Adventures with the Postal Service.

[DHurtig]

This would be funny if it wasn't my package.

June 25 Package delivered to post office in Toronto Canada
June 26 Package leaves Toronto
June 26 Package arrives Chicago IL
June 27 Package processed through Elk Grove Village IL
June 29 Package arrives Sioux Falls SD
June 30 Package leaves Sioux Falls SD
July 2 Package processed through Elk Grove Village IL
July 3 Package processed through Sioux Falls SD
July 4 Package arrives Forest Park IL
July 5 Package leaves Forest Park IL
July 5 Package arrives Des Moines IA
July 6 Package leaves Des Moines IA
July 7 Package arrives in Rapid City at 5:28 AM Woo Hoo!!!!!

If you wish to witness this comedy first hand, the package tracking number is CX152716978CA.

Does nobody look at the freaking address???

I still don't have my package, but I feel a little better now. Dale

[bandit7.5]

and folks wonder why the us postal service is losing money

[jmort]

I had something similar with my order of "Magic Alloy" from Missouri Bullets. It went MIA for awhile and Missouri Bullets informed me it was lost somewhere in Florida. Eventually ended up in California and the Box was barely there and the Post Office had made a makeshift "carrier" for the box. I can only imagine the hatred the union slugs at the post office had for my box'O lead; moving that 66 pound box around from place to place, from one end of the country to the other.

[square butte]

It needed to be photographed in multiple facilities

[starmac]

On the other (surprised) hand I sent payment from here to a member in NM. on a friday after the mail had already been picked up. He notified me of recieving it on the following monday. I couldn't believe it.

[waksupi]

Do you know if you go to the USPS web page, there is no physical address you can mail a letter to them? You have to use email. Now, THAT, is cutting your own throat!

[Down South]

I just love the USPS.

[pdawg_shooter]

I sent a check, first class to my broker 50 miles west of here. Took 9 days. I could have walked it over and got back in 2!

[462]

I, once, bought a set of dies from a seller in Florida. They made their way to Denver, then were diverted back to Florida. From there, they went back to Denver, then on to California. A small flat rate box with an advertized three business day delivery took two weeks.

Another time, a media mail package spent four days hanging out in a Sacramento sorting facility, then was delivered back to me. I refunded the buyer his shipping cost.

Other than those two instances, the rest of my sales and purchases and have been delivered on time.

[mongoosesnipe]

if i had to guess whats going on i would say the Sioux Falls SD facility flagged for a customs check of some sort and that's why its bouncing around, whats in it?

[jcwit]

If anyone here could handle the number of pcs. of mail let alone packages that the USPS does on a daily basis and never have a screw-up, I'd say have at it.

Frankly I think they do one heck of a good job.

[JeffinNZ]

My friend in Birmingham AL goes to the next county over to mail to me as his local post office didn't know where New Zealand was.

In fairness, I think the Post Office do remarkably well when you consider the volumes they handle.

[starmac]

If anyone here could handle the number of pcs. of mail let alone packages that the USPS does on a daily basis and never have a screw-up, I'd say have at it.

Frankly I think they do one heck of a good job.

One of these days their flat rate services will be cut, then we all will think they used to do a fine job. lol Especially us up here and the hawaii customers.

[jmort]

"One of these days their flat rate services will be cut, then we all will think they used to do a fine job."

You are so right. I sold off some commercial cast boolits and the lady at the post office counter made snide comments like, "That one just cost us $35.00" and "Oh, we just lost $32.00" and so on. After a couple few of those comments, I pointed out to her, that I would think she would be "happy to have a union job at the post office." That put some perspective on it for her, but she also put it in perspective for me. When/if flat rate goes away, our lead/alloy costs will go way up. Will still be far better than buying cast boolits, but less so. Even if you add a dollar pound for shipping, we would still have a sweet deal.

[375RUGER]

I sent a check, first class to my broker 50 miles west of here. Took 9 days. I could have walked it over and got back in 2!

That's nothing. For a while we rented a business/storage unit from a lady who live about 3/4 mile from the office, mailed here rent check and via the post mark from the day we dropped it off, it took about 60 days to get there. By then we had already canceled the check and issued a new one. This was not an isolated incedent, we eventually drove a few extra miles to drop mail off at another location so it wouldn't get stuck in our local PO.

[Bzcraig]

Dale.......when you get the box please take pics......this should be interesting.

[Bzcraig]

"One of these days their flat rate services will be cut, then we all will think they used to do a fine job."

You are so right. I sold off some commercial cast boolits and the lady at the post office counter made snide comments like, "That one just cost us $35.00" and "Oh, we just lost $32.00" and so on. After a couple few of those comments, I pointed out to her, that I would think she would be "happy to have a union job at the post office." That put some perspective on it for her, but she also put it in perspective for me. When/if flat rate goes away, our lead/alloy costs will go way up. Will still be far better than buying cast boolits, but less so. Even if you add a dollar pound for shipping, we would still have a sweet deal.

If we lose the flat rate service which is a very valuable one for us, I will start a new career running across this beautiful country transporting lead from one boolit caster to another and take payment in lead and gas. :castmine:

[Down South]

I can think of a number of mistakes but the one that just came to mind happened a number of years ago. This was back when companies mailed pay checks to their employees. Most companies do the wire transfer thing now and it goes to the account that you set up be it checking, savings, credit union, etc.
Anyway, I drove to the PO to pick up my check, hoping it was there because my check had taken the scenic route getting to me several times before. That was back in my day when a late check might mean missing a meal.
Not only was my check there but the checks of two or three other employees of my company were in my box too. When I told them later, they were pretty hot and I can understand why.
I gave the other checks to the Post Master which is/was the only person at the PO in the one horse community that I lived in. He had to wait until the next day to send them out because the mail only ran once a day there.
The envelopes were all stuck together with mine on top. I don't know why someone didn't catch it as I saw it as soon as I pulled them out of my box.

Now, to answer the question that I know will come if I don't explain. No, I couldn't just go deliver the others checks. We all worked out in the Gulf of Mexico on a 7&7 schedule and those others lived hundreds of miles from me.

[DHurtig]

Mongoosesnipe... the box contains 5 damascus steel knives. I buy the knives to resell at gun shows along with the predator and turkey calls I make. Dale

[dsbock]

I'm having a similar fun time with UPS.

The package followed a fairly rational route to the local hub. Scheduled for delivery on Wednesday, July 3. My wife works from home on Wednesdays. She reported that the UPS truck parked in front of the house for five minutes and then drove away. The scheduled delivery date was changed on the UPS website to Friday, July 5. Friday rolls around and no package is delivered.

The UPS website shows business closed, will redeliver next business day. The package was being delivered to my home, not a business.

After a few round trips through the UPS Customer Support line, I speak to a nice young lady in Utah who takes my information and tells me that my local hub will get back to me in an hour. 80 minutes later the local hub calls me. Apparently, after arriving at the hub, my package was never put on the truck on Wednesday. This was compounded by not being put on the truck on Friday.

They swear that my package will be delivered on Monday. Assuming they remember to put it on the truck.

David

[GLL]

Dale:

No wonder there is a problem !
You are trying to import some sort of weapon of "Syrian origin" ! ;) ;)
You may never see those damascus blades.

Jerry

[mongoosesnipe]

Mongoosesnipe... the box contains 5 damascus steel knives. I buy the knives to resell at gun shows along with the predator and turkey calls I make. Dale

that doesn't seem like it should be a customs issue but maybe it just slipped through without inspection and the south dakota po kicked it back for to go through customs and the other postal depots send it back to them i would call usps on Monday and see whats going on if its not there by Monday

[fryboy]

i used to live at another location .... i have no idea how many letters they sent back stamped with " no such address" made my mom worry more than once when she got a x-mas card back or such stamped with it , she put one in a larger envelope and mailed it back to me AT/TO the same address, it arrived safe and sound , needless to say the local p.o. wasnt very happy about the ummm 2 cents they received from me - yes complete with evidence of their lazy and shiftless delivery , better yet i then took it above their heads ,thankfully it's a bit better since i moved but ...

[contender1]

For many years, in my hometown we had excellent USPS service. We knew the folks who worked there, and rarely was there a problem. Yet, 3 years ago, I moved 4 miles, and it put me in a different district. Now, the "fine" folks in that district tell me the mail goes through the same places as my other PO. But in 3 years I've had damaged packages, packages missing items, empty envelopes (delivered in a USPS plastic baggie with a label about contents damaged,) etc. So many in fact that I took pictures & sent a nice letter to the Postmaster General. I had kept a log of items after the first few incidents.
Not much has changed, but I do NOT use my local carrier to p/u any of my mail. I do NOT use my districts PO unless I have to. (Mostly to pick up packages too large for my box.)
I do use my old PO to mail out stuff. Still no problems there. And recently, I revived a PO box at my old PO JUST to receive packages.
The "fine" folks in my new district keep trying to tell me it's "Not their fault, as all the mail goes through the same facilities. Or, "It must be the machines damaging the packages." But I do not get the same **** at my old PO & I have made it well known I'm an unhappy customer. My local carrier doesn't even try to close my box all the way. She left it cracked open a month of so back & mail inside got wet. The guy across the street had his box totally open, lid in the full open position. I spoke to the carrier the following Monday, and found out her mother is the one who did it. She got nasty & told me that my box was too hard to close. When I played the tape to the PM at her office, He was highly apologetic and promised he'd take care of it. So far, my box has been closed.
The USPS has a lot of families who work for them. Locally we have my "mother, daughter, and even daddy" who work my route. (Momma is the primary.) At my other PO, we have a father & daughter who work the same branch. And, I've seen a few other cases over the years.
The USPS needs to weed out the slackers, overhaul the delivery system to a more direct route of shipping, and make the carriers look & act professional.

[rockrat]

I can't complain, I think I have one of the best P.O's around. My delivery guy is top notch and goes beyond what others might do, to do a good job. Now, his substitute driver is another story. He is OK, just deliveres the mail about 3 hours later than the regular driver

My sister, over in Ft. Collins,CO has the driver from h&$l. She received a notice of certified mail delivery in the mail. She was on the mower, mowing the yard and the mailbox was about 100ft away, at the road. She saw the postman, she said he looked at her, put the stuff in the box and left. Never tried to come over to get a signature. Doesn't matter , packages, certified letters, he will never come down the driveway to try and deliver it. She is tired of complaining, doesn't do a bit of good.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I love the 'if it fits, it ships' service too, but my letter carrier thinks ill of it, especially after the last little bitty box with fifty pounds of lead in it showed up.

dale in Louisiana

[gew98]

Just got a box yesterday from a member here out of OK. It was a small flat rate supposed to contain 300 230 gn cast lead 45 slugs. Box was there alright. But smashed on one corner and opposite corner blatantly ripped out & open. Oh yes and NO contents...no note or anything. I immeadiately took it back to the PO 7 miles away. The lady on duty says she will take up the issue with the postmaster monday AM. Package did not appear to be insured and had the ends sealed with typical masking tape.
First time the USPS has ever delivered such a farked up package to me and NOBODY deemed it necessarry to inspect and tag it as damaged. Really gets my goat !.
Kind of hoping the rural ******* carrier has some 45 slugs in his floorboard. On the nepotism note...every place I have lived in KY the local PO's are ALL FAMILY !!. My old town in Madison county when the Postmaster died his dang wife took over the job !!!. Now I have a delivery guy whose wife delivers too and his neice is a sub for either...geez almighty !.

[Rick N Bama]

My son's carrier in KY will not get out of her truck to deliver anything. If they don't happen to be outside where she can be seen back to the PO it goes.

Rick





My sister, over in Ft. Collins,CO has the driver from h&$l. She received a notice of certified mail delivery in the mail. She was on the mower, mowing the yard and the mailbox was about 100ft away, at the road. She saw the postman, she said he looked at her, put the stuff in the box and left. Never tried to come over to get a signature. Doesn't matter , packages, certified letters, he will never come down the driveway to try and deliver it. She is tired of complaining, doesn't do a bit of good.

[TreeKiller]

Sounds like most of the carrier complaints about family delivering the mail are HCR (highway contract route). The route is put up for bid in the newspaper and they take the low bid knowing that the bidder can not make a living. If you do not like the service bid low on the next one you see in the paper and starve.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
7 weeks ago I mailed "Cirtificado" ( A voucher has to be signed every step) a letter from here Arequipa, Peru. That was a Friday. It arrived in Miami Saturday Night. I had to be signed for in Miami. Took 6 weeks from then to get to South Dakota ??? I waited the mandatory 4 weeks to start a postal inspection as to why and where it went. The inspection was already in progress when the letter arrived in South Dakota and they still are trying to figure out what happened. The letter had to be signed for every time it changed facilities.
Mike in Peru

[Down South]

I love the 'if it fits, it ships' service too, but my letter carrier thinks ill of it, especially after the last little bitty box with fifty pounds of lead in it showed up.

dale in Louisiana

I started getting rural mail some years back. Anyway to make a long story short, We got a new carrier and a lazy one at that. I worked away from home "as usual" and was at home for only short periods of time, a couple days at a time at most. Those two days were always filled with getting jobs around the house done visiting the kids and so on.
I ordered two MFR boxes of lead alloy from somebody on here. The boxes were 50 lbs each. When it came in, I had a notice that I had a pick up at the PO. The PO is 19 miles from the house so I have to waste some of my precious time to go pick up the lead.
The Post Master was not happy by the time I left, I can promise that. Anyway, I asked the Post Master, "I thought you guys were supposed to deliver packages this size and weight? Post Master; Oh, your carrier can't deliver any package over 10 lbs. I say; What? Do you know how far I have to drive to get this from you and how little time I have at home? You guys are supposed to be able to deliver 50 lb packages or heavier. Post Master with a smirk; Well, that's just the way it is.
I say Ok. After I got back to work from my short stay at home, I Goggled every way that I get a hold of somebody that would matter. I found an email address for the Post Master General and a phone number. I used both and I left some ears ringing both ways, email and phone.
A few days later, I get a letter of apology and a promise from the local Post Master that from now on, my packages would be delivered and they were. They even started getting a different carrier to deliver the packages that were heavy.

[dragon813gt]

Red Stamp: Package Delivered w/out Contents

That's all you need to know about the USPS. I get that all carriers have some delivery problems. But I've never had UPS or FedEx deliver an empty box. They seem to think that stamp makes everything ok. Ever had an insurance claim w/ the USPS? Don't even bother because you will never see your money back.

The flat rate boxes are a joke for delivery if they are heavy. It takes multiple formal complaints on my part every time I order lead to have it delivered to my house. I don't pay for shipping to have to go pick it up. Which is impossible because the PO opens up two hours after I leave for work and close an hour before I'm home.

There is a reason UPS and FedEx haven't adopted the flat rate shipping. It's a losing business model. I have no problem using the USPS for letter delivery. But they should leave package delivery to the pros. And did I mention the horrible tracking system they have?

[DHurtig]

Woohoo, it's here, it's here, it's finally here. The box is intact, the contents are there and I'm very happy with the items I bought.....Dale