned to my desk and looked again at the e-mail. Turns out the e-mail had been sent two weeks earlier, and had taken 2 weeks to travel about 100 feet!

If I recall correctly, that was the same company at which the e-mail administrator sent me an e-mail to tell me my e-mail wasn't working!

[Kilted-Marine]

My Favorite--

Around 1984, I was stationed at Camp Butler in Okinawa while serving in the Marine Corps. My Girl Friend (from Rhode Island) mailed me some banana bread.

While it was in the mail I was transferred to a Combat Service Support Detachment. The package arrived in okinawa and was forwarded to my Ship.

When the packged arrived on ship I had already been landed in South Korea to serve in a operation Bear Hunt which takes place in the northern part of S. Korea.

When the Package arrived at the temporary camp located about 10 miles south of the DMZ, I had already been flow via helicopter out to a different ship,

when the packaged arrive on that ship, I had already been sent back to my unit in Okinawa.

total time for package to arrive was about 6 months. and no i did not eat it.. Although I was tempted

[CDNSushi]

I recommend all the kilt companies relocate to Japan! With Stillwater's amazing shipping, Japan Post's efficiency, and the International Date Line, Jerry will be able to deliver his kilts before you even order them.

KP

You are absolutely correct. Japan Post is just sick! I drop a letter into a box today and by tomorrow it's getting delivered on the other side of the country. No joke.

The main post office in my city for instance, is open 24/7 for sending/receiving packages. I've often been to collect a parcel after midnight.

The effeciency of the postal system makes online and mail-order shopping a really nice, viable alternative to going to the store here. Rates are very reasonable and I have everything I order within 24-48 hours. Once or twice I've even had same-day service, where I order something in the morning and it's being delivered by suppertime. (Mind you, that's usually only the case if it's coming from Tokyo, which is just 2 hours away by car).

As for what Matt was saying, around here signing for a neighbour's courier package is a strict no-no. Neither will they ever leave anything in your mailbox or on your front doorstep. They will leave a non-delivery notice but they won't let go of the package until it's in your hands and they have a hanko (personal stamp) or signature from you. As for Japan Post packages, when you go to the post office to pick them up, they ALWAYS (100% of the time) ask for photo ID and a signature.

And one other thing that we have here in Japan that North America has abandoned long time ago, is C.O.D. Whether it's Amazon, a computer company or a private auction seller, C.O.D. is a very common, very acceptable form of payment here.

[Deirachel]

Similar shipments sent via USPS to Canada take 1-2 weeks, even though the distance might only be a few hundred miles.

Try going the other way....it's amazingly bad.

I get packages from Hong Kong, India (my wife LOVES saris), the UK, Japan...average shipping 1-2 weeks.

Vancouver to Augusta? 6 weeks...minimum.