cbabcock

Nobody I know works for them. I am well aware of the issues, and most stem from the desire of some in Congress to privatize the USPS. Their motive? To create and expand money making opportunities for the owners in the private sector.

Phil Hanny

Sent a package from Wilmington Delaware to Washington DC. It now shows up on tracking as being between Ybor City Florida and Orlando. Sent another to Mississippi 3 day shipping paid for. Still not delivered. I understand they are overwhelmed and understaffed, but charging for a service they know they can't provide borders on fraud.

Chris

How about this one. I ordered from a company in CA, they sent it UPS which was transferred to USPS Jacksonville FL. From there it went to my town, my town PO sent it to a post office 2 towns over which sent it to another town an hour away. Was due yesterday, still haven't received it.

FrankR Loc: NYC

As you correctly stated, they are having a difficult time and they do have piss poor management. Their management is the Executive Branch, as well as the Legislative Branch of our government. An Executive Branch that closed sorting facilities, dismantled sorting machines and eliminated overtime coupled with a Legislative Branch that mandates they prepay their pension and healthcare obligations, unlike any other government agency, and forbids them to raise prices in line with increased cost. Yet with their problems and the hoops the hurdles they must jump over, they still deliver mail to every address in every US state, territory and possession, six days a week, for as little as fifty five cents.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

Glad you have good USPS service. But most do not! Every week I get mail that is addressed to someone miles away. No telling who is getting some of my mail because they don't bother to return it to the post office. BTW, the USPS went off the public dole decades ago. By law, USPS is supposed to be self-funded through the prices it charges for postage. But, guess what, it has an excessive operating cost due to underfunded pension obligations created by excessively generous pay scales and retirement policies established in the days when it was funded through Congressional appropriations. It also has too much overhead stemming from too many branch post offices. And finally, it charges too little for commercial flyer mailings and package shipment by mega retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. So it continually raises the prices for stamps that you and I have to buy in order to offset the deficits generated by below-cost handling of commercial mailings.

Chris

yeah we have the wrong house being delivered also

cbabcock

Can you please give sources for claiming that "most do not" have good USPS service?

The pension problem is that Congress mandated that USPS prefund its pension contributions out to 75 years before the pensions are due. One commenter said that it is like Visa anticipating you would spend $1 million during the time you have the card, and requiring that you pay the $1 million up front.
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/30/17176852/trump-amazon-post-office

It seems it is hard to tell whether the Amazon deal is good for the USPS overall.

My conclusion is that some in Congress, over the years, have managed to make it difficult for USPS to succeed, in order to kill it and shift business to the private sector. Of course, if the private sector were to take over the functions of USPS, (my opinion), we would close rural post offices, cut back on delivery days, reduce wages to minimum wage, enrich the CEOs, enrich the shareholders, and raise rates.

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

My sister-in-law shipped a package from Buena Vista, VA to us here in Maryville, TN on December 8th. She paid for 2 day delivery. The package went from Buena Vista to Richmond, VA (120 miles), from Richmond to Roanoke, VA (189 miles and 47 miles from Buena Vista where it originated), from Roanoke to Chattanooga, TN (370 miles), from Chattanooga to Knoxville, TN (112 miles), from Knoxville to Maryville (30 miles). The comedy of it all is that it had to pass through Knoxville on the way to Chattanooga. The package arrived December 22nd, 14 days after being shipped. The package was clearly marked "2 day delivery". And they wonder why they are losing money.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Amazon, FedEx, and UPS everywhere. Half the time we have been getting our mail six at night - a mile from the post office.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

Yes, USPS is inundated with packages and mail. Part of the reason is quite possibly the fact that UPS and FedEx will deliver a package just so far and not to the actual recipient. I recently sent an item to the company for a small repair. It arrived at the company, the repair was completed and they sent it back toward me via UPS on December 12 with an expected date of delivery, December 15 by 9 PM. I had a tracking number and checked it a couple days after it was sent. In transit and expected delivery, December 16 by 9 PM. Okay, I thought, Christmas, slight delay. I checked tracking on the 15th and noted it had been dropped at a USPS Distribution center about two hours drive from my home. Status: accepted but with another note stating the acceptance was pending. As of today, Christmas, I've not received the package. The tracking information has not changes at all. Phone calls to both UPS and USPS result in the information, UPS turned it over to the USPS so they cannot help me. USPS tells me the package is not in the possession of USPS check with the shipper. I've contacted the company that did the repair and they tell me to check their FAQ site, no help there either.

So my conclusion, either I will get my package sometime around May, 2021, or never. I probably won't get much satisfaction from the company either. Just another governmental and big business SNAFU.