USPS headscratcher

[twodog max]

I want to share another USPS event that truly has me wondering what is going on. I was in the market for a new scope. I am a Leupold guy and i was searching for a specific model for the Marlin 1895 Trapper. Of course no one had any and some sources said it was discontinued in spite of it being on the Leupold website.
Now to the event. In the interim I decided to order a different scope from the Big supplier in Missouri, you know the one. I did just that and got confirmation of it being shipped the same day via priority mail. Fast forward 2 days and got notified by the same supplier that the scope I originally wanted was now in stock. I ordered it as well and within an hour was notified it was shipped via priority mail.
Both items had tracking the first order showed it being accepted at the USPS in Columbia Missouri. So did the second order.
The second scope showed up in the mailbox 2 days after being ordered. The original first purchase took a week to show up and never did tracking indicate that it left Missouri.
Both items arrived in good shape but you got to wonder what went on in that one order flew through the system tracked correctly and the other languished is the PO somewhere without any information on its whereabouts.
Just shows that the PO sometimes gets it right and others just are seemingly in limbo at the very same facility.

 

[Dave.357]

Pony Express = pony tracks.
Disappears over rocky ground.

 

[KalamazooKid]

"Both items arrived in good shape" …. enjoy your scopes!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

With domestic mail services for ~340 million people plus international mail services, letters, parcels, bills, and junk mail handled in quantities measured in hundreds of millions of pieces every week, month after month and year after year, how is it possible to expect every experience to be perfect?

Prior to my retirement I regularly sent about 2,000 parcels via USPS every year. I can recall only 2 incidents in which a parcel completely disappeared (lost or stolen) and perhaps 10 damaged parcels over a period of more than 10 years.

If my experience is within the average range, I would rate USPS service to be about 99.94%.

My 2 cents worth for the day.

 

[WR Moore]

I sent/shipped something by Priority Mail once, paid heavily for it. Took ten days to reach it's destination. Pony Express got mail from St Louis to San Francisico faster 100+ years ago.

More recently ordered some stuff from the firm in post #1. Got a "it's shipped" email. Wasn't able to track it, but it did show up, don't recall transit time, but not in 3 days or whatever.

 

[BigBoy99]

"Both items arrived in good shape" …. enjoy your scopes!

My last USPS package which I shipped arrived in TWO pieces. The heavy cardboard box had been ripped in half! Some of the smaller contents were missing. Claim has been filed so we now wait to see what happens. I guess with the shortage of workers, some gorillas must have been added to the employee roles!

 

[Protocall_Design]

My last USPS package which I shipped arrived in TWO pieces. The heavy cardboard box had been ripped in half! Some of the smaller contents were missing. Claim has been filed so we now wait to see what happens. I guess with the shortage of workers, some gorillas must have been added to the employee roles!

Maybe they were out of work airport baggage handlers hired by the Post Office...

 

[LoboGunLeather]

My last USPS package which I shipped arrived in TWO pieces. The heavy cardboard box had been ripped in half! Some of the smaller contents were missing. Claim has been filed so we now wait to see what happens. I guess with the shortage of workers, some gorillas must have been added to the employee roles!

I have not noticed any gorillas in the USPS yet, but I regularly see full-sleeve and facial tattoos (not all of which are suitable for polite company) and I know of at least one USPS employee with multiple felony convictions and a couple of terms in prison in his past.

Back in the 1970s I once investigated a hit & run collision involving a USPS vehicle and parked cars, subsequently arrested and booked the postal worker for driving with a BAC double the legal limit. I doubt that DUI is common for USPS mail handlers while on duty. NOTE: Impounding a USPS mail delivery vehicle results in a mountain of paperwork and should be avoided whenever possible.

 

[Grayfox]

On another forum I visit, a member offered to mail me a patch I liked. He said he sent it, but it never showed up. I didn't worry too much about it and let it go.
A few days ago, he messaged me and said it had been returned to him as undeliverable after 4.5 months. He had my address correct, but misspelled my first name. Neither one of us has any idea why they sent it back to him.
He's gonna try again. We'll see what happens.

As for postal workers, my younger son just started working for USPS as a mail carrier. The entire hiring process was done via internet. There was no in-person interview at all. He applied on-line, got accepted and they e-mailed instructions on where and when to go for training. Kinda PO'd him as he had questions he wanted to ask. First time he met anybody in person was his first day of training. No wonder they end up with all sorts of strange looking characters.

 

[jjrr]

The inner workings of the parcel system in the country will always be a mystery like why can't the dept of transportation keep the highways open or why at x grocery store a popular brand of eggs will have a long expiration date and at y grocery store across town will have the same brand eggs with dates that are almost expired. I think the thing at the grocery store is a deliberate act but the thing with the other mysteries are that among the people managing things nobody cares.

 

[Nightowl]

It is interesting that it takes a week for an order to arrive here from MidwayUSA to Warrensburg, 95 miles!

 

[MRB1]

It is interesting that it takes a week for an order to arrive here from MidwayUSA to Warrensburg, 95 miles!

Because it goes to San Fransico, then Dallas, then Key West and then to where it's supposed to go.

 

[Nevada Ed]

To save time, generally;

the item is sent to a "Main Spur" in your area, even if it is 300 miles away.

Then they ship it to a 2nd site, that is the closest to your area, hopefully.
This sometimes fails and is sent to the wrong 3rd shipping office.

Now it is "Spin the bottle time".

Got to love it.

I worked in the Post office, as a letter sorter.
With the volume of mail and packages that go through this system,

I am glad to see mail in my box, knowing what can take place.

Hint;
if is has $$,
insure it, even if it is just a $20 bithday card.

 

[Rudi]

They mess up a lot and I do bash them. But, amazingly, they get most stuff where it goes.

 

[ladder13]

I never send anything Priority Mail, not worth the extra dough. I send regular or ground if a package. Usually gets to its destination the same day as PM or a day later.
PM draws attention to thieves also. "Wonder what's in here?"

 

[MRB1]

Remember when if you wanted a letter to get somewhere quickly, you sent it air mail? Lots of people never heard of that.

 

[Bald1]

I'll take USPS over FedEx ANYDAY !!!!!! Just my 2 cents for the day.