Package arriving late from USPS - AGAIN!

[achaios]

I ordered a damascus knife from a company in Utah. The package arrived in Salt Lake City on 3/23. It departed Salt Lake City after taking an extended tour of the city on 3/26. It was due yesterday, but now is in a "arriving late" status. HOPEFULLY, it will make it next week, and I'll post a big note to use UPS if the option is offered. I'd rather pay for shipping than have their free shipping use USPS.

The knife oil I ordered at the same time was supposed to arrive 3/29, but it is arriving today (a day early). So, I'll have oil for a knife that won't arrive on time.

I can't blame this one on the Jefferson Manor USPS office, this is a systemic problem.

--Tom

 

[hoser]

Man! You do have bad luck with the postal system. Our's has gotten a lot better the last few years.

 

[HungryGhost]

You are encountering the signs of late stage capitalism. The beginning of the end of another empire. Like everything else it has a lifespan. I have to say, it was fun while it lasted.

 

[vmc1161]

I happen to know the hardest working mail man in the whole country ... Maybe even the world Don't believe me, just ask him. Oh, and I just checked, and your package will arrive .

 

[Tpmetal]

You are encountering the signs of late stage capitalism. The beginning of the end of another empire. Like everything else it has a lifespan. I have to say, it was fun while it lasted.

Capitalism has nothing to do with it, private carriers are doing just fine. The one having the most trouble is the one with gov't intervention.

 

[achaios]

Strangely, the knife oil arrived at the SLC post office a day later, and it is currently out for delivery. I would say that LDS don't make good USPS employees, but my Bishop might have something to say about that. Plus, SLC is now less than 50% LDS by population, IIRC.

I don't know enough to guess why USPS is so bad, other than they have not had a good history of hiring the top level guy. I can't blame unions, because UPS is also unionized, and I get great service from them.

--Tom

 

[Martin_V3i]

I am blessed in my local USPS here. (90 percent of the time, I get a delivery a day ahead, always have. NOW, UPS is like the stories from y'all about USPS, even WORSE. My USPS experiences here have been excellent over decades.

 

[amc rulz]

Haven’t had any problems here recently after they busted a couple employees. $3600 worth of mail stolen from me.

 

[markinmichigan]

Government good, private bad. WRONG. The world has gone crazy. Cherry picker and I are dealing with these dumb dumbs. Shows delivered but nothing on my porch

Mark in Michigan

 

[achaios]

One of the packages that was supposed to be delivered yesterday was sent back to the mail sorting center by my local post office, so now they have to send it back to my local post office for delivery. Hopefully, they will do it right this time. The last status update on the package that was supposed to be delivered on the 27th just shows it in an "arriving late" status. Apparently, it is on a cross country truck from SLC. I will NEVER use the FREE SHIPPING option from this vendor again.

One of my coin magazines listed a case of a postal employee who was stealing valuable coins. They recovered some, but she owes about $117K in restitution, in addition to the 30 months in jail she will be doing.

--Tom

 

[CallMeGrey]

I ordered an item from Boston on Fri 3/22. It was delivered Tues am 3/26. This is something I order about every 3-4 months and it always arrives in 3 business days (over 10 yrs of ordering). On the other hand, I have received mail from 150 miles away that takes 10 days to get here.

 

[Cherry Picker]

Government good, private bad. WRONG. The world has gone crazy. Cherry picker and I are dealing with these dumb dumbs. Shows delivered but nothing on my porch

Mark in Michigan

I used to have a lot of faith in USPS but lately, they are failing.

It could just be using a PO Money Order, but I have had several packages beat a sent money order. As Mark mentioned, we have been dealing with USPS and the information we get is bad. I think Mark is going to get his today, but my Informed Delivery, says I still have nothing coming today, and we sent pretty much on the same day. Priority Mail is supposed to be 3 days.

 

[achaios]

It's not over yet. It finally arrived at Merrifield, VA today, and *NORMALLY*, that is the last stop before being sent to my local post office. However, this time, likely because someone wanted to go watch the big airplanes, they sent it to Dulles! Maybe tomorrow, the new scheduled delivery date, they will send it back to Merrifield.

--Tom

 

[Cherry Picker]

I understand things happen. I see it kind of like a doctor's appointment. You have your appointment a 9:30 knowing more than likely you'll not be seen until 10:00 or 10:45 at best. What I hate is if you question the PO employee as to why a package that you PAID FOR 3 DAY DELIVERY has been 5 days and still not delivered, they look at you like you're an idiot. We're the PO, it will get there when it gets there. Apology is not in their vocabulary either.

 

[achaios]

As I expected, it was sent back to the Merrifield Distribution Center. It is now in an "Out for delivery" status. I have my fingers crossed, since I won't believe they will actually deliver until I see it. To paraphrase Lily Tomlin (Ernestine the operator): "We're the USPS. We don't care. We don't have to."

My former boss is a few ZIP codes over, and he tells me he actually gets good service from USPS. I guess every delivery service has places where they accumulate their garbage employees, explaining why some people get bad service from UPS or USPS, and I happen to be in a good area for UPS and a punishment area for USPS.

He lives in a relatively flat area with more recent housing construction. I live in a very hilly area and we change carriers a lot.

--Tom

 

[achaios]

I understand things happen. I see it kind of like a doctor's appointment. You have your appointment a 9:30 knowing more than likely you'll not be seen until 10:00 or 10:45 at best. What I hate is if you question the PO employee as to why a package that you PAID FOR 3 DAY DELIVERY has been 5 days and still not delivered, they look at you like you're an idiot. We're the PO, it will get there when it gets there. Apology is not in their vocabulary either.

There is express mail service where I was supposed to get a package containing my short-wave ultraviolet flashlight (1-day or 2-day, I can't remember) and they failed. At least with express mail, they had to give the shipper a refund. The package arrived, just not in the promised time frame, so they had to refund when he asked.

In this area, the only good thing I can say is they don't abuse the packages as much as FedEx.

--Tom

 

[markinmichigan]

My mail carrier's have been instructed that if there's not first class mail, don't bother coming up the steps and putting into the box. I get NO mail 3 or 4 times a week, since it's mostly junk. I have friends of friends that work for the PO and they hate it and have no pride in what they do. Easy pay check for most.

Mark in Michigan

 

[achaios]

Well, my knife arrived safely, with the box in good condition. The delay seems to be the SLC USPS office taking the package around for a tour of the city's postal facilities, followed by the Merrifield office taking the package to go see the pretty airplanes.

I am not at all impressed by the service given by USPS. Next time, I'll pay the extra for UPS service.

--Tom

 

[bottlecap4u]

Generally good results with UPS and FedEx. Had a wifi stolen a few years back out of my mailbox, only found a ripped open bag and nothing else. Think some knucklehead was following the carrier. Got it replaced for free.

 

[achaios]

I will have another datapoint for DHL this week, as I have a package arriving from Nepal on Wednesday. Fingers crossed...

My packages generally arrive from USPS, UPS, Amazon, and FedEx, with DHL pretty much restricted to exotic foreign lands.

--Tom