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Thread: What's up with USPS?

  1. #1
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default What's up with USPS?

    Is anyone else having issues with the USPS? I have two packages en route that are overdue and the tracking system has given up predicting a date. It basically says they will get there when they get there.

    One is a set of tuning gears coming from Kansas that was initially predicted to be here last Monday. It is now Friday and no due date is being given, just that it is me route to their next facility. The tracker has been saying that since Tuesday with no change.

    The other is a mandolin coming from California. Is was due in today. Now I am getting the same message on the tracker that I have been getting for the tuners.

    Any clues on this? Am I just having bad luck or are others having the same problems with USPS?
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  2. #2
    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    That’s my experience with the postal service. I recently ordered some stuff from Missouri; it arrived in NC, went back out west and then eventually came back. It was priority shipping too. Go figure!

  3. #3
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Everything I've ordered has showed up early lately but I'd either call the shipper or take a trip down to the Post Office and let them look for it.
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    Registered User Bob Buckingham's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I bought some picks from Nashville a 5-1/2 hour drive from here and it took ten days to get here. Yeah they are getting worse. We ordered a mic from a store in North GA 2 hours away and it went to Puerto Rico to get to SC!

  5. #5
    formerly Philphool Phil Goodson's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Only problems I've had seem to occur when one carrier hands off to another. I order stuff that says it's coming by UPS and halfway to me, UPS gives it to USPS to bring to my door. All sorts of back & forths seems to be happening all the time. I think they must have some cost saving agreements going these days.
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  6. #6
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I just came back from the local post office. They tracked the packages and said it looks odd to them, too. It would be one thing if we were in the dead of winter and the middle of the country was having snow storms. As it is, these packages (especially the one from Kansas) are considerably overdue for being logged in at a postal facility. Let's hope it is a problem with the tracking system, not the routing of the packages. Everything is getting way too complicated!
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  7. #7

    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    It's not just USPS. We ordered some furniture for our deck. Was due to arrive last Friday between 5:00 and 8:00 in the evening via Fed Ex. We got notification that it wouldn't arrive until the following Tuesday, which it did.

    Seems when it was shipped from Pennsylvania it was sent to California to end up in Indiana.
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  8. #8
    Registered User DougC's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    The US postal service budget has been cut, just like the Environmental Protection Agency. In our neighborhood they keep hiring postal carriers at lower wages.
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Last thing I ordered was due to arrive last Saturday and it actually arrived Friday. Usually it does pretty well, but sometimes the route makes no sense (once ordered something from Indiana - I live in Ohio - and it went through South Carolina.) I think it depends on airline routes (if it goes by plane instead of by truck.)

  10. #10
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Anyone remember TV's "Death Valley Days", with the intro featuring the "20-mule-team" borax-wagon train? Three wagons, two carrying rock/borax, plus a water-tank wagon. And, obviously, all pulled by 20 mules. (For some short time, the "host" was yet-to-elected Ronald Reagan).

    Back in '52, we moved from Brooklyn out to "Long Island", not the name of a specific town, and really just over the NYC border into Nassau county, still on the same geographic "Long Island" as Brooklyn & Queens. A year or three later, my Denver-living grandfather was thoughtful enough to mail me a put-it-together plastic model of those 20 mules + 3 wagons (just like assembling a model airplane). The problem was that my Brooklyn-living aunt gave him "Long Island" as part on our new address, and it took almost 3 months for the package, a 10-inch-square, to arrive. When it did show up, its makings told the story: Its excursion took it thru at least three, maybe five, places that WERE named "Long Island", those being, as best I recall, in Montana, Idaho, Maine, maybe Missouri...

    And hey: Tracking software was a bit primative in 1954!
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  11. #11
    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Quote Originally Posted by Philphool View Post
    Only problems I've had seem to occur when one carrier hands off to another. I order stuff that says it's coming by UPS and halfway to me, UPS gives it to USPS to bring to my door. All sorts of back & forths seems to be happening all the time. I think they must have some cost saving agreements going these days.
    I always have problems with someone ships via DHL because they hand off to USPS and it just seems to go into never land for a while.
    Lately I have had great luck with things that come directly through USPS from the start, particularly with starting my used vinyl collection from Discogs.
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  13. #12
    Fatally Flawed Bill Kammerzell's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Just sent a package to Connecticut and another to New Hampshire. One was a mandolin and another was accessories. Two Day priority and both arrived on time. Outside of the initial tracking on one being slow to catch up all went well.
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  14. #13
    Fatally Flawed Bill Kammerzell's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Ditto on the hand off from DHL to the post office. Not so smooth as it could be.
    Ray Dearstone #009 D1A (1999)
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    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I wish I could tell you things are much better here in Canada, but I can't. Ordering something whether by courier or mail, whether international or within the country, is a crap shoot. Sometimes the results are stunning, other times dismal. I ordered two books from the same company in August. On September 13, I've had one for over a week, the other has yet to arrive. My daughter in Germany tells me it's no better there. Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when the post office, in Canada at least, was efficient.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    For well over a year now I've been using USPS to send mandolins and such I swap or sell and haven't had an issue, I got rid of using UPS because of way too many damaged packages I've received, nothing I've sent out though, so I won't use them or if I get something from someone I tell them please do not use UPS.

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  18. #16
    Registered User DougC's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    It seems that we (mandolin cafe members) can and should discuss this topic because we have a very diverse geographical 'perspective'. We are limited to English speaking folks however. But I'm interested in what experiences others have. (This is a little like reading Amazon's Customer's Reviews. )

    My wife sent some valuable music books to her nephew in SanFransisco at "book rate" last March. The box broke and nothing was ever found. They are still looking for them at a warehouse in Georga. I sent a book to him at First Class and it arrived in three days. So only one star for 'Book Rate'.

    Also I agree that UPS, if it is not 'overnight express' will break things or come with the box damaged. And then Amazon, if the box identifies the contents, it will be stolen. Esp. if it goes through Tennessee. (sorry guys..) So the box goes into another box without markings. Sheesh, nothing seems reliable.

    I have also found that USPS, Priority (read faster and more expensive) Mail works very well.
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  19. #17

    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I always ship mandolins by USPS Priority 2 Day Express. It's guaranteed to get there in 2 days or you get a refund of the shipping cost. They are more highly motivated to get it there in 2 days, and it's way cheaper than UPS or FedEx 2 day shipping. I think I've gotten refunds 2-3 times out of 20 or more boxes and those all got there in 3 days instead of 2.
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Ordered books from Amazon with Prime. They were supposed to arrive the next day when I placed the order. The order confirmation email said the they would arrive the following Monday. Monday I received an email that my package had been delivered. Possibly, but not to me. I called Amazonand they said the package had been handed off to USPS. It was not their problem anymore and she hung up on me! Tuesday I called again. The customer service person has a line to the USPS tracking people who started to trace the package. Yup, they claimed it was delivered. I had to firmly make it clear that it was definitely not delivered.

    The USPS person said she would keep looking. A few hours later a local USPS supervisor called me and told me that the carrier said it had been delivered. I checked the package box again and it was still empty, as it had been for several days. Amazon replaced the books which arrived on Wednesday by way of their own contractor.

    Thursday evening a neighbor stops by with the original package. The key to the parcel box had been dropped off in his mail box sometime Thursday.

    So, I have two sets of cookbooks. I tried to return one set but Amazon wants to charge me $11.99 to return them. That’s actually more than either of the books cost. I guess I will donate them to them library for their next book sale.

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  22. #19
    Registered User doc holiday's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    " Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when the post office, in Canada at least, was efficient."
    There was no next day delivery & we were happy ordering books from the book store ....with a 3-6 wk wait. Is it inefficiency or too-high expectations..?

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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I have been doing shipping/receiving for a living for most of the past 40 years. I have noticed that ever since last Christmas USPS shipping and tracking is not quite as good as it once was, but overall they do a good, reliable job, and I greatly prefer to use them over the FedEx and UPS ground services.

  25. #21
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Bought a Martin Style A from a gent in Boston and paid for second day air shipping. The seller did everything correctly, but apparently made the mistake of insuring it. After day 3 he was emailing me in a bit of a panic...he really was a good dude. I finally got a person in the call center who told me that because it was insured for more than $500 it would receive more “hand attention, without any tracking updates.” Makes absolutely no sense. It arrived on day 7 or 8 in perfectly fine condition, no damage even to the box, but it was frustrating. I actually felt bad for the seller, as he stressed about it way more than I did, and I knew he’d done everything by the book from his end. Otherwise, honestly, I’ve had pretty good luck/service from USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, and Amazon. But, I don’t do a ton of online shopping...
    Chuck

  26. #22
    Out of tune HappyPickin's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    I've had pretty good luck with USPS and prefer them for instruments. Anything that comes to me via UPS looks like it has been dropped off a cliff.
    Out of tune and out of time.

  27. #23
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Quote Originally Posted by doc holiday View Post
    " Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when the post office, in Canada at least, was efficient."
    There was no next day delivery & we were happy ordering books from the book store ....with a 3-6 wk wait. Is it inefficiency or too-high expectations..?
    True. They were a lot better with letters than parcels. I'd get pretty impatient waiting for those orders from the Eatons catalogue.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  28. #24

    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    My experience -- 35 years mail order (what they called it before eBay and the internet...) and mailing something around 9,000 plus packages -- mostly instruments and related accessories, records, cameras, and other collectables -- nothing ever gets lost if the item is bigger than your fist, DELAYED, yes, but almost never lost. In fact, of those 9,000 plus none were lost and less than 5 were damaged in shipping. Pretty amazing stats overall.....

    Now, I do what I can to prevent mistakes on my end. I triple check the address. I seal the address with clear tape -- yep, learned the hard way sometimes things gets spilled on packages and labels get smeared and unreadable..... The big one, even if the item is as small as a pick, if it has any value -- I ship it in a small box RATHER than an envelope or padded envelope -- sure, it costs a coupla bucks more, but it prevents it from being lost.....

    Speaking of delays, our local post office got repainted a while back and the counter was pulled back in the process -- guess what they found back there -- yep, a bunch of envelopes! Not lost, mind you, JUST delayed!! A box would have prevented this.

    We often see threads complaining of USPS and the others for their poor service from individuals who are not doing it daily like some of us. Overall the service is BEYOND excellent IMHO..........

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  30. #25
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's up with USPS?

    Have had some quirks here and there with receiving items in the past year. A book went from here to Chicago and back before delivery, and a friend who sent garlic from AZ watched it bounce between 3 stations before it was delivered. Overall, though, things have been reliable. So, no complaints here.
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