Post office

[itsaz]

Don't get me started about the Post Office
I have rural delivery but should be called rude delivery
I don't get all my mail, I get other people's mail.
Mail I send now takes longer
And Banks are now advising they do not recommend mailing checks
But, the price of stamps keep going up

I have exactly the same problem. Mail gets misdelivered, checks get lost, mail delivered after dark on weekdays. They even lost a certified letter.
Tried to call the local Postmaster and his voicemailbox was full.
Went to see him in person and his office was locked.
The Postmaster General covers his ears when questioned by members of Congress.

I have started receiving and paying bills electronically. I refuse to support the USPS's inefficiency.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Think about all those checks you haven't gotten!

Sadly, the inheritance from the Saudi prince was never received.

 

[Bmyers]

My wife's post office has city mail carriers and rural mail carriers. My wife is a city carrier. The difference in her office is the city carriers are in one union, the rural carriers are in another union. Both groups are postal employees, yet they can't crossover routes. In her office the rural carriers drive postal vehicles and not personal vehicles and they do not receive milage payment. My wife's route is right next to the rural route. At one point of her route, they have mailboxes right next to each other that they deliver to. If they both get their at the same time, no one could tell any difference between one or the other.

If you would like to know more details, here is the link to NRLC contract. https://www.ruralinfo.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2021-2024-Special-Contract-Edition_FINAL.pdf

It is the current one that they are working under. City Carriers are currently negotiating their contract and still working under their old contract.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: In her office the rural carriers drive postal vehicles and not personal vehicles and they do not receive milage payment

hmmm...Why should they get 'mileage payment' for driving a company vehicle ? or did I midread

 

[Old Machinist]

I agree, but privatization means say goodbye to rural service. We will all have to get our packages at a central location. The private carriers are paying the Post office to do rural deliveries.

I get UPS and Fedex deliveries direct to my address. Both of those offer a transfer to USPS service that is the absolute worse. I have lost more packages through those than any other. Sometimes a package would get lost for a month then all of a sudden show up. Had that happen on a new welding helmet recently.

Lately the vendors seem to be switching to UPS and FEDEX direct. I guess they got tired of having to refund sales and file claims for lost packages.

I think the rural USPS carriers in my neck of the woods are independent contractors that bid on their route every year.

 

[jyoutz]

I get UPS and Fedex deliveries direct to my address. Both of those offer a transfer to USPS service that is the absolute worse. I have lost more packages through those than any other. Sometimes a package would get lost for a month then all of a sudden show up. Had that happen on a new welding helmet recently.

Lately the vendors seem to be switching to UPS and FEDEX direct. I guess they got tired of having to refund sales and file claims for lost packages.

I think the rural USPS carriers in my neck of the woods are independent contractors that bid on their route every year.

It’s different in my area. USPS is the most reliable, and UPS is pretty good too. FedEx is absolutely the worst. I’m always surprised when they actually deliver to my house.

 

[DustyRusty]

If you think that FedEx is the absolute worst, you haven't experienced DHL.

 

[Yotekiller]

re: In her office the rural carriers drive postal vehicles and not personal vehicles and they do not receive milage payment

hmmm...Why should they get 'mileage payment' for driving a company vehicle ? or did I midread

Because many of the smaller post offices require the rural mail carriers to furnish their own vehicle and then pay them mileage and maintenance. Some larger post office furnish postal vans for the rural mail carriers. All city carriers get postal vans so they never get mileage or maintenance.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have to say the majority of the mail delivery service has been great.
HOWEVER... we are convinced that the PO works hard to hire people who can't hit their mouth with a spoon without help.

We have 5 community mailboxes in our subdivision, one of them (ours) was broken into & robbed 5 times.
After much fighting & gnashing of teeth, the PO agreed to replace the boxes with new armored boxes.
We watched them install the other 4 new boxes, but not ours.
I found out the person in charge of this operation, and went to ask her when our box would be replaced, she said not until next year. (no more budget)
I said "Let me get this straight, you replaced the 4 boxes that hadn't ever been broken into with new armored boxes, and did not replace the one that has been broken into 5 times?"
She said yes, and could not understand why I was upset.
I tried for 30 minutes to explain the stupidity of the of the situation, but she was as dense as depleted uranium.
I finally gave up, took a photo of her & her name plate, and said to be sure watch the 6 o'clock news tonight because you will be on it.
30 minutes after I got home, someone from the PO showed up & said our new box would be installed in 2 days.

The lock in my box broke, and I filed paperwork to have it repaired, The next day I was told I would have to pay to repair it because the box was privately owned, and not PO owned. I tried for more than a week to convince them they were wrong, even showing them photographs of the stamped metal plate stating "Property of United States Post Office".
They said I photo-shopped it.
I finally threatened the PO with 6 o'clock news coverage again & got a manager/supervisor type to come out and look at the box, which he confirmed was PO owned.
The person who said it was privately owned could not read a map, and was looking at a box in a subdivision 3 blocks away.
I got my lock fixed, but it took almost two weeks.

For nearly a year, everyone in the neighborhood took all our delivered mail to the location of the mailbox at 5pm and we all exchanged letters that had been mis-delivered to the wrong addresses.
"I have two for you, and one for you, oh you have 4 for me, thank you, here's a package too."

Current taterhaid regularly delivers packages to the letter boxes that can't be removed,
When he opens the box to put mail in, the whole front of the community box opens up, giving him access to the 5" x 5" letter size box, into which he slides in a package that barely fits.
Then he closes & locks the big door.
Trouble is, the individual doors only have an opening of 4" x 4", so we can't get our packages out.
Talking to neighbors, he has done it at least 20 times. (4 to me)
And yes, we have 6 package lockers.

We put in a vacation mail stop for 30 days, and went on vacation.
When we got back, I went to pick up our mail.
The PO said we don't have any mail for you.
I explained we had a mail stop, and showed him the paperwork.
He checked in the back and showed me their copy of the mail stop I filed in my sorting box, INITIALED BY THE CARRIER ACKNOWLEDGING THE MAIL STOP DATES.
Went home and opened my box, and here was 26 days of mail crammed into the box, (he must have used a dead blow hammer) and it was so tight I could not remove any of it.

I could go on & on, but the one thing a gleaned from all of this, is that in no case was anyone fired, demoted, or disciplined. "We'll speak to our employee"

Morons.

 

[jyoutz]

I have to say the majority of the mail delivery service has been great.
HOWEVER... we are convinced that the PO works hard to hire people who can't hit their mouth with a spoon without help.

We have 5 community mailboxes in our subdivision, one of them (ours) was broken into & robbed 5 times.
After much fighting & gnashing of teeth, the PO agreed to replace the boxes with new armored boxes.
We watched them install the other 4 new boxes, but not ours.
I found out the person in charge of this operation, and went to ask her when our box would be replaced, she said not until next year. (no more budget)
I said "Let me get this straight, you replaced the 4 boxes that hadn't ever been broken into with new armored boxes, and did not replace the one that has been broken into 5 times?"
She said yes, and could not understand why I was upset.
I tried for 30 minutes to explain the stupidity of the of the situation, but she was as dense as depleted uranium.
I finally gave up, took a photo of her & her name plate, and said to be sure watch the 6 o'clock news tonight because you will be on it.
30 minutes after I got home, someone from the PO showed up & said our new box would be installed in 2 days.

The lock in my box broke, and I filed paperwork to have it repaired, The next day I was told I would have to pay to repair it because the box was privately owned, and not PO owned. I tried for more than a week to convince them they were wrong, even showing them photographs of the stamped metal plate stating "Property of United States Post Office".
They said I photo-shopped it.
I finally threatened the PO with 6 o'clock news coverage again & got a manager/supervisor type to come out and look at the box, which he confirmed was PO owned.
The person who said it was privately owned could not read a map, and was looking at a box in a subdivision 3 blocks away.
I got my lock fixed, but it took almost two weeks.

For nearly a year, everyone in the neighborhood took all our delivered mail to the location of the mailbox at 5pm and we all exchanged letters that had been mis-delivered to the wrong addresses.
"I have two for you, and one for you, oh you have 4 for me, thank you, here's a package too."

Current taterhaid regularly delivers packages to the letter boxes that can't be removed,
When he opens the box to put mail in, the whole front of the community box opens up, giving him access to the 5" x 5" letter size box, into which he slides in a package that barely fits.
Then he closes & locks the big door.
Trouble is, the individual doors only have an opening of 4" x 4", so we can't get our packages out.
Talking to neighbors, he has done it at least 20 times. (4 to me)
And yes, we have 6 package lockers.

We put in a vacation mail stop for 30 days, and went on vacation.
When we got back, I went to pick up our mail.
The PO said we don't have any mail for you.
I explained we had a mail stop, and showed him the paperwork.
He checked in the back and showed me their copy of the mail stop I filed in my sorting box, INITIALED BY THE CARRIER ACKNOWLEDGING THE MAIL STOP DATES.
Went home and opened my box, and here was 26 days of mail crammed into the box, (he must have used a dead blow hammer) and it was so tight I could not remove any of it.

I could go on & on, but the one thing a gleaned from all of this, is that in no case was anyone fired, demoted, or disciplined. "We'll speak to our employee"

Morons.

All Post Offices are locally managed by individual post masters. Like all humans, there are some who are bad managers. And I can say this for any business I’ve dealt with also. In your situation, I would contact the regional manager for the PO to elevate this situation. At least you can find PO contact information online. It’s impossible for FedEx. I have tried mighty and have never found a way to actually talk to a human with them. And emails go unanswered. It’s too bad that your local Postmaster is bad; I’ve had great success getting problems resolved by visiting the office and talking with him personally.

 

[Scm]

It’s impossible for FedEx. I have tried mighty and have never found a way to actually talk to a human with them.

My neighbor works for FedEx. I was able to ask him and got an answer as to why it was taking 4 weeks for my package to be sent one state over. FedEx took the package, sent it around the country then made it sit in a truck until the truck was full enough to justify sending it to our rural post office. It would of taken just a few days had the company just used the PO. Or I could of driven there and back before dinner if I knew.

 

[Lil Foot]

My neighbor works for FedEx. I was able to ask him and got an answer as to why it was taking 4 weeks for my package to be sent one state over. FedEx took the package, sent it around the country then made it sit in a truck until the truck was full enough to justify sending it to our rural post office. It would of taken just a few days had the company just used the PO. Or I could of driven there and back before dinner if I knew.

I have experienced this also.
When I ordered my Fat Bike, it took longer than it should.
After the second week overdue, I contacted the dealer, who found the factory had shipped it Fedex, and they had specifically requested they NOT ship with Fedex. (because of this policy)
When they tracked it down, it was in a holding center 40 miles from the dealer, for more than 2 weeks, waiting for enough merchandise to fill a truck before they would drive the 40 miles.
The dealer went & picked it up for me.

 

[Scm]

I also just realized today, that the USPS is putting packages that are too big for my neighbors boxes into mine rather than drive the packages down to our community package box by our gate a half mile away. I guess I'm the new last mile delivery agent. Maybe I should talk to them about the ICCPR Article 8 § 3(a).

 

[jyoutz]

I have experienced this also.
When I ordered my Fat Bike, it took longer than it should.
After the second week overdue, I contacted the dealer, who found the factory had shipped it Fedex, and they had specifically requested they NOT ship with Fedex. (because of this policy)
When they tracked it down, it was in a holding center 40 miles from the dealer, for more than 2 weeks, waiting for enough merchandise to fill a truck before they would drive the 40 miles.
The dealer went & picked it up for me.

This is why USPS is a public service, not a business. Do we want to receive daily mail and package services that we pay for through both postage and taxes to keep the country operating? Or do we want privatization so all of our mail is operated as a profitable business and they deliver services as you described from FedEx? We can’t have the Post Office operate as a business and at the same time continue the services we are used to.

 

[WFM]

I also had a customer a few yrs ago tell me he was seven yrs with the post office and Amazon drove him out.
He said USPS is a letter carrying business.
Not pallets of boxes. And he'd had enough. He was 35 maybe. Went on to be a fire fighter for a small city here.

 

[jyoutz]

I also had a customer a few yrs ago tell me he was seven yrs with the post office and Amazon drove him out.
He said USPS is a letter carrying business.
Not pallets of boxes. And he'd had enough. He was 35 maybe. Went on to be a fire fighter for a small city here.

Yes, every time I go to the PO, I see the back room is stacked with boxes. About 90% are labeled Amazon. I think the only letters sent nowadays are bills and junk mail.

 

[Jsjac]

I got a Christmas card that was sent on December 19 th today. Post mark was December 19,2024.

 

[lugbolt]

my old boss refused to use electronic bill paying, period. In about 2014 one of the manufacturers said that it was mandatory and he still refused. In early 18 they finally told him there was no other way to do it. That was one manufacturer, we had 5 product lines at that time. One of the mailed checks was lost in the mail, we're talking about a hundred grand worth and a rather important bill to be paid. They had to reissue the check and it got there late so that was an issue in itself. A month later they sold the business (it was in the works prior to that ordeal). New guys did everything electronically including pay us (direct deposit).

I've paid most of my personal bills electronically but even that's not foolproof. Had an issue with the water company last week where they sent me a shutoff notice. Said they didn't get December's payment. Huh? I pay it online? Turns out, they are not set up to take electronic payments so the bank has to mail a check on my behalf. Well, the post office didn't deliver it on time, said it was "because of the holiday". Water company said there were about 600 or so customers who got shutoff notices, so I asked them if they all used the same bank. Yep. So then I call the bank, they said they mailed it on a certain date, which was 2 weeks prior to due date. But it didn't make it to the water office. Once the water office realized that it was not a matter of me not paying, rather the post office not delivering the mail on time, they called me and let me know about what was going on. I just happened to date the postmaster here in town many moons ago. we were better friends than anything and we remain friends. SO I called her and asked. She was confused as to why that might have happened, and said I'll call you tomorrow. Well, she found a basket FULL of envelopes that were supposed to go to the water office, and they got there that day. No explanation as to why they didn't make it, but she's not one to make excuses about anything if she messes up so that doesn't surprise me.

 

[dlsmith]

I got a Christmas card that was sent on December 19 th today. Post mark was December 19,2024.

Back in the 70s, I was working at a local restaurant and the owner brought in a post card to her mother that was delivered to her house, the one her parents had lived in years before. The post card was postmarked sometime in 1947, and was in perfect condition, with a $.02 or $.03 stamp on it if I remember correctly.ne of the biggest problem with the

People piss and moan about the post office, but when you consider the enormous volume and wide variety of letters, magazines and packages they handle, I think the do a pretty damn good job of it. A friend that works there says the current Postmaster general, an appointee from the previous administration, is widely considered by management to be the biggest problem with the USPS, he had no experience and refuses to take advice from longtime employees on how to improve the operations.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I also had a customer a few yrs ago tell me he was seven yrs with the post office and Amazon drove him out.
He said USPS is a letter carrying business.
Not pallets of boxes. And he'd had enough. He was 35 maybe. Went on to be a fire fighter for a small city here.

Well, makes sense. The USPS seems to just drop the boxes at the mailboxes at the end of the road here. They used to bring them to the house. I don't have a mailbox, but some of the boxes wouldn't fit in one anyway.