<p>I’m just curious about why we are so offended that the Post Office makes mistakes. Do we expect perfection? They’re never supposed to screw up? Is there any large company on earth that could live up to that standard? I’ve certainly never come across one. In fact, my batting average with the Post Office has been far better than with Comcast, Verizon, Blue Cross, etc etc etc.</p>
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<p>Exactly. Out of the thousands of packages I have sent through the USPS, two have been lost. I think that is a great average.</p>
<p>Do you get a discount as a postal worker? If you don’t, you deserve a bage for being the biggest USPS fanboy in the country. And this after Lance retired.</p>
<p>^^ Are you talking to me?</p>
<p>Nope, the badge is for the poster who added the post just above mine.</p>
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<p>Nope, just a fan of the USPS for their cheap, fast, and reliable service.</p>
<p>And since insomniatic was reponding to my post: No, I’m not a postal worker or a fangirl. I just have gotten very good service from the Post Office – not perfect, but very good. I have thousands of interactions with the Post Office every year, mail sent and mail received, at home and at work. In the last twenty years, I’ve had exactly two problems: a package was delayed by a day, and a piece of mail was lost. I only wish every business I deal with were that reliable. I only wish ANY business I deal with were that reliable.</p>
<p>Good for both of you. Now will you accept that others have different experiences? As I wrote in my example, for the shipments I make and receive, USPS is more expensive. Coupled with the primitive tracking system and the lack of care on the delivery end, they are not better, not cheaper, and are not customer oriented. </p>
<p>You could send ten thousand packages a year, and that would not make MY shipments any cheaper and better tracked. And please do not tell me I misrepresented the quoted costs. </p>
<p>And last but not least, your satisfaction has to be sponsored by all taxpayers. Since that is bound to change, enjoy your ride as long as it lasts.</p>
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<p>Where did I state I didn’t accept any other people’s experiences? My main point was saying that the OP shouldn’t complain since she mailed her item without any sort of tracking. </p>
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<p>You quoted the box as 2 feet wide, high, and long. Who mails a box with those dimensions?</p>
<p>USPS is cheaper because I always check the prices for FedEx and UPS when I mail boxes and USPS is always cheaper by a longshot.</p>
<p>LasMa,
I have had lousy experience with the USPS. Bad customer service, bad attitude from the employees, a “we don’t give rat’s patoot” snarly attitude from the local staff followed by a " how did yo get the phone # to our local branch ?" annoyed attitude whe3n we tried to track down the item after 3-4 weeks, the primitive and almost useless tracking system noted above, etc. When we brought the bicycle in to ship, they tried every way they could to decline to take it. They claimed it was too big (my s. had triple checked the dimensions on the usps’s website before we took it) they made us retape the box, tape closed the carry handles built into the bike box , to name a few. Then the younger staff, after snarling at us and figuring out that they had to take the shipment, left the counter to go to the back and never returned, leaving the poor 70 year old woman at the counter to deal with our big box and the three heavy media mail boxes. Real nice. And this was just one experience.</p>
<p>Sure I’ve had more than my share of issues with health insurance carriers (that sa rant for anothe thread) but we are talkign about shipping experiencves here. Yes I have had to deal wit hteh fake upcharges with Fedex and complained as far up as I could, but I spoke to people who were kind, helpful, concerned, called me back when they said they wouldmng ave be people /numbers to call, etc. Never ever got that from any of the USPS employees. They frankly didnt give a darn. </p>
<p>** note this post is to LasMa. Those who like to ask question after question need not respond. Please dont.</p>
<p>Whoa- mucho typos in my post above. Sorry. Most are decipherable except the last one-- tried to say that FedEx people called back when they said they would, gave me the names and phone numbers of other people to call (eg the department head of our local region, etc).</p>
<p>We receive a lot of shipments via UPS and Fedex. In fact, if shipments make it to OUR COMPANY, OUR TOWN, they find us. I’ve even had the Fedex guy deliver to my house when he knew the office was closed. For many years now, we’ve dealt with the same two delivery guys. Fedex guy is helpful, prompt, friendly, makes useful suggestions, and guided us when we were trying to ship a huge box to Europe. He’s even give us his personal cell phone when he knew we might need to get in touch. </p>
<p>OTOH, the UPS guy is surly, ALWAYS shows up 3 minutes before we are set to leave for the day, even though he knows we frequently leave early for various reasons and ask that all deliveries be made by 3 p.m. He is known around our building to kill time during the day. The one claim we had to make (only $124 and no problems making it) was because of him. I had shipped a long tube box with a rolled up 8x24 banner in it home from a meeting. Wasn’t sure/didn’t care what day it would arrive. According to their delivery records, it was left at another office in our building (clear at the other end) and signed for by someone in another dept. The only thing was that I had shipped it to myself, so I KNOW it was addressed correctly (and as I said previously, we receive enough deliveries that the name should have been enough to tell him where we were), and the time on the signature was after 6 p.m. when it is a known fact in our community that all offices in this building close at 4:30 p.m. So the person who supposedly signed would not possibly have been there. That meant that he left it outside of an office (whether it was our office or the other one—who knows?) And, of course, the janitors picked it up as recycling. Since I didn’t have it shipped to arrive on a specific day, it was 2-3 days later when I noticed it had not arrived. Of course, the recycling was long gone by then. </p>
<p>We complained repeatedly about this delivery person, and he retaliated by being even worse. Fortunately, he left the company early this year. Don’t know if it was by choice or not.</p>
<p>BTW, I almost never ship things UPS, because of this guy.</p>
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<p>Absolutely. My question was: Is USPS the only large bureaucracy you encounter which is inefficient, uncaring, and frustrating? If it is, you are lucky indeed. If it’s not, why do you hold the Post Office to a different standard? Why do you rage against USPS, but not your telephone company, your ISP, your insurance company, and your bank?</p>
<p>jym, thank you. I understand and appreciate that you have had bad experiences with the Post Office. There may be people who’ve had a blissful relationship with Comcast and Blue Cross, and it would irritate me too if I saw posts extoling the virtues of those two companies. </p>
<p>I guess I should count myself lucky that there’s one large bureaucracy in my life that hasn’t been a problem – for me. But clearly, it has been a problem for you, and I’m sorry about that because it really sucks to be at the mercy of a large faceless company.</p>
<p>Lol, there are plenty of opportunities to rage against the phone carriers, insurance companies, you name it. This thread just happens to be about the PO</p>
<p>Oops cross posted. Thanks LasMa.</p>
<p>True, true!</p>
<p>My only bad experiences with the USPS were either minor or the fault of third parties. </p>
<p>First one was when a rejection letter from a college arrived in pieces because their mail processing machines had some issues. They had a note of apology and I wrote it off as a minor mistake and even amusingly appropriate considering the letter’s content. </p>
<p>Second was when I had a defective DVD within a box set…sent it in for a replacement per their policies…and had it returned to me because the online DVD company failed to tell anyone that they’re closed on saturdays and don’t accept deliveries then. After complaining to that DVD company about the experience and the fact they shipped a partially defective product to me, they paid for my second return shipment and replaced it with a working DVD. </p>
<p>To add to the happy ending, they screwed up a few weeks later when they sent another box set of that same series to me unsolicited. </p>
<p>Since unsolicited mail becomes the property of the recipient automatically as a result of Federal laws to prevent corporations/businesses from defrauding unsuspecting customers by sending them unsolicited products and then charging them for it/charging excessive fees to return them…that second box set was legally mine.</p>
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<p>USPS is cheaper because I always check the prices for FedEx and UPS when I mail boxes and USPS is always cheaper by a longshot. <<<</p>
<p>Longshot? You are delusional.</p>
<p>Always? Except for my shipments! All you can do is claim no one ships a square box. How moronic can that be. If you are such an expert, tell me how much will it cost you to ship my box of 26 lbs via USPS from Dallas to San Francusco. Feel free to use smaller boxes from USPS.</p>
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<p>Happy now?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ship From / To
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From: Dallas, 75203, United States | To: San francisco, 94102, United States on June 9, 2012. </p></li>
<li><p>Package and Shipment Details
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Package Details: 1 package, 24.0 lbs, Your Packaging, 0.00 USD. </p>
<ol>
<li>Rates and Transit Times
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</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>Amounts are shown in USD
Select Delivery Date/Time Service Rates
Same day in shortest time possible. Call 1·800·Go·FedEx for availability and rate. FedEx Same Day®<br>
Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:00 AM FedEx First Overnight® 224.59
Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:30 AM FedEx Priority Overnight® 189.10
Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:00 PM FedEx Standard Overnight® 183.89
Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:30 AM FedEx 2Day® A.M. 158.53
Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:30 PM FedEx 2Day® 137.80
Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:30 PM FedEx Express Saver® 86.33
End of day(3 Business Days) FedEx Ground® 28.89</p>
<p>Postage Price Calculator
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Package, weight 24 lbs 0 oz, mailed on June 11 after 8:00 AM
from SAN FRANCISCO CA 94102 to DALLAS TX 75203</p>
<p>Priority Mail® Large Flat Rate Box
USPS-Produced Box: 23-11/16" x 11-3/4" x 3" or 12" x 12" x 5-1/2"
Wed, Jun 13 $15.45<br>
Priority Mail® Medium Flat Rate Box
USPS-Produced Box: 13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8" or 11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Wed, Jun 13 $11.35</p>
<p>Lol. Nice try. Look at the size of your box!</p>
<p>You are missing the volumes. If you are using smaller boxes, you need several of them for my items that fit in MY 24-24-24.</p>
<p>You can use 24-24-12 if you care. ;)</p>