How/why do you think this happened?

[inhawaii]

Moderators: Sorry,  if you think this belongs on the "shipping" board, feel free to move it over.

I have such high praise for the USPS.

I often post here about what a fantastic job thy do.

Saturday morning something happened that really surprised me. 

I package my orders at night for a pick up at my house by the mail carrier  in the morning.

If I ever have too many orders or too big of a package to fit in my mailbox, 

I always schedule a online pick up request the night before that  says:

"I have 6 packages in the mailbox and 1 box on the front porch."

I also put a homemade laminated placard in the mailbox that says in big, bold  red letters that says:

"More packages on the front porch".

I did this Friday night/Saturday morning.

Saturday morning the mail carrier (not my usual one) picked up the 6 packages in the mailbox,

then walked up to the door and rang my doorbell.

I wasn't home but have it on security camera.

He totally ignored the ONE THING on my front porch, a 10" x 8" x 6" cardboard "ebay" box.

He was standing 3 feet from it when he came to my door. 

That box was/is the ONLY thing on my front porch.

No plants. No garden gnomes. Nothing else. Just that box.

The box was left on my front porch.

Saturday afternoon I had to drive 25 miles to the main/airport post office before they closed at 4:00  pm to drop it off.

How/why  do you think this could have happened?

I still love the USPS. I think they do a great job.

I'm not going to let this one incident change my opinion of them.

[anjofak]

He has been watching too many how to trap a porch pirate ☠️ videos and was fearful of the package. 

[ebooksdiva]

So you don’t feel like the only one..the carrier for my area totally ignores scheduled pickups. Happened to me twice,  I even get an email saying my scheduled pick up was successfully picked up when it wasn’t. Complaining about it to the carrier manager doesn’t do any good and the Post Master is always conveniently unavailable.  Benjamin Franklin would be pretty upset by the shenanigans of the PO if he was alive today.

[ebooksdiva]

Laughing out loud 🤣😂@anjofak 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@inhawaii 

Geez, well considering what just happened in Hawaii I would give anybody a break from there even you James!

Hope peace will soon return.

[robbie31415]

It sucks when that happens.

My wish for the USPS would be consistency of 'left post office' scan when in route to sorting facility.

I always see other sellers skipping line in post office and leaving packages on counter without waiting for Scan.

I wish I could do that but most of the time packaged don't get an outgoing scan.

I speculate they have longer handling time so it doesn't matter for them. But I have same day handling so I have to have that same day scan. -.-

Sorry for the mini rant.

[swankysaurus]

Sounds like you tried to do all you could but it also sounds like a pretty complicated system - people are human, mistakes happen, especially when you're doing a new route for a first time. I've done deliveries before and people clutter up their homes with toys, unused furniture, tools, grills, plants, seasonal decor, and random junk - then they plaster signs all over with funny sayings, instructions for various companies, security alerts, reminders for family members, old packages that were delivered days ago, stacks of empty/decoy boxes for porch pirates - look at your home from the point of view of a delivery person; they're on a tight schedule they don't have time to stop and read everything. Even if you think your porch is "neat and tidy" everything adds visual overstimulation and so anything can be overlooked.

[candd205]

Maybe he was stressed out, his mind was on something else. Sorry that happened to you. That's a long drive.

[inhawaii]

Yeah I guess I should just chalk it up to "we all make mistakes" "he had a bad day" or "s happens".

It just boggles my mind how you can miss a 10" x 8" x 6 box when it's the ONLY THING on my porch.

The first thing that came to mind was that he was lazy.

But he did take the time to get out of his truck and come to my front door.

I guess I give him credit for that.

[buyselljack2016]

Package was not in the line of travel. (may have just stepped over if it was) (you need a sign that says "Mr/Ms Mailperson-- this is the package-  thank you)

Experience with previous pick up someplace. (procedure there was to ring bell)

First time ever picking something other than in the mailbox.

I chased a sub (not regular sub)  down the highway one time when the outgoing package was left in the mailbox when I had the flag up. Well, not chased, but caught up as I know the route.

Explanation was that they thought it was a package that had been delivered🤔 Literally had to take it out of the mailbox to put that day's mail in, and then put the package back in the mailbox.

My drive was only 10 miles or so.

[lakefor94]

"I always see other sellers skipping line in post office and leaving packages on counter without waiting for Scan."

IF, I ever have to go to the post office, that's exactly what I do. They have a designated counter spot to drop and run.

They scan everything and don't want folks like me in the line.

[moondogblues]

Isn't there an 800 complaint number for USPS?  I seem to recall that they take the complaints seriously.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Any time I have a sub, the pick up is messed up in one way or another.  WIthout fail.  Usually, it doesn't happen at all, if it's a sub.  I also have laminated cards, 8x10, 3 colors & it still regularly gets ignored.  Before my (fantastic) carrier retired, he showed me what the pick-ups look like on his scanner.  It's literally highlighted, the screen is all black & white & it looks like someone took a Sharpie highlighter & marked the address that requested a pickup.  Still, it gets missed, 90% of the time.   The 10% it doesn't get missed, the laminated tri-color sign requesting an immediate scan gets ignored, even though it was the USPS that suggested I create the sign.  

My solution is that I have started taking them myself 99% of the time.  After 7 years of trying, it's clear I'm not going to fix their system, so I have to do what it takes to get it done right & that means doing it myself 😞

ETA:  the 800 # is worthless if you're station doesn't care.  They just get reported to the station, that either comes out & gets the pkg the next day, but nothing changes.  I have called probably 100x.  Even when I am assured that it will be escalated, it actually still gets sent to the station. 

[inhawaii]

My homemade placard...

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@inhawaii wrote:

My homemade placard...

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Yours is nicer than mine 🙂  Mine is hand written in 3 colors & lots of underlining, begging for a scan LOL.