USPS horror stories

[thegunner100]

I'm gonna go on a bit of rant, because this isn't the first time that something like this has happened to me.

So while trading my ragnarok set for a g80-3190 and some o-rings, this is what my tracking page looks like:

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 52386[/ATTACH]

June 04, 2012, 10:06 am - Cool, it came ahead of schedule!
June 04, 2012, 8:35 pm - Wtf? Delivery was never attempted at all. My whole family was home at that time, and no notice was left. USPS has never delivered things that late for my house.

So I go on the USPS website and schedule a post office pickup for the next day. I go and the lady tells me that the confirmation # I got from the redelivery was insufficient, and that I needed to show her the tracking #. Alright... so I go back with my tracking # and the lady tells me that the package is too big to fit through the window without even showing me the box. Again... wtf? I know that the g80-3190 is huge, but was it seriously THAT big?

June 05, 2012, 6:55 pm - wtf is going on here? Was I not JUST at the post office? Another "attempt" never made, and no notice left either. Alright... fine, I reschedule a delivery for June 6.

As of June 6, 9:00 PM, no attempts have been made to deliver my keyboard. Im sick and tired of USPS always ****ing up late-night or Saturday deliveries. The keyboard was probably fairly expensive for the trader to ship, and I hope for our sake that he doesn't have to ship it out again.

I've never had any problems with UPS before though. It's always the same nice guy delivering my packages on time.

So who has any USPS/UPS horror stories that they would like to share?

[metafour]

I've had them just leave a notice in my central mailbox that I have a package that was too large to fit in the lockers at our central mailboxes. I was home at the time and they were just too lazy to try and deliver to the door. I asked about this when I went to pick it up because it has happened more than once and the lady at the counter said they're definitely supposed to go to the door.

Close enough for government work I guess.

[demik]

They left a 300 dollar package at my front door once after I specifically told them (written! And it was noted in their system) to never leave anything unless somebody is home (bad neighborhood). Long story short, package was never delivered. 6 month fight with them that led to nowhere.

Also sent a portal set over to the UK, package completely destroyed and only 2 caps made it. Don't know if I should blame USPS(they'll say it wasn't them) or uk post (they'll blame it on USPS).



I hate USPS.

[ChaoticKinesis]

I have quite a few with many of them concerning the same unattempted deliveries, lost packages, and lack of accountability but thought I'd share one that is probably more unusual.

I had just moved into my current apartment. My mail forwarding was already set up so I was receiving my mail and the mailbox had my name on it. I was also receiving a lot of mail for random individuals who used to live there. As many people do, I would write "return to sender" on the envelope and leave it out by the mailboxes, which became a sort of daily ritual.

A few weeks later, I notice one day I received no mail. Second day again no mail. After four days of no mail I became suspicious so I called the local post office. The regular worker saw nothing wrong in their system so I got the postmaster on the phone. He told me the mailman thought no one lived in our apartment, since we were sending all the mail back, so they had discontinued sending mail to our apartment. When I asked him how it's possible for us to be sending the mail back if no one lives there to check it, he told me that the mailman in question isn't very bright. I inquired what happened to the mail and he said it was all sent back and there's nothing they can do.

Next I asked him what I'm supposed to do with mail meant for other people in the future if I want to guarantee that such a mistake not happen again. His response was that he didn't care—I could open it or throw it out—but if I write return to sender on it then the postal workers could get confused. I asked him what happens when it's clearly an important piece of mail like a check or from the social security administration. He told me that if I can cash the check then good for me, but otherwise to just dispose of it.

Later on I reported the incident, along with the many misdelivery issues I was having and not getting addressed, to the postmaster general. Their initial response was that someone would get back to me shortly. No one ever did.

After dozens of complaints filed at various levels concerning different post offices over the years, I have come to the conclusion that complaining to anyone that works for the USPS about USPS service is a waste of time.

[yearn4]

i love usps. they have never failed me! every time i use them i get my items in a timely manner and also my items ship successfully

[thegunner100]

i love usps. they have never failed me! every time i use them i get my items in a timely manner and also my items ship successfully

Not sure if troll... but everyone else, thanks for the stories! Gotta love how we waste our tax dollars to pay people to do absolutely nothing.

[metafour]

Bunch of savages

[mkawa]

regardless of the carrier, my experience is that if you're friendly with the workers at the local hub and your regular delivery people, you'll get excellent service, as most bizzareness seems to happen at the last mile.

otoh if they don't like you...

[reaper]

^ Regardless of how friendly you are with the delivery people, they're still messing up the delivery....   maybe it's just here in L.A.  Oh well, you'll find out soon enough. =P

I've had too many bad experiences with the USPS to list here so let just say they're not that great here in L.A. lol

[fohat.digs]

My experiences with the USPS have been pretty positive. I had some bad experiences in the early 1980s, but since then it has been OK. I have tried to collect on damages a couple of times, which was a total waste of time, but the items were not particularly precious, and not being sold to strangers, so it did not matter much.

Private carriers will surely be better in that regard, since they have reputations to uphold and are desirous of repeat business. Nobody beats FedEx tracking.

I will direct you to the early part of the movie "Men in Black II"

[keyboardlover]

The only horror story I ever heard was from Kisakuku who claimed his box arrived beaten up and as a result gave me a neutral rating on itrader.

Now he's MIA from the forum and took off with some guy's stuff.

[TopazPie]

The only time USPS messed up a delivery was when I ordered some computer parts. The package was shipped from california, but somehow ended up at a hub near New York.

This was strange since it was shipping to Denver. I gave it another day before contacting anyone and somehow it was back on route to my house.

It was the strangest thing. It arrived 2 days late, but at least it arrived.

[thegunner100]

regardless of the carrier, my experience is that if you're friendly with the workers at the local hub and your regular delivery people, you'll get excellent service, as most bizzareness seems to happen at the last mile.

otoh if they don't like you...

The window workers at my post office arent TOO bad, its just the truck drivers and couriers.

The only horror story I ever heard was from Kisakuku who claimed his box arrived beaten up and as a result gave me a neutral rating on itrader.

Now he's MIA from the forum and took off with some guy's stuff.

:smow:

[ChaoticKinesis]

I'm amazed to see these reports of people trusting the USPS. Their tracking system is a joke and there's no accountability.

I have had two occasions when I shipped something from an eBay sale using USPS to a US address and even though the packages were delivered, the status never actually updated to indicate that. Thankfully, the buyers were honest enough to not complain when they could have done so and probably gotten my money.

I've also had the reverse of that happen, where a package I ordered from Amazon said it was delivered when it was not. I'm guessing it was delivered to the wrong address but USPS couldn't tell me anything. I order a lot from Amazon and I'm glad their customer service was awesome enough to send it again.

If the package is lost or otherwise unaccounted for, good luck finding someone who'll assist you with any kind of resolution.

[Daniel Beaver]

I've always had good luck with the USPS - in fact, I always specify that I want things shipped USPS. I've had far more problems with failed deliveries and damaged packages from UPS and FedEx.

[thegunner100]

Seems like there's mixed opinions on USPS depending on the location. I did FINALLY get my package today though, and my tracking hasnt even been updated to reflect that.

[jdcarpe]

I also have nothing bad to say about USPS. Yes, it can be frustrating once in a while when something goes wrong or is delayed, but overall I think they do a great job. It does help when you get to know the people who work the counter at your local post office. They can be your best asset when shipping things out if you are pleasant to them. They have to put up with a lot of crap from customers every day, so if you are cordial to them, they will usually treat you like the only priority they have all day.

And I have to add this part, having a post office box to receive all my shipments has probably saved my marriage.

[fohat.digs]

I concur re: the PO Box

for about $1 per week, it is well worth it

[ChaoticKinesis]

To those who talk about getting to know the workers at the post office: I'm not sure what post offices are like where you live but in NYC they frequently have long lines with wait times of 30+ minutes. The last thing those postal workers want to do is get into a conversation with the person in front of them. You'll also be lucky to see the same worker twice on subsequent visits. Besides, how do people who work during the day find the time to make regular postal visits?

[thegunner100]

To those who talk about getting to know the workers at the post office: I'm not sure what post offices are like where you live but in NYC they frequently have long lines with wait times of 30+ minutes. The last thing those postal workers want to do is get into a conversation with the person in front of them. You'll also be lucky to see the same worker twice on subsequent visits. Besides, how do people who work during the day find the time to make regular postal visits?

The lines at the NYC post office can be atrocious sometimes, especially near closing time. I don't bother trying to get to know the workers at the post office; i just tell that what i want and pay them.

[fohat.digs]

I have lived in the same house for 13 years. I am also lucky to live in a nice neighborhood and have a covered front porch.

My local PO is less than 3 miles away. Lines are very long much of the time, but you can sometimes get around it. Here, who knows why, the last hour 4:30-5:30 is usually the best time for no lines. Go figure. Forget Saturdays and the lunch hour +/- an hour.

At any given time, there are usually 2-5 windows open. There are a couple of clerks who have been there since before my time, and several more that have been there 2-5 years. Some of the nicest ones are also the slowest. Even the simplest transaction takes a couple of minutes, and a cheerful joke or just a few words can really help grease the wheels.

I have also had the same lady mail carrier for years, and she is very nice and helpful, too.