USPS Ground Advantage Gripes

[Darrell2688]

It is so bad right now that I am afraid to ship anything anywhere by any shipping company. I have to find one that I can depend on or just quit and that would really hurt, since I have a built up stock of fur felt hat blanks to use for hats. I guess that I could just insure the package for 300.00 above the value of the hat and smile if I have to collect the insurance money.????

 

[Darrell2688]

Well tomorrow I will be shipping out a Indy Fedora in Beaver to MI , I will be sending it FedEx and after I stated the value of the hat 635.00 and paid for the postage their system displayed a message in fine print, they only pay 100.00 on insurance claims, I am sending it out tomorrow and it is set for delivery on Thursday, we will see what happens. If it gets lost or damaged, I will have to find another delivery service. 100.00 insurance for a 100% beaver hat just won't cut it, and bad news travels faster than good news.

I will keep you up to date on my search for a good shipping service. I hope this package makes it to where it is headed, I did not put my business name on the return address on purpose.

When I dropped the package off at FedEx I ask about the 100.00 insurance that I was notified about, FedEx gives you 100.00 insurance on all packages, if the item is insured for more all you have to do is file a claim for the amount and of course you have to show proof of the value, I am guessing a sales receipt should work???

 

[shopkin]

I bet it gets there on Thursday. They seldom screw-up unless there is a blizzard in Memphis.

 

[RBH]

I bet it gets there on Thursday. They seldom screw-up unless there is a blizzard in Memphis.

It happens!!!!!

 

[BobHufford]

 

[Woodtroll]

I've had five packages shipped via USPS from all over the country over the last three days, including one hat from a member here. Every single one of them was flagged with "ALERT! Processing exception - Regional weather delay" at the origin point. All five of them, from various regions of the country. Viewing radar maps for the last 24 hours at the origin locations reveals no unusual wind or precipitation. A nationwide sunstorm, perhaps?

This is in addition to about 30% of my packages taking unnecessary loops or side trips to other destinations lately, only to return to the hub they left from several days earlier before they get headed to our PO in the next town. Our mail being delivered from the next town over when we have our very own small but almost-new PO is another, separate gripe.

USPS "postal service" is a darn joke.

 

[ILB Frank]

Weird. I can't say that is my experience in the Midwest. USPS has been strangely efficient (although I haven't had any deliveries since hurricane Milton.)
Just out of curiosity, what delivery service do you think is the best right now (in the USA)? USPS, FedEx, UPS, or other (Amazon doesn't count)?

 

[Darrell2688]

I shipped a hat by FedEx on Wednesday and the customer received the hat this morning and I didn't drop the package off until noon on Wednesday, I purchased extra insurance and the service cost a little more because of the insurance, but it was worth the cost. I checked to see what it would cost shipping with FedEx out to CA from KY and the cost was about $35.++ and they offered over night, the same method that they used for my first shipment. So far I am really happy with FedEx, they get the package there, it cost a little more, but the customer is happy and so am I. They didn't lose the package, and fast delivery. The only problem that I had was, I had to drive 24 miles round trip to ship the package, now I have an account and I can schedule a pickup, a big plus, it does cost a little more, but the service is good.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

I shipped a hat by FedEx on Wednesday and the customer received the hat this morning and I didn't drop the package off until noon on Wednesday, I purchased extra insurance and the service cost a little more because of the insurance, but it was worth the cost. I checked to see what it would cost shipping with FedEx out to CA from KY and the cost was about $35.++ and they offered over night, the same method that they used for my first shipment. So far I am really happy with FedEx, they get the package there, it cost a little more, but the customer is happy and so am I. They didn't lose the package, and fast delivery. The only problem that I had was, I had to drive 24 miles round trip to ship the package, now I have an account and I can schedule a pickup, a big plus, it does cost a little more, but the service is good.

An eBay seller just sent me an item from Japan to Malaysia via FedEx. That thing arrived in country, cleared customs and was out for delivery by the second day after being shipped. I was dumbfounded - it happened so fast that I didn't even have time to make sure someone would be home to receive the package (they don't leave packages at the door in Malaysia). They will try delivery again today (this time I'm prepared) - but for my money, FedEx is the way to go.

 

[Darrell2688]

I logged into my PayPal account last night and Opted out of the option to let PayPal use my information, giving it to anyone that might be selling something that I may or may not be interested in, if I see an increase of ads in my email I will close my PayPal account and let them know why I am closing my account. In the email notice that they send to me, I noticed that they had included instructions to opt out of the option for them to sell your information. This is a copy and paste of the statement that they included.

You can opt out of this at any time in your profile settings under "Data and Privacy."

I hope this helps anyone with a PayPal account, if you don't opt out, you can always flag the ads as Spam.

 

[TimmyV]

Argh !! Foiled once again by the USPS ground Advantage service. Hat made it from Kingsport, Tennessee to Louisville, Kentucky where it is just a short hop to my little town. For whatever reason USPS decided to then send my hat on to Mobile, Alabama !! WTF !!!

 

[AndyR]

Brutal stories. Such a loser outfit. I just had a $250.00 down jacket get shipped and 'delivered' to who knows where by USPS. Paypal populated my address incorrectly (without the house numbers) on the order, so just the street name is on it.

I got a notice saying USPS has delivered it at the mail box. Which mailbox? Where? How, with no numbers?

I doubt I will ever see the jacket or the money. I don't even know who to go after. Paypal for their mistake, the outfit that shipped without a proper address or the USPS for delivering it to the Twilight Zone. Probably me for not double checking. I always 'get it' in the end. :-/

 

[rogueclimber]

USPS...

I have yet another package marked "Delivered" with my locked apartment complex cluster box empty...

USPS explains: "Delivered doesn't mean the package was delivered, it may arrive up to several days after we say it was delivered"

Of course if they say it was delivered then they no longer have any responsibility for the package -- after all it was "delivered"

 

[AndyR]

USPS...

USPS explains: "Delivered doesn't mean the package was delivered, it may arrive up to several days after we say it was delivered"

LOL! Oh that is just classic!

 

[Darrell2688]

Argh !! Foiled once again by the USPS ground Advantage service. Hat made it from Kingsport, Tennessee to Louisville, Kentucky where it is just a short hop to my little town. For whatever reason USPS decided to then send my hat on to Mobile, Alabama !! WTF !!! View attachment 656936

I know how you feel, I order some Grosgrain Ribbon, 50 yards of one size and 11 yards of a larger size, matching colors and USPS deliveried it to the Cincinnati OH, I was expecting to get the ribbon on Saturday, however the Cincinnati OH distribution center decided to send the package North before returning it to Cincinnati, a total of 50.4 miles round trip, then the package was routed south to KY, I received my package on Monday. I get the feeling that either the machines need to be recalibrated or they need to hire people that can read english, maybe they will actually find my lost package.

 

[Darrell2688]

I have kept track of the packages that I send out by USPS and the local distrubution facility is Cincinnati OH and all packages are scanned when the package is received by the distribution center and then the package is scanned again when it is shipped out of the facility where it was delivered to, on the day that package was delivered to Cincinnati OH it was scanned, it was not scanned when it was shipped out of Cincinnati OH, it just states that the package is on it's way to the next facility, so I think that someone in Cincinnati OH is wearing the hat that I shipped. When I ship a hat out there is a second copy of the shipping label inside the package, a letter to the customer and a packing slip, the customers name and address is on every piece of paper. So the only way that the package can be lost or disappear would be if someone steals the package. But then of course they may have hired some people that can't read english or the machines are totally messed up. Actually I think that the USPS is being run by idiots and thieves. The only time that a package should be scanned as deliveried is when it is actually deliveried, there are a number of people working at the USPS that should loose their job, I am all for cleaning house, maybe they could find jobs at fast food joints.

 

[MikeinRome]

Here's my latest example of why the Atlanta area postal facilities are rated the worst in America. Hat sent from TX to Arkansas to Palmetto facility near Atlanta, then back to Arkansas and then to Memphis so far. Of course this seems to happen on special hats, in this case a $650 hat.

 

[Darrell2688]

Well since a group from Congress has toured the facility that only means one thing, the chances of anyone receiving the package have decreased dramitically. Actually I am curious, how do you get anyone from Congress to tour the USPS facility in GA? I remember sending a package to Texas and all was going great until the package made it to the Kansas distribution center, the package was deliveried to a USPS facility out in Utah, then routed back to Kansas, since I was watching every stop for the package, I waited to see where the package would go next, I was surprised when the package was sent South to Texas. Every time that you ship USPS, you get a surprise, in short your are surprised if your package arrives or if it is delivered at all.

 

[Zombie_61]

In this part of the U.S., the Universally Stupid Postal Service is among the worst when it comes to delivering packages. They're kinda' weak on delivering mail, but exceptionally stupid about packages for some reason. Example: There is a Village Hat Shop in San Diego which, apparently, is one of the locations they ship online orders from. EVERY hat I've ordered from them has been shipped within a few days, made it's way to the Los Angeles area, found it's way to the USPS Distribution Center only five miles from my house (former house, that is; it's been sold), then, for no reason (or, at least, none explained to me) was returned to the San Diego location where it began it's round trip tour of southern California. Apparently, at that point the employees of Village Hat Shop scratch their heads, the re-package my purchase and start the ordeal all over again. The first two or three times it happened they called me to ask why I had returned it, and were dumbfounded when I explained I had never received it. So they packed it up again and mailed it back to me, making the second trip with no apparent hang-ups and arriving on my front porch after 5-7 days. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Darrell2688]

Well everyone will be happy to know that you can get hired without any qualifications, at the USPS department, you might have to have one qualification, you might have to be able to speak and read english on a 5th. grade level, if you happen to have a disability that will get you hired even faster. Delivering magazines and mail in envelopes is really easy, a no brainer, but if you have to deliver a package or box that requires some extra effort. Then to add to the delivery problem some dip stick in Washington DC wants to combine branch offices, cut staff, and cut pay, so how bad is delivery going to be in the future? The USPS system needs to be restructured starting with the dip stick in Washington DC, there isn't very much incentitive to do your job properly when you might not have a job at the end of the day, or your pay is being cut, the postal carrier gets paid by the number of stops they make on their carrier routes and paid more if they have packages to be delivered, so if the package gets returned to the sender then they deliver the package properly the second time round, they are gaming the system at the customers expense to get a better pay check. As for lost mail, well that gets sent to Atlanta GA where it is stored until someone opens the package or decides that it should be delivered back to the sender, or the address on the package. Anything that can't be delivered, well who knows what happens to that stuff, by now someone is wearing a hat that they didn't pay for.