USPS is LAZY...and it's affecting my customers

[ringsabell]

I sold an item to a new ebay customer yesterday.  He paid immediately.  I finished up his package and together with a second package for a different ebay customer drove them to my local USPS office and dropped off with a customer service rep.  This was around 6pm last night and they told me it was too late for last nights pickup, but it would go first thing this morning.  It's now 3:28PM the next day and only one package even shows up as having been accepted.  The buyer and ebay no doubt probably think I'm lying about when I shipped his item.  I called the post office and after at least 100 rings somebody finally answered the phone and offered no explaination, but said they would look into it.  I can only assume someone from USPS either stole the package or was too lazy to scan it during the posted pickup times.  This behavior is completely unacceptable by USPS.  Does everyone else stand in line at the post office and demand a receipt from the customer service rep for prepaid packages?

[rixstuff]

If it makes you feel any better I just today had a buyer leave feedback on the other E site for a package shipped IN APRIL!!  She just got it YESTERDAY!  This one was nice enough to contact me and offer to repay for the lost item that I had already refunded long ago. 

Lately I have had had many packages go from my PO just a block away from my house to my OLD PO across town near the apartment I havent lived in for over FIVE YEARS before going to the sort center (which is just another couple of blocks down the street from my house (but that doesnt take in mail) for movement out of the area. 

I have had items go from Virginia to Maryland just across the river by way of TEXAS half way across the country.  I have had items delivered to the wrong house (and shown my own purchases "delivered" only to have them at the PO waiting for me to pick up when I drop off my shipping.  and I have had items shipped 20 minutes after payment only to sit at a sort center near the buyer for THREE WEEKS for no reason. 

Sorry - you got me on a day when i dont think much of the PO.

[lex-talon]

I don't stand in line at the Post Office. Some packages will not show any movement until the evening.

Assuming the USPS stole your package is just wrong. Laziness? Maybe. There's a mail carrier that delivers mail on my block that refuses to pick up my scheduled packages on Saturday. Happens every Saturday with the same carrier. I've reported him but to no avail. Now that's laziness.

[newnewnewmann]

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@ringsabell wrote:

 Does everyone else stand in line at the post office and demand a receipt from the customer service rep for prepaid packages?

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I always go to the front desk, or their little window,  and have them scan my packages in front of me, and they give me a receipt. I don't demand anything, they know me and are very nice. Sometimes the scan doesn't show as accepted for a few hours but it aways does eventually. I've never had one problem since I started doing that.

But I did experience some items not showing up as scanned or not accepted before, when I did not have it scanned in person.

I realize that not all can do this due to hours and such.

[a_c_green]

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@new-man7 wrote:

I always go to the front desk, or their little window,  and have them scan my packages in front of me, and they give me a receipt. I don't demand anything, they know me and are very nice.

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My local PO is similar. I don't care about a receipt, because once the scanner beeps, it's in the system. I can hand over the packages and leave immediately, and know that they'll do the scan. (Several of them know that I have to catch a train with minutes to spare in the mornings.)

[ebbyisme]

My local Post Office is amazing! I wouldn't even think of using any other shipping company. My sorting center is pretty good also....

I think how well your Post Office runs depends a lot on the Post Master.

They always scan everything immediately. My packages are usually scanned, sent to the sorting center, processed and scan out of the sorting center in well under 24 hours. Depending on the receiving sorting center, a lot of my 1st class packages are delivered in 2 days. I've had items delivers thousands of miles away the next day. My last few 1st class packages from East Coast to Hawaii were delivered in two days.

[missjen831]

I guess this is another one where I don't understand the issue.

I wish everyone was a little more patient and understanding. 

To put it in prespective, this morning there was a shooting at the S. San Francisco UPS facility. 4 lives lost. I have a dresser/TV stand combo sitting in that facility that was supposed to be delivered today. Its for my 9 year old daughter. We spent all day yesterday cleaning out her room, vaccuming, shampooing, scrubbing, purging, moving furniture, to make room for her new dresser. I have no idea when the dresser will be delivered and I don't care. I'm glad my package was delayed, I'm glad the UPS workers at that facility were given the rest of the day off. I hope they get tomorrow off too. Our regular UPS driver is amazing, he's a great guy, always has a smile on his face. I think he's been our UPS man for a good 10 years. I'm worried he was one of the victims. I'm anxiously looking forward to him delivering the dresser but as long as he's ok, we can and will wait.

[buyselljack2016]

Scanning is not foolproof. On a Friday morning I dropped 3 packages at  a little office. I know that they were scanned.

Two showed up as accepted, departure, arrival, and departure from the processing plant 70 miles away, and the 3rd package never got a scan until 2 days later when it arrived at a processing plant over 1400 miles away.

Shipped same day as purchased, but failed to meet the requirement for a carrier scan within the required handling time.

I am in the process of changing all my listings to 2 day handling. With some sales Pacific time difference already cuts my time to pack, and ship.  2:59AM my time payment requires same day shipping.

[ringsabell]

Changing shipping time to 2 days is a good idea.  I've had trouble from this po before.  I won't use them again and fortunately I have a second PO within a couple miles.  BTW, it's now 7:18 pm, has been over 24 hours since I dropped off the package and it still does not show up as being accepted (in the po's possession).  Makes me look bad in the eyes of the customer.

I have a Fedex hub within a couple miles and use them for heavier items.  I had one claim and they paid it within 30 days.  I like my local UPS driver, but I have witnessed him on several occasions literally throwing boxes out of the truck onto the yard.  He destroyed an antique leaded lamp I purchased once by his throwing habit and I finally gave up on resolving the claim.  I avoid UPS like the plague.   

[lja440]

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@rixstuff wrote:

If it makes you feel any better I just today had a buyer leave feedback on the other E site for a package shipped IN APRIL!!  She just got it YESTERDAY!  This one was nice enough to contact me and offer to repay for the lost item that I had already refunded long ago. 

Lately I have had had many packages go from my PO just a block away from my house to my OLD PO across town near the apartment I havent lived in for over FIVE YEARS before going to the sort center (which is just another couple of blocks down the street from my house (but that doesnt take in mail) for movement out of the area. 

I have had items go from Virginia to Maryland just across the river by way of TEXAS half way across the country.  I have had items delivered to the wrong house (and shown my own purchases "delivered" only to have them at the PO waiting for me to pick up when I drop off my shipping.  and I have had items shipped 20 minutes after payment only to sit at a sort center near the buyer for THREE WEEKS for no reason. 

Sorry - you got me on a day when i dont think much of the PO.

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It's called logistics. They are not moving just your packages but consolidating mail in the area.

My first stop on my route is to take the PO Box mail for the customers at our retail office. Until a couple Amish businesses started up that dropps a lot of packages (more than my Jeep can handle), I also picked up the days outgoing mail. This in turn is picked up from area offices by a box truck and taken to the county's main PO and loaded on a semi. The only thing that surprises me is that you are seeing this on tracking, other than our hand helds our offices don't have the volume for automated scanners so while ours should show an acceptance they will not show anything else until they arrive in the main sorting center about 5 stops later. 

[lja440]

Hoping that your driver is safe and incredibly sorry for those who's loved ones never returned from the days shift.  Lost DH to a work accident in '04, not a shooting but a very preventable accident. The company knew well in advance that the vent cover that fell that day had been loose for weeks and hanging over the loading area where he was delivering.

[texasfredi]

My PO is the worst one in the USA I'm sure of it. I can put packages inside the buildings drop box long before the pickup time and they won't get processed till the next day once a week it took. Which causes a "ding" on my sellers account for on-time shipping. They have lost so many packaged to be delivered to me I don't even fight them anymore, I've contacted the local office, 800 TN and their website. No one there gives a hoot about lost packages and **bleep** service. I once handed a package to the carrier (in League City TX) to be delivered to Santa Fe TX (5 miles south) and it went to Dallas TX first before returning to Houston for processing. I could go on and on with my experiences with these lazy, rude people but what's the point they win because they don't care.

[lja440]

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@texasfredi wrote:
My PO is the worst one in the USA I'm sure of it. I can put packages inside the buildings drop box long before the pickup time and they won't get processed till the next day once a week it took. Which causes a "ding" on my sellers account for on-time shipping. They have lost so many packaged to be delivered to me I don't even fight them anymore, I've contacted the local office, 800 TN and their website. No one there gives a hoot about lost packages and **bleep** service. I once handed a package to the carrier (in League City TX) to be delivered to Santa Fe TX (5 miles south) and it went to Dallas TX first before returning to Houston for processing. I could go on and on with my experiences with these lazy, rude people but what's the point they win because they don't care.

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Once again that is logistics.  I can ship a package to my sister in law from my home (about a hour and a half straight drive from my home) and it will be delivered the next day. I can mail the same package to my hubby's cousin who lives over the hill (small hill not a mountain) it is around 3 miles and it will take 3 days to arrive. Sis in law actually gets her mail from the same hub as I do, but I am on the edge of that hubs area. The cousin gets her mail from a different hub. Logistics don't operate as a series of straight lines, more like a series of funnels pulling from a wide area and funneling it into a central point that in turn branches into other funnels. This can take time but it is the most efficant way of doing it. No one would pay the costs that would be required to have a direct line of travel from each PO to every other PO.

[myboardid]

For any of you who have more than a couple of packages to ship in a day i strongly recommend using a scan sheet so the PO employee only has to scan one barcode for your entire batch of boxes.  It makes them more efficient so they like you for doing it, and they are much more likely to treat you well. 

That said, the tracking on packages where a scan sheet is used now reads "the acceptance of your package is pending" until it is scanned at a sort center, which, to a buyer, sounds like they didn't take the package when actually it is on its way to them.  Frequently, after that, there are no more scans until delivery, and I have a buyer screaming that their package hasn't been sent. 

[bayareasoapco]

just as an FYI - If you have an online account with the post office you can login and request a certain number of packages to be picked up on a specific day. Generally you have to do it 24 hours in advance but my carrier wants told me they get paid extra for that just something to keep in mind.