Like many others have reported, it seems the USPS is on a never-ending crusade to see how bad it's service can get before we villagers grab our pitchforks and revolt.
On January 5th, I stuck a birthday card in the mail for my sister, who lives around 1200 miles away in Florida. She sent me a text to say it arrived on February the 4th, 30 days after it was mailed. She also said it looked like it had been runover by a lawn mower. Where else can we get such great service for just $.67?
But wait, there's more!
I ordered some AR15 parts online. The company was very quick to ship them out, sending me an email to tell me it had shipped and included the tracking number. The company is located in Ohio and since I am located 'next door' in Michigan, mail is usually a 2 day affair. So when the tracking info said it was at our local distribution center, located about 8 miles away on Tuesday and that it would be delivered on Wednesday, I was happy. Wednesday came, Wednesday went, and no package. Well, in all fairness, we had some 'winter weather' arrive and unlike the days of my childhood where 'neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night' could stop the mail, nowadays, the threat of clouds seems to do what rain or snow failed to do in the past. Then Thursday also proved to be a no-show, so this morning, I went online and tracked the number again. The screen said the items were now back in Ohio! Oh my!
With a printout of the page from the USPS website, off to the Postal Annex I went. The fellow who came to the window took one look at the printout and called for a supervisor. The supervisor told me a story that at first, I thought he was making up. The gist of what he said was the tracking number was not for the package itself, but for the bin it was placed in at the shipping center in Ohio. He then said that since the bin had made it to our local area, it meant the package wasn't put into that bin. Say what? "Oh yeah", he claimed, "it happens." Well, if the tracking number wasn't for the package, then how can the package get traced? I inquired. "Oh, it can't but don't worry, it will show up!" he cheerfully said. I then told him the story of the 30 day birthday card delivery to which he replied, "Well, snow storms will cause that!"
I'm still not sure if he was outright lying, thinking I was as dumb as I looked, or if he honestly believed what he was telling me, but nothing of what was running through my head can be repeated in an open forum.
On January 5th, I stuck a birthday card in the mail for my sister, who lives around 1200 miles away in Florida. She sent me a text to say it arrived on February the 4th, 30 days after it was mailed. She also said it looked like it had been runover by a lawn mower. Where else can we get such great service for just $.67?
But wait, there's more!
I ordered some AR15 parts online. The company was very quick to ship them out, sending me an email to tell me it had shipped and included the tracking number. The company is located in Ohio and since I am located 'next door' in Michigan, mail is usually a 2 day affair. So when the tracking info said it was at our local distribution center, located about 8 miles away on Tuesday and that it would be delivered on Wednesday, I was happy. Wednesday came, Wednesday went, and no package. Well, in all fairness, we had some 'winter weather' arrive and unlike the days of my childhood where 'neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night' could stop the mail, nowadays, the threat of clouds seems to do what rain or snow failed to do in the past. Then Thursday also proved to be a no-show, so this morning, I went online and tracked the number again. The screen said the items were now back in Ohio! Oh my!
With a printout of the page from the USPS website, off to the Postal Annex I went. The fellow who came to the window took one look at the printout and called for a supervisor. The supervisor told me a story that at first, I thought he was making up. The gist of what he said was the tracking number was not for the package itself, but for the bin it was placed in at the shipping center in Ohio. He then said that since the bin had made it to our local area, it meant the package wasn't put into that bin. Say what? "Oh yeah", he claimed, "it happens." Well, if the tracking number wasn't for the package, then how can the package get traced? I inquired. "Oh, it can't but don't worry, it will show up!" he cheerfully said. I then told him the story of the 30 day birthday card delivery to which he replied, "Well, snow storms will cause that!"
I'm still not sure if he was outright lying, thinking I was as dumb as I looked, or if he honestly believed what he was telling me, but nothing of what was running through my head can be repeated in an open forum.
