USPS...Service?

coltle6920

coltle6920

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An oxymoron for sure.Both words should not be allowed in the same sentence.

I'm sure that some of you are going to say this is my fault for not using direct debit for any bills I have.I like the freedom of paying bills when convenient to me.Sometimes I pay more to cover a purchase made after the statement was generated.

Anyway...The first gripe I have is that over the last 5years I have had 4 payments lost in the system never to be found or returned to me in any form.Maybe I should tell my kin to look for them some time after I die.

The second issue is mail sent to me.Every letter or package has a name,address and 9 digit zipcode.I know the employees can read because I always get the weekly junk mail.Any other mail can be hit or miss as to what I receive and who it belongs to.

I have gone to the Post Office a couple of times to speak to someone in charge and get blown off by the person at the counter.We surely wouldn't want to get a fellow employee in trouble.

Am I the only person here to get this "special" treatment?
 
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I get several gun magazines each month. It seems everyone of them each month have a crease down the middle, covers torn & look like they have been read by the condition of the pages. I ask the postmaster why my gun magazines were just about destroyed. Her answer, " they have to be somewhat folded to go in the boxes in the post office. I just happened to had a catalog for some BS junk my wife gets all the time. I ask her why this junk wasn't destroyed, didn't it have to go in the same boxes as my gun magazines? All I got was a deer in the headlights look, she turned around & walked off. Our tax dollars at work!!!
 
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I have had issues at the post office by not getting mail it's getting packages that I mail. I use a click and ship USPS on line program. I print out the postage. I was told my the postmaster if I used there program the postal worker didn't have to pick up my package if I didn't request a pick up while using the online program. I ask if they deliver mail to my home why can't they get my package. No answer.
 
A couple of years ago they lost a mortgage payment and a VISA
payment. I had dropped them off in my community mailbox
across the street from my house. I had to go to my bank to
cancel the checks, and it wasn't cheap.

So, now when I mail my mortgage payment and VISA payment
I drive down to my post office about 4 miles up the road
with my dog and walk in and hand it to one of the clerks I
know behind the counter. So far, so good. Besides, my dog
likes to go bye bye in the car every chance he gets. :D
 
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I might just be lucky and have an above average Post Office in my
local but I've had pretty good service overall. I occasionally get other
people's mail in my box even though my house number is painted on
my box in big numbers. I just put it back in the box with a yellow
stick on note that says "not here". Whenever I go in the Post Office
I'm always friendly and polite. I've learned that being polite and
respectful and appreciative when dealing with people who have to
serve the general public in their jobs can go a long way sometimes.
 
USPS

2014 was challenging to the extent that Priority Mail items got misdirected, and a USPS MO lost in the system (also PM) for sometime. Their tracking system seems to lag considerably at times. Despite those kinds of glitches, the folks at my local PO have consistently been helpful at resolving any issue. I use them almost exclusively for shipping. Only rarely do I go to the UPS store 20 minutes up the road. Given the volume of stuff they handle, it's an amazing system.
With respect to UPS and FEDEX, my Rottweiler likes FEDEX. (There must be some kind of urban legend passed down from one dog to the next about the people with the brown delivery trucks...).
 
USPS lost a property tax payment a few years ago. That one cost me $100 late fee. I use return receipt now and mail a few weeks early in case it doesn't make it. Then I just go to the court house, stand in line, and pay it.

I generally get pretty good service at my PO. I think it's because there are only about 10K people living in that town.
 
Since our postal carrier retired n Dec I have not had the same postal person in months, Some weeks I get mail daily and at least one week a month I get nothing till Saturday and then get the weeks worth of mail all at once including about 5 pounds of junk mail.. When I asked at the post office the clerk told me that sometimes there are not enough carriers for all the routes but they do try to get the mail out on time... I asked is that why when its slow at the window you have 3 windows open and when the line is out the door you have one window open..
 
Never had a problem with a lost package, going either direction.

I don't pay any regular bills through the mail so that's a non issue.

Only had good service at outlets, but they do seem understaffed which isn't the staff's fault.
 
I have had a few lost items in the US Mail but it's not a new event. Things have been getting lost ever since they have been in existence I suppose. With the automated systems they use these days it's a wonder more things don't get lost destroyed and misplaced. If a package or envelope falls off a conveyor belt and underneath a piece of equipment it could be there for years before anybody finds it. I would guess that the smaller an item is the more likely it is to get lost.
 
I've always found postal workers to be hard working, efficient, and pleasant to deal with. We just moved to MT a few months ago, and live about five miles outside Kalispell. Monday, while I was on this laptop, the dogs suddenly alerted, and I heard the sound of a car door closing. It was our carrier, who was in the process of leaving, after having delivered our mail to a chair on our front porch.

I'd been expecting a card from the USPS notifying me I had a package for pickup at their office, since I knew it wouldn't fit in our mailbox; instead, the carrier delivered it to my home. I call that service. We only live a couple of hundred yards off the main road, but that kindness saved me a 15 mile round trip. I won't forget the service come Christmas.
 
cowart said:
USPS claims "The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations."

]
Click to expand...

I did not re-read the USPS link you posted,( read it before), but this I know. ALL postal WORKERS, are FEDERAL employees, all 492,000, (plus or minus a few thousand), of them.

If they are paid with "tax" dollars or not, I couldn't say, but certainly their benefits come out of the same pile of moolah as any other Fed employee I would think.

The top dogs,in USPS, by and large, are political appointees,/ bureaucrats, and routinely garner huge salaries, not to mention bonuses, that border on "incredible".

By the way, what ever happened to those "going postal incidents ? Everybody get happy all of a sudden ?
 
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If the USPS goes by the wayside what do you think UPS or Fedex is going to charge for a letter or parcel shipped 3000 miles? It sounds like a lot of the complainers loose sight that postal employees are just people working in a big bureaucracy doing a very mundane job that, and this is the worst part, having to deal and interacting with the general public always willing to jump down their throat. Give your postal carrier a little respect, you might get it back.
 
I'm with the Minority here (again and as usual) in that I have had no problem with the Post Office other than the very traumatic days my regular carrier is off and the substitute delivers mail an hour or so later than the regular guy. :confused:

I tell you it is so upsetting, waiting that extra hour for the junk, magazines and bills to come. :mad:

But, other than that major trauma, no drama at my mailbox :D:D:D.

Bob
 
raylan007 said:
If the USPS goes by the wayside what do you think UPS or Fedex is going to charge for a letter or parcel shipped 3000 miles? It sounds like a lot of the complainers loose sight that postal employees are just people working in a big bureaucracy doing a very mundane job that, and this is the worst part, having to deal and interacting with the general public always willing to jump down their throat. Give your postal carrier a little respect, you might get it back.
Click to expand...

Thank You! Privatizing the USPS will lead to everyone paying $1 to mail a Envelope and $100 to Mail a Handgun.Sounds great to me!:confused:
 
My wife, the rural carrier says......

rog8732 said:
I did not re-read the USPS link you posted,( read it before), but this I know. ALL postal WORKERS, are FEDERAL employees, all 492,000, (plus or minus a few thousand), of them.

If they are paid with "tax" dollars or not, I couldn't say, but certainly their benefits come out of the same pile of moolah as any other Fed employee I would think.

The top dogs,in USPS, by and large, are political appointees,/ bureaucrats, and routinely garner huge salaries, not to mention bonuses, that border on "incredible".

By the way, what ever happened to those "going postal incidents ? Everybody get happy all of a sudden ?
Click to expand...

My wife says, no they are not. Since 1971 they have federal regulations and retirement, but that is the only connection.
 
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They need to improve service, but.....

05CarbonDRZ said:
Thank You! Privatizing the USPS will lead to everyone paying $1 to mail a Envelope and $100 to Mail a Handgun.Sounds great to me!:confused:
Click to expand...

USPS has the cheapest mail delivery in the world. It costs 49 cents. You can buy stamps and they are now good forever. That wasn't always true.

If a letter weighs more than an ounce, the price has gone down from where it was before.

One of the problems is that they are 'cutting costs' by using machines that mis-sort and tear up mail. Years ago they were saying machines were going to fix everything but it often makes things worse. I sent a letter to friend, who got it in a PO envelope, torn open with nothing in it. The problem was probably that the letter was a little fatter than a folded up piece of paper, maybe 3 pieces of folded paper.

My wife has had some indicators that the post office finally admits how sorry they are on service and are taking steps to improve it. The past managers have established a cult of 'get the mail out as fast as you can or you'll be in trouble" instead of encouraging customer service. My wife has been saying that for years.
 
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The USA is a large country. Even if postal rates doubled it would still be a bargain to get a letter or package across the country in two days. If any of you have been in foreign countries and mailed anything you'll find the postal rates are extremely high compared to what we pay.

I'm sure there are some lazy postal workers, some lazy federal employees and over paid personnel as well. I WORKED for the Federal Government for over 35 years before I retired. I worked with others in government who not only worked hard but we were all very proud of our accomplishments. I never felt I was overpaid and NEVER got any bonuses as some you've heard about in the news. To say that all government employees are too highly paid or lazy is unfair to those of us who worked hard and got the job done.
 
I have ran into the same problem.Anything that I think is even remotely too thick I just buck up and pay the parcel rate as opposed to the envelope rate.It costs a little more but I look at it as cheap Insurance.
 
i have a small town P O . great service, friendly people , always helpful , go out of their way to save me postage charges.and i'll back them 100%. ever think that u couldn't do the job any better so lets quit complaining. if they weren't around you'd really be inconvenienced ...........
 
The little things withstanding, I still think the USPS is the best bang for the buck going. In the early days of this young nation the USPS was the largest employer in the nation. I think the regulators have put the screws to the contracts regarding their pension requirements, they need to have new employees pensions covered as if they were eligible to retire tomorrow...try to pull that off on the private sector.
 
My rule of thumb for Fed employees.....

Krell1 said:
The USA is a large country. Even if postal rates doubled it would still be a bargain to get a letter or package across the country in two days. If any of you have been in foreign countries and mailed anything you'll find the postal rates are extremely high compared to what we pay.

I'm sure there are some lazy postal workers, some lazy federal employees and over paid personnel as well. I WORKED for the Federal Government for over 35 years before I retired. I worked with others in government who not only worked hard but we were all very proud of our accomplishments. I never felt I was overpaid and NEVER got any bonuses as some you've heard about in the news. To say that all government employees are too highly paid or lazy is unfair to those of us who worked hard and got the job done.
Click to expand...

One third of Federal employees have to work twice as hard to make up for the third that are professional gold bricks. The other third, just does their job satisfactorily.
 
wbraswell said:
I really have no problem with the Post Office. If I were sending something fragile, I would use them instead of UPS or FedX.
Click to expand...

It's funny that you mention that.Just saw a home video showing a postal worker getting out of their truck and tossing a package onto the porch from what looked like 15' away.
 
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