No Mail on Saturdays

[Widebrim]

I agree with keeping open on Saturdays. Many of us find it difficult to get to the post office during the week...

 

[Bill Taylor]

Perhaps I mis-understood the USPS, but I thought it was only Saturday mail delivery that was to be eliminated. That would not affect the Post Office itself. Actually, I think many, or perhaps most, Post Offices are already closed on Saturday. Where I live in Northwestern Alabama,the Post Offices are open until noon on Saturday. When I still lived in The San Francisco Bay Area, I don't know of any Post Office that was open on Saturday (although there was Saturday mail delivery). Actually, the lobbies where the post office boxes themselves are located are open much longer hours, perhaps even 24 hours a day, every day, although access to the postal windows is not available other than normal business hours.

Bill Taylor

 

[reetpleat]

I agree that at least some pos should be open Saturday, but as for saturday delivery, big deal? If you count on a letter arriving on a given day you are a fool anyway. I agree wit the poster who said they should just deliver Monday Wednesday and Friday. Only problem would be they would have to give up he overnight delivery and priority would not be quite as attractive if it were limited by delivery days.

But who really would miss those days as long as they got it the next day?

As for packages only, that would be a bad idea. It is the advertisers that mail to everyone that pay the bulk of the bills. I do not think they would mind if their flyers and letter were only delivered every other day.

 

[Foofoogal]

In fact, I believe that sort of talk is a little near sighted.

I am not saying I agree with it at all. I also understand elderly and those who flat just hate the computer. [huh]


Many LadyDay.
Many companies charge for a service if you use a bill paying service thru them now also.
Many also strongly suggest you pay online and opt out of snail mail in guise of saving trees.
Just like now many companies charge to talk to a real live human being about your bill.

I am sorry but definitely think in the near future it will be mandatory for many companies or pay a fee.

http://www.bbb.org/us/post/companies-charging-fees-for-paying-your-bill-by-phone-1304

this addresses only part of this. Sometimes snail mail can take up to 10 days to arrive.
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/topic/online-bill-pay/

 

[Diamondback]

The other benefit to them is there's no hardcopy records of when payment was mailed or tracking, so it's easier for them to claim "never received" while still getting your money or "received late, you owe a late fee" even if payment sent two weeks before due-date--one of the mortgage companies for my mother's house used to be real big on such tricks, but my taking responsibility for getting the checks mailed and sending 'em out Priority or Express, always with Tracking and Signature Confirmation put a stop to that noise in her case.

 

[Undertow]

The other benefit to them is there's no hardcopy records of when payment was mailed or tracking, so it's easier for them to claim "never received" while still getting your money or "received late, you owe a late fee" even if payment sent two weeks before due-date--one of the mortgage companies for my mother's house used to be real big on such tricks, but my taking responsibility for getting the checks mailed and sending 'em out Priority or Express, always with Tracking and Signature Confirmation put a stop to that noise in her case.

I agree here as well. I realize many people sneer and say, "Ah, how often has that really happened?"

Let me tell you, I've gotten myself out of a few jams because I had paper receipts and postal confirmations backing me up. I've also had an incident where my bank forgot to enter a deposit I'd made and it was taken care of quite simply with a copy of the deposit slip mailed at my convenience.

 

[Diamondback]

And those who sneer are frequently either Pollyannas who refuse to recognize that there are less-than-ethical people in the world and a great deal of them in high-finance, or less commonly are such themselves and seek to dismiss those who are wise to their tricks as Art Bell-Listening, UFO-Chasing, Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists...

"It's not 'paranoia' if there really is Someone Out to Get You."

 

[Lady Day]

Many LadyDay.
Many companies charge for a service if you use a bill paying service thru them now also.
Many also strongly suggest you pay online and opt out of snail mail in guise of saving trees.
Just like now many companies charge to talk to a real live human being about your bill.

I am sorry but definitely think in the near future it will be mandatory for many companies or pay a fee.

http://www.bbb.org/us/post/companies...-by-phone-1304

[huh] Strongly suggest and definitely think dont equate to companies that actually charge extra for mailing in a payment via USPS. The link you site is charging by phone, and even in their blurb they say pay by snail mail.

LD

 

[Talbot]

I agree with keeping open on Saturdays. Many of us find it difficult to get to the post office during the week...

Yes, that's why the post office here is open on Sat, just no deliveries to your house on that day. If there is a parcel waiting for you, you can pick it up. They will even SMS your phone when it is ready.

One difference that surprised me is that the USPS will pick mail up from your home. Here in OZ, you have to take your mail to a pillarbox or a post office outlet. The average distance to one of those is roughly 5km in the Australian metro area.

More franchises might help the USPS - its going to have to do something to survive. Postal services all over the world are under extreme pressure with the financial crisis driving business toward electronic substitution for their traditional bulk mail communications.

 

[Mr_D.]

To clarify, the post offices will still be open on Saturday's just no deliveries.

 

[Foofoogal]

Strongly suggest and definitely think dont equate to companies that actually charge extra for mailing in a payment via USPS.

I never stated one would be charged for snail mail. I suggested eventually companies will expect you to not pay by snail mail and already do.
One in fact did today when I called. Suggested I go and pay my gas bill online.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Although I wouldn't object too strongly to Saturday deliveries going away, I do disagree with most of you regarding doing away with most of what the USPS does for us.

It may not be as often as it should be, but I write letters. Does anyone here think that FedEx is going to deliver a handwritten letter from Ohio to Oregon for $0.44?

As for packages, I've said this before and I'll say it again: the USPS is the ONLY service that has delivered all of the packages sent to me from eBay purchases without any problems at all. A number of irreplacable items shipped by UPS or DHL have been destroyed, one way or another. UPS likes to ignore the very large box with PLACE PACKAGES IN HERE in large letters on its side and leave boxes in the rain and/or where my dogs can get to them. FedEx once delivered a package to the same street address, but on a US highway, not the state route I live on. They'd messed up the shipping label and made a guess, then refused to come out to where they'd left it to pick it up and deliver it properly when the confused people at that address called them.

I know, a lot of our communications are going out via electronic means these days. That's no reason to do away with letters any more than "meeting" people on forums like this one is a reason to do away with actually leaving your house and socializing in person.

OK, I'll stop ranting now.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Chasseur]

I've said this before and I'll say it again: the USPS is the ONLY service that has delivered all of the packages sent to me from eBay purchases without any problems at all. A number of irreplacable items shipped by UPS or DHL have been destroyed, one way or another. UPS likes to ignore the very large box with PLACE PACKAGES IN HERE in large letters on its side and leave boxes in the rain and/or where my dogs can get to them. FedEx once delivered a package to the same street address, but on a US highway, not the state route I live on. They'd messed up the shipping label and made a guess, then refused to come out to where they'd left it to pick it up and deliver it properly when the confused people at that address called them.

I have to second your remarks about the strange inability of UPS to actually delivery packages accoring their own procedures. Over the past several years I have gotten such bad and expensive service from UPS I really wonder how they stay in business.

I end up shipping firearms to gunsmiths for repair and some gunsmiths insist on using UPS. I've had UPS place firearms, which are insured and worth several thousands dollars on my doorstep with no one home or give them to neighbors without permission even though they were sent with signature confirmation each time (which is actually UPS policy on shipping firearms). This has happened at least on two occations. That a UPS guy will take a package with a firearm (the firearm is declared), that says Adult delivery signature confirmation, that is insured for 5 or 6 thousand dollars, and leave it outside your door in an appartment building or with your neighbors is crazy to me :rage:

Moreover, this bad service seems to happen no matter where I live with UPS: DC, Virginia, Hawaii, etc. But, I never had any any of these problems with the Post Office... hmmmm....

Sorry rant over...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

From what i saw this is just about deliveries. The post offices would still be open. Saturday is the best day to stop deliveries because many of the business that's done by mail won't be done on Saturdays anyway since those types of places (offices, lawyers, etc.) tend to close for the weekends.

Sounds like a good money-saving idea from the USPS. Wish Royal Mail would have the gumption to make similar good decisions. The current proposal from Royal Mail is to just sack people in sorting offices and replace them with machines. Result: everyone is on strike all the time, as many of you who have received late packages from me will attest! :eusa_doh:

bk

 

[John in Covina]

Out by me 3 out of 4 Postal Employees at the post Office counter don't speak English as their first language and maybe not their second either...
(I can't understand what they are saying.:eusa_doh: )

So far in the last 6 months I have had 2 updated credit cards never make it to my home via US Post Office. An extraordinary amount of mail I have sent out such as in paying bills have never arrived at the address on the envelope.

I simply no longer trust the Covina Post Office to do what they are supposed to do, I now go to other post offices when sending out mail. Another thing I noticed is when it's my regular mailman the mail may not come until 5 or 6pm, if it's a fill in person it can come as early as 10am and not later than 3:30pm!

I was told that in some areas (a long time ago) there were actually two deliveries per day: the morning mail and the afternoon/evening mail, now they are cutting back 1 delivery a day from 6 days to 5 days a 16.8% reduction in delivery days.

 

[anon`]

Won't miss it. USPS is the only carrier that that has lost or destroyed items shipped to me (though both Fedex and UPS have failed to meet their contractual obligations in the past), and our local post office was never open on Saturdays to begin with.

I say drop Saturday delivery. And Tues/Thurs while you're at it.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

USPS; "Cash Strapped" indeed.

I have 11 packages (Ebay sales) that I'll be taking to post tomorrow. They will all fit on the passenger seat of my truck. The total postage I'm (buyers are) paying is nearly $150.00.

Yeah, when I'm "cash strapped" I work less in order to remedy that problem. Government logic never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Diamondback]

"Government Logic" is rivaled only by "Central Intelligence Agency" for its magnitude of oxymoron-dom... lol

 

[Tango Yankee]

You know, it's funny... so many here bemoan the loss of various institutions over the decades yet are so quick to recommend the demise of one of our oldest ones.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[LizzieMaine]

Until 1913 mail was regularly delivered on Sundays. I wouldn't mind seeing that brought back.