The US Postal System Sucks

I've heard of cases where a letter could take a MONTH to go blocks. And they are NOT known for being bright. The cliff clavin character on cheers probably wasn't far off! Luckily, it is usually RARE that they have BIG problems. They usually do an ok job, considering that they deal with SO many letters and NO standards.

Does the package have any imperfections(like lose paper), or is it a dimension that isn't listed? Is it addressed properly and clearly? It COULD maybe be getting stuck at some point in the sorting process.

Remember, they are NOT known for being bright, and ICSM... They DO depend on machines! And they do NOT really want to go out of their way, AGAIN ICSM... Your BEST hope at this point may be to be nice and meet them half way. If they can get it within 50 miles of you, maybe you can have them hold it there and just pick it up. I am saying this ONLY because it has been processed 3 times, and has been at least 3 days.

You are LUCKY you even know that they have it!
Steve

All kinds of junk mail seem to make it to my mailbox without any problem.

Did you send it via a registered mail? It's safer that way

The postal system is losing money because it cost .44 to send a letter and minimal costs to send express, priority mail, and offer frivolous "convenience" services such as mail holding and forwarding.

And as with a lot of businesses, too many supervisors and not enough worker bees.

Top level management has no idea what the routes are, rewrite routes to include carriers going through walls or through a concrete wall because from where they sit on their fat asses, they can't see what the route is and what the word efficient means.

Yes, there are problems in the US postal service. Try using one in a foreign country if you think it's bad in the US.

I have many good friends who are mail carriers and clerks who work their asses off and are treated like crap. The carriers have to complete a route in a certain amount of time and if they don't, their jobs are in jeopardy. Many do not even take a break to eat or use facilities because it cuts into the time required to complete a route.

They are far from idiots. Go take the civil service exam and see how well you do.

Cut these people some slack. Until you have walked a mile in my shoes.....

I dunno, Lori - While some carriers are great - there's still a real problem with the PO in general. In California I walked into a post office to ask a question and there was not one person behind the counter who spoke English well enough for me to get the needed information. One of the carriers was scared stiff of dogs so sprayed pepper spray through a wrought iron front door (it wasn't even screen, it was IRON) at the dogs because they were barking. Had I been the owner, I'd have sued on the spot for it. The dogs hated mail carriers after that and if one had gotten loose, they might have bitten - and it would be that carrier's fault. They also lost my car registration and put me on foot for almost a whole month while I tried to rectify the situation and get a new one.

In Idaho when my ex and I split up they refused to take his name off my PO box - okay, so he screamed at me a few times about his mail and I told him that HE had to go to the PO and change his residence. Kicker -- they told him he couldn't change it. Completely misconstrued a part of their postal code and disallowed him to change his own freaking address. It took letters to the national office to get it straightened out.

I've not had these problems everywhere - but where they do arise, they are almost impossible to mitigate.

No doubt, there are many problems in the US postal service.

We don't have many non-English speaking PO personnel here in Texas, but I have heard in Cali, it is definitely a problem.

If I had a dime for every time someone told my best friend their dogs didn't bite and he got bit, I probably wouldn't be on this forum.

Although the situation you described is wrong and I would have taken that issue up with the postmaster in the office where the carrier worked and had that not worked, I would have worked my way up the ladder, talking to the main postmaster.

Correct, your ex is the one who has to make the change of address. That's another "convenience" that must be done away with.

Does FedEx or UPS offer a forwarding service? Heck no. I send you a letter, pay the .44 to send it. You moved, put in a change of address. The post office spends money/manpower to take that same .44 cent letter, and at no additional charge, delivers it to the proper address.

My point is, if you move, notify the people you get mail from, period. No mail forwarding.

Your ex was told the wrong information. I tend to ignore misinformation myself and would have went to the PO, got the mail forwarding packet, filled it out, mailed it or contacted everyone who sends me mail to change my address. And if it was an ex, I would have drawn a line through any mail I got on his mail and wrote "no longer at this address, please return to sender."

The PO is a broken system.

Sorry if I came off defensive, I didn't mean to.

I see my friends working their butts off. If they complete a route 5 minutes ahead of schedule, they don't get a thank you, instead they get told that's great, now finish the route tomorrow 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

They are overworked and underpaid.

I have a package with USPS in the mail right now, no updates on the package page.. I have no idea when I'm going to get my stuff.

With UPS, or Canada post.. I never have any doubts.

Lori - some people have no clue what a dog is even when they own one. It's not the fear of dogs that I contest, it's the idea that it's okay to spray pepper spray through a locked door into someone's home. If you are that afraid of dogs, you don't need to be on a route. Like I said - if that had been my dog at the time (my sister didn't give him to me until she saw I had his cancer wiped out) there would have been massive problems for them for that kind of gestapo behavior. If a dog is outside, you have reason to fear and defend if necessary. Period. If the owner has half a brain they can see when their dog has ideas and will stop it before it happens. There is no such thing as an unpredictable dog - just owners that are clueless of what they have.

Yes, they were way out of line with my ex's mail. I did take it back to them. Repeatedly - didn't just cross it off and send it back - marked it and took it straight to the counter. The guy was a jerk. Seemed to be a power freak with no real cause to do what he was doing other than to get a control buzz. I don't even think he filed my ex's change of address papers until he finally got word from the higher ups to knock it off. By that time it had become an issue to deal with the postmaster rather than to just have him put the change of address papers in elsewhere. We were both way to hot over it to just go around the guy. Of course - he wasn't a carrier, either - he was the local postmaster.

Sometimes when things get screwed up enough you just have to go out of your way to have them corrected via the upper channels instead of just finding a route around the jerks and screw ups. If everyone did that, we'd have a lot fewer problems. People love to bitch and feel like victims rather than work to help straighten things out. It's just plain easier and more fun to whine about it.

I live in a small town & have a PO Box in Upstate SC, US.

The Post Office here is awesome!

Maybe it's not the Post Office, & instead it's just the people that live/work in your town that suck?

To let you guys know, NOW, I generally like the postman I have now also. I was SHOCKED once when a company basically for all intents and purposes INTENTIONALLY made a mistake.* They would have had a chargeback AND lost the product, but my postman saved the day. He figured out my schedule, and knew I wouldn't be there.

Still, I have had my share with large cities, bad info, and bad guys. As I said, they DO have a lot to do and OFTEN do ok.

* It was incredible about that company. THEY sent it to the wrong address! THEY waited to send it! THEY sent it USPS. And they wanted ME to wait and pay for it.

Steve

Sad to say but all of the above is true.From 1987 to 1997 I worked at the USPS aka United States Postal Service.
I have too many things on my mind to address every thing mentioned but almost every post has some truth in it.

Steven W-Not hard for me to believe at all you have had a package sitting there for 4 days.

Steve/Seasoned: During the time I worked at the PO there was "the beltway scandal",where the management was having tractor trailors of mail drive around the beltway to hide the fact it wasn't being delivered on time.
That was bad management trying to make itself look good.
But you are also right, it is full of corrupt unions.At least corrupt union members. I ws a union shop steward for most of the years I worked there,under honest union officials and under not so honest ones.

Lori is partially right.There is extremely bad management that would abuse the employees.I had a carrier friend that was harrassed daily by his delivery supervisor.He finally had enough and said something and ended up being fired. He did get his job back,I think it took over 2 years, but it was needless harrassment. When I worked there we had about a 3 minutes clock-in leeway.If we clocked in 3minutes early OR 3 minutes late,we we given written warnings that went into our record.Even if you were late clocking in because there were so many people in front of you clocking in.

You would not believe how poorly postal clerks are treated by the public.Most do not deserve it,some do.

I have stood up for postal employees many times,but where I live I have the worst ones I have ever seen. I could tell you so many things if I had the time,but I don't.

You ever walk up to a Post Office and see both a Fed Ex and UPS box right in front??
The post office has sold us out. PO management does not want the PO to be a successful operation. It could be run efficiently,but it isn't.

Well kurt, I don't think that either. But I have seen a lot of postmen that hadn't a clue, etc... And seen ones on disability. GEE, **I** have a bad back. In fact, several months ago I wrenched it to clean up for an appraisal. I would not THINK of doing what one ex postman on disability for a bad back is doing. AND, for the record, I haven't been out for it, etc... It WAS diagnosed, DOES show up on Xray, and I went through PT on my own time on insurance I paid for.

And I DID say that I liked my current postman, and he figured out my schedule, etc... I don't know how many people he has on the route, but am sure it is over 100. Forgive me if I am absurdly low. Even with 100 to catch a pattern like that with one person is good.

And I DID bring up the fact that stevens package may have a defect of some sort that is kind of jamming the system. Of course, if the people at THAT point caught it, they could at least rectify it, or say what it is, and THAT is the problem.

Steve

BTW postage used to be MUCH lower with lower taxes, and people didn't seem to complain.

OH, and I forgot to mention, my lower back STILL hurts. If not for the fact that the pain tends to occur around my kidney ONLY when I am lying on my back, and I have had pain around the lumbar region after wrenching my back, I would see a doctor about a possible kidney problem. Referred pain is a BIG problem with REAL back problems.

Steve

I live in Cali and there is most definitely a problem here with the postal service. Even though I am generally pro-union, the postal workers union is in my opinion corrupt. I have friends working at the post office and people get away with so much. People are fired for being whistle blowers, senior employees come to work stoned and/or drunk or they flake off on their work and there are no repercussions. If you are hurt on the job and not a favored person they run you into the ground. I would never work at a large post office.

They are considering closing down all of our smaller post offices and they are the only ones I will use, so my guess is it's UPS or FedEx all the way for me.

I don't believe the USPS deserves any raises in fees. They have to clean up their act first. Never had a problem with the postwoman/men, but the management and the corrupt union (sorry)are the problem. IMHO.

The post office doesn't run like a business it runs like a clusterflek. People blame unions or the internet....blame the fact that they don't market thier product.

Whats more...they don't expand their procuct base. They have a (nearly) perfected distribution system. They need to create products that take advantage of that system.

An updated monthly business directory, would quite frankly put the YP out of business.

They could come up with general or industry specific advertising circulars. They could outsource the production of nearly every aspect of these types of products.

Instead they just sit there and open their doors every morning and hope people walk in by osmosis.

I'm I pretty amazed that I am the only poster that worked there for 10 years,knew the system inside and out and its like I didn't even post. A lot of time my posts get ignored and I am ok with that,but on this subject I doubt there is anyone more knowledgeable than myself.
No brag,just fact.

Welcome to "hope and change" eh?

"The USPS is paid for by tax payer dollars and "We the People" have an absolute right to FULL DISCLOSURE!"

One of the biggest misconceptions out there. Maybe after I recover I'll explain more,but Since the postal strike of (I believe it was 1970),the goverrnment puts no funds into the usps.It is NOT a government agency but it is run by the government.

Two things I hated most: customers that were rude and would say stupid crap like"I pay your salary",which they "never did, and the people that would come up and ask "how much is a 32 cent stamp?"

Sorry Steven wasn't directed at you personally.
I read almost everything you post both out of respect for you and as a friend.
As in everything,some carriers are great,some should have been fired years ago.
Most management was terrible,but there were some ones that really tried to do good at their job.
The system is broke,and the PO should never be privatized,yet that is what they have tried to do for years.
There are two publications put out by the gov.They are the DMM and the IMM which stands for the Domestic and International Mail Manual. It is the PO Bible. It is your best weapon if you want to win a fight with the PO.
As I said, some POs are run great,others are run by the worst management imanageable.
Where I live now I have had some of the rudest clerks,carriers,supervisors and Postmasters inmaginable. But that what happens in the smaller areas,you have either the worst of the best.

My favorite mail man....lol

My package has been sitting somewhere since the 7th/8th just says "Acceptance" hasn't even moved...

I don't know what the heck is wrong with USPS

They will claim the majority of parcels are delivered on time, just a few go missing or are late being delivered, but ofcourse if it's your parcel you don't feel like a tiny drop in the ocean

As an ecommerce merchant, I have a lot of experience with USPS. I've often shipped up to 80 small parcels a day. The clerks at my local PO are sweethearts. So many times they've gone the extra mile for me or let me do stuff they really shouldn't. (I bring them cookies...) I wish I could generalize from that experience but the sad fact is that many USPS employees don't try to keep up with changes in the system and as a result they will tell you you can't do something that's perfectly legal or just be nasty about it. Apparently the move to electronic delivery confirmation was too much for some people to encompass or they fell asleep during the training.

I took 6 small parcels (bubble mailers of various weights) to the downtown PO. The clerk weighed *one* of them, then tore off a bunch of stamps and told me to start licking. Excuse me? Print meter strips, you moron. I don't have to stand here, holding up the line, sticking stamps on. I complained to her manager about that and she tried to blow me off.

Sometimes you just end up in a bad district. I used to have a box 20 miles from here, in a different county and different management area, and the contrast in competence was like night and day.

BTW: the reason why the Postal Service operates in the red? Yes, first class mail loses money. But it's also that Congress requires USPS to pre-fund pension obligations, which I see as a good thing. It's better to set money aside before you need it, wouldn't you agree? Yes, salary-wise USPS workers don't get much but the pension benefits are lavish. I know postal workers who've retired in their 50s, sold their Bay Area houses and moved elsewhere to have a very, very nice retirement.

fLufF
--