USPS Ground Advantage Gripes

[Zombie_61]

Well…last night my USPS guy was delivering at 8:30p by flashlight!
Maybe the IG got the @Darrell2688 messages.
Maybe Pete told the IG to **** it up and get it done or be done.
Or maybe the guy just got back from Seattle?
Checks in the mail TBC.
B

I'd seen the USPS carriers in my old neighborhood use flashlights to deliver the mail and parcels if they were running late and needed the extra light. I used to shake my head wondering what kind of deal they had with the Postal Service that was good enough for them to be out after dark delivering who knows what when almost everyone else was at home relaxing after dinner. But, at least most of the time those packages were delivered in good shape and not too horribly late.

 

[BobHufford]

I bought two O’Farrell western hats from an estate sale in Fremont, CA on January 9th. They shipped separately as the boxes were pretty big. Traveling via UPS one of the hats arrived in a timely fashion, but the tracking on the second one never moved from the initial scan at the UPS Store. I reached out to the auction house and they confirmed they had dropped it off. They said they would investigate. It turns out that the shipping label had become separated from the box (it was in a plastic sleeve) and the hat ended up getting shipped back to the house where the estate sale was as the original label from when the hat was new was still on there. Not sure why the auction house thought to check back there, but it had just been delivered when they called. They retrieved it and (since UPS wouldn’t let them reuse the original label) they sent it out USPS Ground Advantage.

Only took six days for it to cross the border from Kansas to Missouri.

I may see it someday.

 

[AHP91]

I bought two O’Farrell western hats from an estate sale in Fremont, CA on January 9th. They shipped separately as the boxes were pretty big. Traveling via UPS one of the hats arrived in a timely fashion, but the tracking on the second one never moved from the initial scan at the UPS Store. I reached out to the auction house and they confirmed they had dropped it off. They said they would investigate. It turns out that the shipping label had become separated from the box (it was in a plastic sleeve) and the hat ended up getting shipped back to the house where the estate sale was as the original label from when the hat was new was still on there. Not sure why the auction house thought to check back there, but it had just been delivered when they called. They retrieved it and (since UPS wouldn’t let them reuse the original label) they sent it out USPS Ground Advantage.

Only took six days for it to cross the border from Kansas to Missouri.

View attachment 768537

I may see it someday.

It finally happened — a package was misdelivered. With a lot of packages coming and going, I figured it was time to pay for a PO Box. I knew that, technically, I could have rented a smaller letter box and still received packages by picking them up at the counter. However, USPS specifically notes that if you expect larger packages, you’re supposed to rent a larger box, which costs considerably more. To avoid any confusion, I went ahead and paid for the larger parcel box.

After a series of trips during which I was initially assigned a non-functioning PO Box — and was then mistakenly told I needed to fill out a change-of-address form — a staff member finally asked me, “Why did you pay for the large PO Box when you can just have notices left in the small one?”

 

[BobHufford]

Needed to ship a hat to Pennsylvania, but also needed to be in the big town (Springfield, MO) to babysit the granddaughter. So I printed the Priority Mail label at the farm, headed to town and dropped off the hat with USPS around 10:30 am. The line was long, so I dropped it on the counter for pre-paid and didn’t wait for a receipt. I occasionally checked the tracking to see that they did an intake, but was surprised to see a delivery scan a few hours later (?!). I figured they had the wrong code in the scanner when they did the intake. Now I wasn’t sure if it went out or stayed at the Post Office.

I tried calling a local number, but it just rang and rang. The AI Bot with the 800 number would not let me talk to a human. Tried this for two days and finally enough time passed for the Bot to allow me to fill out a Service Request. At the end of this I was given a prompt to talk to an agent. A half hour on hold finally got me to someone. They could see the package moving and said they would try to get the tracking visible to me again.

After all this time (and before I knew the status) the buyer had requested a refund through eBay. Now I have to try and work something out after it gets delivered.

Thinking of going with UPS or FedEx going forward. Well … maybe not UPS after the Lost O’Farrell Incident.

 

[RickP]

The last couple years, Ive always tried to beg, whine and convince sellers to ship fed ex or ups just for this reason. Ive had too many USPS packages get lost or get stuck in a loop back and forth between two towns. Ill gladly pay more to have fed ex/ ups actually get it to me... Kinda related, ive had more than a few sellers charge for fed ex shipping only to see a usps label on the box when the postman delivers it ( lowlife seller upcharged for better shipping and then sent it cheap and pocketed the extra $10-15... Chaffs my hide for sure

 

[BobHufford]

ive had more than a few sellers charge for fed ex shipping only to see a usps label on the box when the postman delivers it

I think FedEx uses the USPS for the “last mile” in some areas. I’ve had packages like that.

 

[jeffgarf]

I think FedEx uses the USPS for the “last mile” in some areas. I’ve had packages like that.

Same

 

[Darrell2688]

I have experienced the same thing, I have received packages that had FedEx shipping labels and on top of that was a USPS label.
I ordered my wife a set of gold hoop earrings for Valentine's day, the package was shipped on Feb. 2, I tracked the package to Cincinnati, OH on a Friday, that is 23 miles away, the next day I checked again and the earrings were in Maine, the package must have gotton put on the wrong truck, needles to say I didn't get the package until the 12th of Feb. Well I guess that I should be happy that the package was delivered before the 14th.

 

[jeffgarf]

I have experienced the same thing, I have received packages that had FedEx shipping labels and on top of that was a USPS label.
I ordered my wife a set of gold hoop earrings for Valentine's day, the package was shipped on Feb. 2, I tracked the package to Cincinnati, OH on a Friday, that is 23 miles away, the next day I checked again and the earrings were in Maine, the package must have gotton put on the wrong truck, needles to say I didn't get the package until the 12th of Feb. Well I guess that I should be happy that the package was delivered before the 14th.

A day later you could have given her a Presidents Day gift.

 

[Darrell2688]

Actually I did something better, we had a GE Hotpoint with a ceramic top, for 20 years, it needed some burners replaced and a oven element replacement, I wanted to fix the stove, she told me no that we would just get a new stove and for the next couple of years she got angry everytime that she used the new stove. I started looking for another GE Hotpoint with a cermaic top, I found them all over the country but not in KY until Feb. 14th. I found one 20 miles away, so I took her to the store and she has another GE Hotpoint with Ceramic top. She was shocked that I kepted searching for the stove and found one. That stove is in our kitchen right now, and the Whirlpool that we purchased new is gone. She couldn't be any happier. She tells me that I am like a Pitbull and that I should have been a police officer, because I research everything and I don't stop until I am happy with what I find out.

 

[Zombie_61]

The last couple years, Ive always tried to beg, whine and convince sellers to ship fed ex or ups just for this reason. Ive had too many USPS packages get lost or get stuck in a loop back and forth between two towns. Ill gladly pay more to have fed ex/ ups actually get it to me...

Whenever I hear someone considering UPS or Fed Ex for their shipment(s), I can't help but shake my head because here in southern California they're very good at using their trucks to create traffic delays, but not at all skilled in actually making deliveries. Or, if they've actually delivered a parcel or two, they look like they'd been used for soccer practice along the way because they're ridiculously beaten up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯