scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 17, 2018 17:13:35 GMT
I used to live in an area where I could buy locally, so I did. Now I live in an area more in the country, and shopping locally is not usually even an option. I have been buying online far more since I moved, so I have had a lot more experience with package deliveries.....and misdeliveries.
I am starting to wonder if the postal offices and the people who work for them are unusually incompetent in my area.
In December I had a package go to my post office. I live very near the post office. However, instead of delivering it to me, someone at my local post office sent it back to the previous office 35 miles away. It was Christmas, so I could kind of understand, but then it sat at that office for another 3 days going nowhere before it made it back to my post office.
I ordered something on the 13th of this month. It was sent promptly by priority mail and was supposed to arrive last night. Earlier in the day, it left the one main location a little after noon. It should have made it to my post office by last night. It looks like they never took it off the truck. The update shows that it left that same office again this morning.
These are the two most frustrating examples, but I am wondering if this is something that typically happens to everyone who orders online from time to time, or if it is just the post offices and their employees in my general area?
I am seriously starting to dread anything being delivered by USPS. We have fewer problems with other delivery carriers.
Do you have delivery issues? How often? Is it more likely to be USPS, UPS, FedEx, or Amazon for you? When packages are late, how late? If others here experience these kinds of problems, I will try to be more patient. I would just like to know if it's typical, or if USPS in my area is just incompetent. This is the second time in two months that a package has taken longer to deliver than normal, but both times it was USPS.
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Post by Patter on Feb 17, 2018 17:35:22 GMT
I have an AMAZING USPS carrier here. She will text me about things, look for things that may be missing, etc. Sample texts may be: left packages at the garage door, you didn't get any mail today don't panic, can you run out I have a bunch for you, etc. Now Fed Ex I REFUSE to use here. AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL! I have had more problems than I can count with deliveries and pickups. I have only had one problem with UPS, and they gave me a check for the FULL value of my box ($200) even though I did not insure it over $100. I really think it depends on area. You may have bad USPS there but as I said, I have it great here. So sorry you are having issues.
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MDscrapaholic
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Feb 17, 2018 17:40:15 GMT
My youngest daughter lives in a rural area in Texas and USPS is terrible. Packages are said to be delivered but no where to be found. They live on a farm with a long driveway so packages are usually left by the mailbox, and anyone driving by can see them. Postal carrier said their dog chased him one time so he won't deliver to the house.
She now has all packages delivered to her work.
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Post by grammadee on Feb 17, 2018 17:45:49 GMT
If you are not used to living in a country/small town setting, my advice is to go into the post office and get to know the people who work there. In small communities, if they know you, people tend to provide above and beyond service. If they don't know you, even a small detail may make them think a piece of mail has incorrectly come to them. ("No one by that name lives here").
We have had parcels and letters arrive at the local post office with no postal box number--or the wrong one--even with misspelled names, and they are delivered to our box. I mailed a Christmas card to one of dh's aunts with the correct first name BUT THE WRONG LAST NAME, and it was delivered to her. (She had a distinctive first name, and the last name had the same first letter).
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Elsabelle
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Post by Elsabelle on Feb 17, 2018 18:00:48 GMT
We have constant problems with USPS here in my typical residential neighborhood. We've had someone who lives on a different street a half mile away bring us mail that went to their house by mistake. We've had things never arrive. We always get our neighbor's mail. It's horrible. When I'm walking in my neighborhood I see and hear mail carriers having personal conversations on their phones while they're on the job. I complained on the website and things were better for a few months but now they're back to constant problems. My daughter has a small business that she runs out of our home so it's especially frustrating for her.  |
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Kerri W
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Post by Kerri W on Feb 17, 2018 18:19:15 GMT
I do not have good luck with the USPS in my small town. We've had multiple problems with delivery both at home and at my workplace. No problems whatsoever with UPS or FedEx.
About a year ago I mailed a package to my dad in his super small town. It made the rounds from the post office to the hub to the post office to the hub blah blah blah for SIX weeks. They could not tell me why. They claimed they couldn't stop it. They could see the pattern over and over but had no idea how to do anything about it. Eventually my brother got involved and raised hell for lack of a better word and they magically delivered the package the next day. I get tired of hearing the USPS say their business is struggling and they have to raise the rates over and over all the while continuing to provide horrific service.
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Post by moraie on Feb 17, 2018 18:20:48 GMT
I'm rural. It's not just you. I have lost a lot of little things with USPS. I ordered a bunch of small items (sequins, single dies, etc) that would ship in those little plastic mailers in Nov/Dec. I had over 20 of them get lost that I had to check the post office then get refunds. I also won't leave mail out for the mail lady to pick up because about once every 2 months I get letters that my neighbors left for pick up delivered to me instead of taken to the post office, including important things like rebates, tax papers, things to go to lawyers, etc.
However, that said, if it's a regular box or priority package, I'd much rather have the post office than UPS or FedEx. When I use MFT's choice delivery and they choose Fed Ex, my package takes 5-7 business days to get here, and they always mail so there's a weekend in there. When they send it USPS, I get it in 3 days, and Saturday works for me instead of against me. FedEx is reliable,though, and my boxes are always in excellent shape. UPS beats the crap out of my boxes. I had to have an electronics item delivered to the house, and the box showed exactly what it was, so the driver knew. The UPS driver ran up the steps with it on his shoulder and just let it go from his shoulder. It made a HUGE thud when it hit. I've seen him throw boxes from the sidewalk and not even walk up the steps. He's also left things on our steps instead of the porch, where anyone walking on the sidewalk could see or grab it. I've gotten open boxes, ripped boxes, and boxes with half the contents missing. I will NEVER choose UPS as a shipper and dread it when I have no choice.
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 17, 2018 22:36:33 GMT
I don't have any problems with my regular USPS driver. She's awesome. There was a different young guy that folded (!) my bright orange envelope from Shutterfly in order to shove it into my mailbox. The crazy thing? He delivered another package to my door.
My FedEx and UPS are good, too. Oh, there is an occasional problem, but it's rare.
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 17, 2018 23:37:18 GMT
Thanks for the feedback.
I am in Texas, in the DFW area. We have a post office, but no grocery store. It's definitely a small town, but there are a lot of homes, and the numbers of homes are continually increasing. Twice it has been the Ft. Worth distributer that seemed to just hang onto it. Once my local post office, instead of delivering it after they got it, sent it BACK to Ft. Worth where it sat and did not move for 3 days.
What worries me is this was a fairly expensive order. I splurged, and I have been pretty excited to get it. The company sent it promptly, by Priority Mail. It's obvious that due to the holiday, it will not arrive now before Tuesday, if then. I'm mostly hoping it isn't lost. The lack of updates worries me. It seems to still be sitting on their stupid truck, where it seems to have been for two days now.
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Post by amp on Feb 17, 2018 23:50:43 GMT
Sadly, this is typical in my area, too. Once I ordered some jewelry from England, and they left me a notice to pick it up at the post office, saying I had 30 days to get it. I went two days later, and they'd already sent it back to England. So I had to order it. Again. And pay postage from England. Again. USPS told me they would refund the second set of postage from England for me, but I figured it would be a huge hassle and just ate it.  I am all about living a calm, hassle-free life. |
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Post by joblackford on Feb 18, 2018 1:15:55 GMT
Oh boy.
I have a good mail carrier here, just a few mistakes here and there, but nothing major. I know that the post office (and ups and fedex) runs things in ways that don't make much sense sometimes, and the tracking of mail doesn't work so well, especially when it's a Smartpost package that changes hands between the post office and ups. But generally things work fine here, and we get a lot of packages for two different businesses. But we have a retail store we run in another town with a problematic address and we were basically told that the post office couldn't find that address (for a shop in a strip mall! like, they couldn't see the big brand name sign on the building...?!) and we would have to avoid delivering packages there via usps.
Getting to know your mail carrier and post office staff certainly couldn't hurt, and they might be able to explain what's going on, as well as looking out for mistakes. Hopefully your package isn't lost and service gets better.
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Post by 950nancy on Feb 18, 2018 1:56:37 GMT
My USPS carrier loves my dogs and makes a special trip to the door and will ring the bell to say hello to the dogs. My Fed Ex driver is the one who takes care of my dogs when we are out of town. He always leaves two tiny bones by the packages so we know it was him. UPS hasn't given us problems either. I know our mail has gone missing, from time to time, but we assumed it was taken out of the box by passers by. It hasn't happened in years. I think it also helps that we are both retired and usually home when packages arrive.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Feb 18, 2018 5:08:20 GMT
Our regular carrier is awesome but the people that fill in for her? Not so much. We have a new mailbox with our full street address spelled out on BOTH sides with decorative vinyl. Twice in the last few weeks we’ve gotten packages from USPS for some neighbors who live at our same house number but a different street a few blocks over. Since we now have a locking box, it’s harder to leave something out there for the carrier to pick up if it was misdelivered, so we just drove over there and dropped it off. PITA but it’s what you do when you hope someone would do the same if it was your package misdelivered. scrapnnana can you sign up for that new USPS thing where they email you scans of the mail that was supposedly delivered that day? I haven’t gone online and done it yet but want to. |
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 18, 2018 6:43:33 GMT
There was another tracking update, although they deleted the one from earlier today that showed it had left the Fort Worth Distribution Center at 10:23 this morning. It now says it left at 9:00 p.m. That makes the 3rd time it has supposedly left the same distribution center, which tells me it has been on the truck the whole time, or something else weird is going on.
Hopefully I will get it Tuesday, but this is just aggravating. 3 times. It has left the same facility 3 times, but not made it 35 miles to deliver it to my post office. I could have driven to that distribution center to pick it up in 35 minutes, but they haven't managed to get it to my post office.
Seriously ridiculous!
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Post by artisticscrapper on Feb 19, 2018 4:07:10 GMT
I live in a heavily populated area and don’t have any problems with USPS but UPS here sucks the big one. Things that are supposed to be delivered show up days later or not at all. One day I came home and they’d left a huge box on my porch. I checked the address and it should have been delivered one block over ( the street names aren’t even close) . I called UPS and told them about the mistake. The man who answered asked me, “ Can’t you just take it over?” Seriously? They came and got it the next day but wow.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2018 8:02:33 GMT
I have always lived in the same town for the past thirty years and always had excellent mail service. I get a lot of mail. I am always ordering things, penpals, lot of magazines, etc... My postal girls and guys have always been the best. Love my FedEx & UPS people too. Move to a different side of town five years ago and OMG!!!! my mail is the worst. Last week my mail carrier threw my packages on the front door step. I am serious. I opened the door and watched him throw my packages. One was breakable. Then he threw the rest of my mail on top of the packages!!!! A couple of months ago I had to go out on my front lawn and pick up my packages. Dude, rang the doorbell, I opened the door and there were my packages in the wet grass. He threw some very important business letters in the yard too, including one from the IRS. Note- No, I am not in trouble with the IRS.  I have had to call several times to file complaints. I don't like doing that. In other odd postal things. We actually have two carriers. One shows up in the morning and the other shows up in the afternoon. I thought it was a backup thing but no, it's a normal thing. Least my morning guy seems nice. FedEx guy threw my husband's cell phone on the front porch and didn't ring the doorbell. He never rings the doorbell at all. Least my UPS guy is sweet. He delivered my MINC the other day. He rang the doorbell. I opened the door as he was getting in his truck. He saw me struggling with the package. He helped me. Another Note- Y'all didn't tell me the MINC was so darn heavy, lol. I am thinking of getting a PO box. |
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 19, 2018 13:48:43 GMT
They have changed the tracking so it has supposedly left the distribution center 4 times now. It has still not made it to my post office. Since today is a holiday, the earliest I can even check on it. I will probably go in person to my local post office to see if they can help. They are very nice.
I am pretty disgusted with the distribution center. Or maybe it is the truck driver not bothering to check to see if all the packages are taken off the truck. It's not likely to be a huge package, but based on the packaging of the items, it's probably not the smallest priority box, either.
Edited to add: it is now on it's way to my post office for the 5th time.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2018 7:55:27 GMT
scrapnnana I hope you get it tomorrow. Crossing fingers for you. Do you live near the distribution site? I live near mine now and they have been a big help with things. DH ordered me a Scan N' Cut tonight. I know I finally got one! I am so excited and scared out of my mind because I hope it gets to me in one piece, not in my flooded yard, thrown in a mud puddle.
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 20, 2018 15:48:13 GMT
Woohoo, amayalylac! I hope you love your Scan N Cut! And I hope it arrives in perfect condition!
The tracking shows my package made it to my post office early this morning, so I was there when they opened. The customer service person at the front counter tried to see if it had been sorted yet. There were still about 130 packages to sort, so he told the carrier to leave my package at the post office, and I can go back to pick it up around noon. I am hoping it will be there waiting for me.
I am about 30 to 35 miles from the distribution center that seems to have issues.
Let us know how you like your new machine! It's big enough that hopefully the person who delivers it will bring it to your door and not drop it. It was pretty well packaged inside, though, if that is any comfort.
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Post by AngieandSnoopy on Feb 20, 2018 16:47:34 GMT
I bought this house over 14 years ago and Fed-Ex can NOT seem to figure out where I live. I've had stuff delivered who knows where because years ago, a woman brought my package to me, said Fed-Ex had delivered it to her. A few years ago, I was walking to my car and Fed-Ex drove up and said where is blah blah, I pointed to the number on my post and said here. Too much like this has happened and I refuse to let someone ship something Fed-Ex to me.
For many years, I had the same UPS driver, she always delivered my packages and went above and beyond. Sometimes when she was on vacation, there might be a problem. But mainly that they wouldn't leave the package at my door without me being there but darn it, I was at work! The driver after she retired seems to be ok but I've never met him.
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 21, 2018 1:27:19 GMT
I bought this house over 14 years ago and Fed-Ex can NOT seem to figure out where I live. I've had stuff delivered who knows where because years ago, a woman brought my package to me, said Fed-Ex had delivered it to her. A few years ago, I was walking to my car and Fed-Ex drove up and said where is blah blah, I pointed to the number on my post and said here. Too much like this has happened and I refuse to let someone ship something Fed-Ex to me. For many years, I had the same UPS driver, she always delivered my packages and went above and beyond. Sometimes when she was on vacation, there might be a problem. But mainly that they wouldn't leave the package at my door without me being there but darn it, I was at work! The driver after she retired seems to be ok but I've never met him. I sometimes wonder if it is carelessness or simple inability to see the obvious. UPS delivered my son's packages to our next door neighbor. The numbers are plainly posted on each house. I was able to pick up my package, although I found out that my request was a big no-no. Apparently the post office is only supposed to hold mail (instead of delivering it) if it is being held for at least 3 days. I did get my package, though! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2018 8:43:52 GMT
scrapnnana I am so happy you got your package. I don't know why holding it for you was such a big no-no. My PO has offered to hold packages for me that had delivery issues. I think somebody at the PO likes to throw their weight around and not worry about running their office proficiently. I did get my ScannCut sent from a sewing business. Crossing fingers that everything will go great. Yes, that does give me comfort it is packaged well. I will be checking the door every fifteen minutes till it arrives. I am nervous about it because we are having record flooding right now in my area. My mailman hates his job. Maybe, he will put it on the roof this time, lol. My home starts his route and there are only five home on my street. He parks in front of my home. I don't know what he's thinking. My block is his free easy block. Today he threw my husbands gaming magazine and a perfume sample in the mailbox, didn't close it and our mailbox filled up with rain. My sweet laid back husband was so mad.
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scrapnnana
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Post by scrapnnana on Feb 21, 2018 16:04:41 GMT
amayalylac, that is inexcusable service!
Maybe you can put a very large note on your door that requests any packages delivered be brought to the door, the bell rung, and please treat packages with care?
When someone hates their job, it's usually not the only thing they hate about their lives. If you know approximately what time he comes, you can meet him with some little nice thing, such as cookies, or whatever. Even just a smile might make him want to be more careful, at least with your deliveries. You might be the first person in a long time that treats him nicely. It's not because he deserves it, because his behavior doesn't deserve it. It's more to get him to view you as a friend, not another thorn in his side. If he thinks of you as a friend, he may give you better treatment than he gives everyone else.
At any rate, I hope you spot him before he just dumps your package in a lake sized puddle. If he sees you waiting for him, he probably will treat your Scan N Cut with care instead of his usual package/mail abuse.
I hope you get it soon and that this delivery is what it should be.
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I am all about living a calm, hassle-free life.
