i have to rant about the usps

[psi chick]

yeah it's long....sorry but i'm so angry i just need to get it out.

two weeks ago hubby ordered me a nice shinny new phone for xmas. isn't he sweet (also my current phone is about to die). it was ordered on the 16th, drop shipped and usps received it the evening of the 16th. scheduled delivery on the 19th. he thinks great it will be here in time for xmas. the 19th came and went. figured it was it just a little late due to the holiday, no big deal. friday the 23 still no package so a phone call to the usps is made. they say they have no idea what happened or where it is, they'll look for it. call our att rep to find out what att says about it, who then call usps to find out where the package is. usps tells att that the package was signed for and delivered on the 19th as scheduled. really? well it wasn't signed for here. a few more calls back and forth that day and it's decided by att that it's lost and the usps is full of crap. a claim is made with att and they are going to send out a new one on monday. fine whatever, everyone just figured at that point that someone in the usps either screwed up and lost it, or more likely it was stolen at the warehouse.

suddenly on the 24th the package magically appears at the grand central station saying it was misrouted. this is where it's been sitting since the 24th. called usps today, and was told that a decision has to be made if they will deliver the package or send it back to att. wtf are you kidding? why the hell would you send it back?

hubby, having more patience than i do, called the grand central station to find out if either 1. they can get the package up here or 2. if they'll just hold the thing and i'll go down there and pick it up. turns out the people at that station are actually helpful, unlike everyone else i've dealt with on this one. they told us the truth of what happened. the bar code that was put on the box to get it where it needs to go was wrong. the zip should be 10710, and they put it as 10017. so that's how the box ended up in manhattan. and now four days later it's apparently still there.

but now i'm still sitting here and no one knows how to fix this. the usps completely screwed this up and tried to play it off like it was delivered and there isn't a problem and it's my fault that i'm trying to scam them. then they don't know how the package is going to get the whopping 10 miles from grand central to here. they don't know where it is in the warehouse so i can't go pick it up. they don't know anything.

hubby was given two phone numbers to call for a manager (don't know of what) that may be able to help. he calls the first one and no answer, no voice mail attached to it. calls the second one, no answer and the mail box is full, getting transferred to a operator. ok he figures he can just find out from them who he needs to talk to. suddenly the system tells him that no valid number for an operator can be found, and it hangs up on it. lol omfg are you serious? and when i was trying to call usps tracking i was told that the agents were all busy and to call back later and it hung up on me.

i'm beyond frustrated with this. usps seems so screwed up that they can't find their head in their ass. i am NEVER shipping anything usps again. it's no wonder people are stopping using usps when the level of customer service is this horrible and they can't fix a simple mistake that they made. everyone that we've spoken too has basically just passed the blame onto someone else and given us a different phone number to call that turns out to be completely useless. the usps seems to do okay when things are done correctly, but if there's a problem and something gets messed up it's like a bunch of high schooler's passing the blame while nothing gets done to fix it. there is no excuse for this taking this long or being this problematic.

sorry i had to rant, i just really can't believe all of this for one small box.

[vicariousrider]

Seems quality at the USPS has been lacking as of late when it comes to customer service...

Hope you don't mind if I join in.

I was at a Post Office a couple of months ago, trying to get a package shipped. Well, silly me, I didn't box everything up before going to the post office and wound up trying to package up all the boxes to get them ready for shipment.

As it would happen, closing time inevitably came, and I was trying to get everything finished up but it just wasn't going as quickly as I had hoped. This is where it gets frustrating:

While I'm standing there with boxes, bubble wrap, and supplies spread out, one of the postal clerks on duty steps out to the doorway, telling me he's gonna close up in 5 minutes. Then comes back at the 2-minute mark and says the same thing. Then, approximately 30 seconds prior to close, comes to the door again, and begins loudly broadcasting to the Post Office that he 'was getting ready to close up the office, and that all customers needed to bring their packages into the office before he locked the door.' When another customer asked him what he was talking about, he had no qualms about pointing at me, with stuff scattered everywhere, and informing the other customer that he was trying to get me to bring all my stuff to the shipping desk so that the packages could be shipped.

I understand that the postal clerk was trying to do me a favor and allow me to conduct business after their normal business hours, but the way the guy acted was flat wrong. I promptly told him to go ahead and lock up, and told him that his conduct was the reason why USPS was losing money. I took a swift kick in the wallet but shipped the packages via United Parcel Service instead. Don't want to respect me? Fine. I'll find other ways to get the package delivered.

[Norm201]

The USPS handles millions of packages and only a small percentage get messed up. That's life. We're only human. Just because you're package got screwed up is no reason to blast the USPS. I think they do a great job and I never had a lost package.

Does this sound a little bit familiar? Damn consumers think they are entitled!

Seriously PSIChick, I don't blame you for being mad and I hope you get your phone soon. But I must say when the shoe is on the other foot it seems a bit different.

[Norm201]

Originally Posted by vicariousrider

Seems quality at the USPS has been lacking as of late when it comes to customer service...

Hope you don't mind if I join in.

I was at a Post Office a couple of months ago, trying to get a package shipped. Well, silly me, I didn't box everything up before going to the post office and wound up trying to package up all the boxes to get them ready for shipment.

As it would happen, closing time inevitably came, and I was trying to get everything finished up but it just wasn't going as quickly as I had hoped. This is where it gets frustrating:

While I'm standing there with boxes, bubble wrap, and supplies spread out, one of the postal clerks on duty steps out to the doorway, telling me he's gonna close up in 5 minutes. Then comes back at the 2-minute mark and says the same thing. Then, approximately 30 seconds prior to close, comes to the door again, and begins loudly broadcasting to the Post Office that he 'was getting ready to close up the office, and that all customers needed to bring their packages into the office before he locked the door.' When another customer asked him what he was talking about, he had no qualms about pointing at me, with stuff scattered everywhere, and informing the other customer that he was trying to get me to bring all my stuff to the shipping desk so that the packages could be shipped.

I understand that the postal clerk was trying to do me a favor and allow me to conduct business after their normal business hours, but the way the guy acted was flat wrong. I promptly told him to go ahead and lock up, and told him that his conduct was the reason why USPS was losing money. I took a swift kick in the wallet but shipped the packages via United Parcel Service instead. Don't want to respect me? Fine. I'll find other ways to get the package delivered.

And for your lack of preparedness the USPS gets a black eye? Few things bother me but when a customer deliberately shops around well beyond the stated store hours and then gets mad because the employees want to go home I can't sympathize. Been there done that.

[Flagstang]

I would have to agree about USPS. BUT they are a government job so you know they did not get the best minds and bodies to be had.

[BondiBlue]

[Norm201]

Originally Posted by Flagstang

I would have to agree about USPS. BUT they are a government job so you know they did not get the best minds and bodies to be had.

I'm not a big fan of the USPS. In fact I think they should go out of business and be taken over by private industry. However, your description of the type of worker is unfair. Every postal worker must take a Civil Service test. Many private industry workers can't pass that test. And those individuals who make the decisions on how to run the USPS are not flunkies by any stretch. It takes brains and skill to handle a behemoth the size of the postal service. It takes a lot more that just passing a civil service exam. Besides, look at the challenge that the USPS must contend with. Most private concerns can't or won't handle business under the constraints that the post office must adhere to. If there is no prifit then just don't do it.
The USPS must except all mail regardless of where its going. They cannot choose the profitable routes. They must work within a predetermined cost system that does not cover the cost of operation (true they may be inefficient). They cannot just raise prices at will. Private industry can choose any price schedule they choose and change it at any time. No so with the USPS. By law they must deliver daily mail on Saturdays. Not just major packages buy every piece of junk mail their is. I don't see Fedex or UPS doing that. They must also contend with a strong union and retirement package. UPS is mostly temp or part time employees exempt from benefits. That's huge! And they are trying to compete with the likes of UPS and Fedex with government restraints not had by private companies. Compared to any other country out mail service is still the best.

[Cobra348]

If they were taken over as a private concern my bet is they would get as crappy as UPS is in my area. Yes, UPS. I have had USPS carriers come to the door with stuff that was too large for the mail box.

Where we live the driveway is about 100 feet long and the houses are situated BEHIND another house. However the 2 townhouses are clearly visible via Google Earth and even shows Phantom in front of my garage.

USPS can find the place, Fedex can find the place. UPS cannot find it and has returned or misdelivered valuable items consistently throughout the 12 years I've been there. I can't tell you how many claims UPS has had to handle because of this.

USPS contractors can even find my place! The local staff is about 25% contractor and 75% USPS employees.

[psi chick]

Originally Posted by Norm201

And for your lack of preparedness the USPS gets a black eye? Few things bother me but when a customer deliberately shops around well beyond the stated store hours and then gets mad because the employees want to go home I can't sympathize. Been there done that.

are you serious? my lack of preparedness? for what, their incompetence? i should what, EXPECT them to not be able to ship a simple box a few states? we placed and order, it was shipped, and they ****ed it up. how, please, is that my fault or have anything to do with me? it was shipped on the 16th, priority 2-3 day mail, with an expected delivery date of the 19th. it's now the 28th and it's somehow MY fault that they didn't deliver it or even at this point know where the hell it is? are you delusional?

and an update: they really don't know where the hell it is. i actually got a phone call from someone in the usps and was told that it apparently was "put back into the mail stream" but they have no idea where it's actually going. it could be headed here, it could be headed back to att, they simply don't know and i should "give it a few more days and see if it shows up, if not call att and tell them"....seriously that's their answer to this. if it was put back into the mail system, should it be scanned in somewhere as to where it's going or where it's at? i can't believe that the usps can handle millions of pieces of mail a year and have no idea where any of it is or where it's going, that just doesn't make sense.

[telero]

Originally Posted by psi chick

are you serious? my lack of preparedness? for what, their incompetence?

I think Norm was speaking to vicariousrider.