[Airpowr]

Sign up for USPS informed delivery, you get an email and it shows you a pic of the envelope that you are getting in that days delivery. I think everyone is experiencing what you are to some degree.

[bird72]

Last Saturday sent a Priority Mail from a UPS store (figured that would add a day to timing). Kalispell, MT (medium town 2 hours from a metro area) to Reserve, NM, a village of 300 that is hours from any town. Got there Monday morning, to a PO Box. Blew my mind it was that quick, I figured Priority from semi isolated to middle of nowhere, 1300 miles away, would take a week. 48 hours with a Sunday in the middle.

[tigergto]

Originally Posted by Airpowr

Sign up for USPS informed delivery, you get an email and it shows you a pic of the envelope that you are getting in that days delivery. I think everyone is experiencing what you are to some degree.

I have informed mail. You get to see what is being delivered that day. It doesn’t help you receive your mail on time. That being said I do like having that app.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by TCSGTO

As far as bill payments, using a credit card or PayPal online is more secure and gives more protection against fraud than sending your checking account and bank routing number with your sig on it through this incompetent, unreliable mail system of ours.

Yep! Far easier to get "hacked" sending checks. In case you didnt know, your account number and routing number are printed on the front of the check.

Easiest way is to login/get bills online. If you must pay by check, then print the online invoice and send a check (least secure option)

[Old Goat Racer]

Originally Posted by Old Goat Racer

I recently ordered a very very very expensive item $1000 +. It was supposed to be delivered the 23rd. The seller shipped it USPS. They keep telling me it's gonna be late but it's in transit. Don't say where.
It was also shipped Priority mail. Now they tell you there's NO guarantee it will be on time. But we still pay the price for it. I'm getting worried .

The "item" arrived 9 days late. It's all good.
Informed delivery works great for me. My mail box is 1700 ft. from my front door. Loooooong driveway. Around 9am every morning I look at my email to see what's coming that day. If it's not important I wait till the next day.
Gotta keep up with the times ! OGR

[foxgapLeMans]

3 days in a row no mail service here. Monday into Tuesday we got a huge snow storm, for us anyway, total accumulations of 30". Wed. the roads are clear enough for traffic still no mail. I ordered a part for the snowblower yesterday and cringed when they said was shipped by USPS from Texas.
I did have a great experience with Ames the other day though, ordered the parts on a Wed. and the parts were here Sat. I think that was great!

[Chief of the 60's]

LOL!

3 days shy of a month my package finally showed up.

I thought this one was gone for sure.

Thank god it was USPS Expected Delivery

[Region Warrior]

No mail or billing problems here the past year.

[dataway]

Total USPS meltdown here, and it's a week after the snowstorm. Not one package in the last week has arrived on time. Noticed Amazon switched me over to UPS a couple of weeks ago because so many items were late, looks like that put me back on USPS and the late items are piling up again.

My route has a older woman that used to work it full time ... but she won't get out of the vehicle for packages .... so they hold all the packages at the local PO until the young guy is working and he delivers them all. She's too miserable to put behind the counter so they are stuck. Nothing like turning a giant business semi-private while keeping all the govt. style employees that can't be fired.

[Firedup6975]

Just got another Christmas card yesterday.

[carbking]

A few thoughts:

(1) Most larger companies have an on-line chat available through their website. Have found the on-line chat folks MUCH more readily available than the telephone folks; and so far, English seems to be their first language.

(2) Some larger companies have local branch offices where one can pay one's bill in person (A T & T has our telephone service, and would ALWAYS be late except for the local office).

(3) Some of you recommending autopay have obviously never had to CANCEL an autopay account!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! It took us 3 months PLUS assistance from folks at the Attorney General's hotline. Glaciers will again cover southern California (reworded old cliche) before we will set up another autopay!

(4) In Missouri, the Attorney General has a hotline to assist residents that have had issues with late mail, late pay, and the afore-mentioned cancellation of an autopay.

(5) And while the USPS is currently very slow, we just received a package UPS from Kansas City Missouri to Eldon Missouri (about 170 miles) that took 10 days.

(6) The on-line chat seems to be the best solution, at this time.

(7) We do use paypal for some on-line purchases, and only place funds in the account as needed. Somewhat of a hassle! But most of the larger companies do no accept paypal.

Jon.

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Firedup6975

Just got another Christmas card yesterday.

[ErikW]

What's been happening is that some post offices and distribution centers have had to shut down entirely due to Covid-19 outbreaks amongst the workers which of course slows down the process. Of course, some people will blame the former president because they don't have all of the facts. I make my living working on postal vehicles and I can tell you that the fleet is getting tired also. Breakdowns are more frequent we are condemning 2 to 3 trucks a week that have frame issues and according to inside sources there is no relief in sight. This has all been happening for at least the last decade. So let's not lay blame with anyone but the organization in general.

[Chief of the 60's]

So...…

What was the excuse prior to Covid and the prior administration?

The crappy service didn't start yesterday, last month or even the last 5 years.

[Formulajones]

I've only been seeing it for the past year or so. Deliveries late, lost items etc... I've even stopped paying for quicker deliveries because the last few times they never arrived when they were supposed to. In fact they were later than if I had just chosen regular ground. So I don't waste my money there anymore.

I've had issues with USPS and UPS both for the past year.

In fact I've just ordered some bushings Monday morning from a place in Phoenix (I'm just up in Prescott) They told me on the phone they have them in stock. That is a simple next day delivery UPS ground. They still aren't here yet!! I should have just driven down there myself and had them the same day.

The biggest excuse I hear is the beer virus. So sick of hearing that garbage. People just need to get back to normal, get on the ball, and get this country rolling again.

[ErikW]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

So...…

What was the excuse prior to Covid and the prior administration?

The crappy service didn't start yesterday, last month or even the last 5 years.

Simply comes down to piss poor management at local levels and lazy workers. New breed of workers are lazy and think they deserve everything. The people that got anything done are all retired or have passed. They are all union and impossible to reprimand or terminate.

We contractors are the only ones getting things done and every year as USPS mechanics retire off they rely on us more and more. It's a sad organization and it didn't just happen overnight.

[Don Keefe]

All three of the titles that we publish have experienced delays in shipping. USPS Periodical Mail is usually pretty efficient but not recently. This situation will take months to sort out and even then I am seeing this as the new normal.

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

you ding dong

[carbking]

Like it or not, I think we are all going to have to adapt to a "new normal" on shipping.

We shipped via UPS exclusively for more than 40 years. About 3 years ago, shipping costs got to the point we were getting major complaints from customers. Didn't really lose customers, as much of what we do is without competition; but we were still trying to save money for our customers, so we switched to USPS. We can priority mail up to about 4 rebuilding kits (most customers only order 1 at a time) for about 60 percent of what we have to charge using UPS. The break-even weight seems to be about 3 pounds. Cheaper to ship a carburetor via UPS than USPS.

When asked "when will I get it" I simply answer that I don't know; but everything is tracked, so the customer can follow tracking.

Covid HAS made a difference, but equipment upkeep (or the lack thereof) hasn't helped. And the attitude of local employees is probably the biggest issue. We just had a really top-notch postmaster be promoted to a better job in a larger post office; and the replacement is, well, a replacement.

I don't really think one can pigeon-hole this attitude as "the new breed of workers"; the replacement is older than the young lady he "replaced".

Jon

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by Don Keefe

All three of the titles that we publish have experienced delays in shipping. USPS Periodical Mail is usually pretty efficient but not recently. This situation will take months to sort out and even then I am seeing this as the new normal.

But when it affects the bills, it becomes a big problem, when the statements are late and they charge us interest and late fees. We’re pretty old School and Mike doesn’t trust auto paying for anything. He don’t even have his own personal cell phone only a company one. Doesn’t use a computer, and I had to fight like hell to get him to agree to a credit card. Very frustrating!!