"Kudos to the US Postal Service" Topic

Yes, you read right.

My nearby USPS Distribution Center is notably one of the worst in the nation. So I was not surprised when I saw them send my package to another city. Who then sent it to yet another city, who then sent it back to city #2, who then sent it back to city #3.

This happened 3 times.

So I called City #2 Distribution center -- which I will now reveal as Lansing, Michigan -- hoping a person could intervene and determine the problem. They were very customer friendly and responsive and fixed the problem that very same day.

Wrong zip code. So the package went to City #3 who then could not find a match on the address so sent it back to City #2. And back and forth again.

So thank you very much to the folks at Lansing USPS Distribution Center. My package is out for delivery today!

Oh yah? Well, I have a package that the tracking says;
Status:
In Transit, Arriving Late
November 25, 2021
Every day it says that for over 2 weeks now. I expect the tracking number will soon just disappear and nothing will ever be heard from my poor package ever again….

Mail services can get an awfully bad rap.

I shipped a package to Ireland. Somehow the address said Iceland – user error almost certainly, perhaps shipping software bug.

The tracking followed it from the US to Iceland where it sat for 4 days and was then back "in transit." Back to me I assumed.

Nope!

It showed up as intended in Cork a few days later….

Skipper John, file a complaint with them (there's a button on the tracking webpage).

It's amazing how quickly they can get their act together once a complaint is filed.

Good luck.

"Mail services can get an awfully bad rap."

Some folks hate the common good

I used to use the US Mail exclusively, whenever I had the chouce. Fast, efficient, worked very well, & cheaper than the alternatives. Then things happened…

It could be worse. I'm down here in Ecuador, & getting international mail order is like playing the lottery. Internally it works well, but if you are a wargamer, there is close to zero products for you here in the nation…

Damon.

For people outside the U.S. it is the postage cost, as delivery service has been good. I wanted to buy an item in the U.S. that cost $95 USD but the postage was $46.50 USD. To the credit of the owner, he followed up my cancellation and investigated the postage rationale.

He was sorry but that was indeed the cost. Also, he was very perplexed that he could ship the same item to New York city (which is much further away from his business than my address) for 25% of the cost to ship it to me in Canada.

I have had a similar experience with my other go to U.S. companies. So, I along with I am sure many other non American residents have just stopped ordering from the U.S.

I've got a really crappy USPS presence. Last month I shipped a small parcel from Baltimore to Knoxville.

I posted it Friday, figuring it'd get there maybe Wednesday. It was placed in recipients PO Box 8a Monday.

Woof!

@IronDuke

That has more to do with borders and national treaties than distance. I used to be able to ship to Canada for about US cost + 10%. Then about 10 years ago it was double…now it's out of reach.

I have had much more good experience than bad with USPS. I sure would hate to personify the punching bag that USPS is every day I went to work.

Agreed. It is far from perfect but it is right up there in service compared to other countries, and it generally gets the job done. The people there in my town are pros, working with a difficult and mostly undeserved rep.

I've used the USPS for my PaperTerrain business for over 15 years and 99.9% of the time the service is great. Only a very few problems over the years.