&$@#Post Office

[MaryB]

Brings up something many may not think about.

I AVOID shipping high value items this tie of year. All the shippers have hired temp help who is not as dedicated or honest as you may think and this time of year is when stuff goes missing the most.

Here's a story for all postal fans: A few months ago I won an auction for a handgun on one of the internet auctions. The seller was a pawn shop in Banning, CA, and they sent it out via US mail in a small flat rate box on June 24, thankfully with tracking. It should have gone north toward OR, but on the 29th when I felt it should have arrived and it hadn't I went to the USPS tracking site and found that it had been in San Diego on the 27th (had gone west) and had then been returned to Beaumont, CA on the 29th. Then, back to Banning and was shipped out for San Bernardino where it arrived on July 2, now headed in the right direction. On July 4 it got to Portland OR. Then it disappeared. It should have been delivered the very next day, but the tracking site said only that it had arrived in Portland. So after 8 days on, July 12th, I phoned the national customer help number in D.C. and chatted with a lady who was surprisingly helpful. I explained to her that the missing package contained a pistol and that it really wasn't something to lose, especially in view of all the shootings they've had in the postal system, the bad publicity that would ensue, etc. I also expressed my view that it could only have disappeared in the Portland post office as the record showed its arrival but no departure, and if it didn't surface soon I'd have to start phoning law enforcement starting with the Postal Inspectors. Then on the 14th of July it suddenly departed Portland at 11:17 p.m. and showed up at the local P.O. at 7:30 a.m. on the 15th where it was delivered to my gun club on the 15th at 11:08 a.m. I printed off the tracking record from their website as a souvenir and reminder to avoid using their services whenever possible. The package had probably been opened as it had lots of tape on it, but thankfully the pistol was undamaged. Total time in transit was 22 days.

[MaryB]

Rural carrier who delivered my mail retired. We gave him a party at the community center because he went above and beyond doing his job. Being an independent contractor he had some leeway and if someone was housebound with an injury he delivered groceries for them! He would get the list from the mailbox, pick it up when he went home and drop them off the next day on his route. The guy who replaced him started out rough by complaining about boxes being to high until we reminded him there will be 6 inches of snow pack he will drive up on to deliver. He is slowly figuring out we are pretty laid back and not demanding. My box was blocked by the guys doing the gravel work for my garage. He drove by looking for somewhere to pull over and I just waved him on and said deliver it tomorrow. He looked at me like I was nuts but bills are not that critical I need them that same day considering I pay them once a month. There were 4 side dump trucks lined up down the block and no way to get to my mailbox short of walking. Guys in the trucks were bumper to bumper trying to not block traffic at the corner from the school.

I usually use honey. The window people are wonderful and very helpful. Don't think you could ask for better. And our route guy, lets say, too bad all route people aren't like him.

[alamogunr]

Brings up something many may not think about.

I AVOID shipping high value items this tie of year. All the shippers have hired temp help who is not as dedicated or honest as you may think and this time of year is when stuff goes missing the most.

Thanks for the reminder. I have a handgun at the factory in a western state that should be ready to return in about 3-4 weeks. I'm going to notify them to hold off shipment until after the first of the year. Hopefully, the rush will be over by then.

[jcwit]

Excellent thoughts put forward by Mary.

[BwBrown]

Post office counters are always understaffed and slower than the second coming. I'm done buying things here that require a USPS Money order. Gp

Same here. I have to REALLY want something to go the USPS Money Order route. Half the time they are out of money orders (really!?!) or the computer is down.

[.45Cole]

The only thing they deliver on time are ads. I received last week a letter postmarked 3 weeks late! it was payment for a gunbroker item so the buyer and I had a few terse conversations as he didn't track it, all thanks to the PO. All is well that ends well.

[marlin39a]

Sounds like the problem is your local Postmaster. They are political appointees. I live in a small rural town with a great Postmaster. Long open hrs, and they really care about what they do.

[fg-machine]

i have been happy with the usps for as long as i have gotten mail , leaving the politics aside and only looking at service .
i have been using flate rate priority mail since it started without a single complaint . i have never had a small or medium size box get lost or damaged or fail to be delivered in a timely manner . and i have sent hundreds of each out over the years . the three large boxes that i have had damaged i can lay the blame on my own self . as there is a good chance i abused the system .

and the service i get from my rural route driver has always been very good .

i however cant say the same for fed ex or ups , sure most of the time they do what you pay for and ship your packages all over the world .
but its not cheap and service from the delivery drivers is often poor .

one incident i can laugh about now but at the time had me red faced mad involved a 3 ft long cardboard tube of drill rod from enco .

one fine Tuesday afternoon last febuary i was sitting on my thumbs waiting for ups to deliver a 3 ft long cardboard tube with 5 pieces of 7/8 01 drill rod in it so i could finish up a job .
as i was chucking some wood into the fire i hear the ups truck pull into the driveway , i closed up the stove , and as i grabbed my coat and headed to the door i hear a loud clatter in the truck and a loud expletive from the truck driver .. it was the sound of the drill rod breaking threw the plastic end cap and hitting the floor of the truck i assume .

less then 10 seconds later after i make it into my coat .. out the door , around the corner just in time to see the driver toss the now empty cardboard tube out the door of the truck in the general direction of my shop door and then looked me right square in the eyes he then turned around and got back in the drivers seat and left .

but the saga does not end there when i called ups to complain about the empty package and dubious service i was pretty much called a liar up and down the ups chain of command .

[alamogunr]

How high did you go? I would report it to the President or Chairman of the Board and ask for a response(other than call you liar).

I can understand the driver being upset that the packaging failed but to not even attempt to deliver the merchandise is unforgivable.

I guess this is why I ship guns Fedex and insure for at least the value of the package. I just shipped a handgun and insured it for $2500. More than anything, that insures that it will be delivered safely.

[fg-machine]

i could have put more effort into it then what i did , but i had low expectations from ups in the first place so i wasn't disappointed.
at the end of the day i still needed drill rod ... a quick 7 minute or less call to enco and with an explanation of what happened i had replacements on the way and let them deal with ups .

[trapper9260]

I know that the PO in Gilbert,AZ is not good, unless you have someone sign for what ever you send to them to go to that PO because I sent some cards and letters to a friend that live there in Gilbert and most of the time you do not know if they will get it.I sent a birthday card to her son and he never got it.But if you have them sign for it then they will get it.

[gpidaho]

I received a 60lb. box of lead from Jetsfan-24 in todays mail. Pa. to Id. in 2 1/2 days. When I went out to meet the truck and carry in the heavy package our friendly neighborhood carrier would have none of it and carried in into the kitchen table for me with a smile, only asking "what the hecks in there, lead. When I said Yup he smiled and said "have fun" There are some truly nice folks on the routes here in Idaho. Now, if they would just properly staff the counter at the P.O. Gp

[MaryB]

Rural delivery drivers are independent contractors who bid for routes in Minnesota. Most go above and beyond because they are members of the community and know everyone. The new guy here is finally getting broken in and he offers to carry heavy packages into the house for me. Got in 50 pounds of foundry type not to long ago and he said the same thing "what is in here? Lead?" and I said yes. He doesn't know people well yet so he asked what for and I said bullet casting. He said ohhh you have an NRA sticker in the front door window! You shoot and hunt I bet. I told him yes and that the target range I go to is cheap if he needed somewhere to go. He ended up joining the range and I have ran into him on Sundays when he has a day off.

Rural drivers have a tough job, they supply their own delivery vehicle and breakdowns are common. More than once I towed my old delivery driver Stan out of a ditch as have about half the town at one point or another. They can say no way I am not going out if it is really bad but he even buried his car at my mailbox a few times during snowstorms. He ended up stuck in town one day and I said come on in and stay warm until the plow gets by. Gave him supper and a beer as I listened to his tales of driving the bad roads during storms. Town plow guy finally got off his rear(that is a whole other story, guy is worthless!) and plowed in front of my house and down to the post office so Stan could drop off the undelivered mail and then walk the 2 blocks home. Long as he had mail in the car(he drove a beater of a Chevy Caviler) he could not leave it so he brought it in the house and we waited.

[Minerat]

I called the PO and asked where their satellite stations are and go there. The local Ace hardware has a counter and I very seldom have to wait. And the postal person is friendly as they sell hardware too. It can be kinda inconvenient since I have a 5 minuet longer drive to get there but sometimes save 30 minuets not having to stand in line. But if the PO is holding something hostage they tried to deliver, but wouldn't leave with the neighbor then accessing the USPS web site and leaving snide comments about the counter helps stellar work with a Note 3 helps pass the time.

[TXGunNut]

The main issues I've had with USPS are related to regulations so there's no fixing them and no use complaining. Counter help at the three locations I use are always helpful and the inexperienced ones stick to it until they get help or figure it out. If I need to pick up a package that won't fit in my box I can ring the bell for service long before the counter opens, there's always someone back there that will get my package for me.

[hanleyfan]

I have had some 10 boxes of lead come through the USPS in the pass 2 years, the first one they delivered and just threw it out on the ground and it busted open, after that every time I get a heavy box they call me and say if I want the box to come get it, I have to go into their delivery section and carry it out myself, they say they are not going to injure themselves for anyone.

[therealhitman]

Seems like an acceleration of USPS screw ups this year for me. I have had to drive into town to the depot to pick up "extra heavy" fifteen or twenty pound MFRBs. Not very convenient. They just recently lost a box of brass from tbj555 for me too. Delivered to a completely different zip code according to tracking!

[Tackleberry41]

Post office strikes again. Ordered a barrel, get an email with a tracking # USPS 2 day priority. Said be here today, I should know better with the post office here, you can always count on another day added to anything. Tracking is useless, they were Johnny on the spot at first. Maybe 10 min from when it was dropped off to leaving the local post office, then 3 hrs to a hub, and well thats it, last entry was when it left the hub in Arizona on Dec 1. Guess it will show up eventually.

[DerekP Houston]

Still waiting on an item purchased 3 weeks ago...no update on tracking. I have had boxes arrive in very damaged condition and some completely empty. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, sometimes they just sit for weeks not moving.

[jcwit]

Spose they just might be totally overwhelmed with all the Black Friday Internet sales?

My understanding is they are backlogged at a number of hubs.

Any of you ever worked in production or warehouse shipping?