Maybe The Postal Service Needs To Pack It In

An example of our postal service today:

Item won at auction. Check sent by certified mail by 1pm on November 22 from post office at Tampa International Airport meaning that letter left for Dallas, Tx by air no later than Tuesday, November 23. As I write this note 10 days later, still not received at auction house.

And for this kind of service, the postal commission thinks rate hikes are justified?

This past week I received a bill that was due November 15. It was mailed at the end of October. If I do not pay my bills electronically I would be out a lot of money for late payment


Peter

By sending it certified, it probably will take much longer. I can send a letter/ cheque across Canada/the continent and they get it in 5 days at most on average. Send it registered or certified and it stops along the path, adding several more days to its final arrival date. Maybe?

Edit: And don't forget thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 25th, was closed in Canada as I figure the US would also do.

Not certified though? Registered ya it stops at every pony show on the way, but certified just gets scanned as it passes through or something, right? There are no handstamps for stops along the way from what I thought— though I've sent much certified mail I've actually never received anything certified

I have started to have mail bounce endlessly back and forth between distribution centers just like last year. I am getting flashbacks.

Yes, Registered mail will take forever and frequently not be scanned. Certified should only run into the usual problems ala being tossed in a parked trailer for weeks on end.

USPS problems are worse than you think. An Express Mail package was sent to me on November 19, it arrived at the Syracuse NY Distribution Center on November 19 at 8:55 PM and has not been logged in to date. Now 13 days and counting for an "overnight" shipment.

I've run into this problem several times in the past year where mail from, say Arizona, coming to California, will get here via New York or somewhere on the east coast. Whatever happened to sending things in a vaguely straight line?

Are they still using those self-driving trucks?

Wow, so many mistakes listed for the 53 Billion first class items mailed annually. The mistake numbers are horrible, horrible indeed.

If one uses Priority-Express and it is delayed you can apply for a refund of the postage costs. I have not had any refund requests rejected.

The postal system is one of the best values around--send a letter anywhere in the US for 58 cents? Certified for $3.35? You could have overnighted it by Fed Ex--only starting at $33 and going up to $77 if you want it there by 8:30am. . . The post office is not perfect, but look what it actually costs, Fed Ex 3 days is over $9. Puts things in perspective . . .

DeJoy has noticed the price differences and why he is pushing for the USPS to raise rates so as to not leave money on the table.

Given that the USPS's own data for on-time delivery is pretty abysmal I agree that it is horrible, horrible indeed.

https://about.usps.com/what/perform...ormance.html

Just to give a different example, I recently sent some stamps to the PF using USPS overnight express and on the same day some stamps were sent from Siegel to me on Fedex overnight. The PF got the package the next morning. My Fedex package took 4 days. Doesn't mean USPS is better than Fedex, but it shows the USPS is not the only one struggling right now.

I was supposed to have a certified auction package delivered last week. It has been at the Post Office since last week saying "No access to delivery address." Whatever that means. Weird since the postman drives past my house everyday and delivers the regular mail. I guess I may try to go pick it up this weekend at the Post Office.

Paul Sonya—it is only a value if the letter gets delivered, and in the time window as promised. Not everything mailed has an open ended delivery schedule. I submit that 12 days and counting for a certified letter from Tampa International Airport (PO) to Dallas, Texas is unreasonably long in this day and age.

I just received a registered letter from Italy today that took 14 days in transit so 12 days and counting Tampa to Dallas is just silly.