2-day Priorty mail is not a funny joke

[Cosmo Blatz]

It would really tick me off ordering on Amazon and paying extra for 2 day delivery and then getting the package 5 days later. USPS, UPS, FEDEX, it didn't matter, they all have problems. Now I have Amazon Prime, so it doesn't bother me as much when a package is late. I'm not paying extra for faster service. No I guess I am. Prime costs extra. Darn!

I've had about 5 different mail carriers so far this year. I used to always know my carrier's name. I don't even bother asking anymore.

 

[T134]

Let me chime in since we use USPS here for all retail shipping and receive a good deal of incoming the same way....

-USPS Priority Mail delivery times are not guaranteed. I and other shippers hate that they went to labeling things 1, 2, 3 day when it is not guaranteed.90% of the time they make the stated window but when they don't customers tend to point the finger at us.

-Our shipping system (and many others) automatically kick out a tracking label and send you a notice when this happens. If it is after pickup time it goes out next business day. That isn't really anyone's fault it is how shipping works.

-I too get annoyed when someone kicks out a shipping notice and sits on it for 2, 3, 4 days. Seems to be very common with fleabay sellers.

-Sometimes USPS doesn't scan a pickup until late that night or even sometimes the next day. When this crap happens you'll get not found or label created for a long time since normally after scanning it takes many hours for USPS online to update.

-Substitute drivers are a major problem and USPS knows this and tells me as much. I lost count of how many pickups were missed that either went a day late or I had to run to USPS with at 90MPH to meet cutoff. Temps, seasonals and tards just don't care.

-Your regular route driver tends to be the person who cares. Supervisors and Postmasters not so much at many Post Offices. If you have a problem sometimes being friends with your driver and addressing it with him can fix it. A written threat to drop USPS for UPS also works LOL. Also don't underestimate what a $20 can do with your route driver come xmess time.

-If you go online you'll find horror stories for UPS & Fedex just like USPS. For the most part these are individual and/or certain areas and countries. For example, I won't even accept Fedex deliveries in Twin Cities, MN because the local contractor is beyond horrible. Both UPS and Fedex overall are worse for deliveries here in my area.

-It seems true that the less distance your package goes with USPS the longer it takes. When we had Amiko HD-8240 FCC tested locally it was 30 miles away. They had a pre-printed Priority Mail label from us yet it took 4 days to get it back....after pickup scan! I've seen similar here several times where we can send something to North Carolina faster than 20 miles away to Minneapolis.

-SurePost/SmartPost is SuckerPost. No one cares and no one takes responsibility. More often than not, takes forever. When I order something I make sure this is not the shipping method, especially with "free" shipping. I won't order from a vendor if this is the only option.

-Bottom line, for small to medium size items like most people order, USPS will get it there (typically) faster and much cheaper. USPS and FedEx typically can't compete with USPS time and rate for smalls.

 

[fred555]

I just wish online retailers would let the customer decide which shipping option they want.
Its my money why cant I pay for the shipping I want?
Like T134 mentioned above its not a one size fits all deal.
I want to use UPS exclusively, as they are the best in my area.
I remember the old days, and some online vendors still do this, when you could chose
amongst a long list of shipping options and different shippers. I may need something in two days, but other times I may not need a product quickly and choose a slower less expensive option.

My Post Office is run by a bunch of clowns and have no desire to deal with USPS at all.
(Thanks to WallyHTS for working with me during my last recent USPS ordeal.)
As mentioned, in other areas USPS may be the better option.

I want to choose for myself. Amazon does not give any options and if Prime gets anymore expensive or with more restrictions, I probably will not deal with them much more.

 

[. Raine]

I'm pretty lucky here, our mail service is rather good. I've always made a point to be friendly to the carriers though and as T134 said, it does help. Years ago we had changed our mailbox from a huge one that would fit a good size package to a standard size box, the next day the mailman had left a note in the mailbox asking if he could buy our old mailbox. I left a note saying he could have it and that I would leave it in front of our garage door for him.

Something didn't fit in our box, he'd walk up the driveway and bring it to the door, sit and yak with me for a few minutes if I happened to be outside, no messed up mail.

After a few years he was replaced by a woman and we were getting our neighbors mail, they ours, horrible stuff. I'm outside one day right as she's pulling up and she asks me about our horses, which you can usually see from the road, depending on where they're at in their corral. Talking with her and she asks me if I have a package too big to fit into the mailbox if she can drive up around our driveway and look at the horses and then leave the package on our steps. [Our driveway at that time went up past the corral and then all the way around our house.] I told her sure, as long as she didn't feed them anything and from that day on we suddenly had no mixed up mail and any packages of any size were delivered right to our door.

She was our mail carrier for a few years and then we got yet another and went through mixed up mail and all yet again. This one happened to catch me outside one day and commented on some money tree plants we have growing here and some other flowers, told here I'd dig some up and give her some if she wanted. Sure! Did it and the mail was good again.

What I really hate is when the post office receives notice of a package to be delivered to them and the sender takes days or a week to get it to them but if you don't look on USPS site it looks as if it's on it's way already.

Here in our town, that first mailman had told me that the carriers sort all the mail for their route themselves at the post office, so being nice to them can make a huge difference.

 

[waylew]

Well I just,Thursday, ordered some parts for my brother's Suburban(radiator,hoses and some other bits) from Rockauto,didn't expect to get it till Tuesday at best,came this morning,USPS.
Been working on a friends ATV,ordered stuff from ebay from 4 different places,all but 1 arrived before the expected delivery date,the 1 was a day late,all USPS.
Back in June I got a gas tank,for Sub above from Rockauto,came out of Cali,Fedex,took forever and looked like it fell out of the back of the truck 3 or 4 times before it got here.

 

[. Raine]

Fedex for some reason is horrible here too, they throw packages in the bushes, leave stuff in front of the garage and always take off so quick that I never see them or talk to them, have never actually been outside yet when they deliver here, it almost makes me wonder if they see someone outside if they just drive right on by. UPS, on the other hand, is great here.

 

[waylew]

I was here when it was delivered,saw him walking up the path with it and I asked him how many times it fall off the truck.Made him wait while I checked it,no real damage but it looked like hell,so I let him go.
The local guys around here aren't too bad,it was the trip from Cali to here where things got ugly.

 

[T134]

I just wish online retailers would let the customer decide which shipping option they want.
Its my money why cant I pay for the shipping I want?
Like T134 mentioned above its not a one size fits all deal.
I want to use UPS exclusively, as they are the best in my area.
I remember the old days, and some online vendors still do this, when you could chose
amongst a long list of shipping options and different shippers. I may need something in two days, but other times I may not need a product quickly and choose a slower less expensive option.

In an ideal world I'd fully agree. Realistically this isn't always possible.

Again using my business as an example, we ship USPS only for retail orders. You can choose Express, Priority, First Class, or Parcel Select (depending on order size) for speed/cost but you can't choose Fedex or UPS for anything. It is not that we wouldn't want to offer every option, it simply cannot be done with our size of business. As mentioned before I won't let Fedex within a mile of here. If it was offered to customers I'd lose so much money constantly fighting with them on the phone and on the ground just to get things picked up or figure out why every other shipment vanished without a trace. I can't expose customers to the shady service of the local Fedex operation. Now UPS, we deal with and have a commercial account. We still can't offer it for retail. Since we don't deal with UPS on a regular basis we don't have a M-F pickup. If someone were to choose UPS most days it would have to be ran to UPS (1 hour paid time) or pay them $10 to schedule a pickup. For the few people that would chose this option given the higher base cost it would not make business sense to do it.

Some businesses offer "free" shipping on everything. These things are going to go the cheapest carrier for the business so there are no options for you to choose. It is also important to note that there is no such thing as "free" shipping. The cost to ship that item individually to the furthest zone from the business is built into the price. We eliminated "free" shipping for this reason. If the maximum cost for us to ship a receiver is $13 to Alaska why should you pay this if it costs $7 to ship it next door to Wisconsin?

Now in the case of a huge business like Amazon, they have daily USPS, UPS, Fedex, DHL and anyone else. If they make you pay for the shipping rather than "free", they should be able to give you every option. It is not any sort of technical feat to offer different shipping options as far as site or shipping systems go. As long as you are paying for it and the carriers are already there, why not give a choice? Maybe some of the big boys have incentive contracts to NOT offer certain carriers?

 

[Claude Greiner]

Used to ship tons of stuff for the dishstore.

Always used UPS, just for the fact it was easy to generate a label and they would pick up at 5pm daily.

Post office is good, but forget about them actually wanting to pick up large packages. I had to take them all down to the post office myself

 

[Radioguy41]

Thanks Iceberg for bringing up "...when people/companies create a shipping label....then sit on it for 2 to 3 days before sending it" because I didn't and still don't know what to make of that part. Did the company have it ready for pick up and the carrier didn't? Did they do the shipping label and it took X number of days to pull it from inventory, or does this company pack it up and take it to the post office?

I find it happens often with Ebay sellers. They create a label through Ebay which then automatically marks the item as shipped when in fact only a label has been created. I'm currently waiting for an item that was marked as shipped on Aug 29 but wasn't scanned in at the PO until Sep 4th. That means the seller sat on the actual shipping for a week.

 

[FTA4PA]

I find it happens often with Ebay sellers. They create a label through Ebay which then automatically marks the item as shipped when in fact only a label has been created. I'm currently waiting for an item that was marked as shipped on Aug 29 but wasn't scanned in at the PO until Sep 4th. That means the seller sat on the actual shipping for a week.

I've had that happen many times as well. Really annoying! Printing a label is not shipped. I've actually received items from England first that I ordered after something here in the USA because the seller here printed a label but then failed to ship for the better part of a week. As you said, eBay is big on allowing this. Sellers should be required to actually enter the date an item was given to the shipper and if the tracking doesn't correspond (within reason) with what they enter there should be consequences.

 

[RT-Cat]

Anytime I make a purchase I am VERY happy when the seller offers the USPS. 98% of the time it is the lowest cost. I have GREAT service from the post office. With UPS 95% of the time I have the last or next to the last package on the truck and that can sometimes be 6:30Pm. They will not change the way they put the packages on the truck. My "stuff" from the USPS gets delivered 10:30 to 11:00 am and you can almost set your watch to it. Some do not understand that if I mail a letter to my sister 24 miles North of me, it goes 100 miles South of me for sorting. It then goes 100 miles North of her for more sorting. It keeps costs down instead of having another truck and driver to take it directly to her local PO. That does take a little extra time.
Another problem is that far too many sellers LIE. They email you "shipped" and to them that only means they have pushed around the paperwork. To me "shipped" means it IS in the carrier's hands. That will cause many delays. To me the USPS is GREAT.
I can't get into the reason they have problems because it is about "polly-tics."

 

[Claude Greiner]

Anytime I make a purchase I am VERY happy when the seller offers the USPS. 98% of the time it is the lowest cost. I have GREAT service from the post office. With UPS 95% of the time I have the last or next to the last package on the truck and that can sometimes be 6:30Pm. They will not change the way they put the packages on the truck. My "stuff" from the USPS gets delivered 10:30 to 11:00 am and you can almost set your watch to it. Some do not understand that if I mail a letter to my sister 24 miles North of me, it goes 100 miles South of me for sorting. It then goes 100 miles North of her for more sorting. It keeps costs down instead of having another truck and driver to take it directly to her local PO. That does take a little extra time.
Another problem is that far too many sellers LIE. They email you "shipped" and to them that only means they have pushed around the paperwork. To me "shipped" means it IS in the carrier's hands. That will cause many delays. To me the USPS is GREAT.
I can't get into the reason they have problems because it is about "polly-tics."

UPS has it down to a science. You will almost always see the UPS driver within a few minutes of the same time each day. It depends on their route.

My ups route is awesome. The driver stops by at 10am to drop off and again at 5pm to do our daily pickup.

I pay $21 for them to come pick up everyday. Well worth it, weather I ship or not

 

[RT-Cat]

UPS has it down to a science. You will almost always see the UPS driver within a few minutes of the same time each day. It depends on their route.

My ups route is awesome. The driver stops by at 10am to drop off and again at 5pm to do our daily pickup.

I pay $21 for them to come pick up everyday. Well worth it, weather I ship or not

I agree with you 100% when it comes to a business. More years ago than I want to count, they arrived at the shipping department I ran at a factory within 15 minutes M thru F.

 

[armadillo_115]

UPS has it down to a science. You will almost always see the UPS driver within a few minutes of the same time each day.

That's the funniest thing I've read lately.Might be true in YOUR area,not in mine.UPS can be any time of day here...and was the same at my previous address.Then when the driver is running behind (or he is just plain lazy),he reports in that the addy can't be found.One got 'fired' for doing that very thing at my previous town. My package was returned to the shipper.Driver reported that the WHOLE TOWN was invalid/unlocatable ...but the dumbazz left a sticker on my door,which is what trapped him! BTW...I WAS home...he never knocked.The other 2 days he never drove thru our town.Several neighbors reported the same problem as I....They investigated and found that he was drinking beer on a logging road for a couple hours each day instead of running part of his route.They moved him to a warehouse or something for a couple months...he was back driving the same route during the Christmas rush! We got some Christmas presents 2 weeks late that year.

I've had UPS drivers report that my addy was not in their system after they had been there many times previously! The company catches that lie real easy...it's on the record.But there will be another 2 or 3 day delay.

Numerous times UPS has dumped my stuff on the steps.Rain,snow,or sleet...they didn't care.Hard drives,motherboards,etc,etc.Luckily I saw them before the rain soaked thru to the components.Worst part of all,they were supposed to come to the GARAGE door.So what was the rational for dumping it on an uncovered front door step? One Christmas order from Hickory Farms was dumped like that...came home to find packs of ham,cheese balls, and popcorn tins on the steps...luckily the dogs couldn't smell thru the carton or they would have had an early Christmas feast.

I once found a package on a shelf in the garage.It was addressed to a guy I knew 4 miles away.I phoned him to come get it.UPS had reported it as lost in transit over a month previously.

Or USPS post mistress (back home) allowed UPS and Fedex to drop the orders off at the post office so that the locals would get their packages even though USPS received no compensation.She then personally called us on the phone to let us know our package was there.

I prefer the USPS.It's 1 mile from me...I don't have to watch for the delivery 2 or 3 days...it's always safely handled at my post office...and the office is open 24/7.Plus if it is too large for my box,they lock it in a huge box and put the key in my regular box.

I never had anything that was important enough for a few days delay to really matter.I always told my pc customers that parts would 'be in when they got in'. Everyone in our area knew what the deliveries were like.

YMMV...I'm sure there are some God-Awful Post Offices out there somewhere as well.

Don't even get me started on Fed-ex.

I heard Fed-Ex and UPS are combining soon...

The new company will be called Fed-Up!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Big difference in business and residential service.

The ups drivers like businesses because they know the hours and can always deliver.

For houses, it's hit and miss with people being home

 

[KE4EST]

Glad I don't have the problem with UPS here like armadillo_115 does. When are on the end of the route so it is 6PM when they come through, but it almost right on 6 everyday and same two drivers 99% of the time.

 

[bcwmachine]

Big difference in business and residential service.

The ups drivers like businesses because they know the hours and can always deliver.

For houses, it's hit and miss with people being home

Must have something to do with the area. My UPS, FedEx, and USPS appear to have a work ethic, and do a good job.
Bruce

 

[Claude Greiner]

I'm a commercial location. I never have stuff come to my house

 

[Cham]

I can't complain about our Canada Post too much... they are the only service up here that actually delivers mail to my door... and in a rural area!

UPS holds the item at their warehouse in Winnipeg where I have to drive for 2 hours to pick it up and bring it home.
Fedex and Perculator will deliver to the closest community where I can arrange for someone to sign on my behalf and hold it until I pick it up. This is acceptable though compared to UPS.
Never had issues dealing directly with USPS, I do use a local post office just south of the 49th quite a bit. Nice friendly helpful people there so no complaints.