Jeez, good thing I use scan forms and my mailman scans them

[gurlcat]

Otherwise to the buyer it would look like I just printed the label on Wednesday then sat on it for 2 whole days.  Also if the package ends up getting delivered late, eBay would call it my fault and give me a performance strike for it.   But fortunately they do count the scan form's notation:  SHIPMENT RECEIVED ACCEPTANCE PENDING as "day 1," same as an 'Accepted' scan. 

BTW my local p.o. is usually more on the ball than this, but they do get backlogged a few times a year and not necessarily when you'd expect (it's more random). 

[lakefor94]

@gurlcat 

I live rural and we have all contractor personnel pick up and deliver USPS here. They get paid for pickups so they don't miss any scans, ever.  

Post offices are the same though they are USPS employees and they never miss a scan if I ever do the counter drop and run. 

I have to feel sorry for the sellers that have issues getting scans and/or wait in line at the post office. Man, that has to be a PITA.

[gurlcat]

I have endless sympathy for sellers at the mercy of all kinds of shipping misfortunes.  In my case, even if I didn't mind driving to the p.o., on most days the desk clerk is an apparently "un-firable" woman named Brenda who absolutely will not do an intake scan on request, and yes I know they supposedly "have to," but note that "un-firable" thing I mentioned.  Last I checked there were miles of horror stories about her in online reviews for this p.o., and the first time I met her (2014) she threw my box of what she knew to be live aquarium fish into a bin, about 8 feet away, then looked into my eyes and smirked.  She is literally a sadist who enjoys upsetting people. 

Other than the myriad of market forces and I guess any unknown future changes that eBay may decide to make, my route carrier is the #1 factor between me and financial ruin.  So I never take him for granted and give him gifts from time to time.  Occasionally I get a bad weekend or sick day substitute who sucks and doesn't scan my form, but it's rare enough and hasn't resulted in late strikes in recent memory.

[lakefor94]

The gal(s) that run these routes out here are all aces. No messin’ around. I take care of Melissa nicely at Christmas. She is an integral piece of logistics for my main source of income. She has my phone number in case she gets in a jam out this way. Only had to call me one time so far in about 6 years and that was for gas.

There are times she runs real late, as in 8pm or so because she is running 2 routes. Respect.

[gurlcat]

God Save the United States Postal Service. 

[pikabo-icu]

I live very rural too but have the opposite problem; my local PO doesn't do acceptance scans! The first scan is done when it gets to the larger hub, in another state!

When I sell high value items (and that's mostly what I sell) I ask my clerk for a scan and she will do it for me but it's outside the norm. 

I'm at the mercy of contracted delivery drivers as well and I feel for them, they often work until 7 or 8 pm.

However, we don't get any package delivery unless it fits in the mailbox (mine is locking).  They do not come down driveways or side roads here.  SIGH

I guess it's the price I pay for living in the mountains. I wouldn't trade it but it can be a pain. 

[pikabo-icu]

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@gurlcat wrote:

 Last I checked there were miles of horror stories about her in online reviews for this p.o., and the first time I met her (2014) she threw my box of what she knew to be live aquarium fish into a bin, about 8 feet away, then looked into my eyes and smirked.  She is literally a sadist who enjoys upsetting people. 

---

🤤  😡   Wow that is horrible.. 

I would have made a huge stink to the postmaster and as far up the chain as possible.

That's just awful.. I probably wouldn't be able to hold my tongue. 

[tarotfindsandmore]

Every branch has its own Brenda, ours is a Robert.  I finally asked my dear regular, who I adore almost as much as my own sons, to just put a vacation card in my box so Robert won't touch any of my incoming or outgoing mail/packages.  Every week, my regular tells me which day he will be off so I can take my packages to the P.O. myself.

[roccotacodad54]

      You wrote "So I never take him for granted " and that's really helpful I've found out as well. I was near the end of my rural driveway when my carrier came one day, I'm the second to the last stop for him. 

     I started a conversation and told him he could just leave larger packages in a chair around the corner of a large shed nearby instead of having to drive all the way to the house and back. 

   Since that small act of kindness on my part I've encountered zero problems with incoming or outgoing mail and am always greeted with a smile when I interact with him or at the local PO.

   One day at the PO I was sending out a package and forgot to put my address as to who from. The clerk shook his head and smiling said "I'll fill it in" and did right then and there. He knew my address from memory. I guess my little act of kindness was heard by more than one local postal employee.

[roccotacodad54]

   I live in rural Washington as well and my carrier will drive down the driveway if needed. Well he doesn't since I gave him a non visible place from the highway to place packages that don't fit in the mailbox so he doesn't have to anymore.

   I don't know if such an option would work for you but maybe ask the carrier and see. Mine was all smiles when I provided a place for him to leave packages that couldn't be seen and not get snowed/rained on just maybe 20 or 30 feet from the mailbox. Of course it's a 50 mile per hour speed limit with no foot traffic to speak of so maybe that helps.

[gurlcat]

I did the same.  When I moved into this house it just had a little vertical letter box beside the door, and I had a big plastic storage bin for incoming-outgoing packages.  It's not a long walk from the street, but a walk nonetheless, maybe 30 feet, and just the trouble of getting in and out of a vehicle with multiple package. 

So a couple years ago I got this bad boy and put it right on the street, so Craig can just reach from his window.  I cannot recommend this mailbox enough, the Gibraltar 'Grand Haven.'  -Look you can fit a LARGE flat rate box in it, with room to spare! 

[pikabo-icu]

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@roccotacodad54 wrote:

   I live in rural Washington as well and my carrier will drive down the driveway if needed. Well he doesn't since I gave him a non visible place from the highway to place packages that don't fit in the mailbox so he doesn't have to anymore.

   I don't know if such an option would work for you but maybe ask the carrier and see. Mine was all smiles when I provided a place for him to leave packages that couldn't be seen and not get snowed/rained on just maybe 20 or 30 feet from the mailbox. Of course it's a 50 mile per hour speed limit with no foot traffic to speak of do maybe that helps.

---

Thank you very much for the suggestion. That was a smart & creative idea. 

Sadly they don't do it for anyone on this route. Perhaps it will change over time if they can hire additional carriers but it's been 24 years and still waiting SIGH.  I do have informed delivery yay so I can usually see when I have items at the PO. We don't even have any Saturday counter hours at our PO. 

It's a gorgeous area though so an acceptable trade off.

I'm in the foothills of Mt Saint Helens. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Well, I can't put the name of our Brenda in here b/c it's an extremely unusual name, but can confirm the "un-fireable".   I was talking to the spvsr like 3 ago, (there's been like 40 in 27 years) & when he asked the sub carrier why he didn't scan my item, despite my 4 color laminated 8x12 sign, he was given a hand gesture that I cannot put in here.  When I told the guy, that in my entire career, if I'd ever given my boss said hand gesture that I would be fired, he said he guessed I hadn't been in a union.   He is correct, I had not. 

[bandrhome]

So glad I live near the main hub, they always scan and can drop packages 24 hours a day.

[chapeau-noir]

I'm in the foothills of Mt Saint Helens.

I've ridden my bike through there more than a few times (including going over the mountain through the blast zone - it was really eerie) - beautiful countryside!

We have the large rural style locking mailbox and the letter carriers all have master keys - our mailbox is on a wooden bracket with some of the others at the top of our little road. The problem is that I live in a swampy area on narrow roads in the woods around and about a bunch of ravines. When cars (usually SUVs) are not driving off the road above us due to going too fast and sliding down the ravine and getting jammed in the woods above my neighbors house, they're going around the corner into our road too quickly and BAM! right into our bracket with our mailboxes. We put it back together every few years. The last time it took four of us, all pretty handy, to haul that big bracket and all of those mailboxes out of the drainage ditch. We set the mailboxes on the side of the road and for a while had to go to the post office to pick up our mail.

They're very good about scanning the parcels, though. I just dump them in the chute. We finally got rid of our own Brenda - his name was Ron.

ETA: Ron wasn't malicious, he was just an utter cranky pain in the backside and made everything harder than it needed to be.