I live outside of Houston. I took a Priority Mail package to the Post Office on Monday and put it in their "self serve" bin an hour before they said the bin would be "picked up". When I checked the tracking number this weekend to see why it had not arrived yet, I saw that the tracking number said it wasn't received into their system until Wednesday. It sat somewhere for two days before it was even scanned? My customer didn't get their 2-day Priority Mail package until Saturday!
I checked back through January and I have had 5 dings for late shipping. ALL of these went to the Post Office one business day after they were paid for. But tracking numbers weren't scanned into the system until one or two days later.
Lesson learned: no more scheduled "on line" pickups from USPS for them to pick up at my home and no just dropping the packages into their "self serve" bins. I guess I will have to take all of my packages to the Post Office, stand in line, and make sure the tracking numbers are scanned into the system. GRRR. If USPS wants to make it easier for the consumer and cut down on their staff, they are not making it work.
