USPS - Slow, and seems to be getting worse

[Snapolit1]

Seems like USPS is coming to a slow halt these days. Priority Mail boxes are taking me 4 or 5 days to get to where they need to be. Even in April-May wasn't this bad. I've never had the PO tell me 4 days for a priority mail box going within the same time zone. Realize COVID issues but seems like things are really grinding to a halt. Send a priority mail box NJ-MI on an ebay sale and took 5 days. Perhaps a little work slow down in effect in response to the growing political pressures on USPS?

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Seems like USPS is coming to a slow halt these days. Priority Mail boxes are taking me 4 or 5 days to get to where they need to be. Even in April-May wasn't this bad. I've never had the PO tell me 4 days for a priority mail box going within the same time zone. Realize COVID issues but seems like things are really grinding to a halt. Send a priority mail box NJ-MI on an ebay sale and took 5 days. Perhaps a little work slow down in effect in response to the growing political pressures on USPS?

Not sure if it’s political, covid, summertime slowdown or what, but i agree. Most things I’ve received in the last few weeks have taken about a week from time of purchase to arrival.

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Seems like USPS is coming to a slow halt these days. Priority Mail boxes are taking me 4 or 5 days to get to where they need to be. Even in April-May wasn't this bad. I've never had the PO tell me 4 days for a priority mail box going within the same time zone. Realize COVID issues but seems like things are really grinding to a halt. Send a priority mail box NJ-MI on an ebay sale and took 5 days. Perhaps a little work slow down in effect in response to the growing political pressures on USPS?

Priority mail Florida to Texas 2 1/2 days

[brewing]

I did read somewhere that USPS has been experiencing holiday like mail since late March. They usually hire holiday help during the holidays, but didn't this summer. I expect some slowness.

I've had some items 1-2 days slow, but most arrive very timely. Did have a bubble mailer from Canada get stuck in Chicago for almost 3 weeks and a stamped envelope take 10 days GA to AR. Not bad for over 500 packages sent/received since March.

Everything has made it though.

[rjackson44]

haven't had one problem

[sportscomicfantasy]

I mail out between 5-10 items on average a week of mostly my newer stuff I am selling. I agree that the mail has been taking longer. I send most with 1st class tracking but have maybe one on average that goes out priority mail.

My priority mail has taken longer, have a few arrive in 3 days, but mostly 5-6 business days. I had a couple that took 10 days.

Now my 1st class mail mostly 2-3 days befoe the virus on average, with a few exceptions of course. Now they are mostly 3-5 days, but with a few going around 6-8 and a couple going longer.

[buymycards]

Most of my mail is still being delivered in a timely manner, but I expect major slowdowns.

The instructions from the new Postmaster General (who has no Postal experience) is that absolutely no overtime will be used by anyone. If a carrier is out on the street and they can't get done in 8 hours, they bring the mail back for delivery the next day. That includes packages. If the truck from the processing plant is supposed to leave the plant at 4:30 am to deliver to the local Post Offices, the truck has to leave on time, even if it means letting mail sit on the dock and hopefully, it will go out the next day.

The tough thing about the no overtime rule is that many of the offices are understaffed. Not enough carriers, clerks, mail processors, etc. to go around, and, in the Post Office the hiring and training process can take months. Covid is making the situation even worse.

Locally, I am seeing some of my packages arrive at the plant in Madison at 2:30 in the morning, and normally, they would be on the truck leaving for my Post Office when it leaves at 4:30. Now, the packages are sitting in Madison for 1 or 2 days before they are sent out to the local Post Offices. This is going to create a big bottle neck in the processing centers, and they were having major problems already.

In spite of all of this, I can't complain about the service that I have been receiving.

[brewing]

Originally Posted by brewing

I did read somewhere that USPS has been experiencing holiday like mail since late March. They usually hire holiday help during the holidays, but didn't this summer. I expect some slowness.

I've had some items 1-2 days slow, but most arrive very timely. Did have a bubble mailer from Canada get stuck in Chicago for almost 3 weeks and a stamped envelope take 10 days GA to AR. Not bad for over 500 packages sent/received since March.

Everything has made it though.

Maybe I was a bit wrong earlier. First Class packages are now taking 5-10 days. I'm currently waiting for a Priority package the PO has had for 8 days and arrived in my city 3 days ago.

Still believe the USPS is lacking sufficient staffing levels to handle the workload. Hopefully the USPS can survive, I do not want to pay UPS/FedEx rates for shipping.

[doug.goodman]

Sorry to be the guy who isn't having any issues.

I actually received a box today that was tracking to arrive tomorrow...

[ALR-bishop]

That's why he is called, Doug " I am Sorry About That, But Not Too Sorry " Goodman

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Sorry to be the guy who isn't having any issues.

I actually received a box today that was tracking to arrive tomorrow...

..You have just been volunteered to supervise the mail-in voting for the upcoming election ; your office is at the main entrance of any cemetery in Philadelphia.

..

[Ben Yourg]

And will this help "Voting-by-Mail"?

[glynparson]

I get many packages daily. Things are running about a day or two longer than usual. Even had it been 2-4 days in these circumstances I surely wouldn’t have felt the need to start a post about it. But then again some guys seem compelled to constantly start posts bitching about something.

[gawaintheknight]

It's political.

"[Postmaster General] DeJoy and his wife, a Trump appointee to the Commission on White House Fellowships who is his nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada, own $30.1 million to $75.3 million in assets in Postal Service competitors or contractors, like UPS and the trucking company J.B. Hunt."

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...ad-ncna1234125

Ted

[NATCARD]

After reading many of these threads I had to post the tracking for this package. I know it is long but so was the trip. July 28 - Oct 5 In a black hole somewhere. Thanks, Jeff W


DELIVERED, IN/AT MAILBOX

October 6, 2020 - 3:15 PM

MEMPHIS, TN 38120



OUT FOR DELIVERY

October 6, 2020 - 7:49 AM

MEMPHIS, TN 38120



ARRIVED AT POST OFFICE

October 6, 2020 - 7:38 AM

MEMPHIS, TN 38119



ARRIVED AT USPS FACILITY

October 6, 2020 - 7:04 AM

MEMPHIS, TN 38119



DEPARTED USPS REGIONAL FACILITY

October 6, 2020 - 6:26 AM

MEMPHIS TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER



ARRIVED AT USPS FACILITY

October 6, 2020 - 6:00 AM

MEMPHIS, TN 38106



DEPARTED USPS REGIONAL FACILITY

October 6, 2020 - 2:30 AM

MEMPHIS TN NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER



ARRIVED AT USPS REGIONAL DESTINATION FACILITY

October 5, 2020 - 11:11 AM

MEMPHIS TN NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER



IN TRANSIT TO NEXT FACILITY

July 28, 2020 - 12:00 AM




ARRIVED AT USPS REGIONAL FACILITY

July 24, 2020 - 5:10 AM

JERSEY CITY NJ NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER



DEPARTED USPS REGIONAL FACILITY

July 24, 2020 - 2:09 AM

SPRINGFIELD MA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER



DEPARTED USPS REGIONAL FACILITY

July 24, 2020 - 12:55 AM

SHREWSBURY MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER



ARRIVED AT USPS REGIONAL ORIGIN FACILITY

July 23, 2020 - 8:07 PM

SHREWSBURY MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER



USPS IN POSSESSION OF ITEM

July 23, 2020 - 5:06 PM

NORTHBOROUGH, MA 01532



PRE-SHIPMENT INFO SENT TO USPS, USPS AWAITING ITEM

July 23, 2020 - 12:00 AM




PRINTED

July 23, 2020 - 4:22 PM

01532

[insidethewrapper]

I received my "Mile High Auction Catalog" in the mail July 6th. The auction closed May 14th ! I received another auction house catalog on Jul 19th and the auction ended the first week in July. Paying bills by mail have been crazy, the mail is arriving after the due date and they want to change late fees and penalities.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I received my "Mile High Auction Catalog" in the mail July 6th. The auction closed May 14th ! I received another auction house catalog on Jul 19th and the auction ended the first week in July. Paying bills by mail have been crazy, the mail is arriving after the due date and they want to change late fees and penalities.

I ordered a pretty small tabletop art book July 6 on eBay and supposedly was mailed July 8. Not here yet. Sheesh. What did they mail it, 9th class mail.

Not infrequently I get catalogs or brochures for auctions after they've closed.

[Jim65]

It seems like certain parts of the country are worse. I ordered 2 different items from Michigan and both times, it took 6 days to Jersey by Priority Mail. My other deliveries seem unaffected or maybe an extra day at most.

[Natswin2019]

All the things that I've been ordering haven been showing up on time for the most part. The few things that I've ordered that have showed up late have only been by a day or so. The longest I've had to wait for something to show up has been about 7 or 8 days. This week has been the first week where I've had more than one thing show up late and even then it's only going to be by a day or so. All the deliveries that I've had show up late have been Texas to Virginia so maybe that has something to do with it.

[ClementeFanOh]

No issues whatsoever in SW Ohio, quick and reliable. Trent King

[cardsagain74]

No issues here either in southwest Pennsylvania, other than the occasional package to or from Canada. Those are apparently still a nightmare, regardless of where you are in the US

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I ordered a pretty small tabletop art book July 6 on eBay and supposedly was mailed July 8. Not here yet. Sheesh. What did they mail it, 9th class mail.

Not infrequently I get catalogs or brochures for auctions after they've closed.

Media mail, maybe

[Fballguy]

It's pretty glaring right now. As you said worse than in March. I began to notice it within the last month. I've had two ebay purchases no show. One was USPS the other UPS. Tracking just stopped at the end of June and beginning of July. I've always known USPS customer service is non-existent, but UPS is equally useless now. When you call they flat out tell you speaking to a human is not an option. They must all be in India which is in total lockdown. Frustrating because that package made it all the way to my city and just stopped. I'm waiting for two other USPS packages now that haven't changed status since July 15.

I've noticed packages going through the middle of the country, Illinois in particular, seem to be having problems as well. I had one that went in circles for a week before breaking free from the vortex and heading to me. Had another that seemed to be walking through the state for delivery.

[icollectDCsports]

I've never had a bad experience with the USPS until the past couple of months. A fairly important document I sent was never delivered, and I didn't receive an eBay item sent to me from a seller I trust.

[4reals]

I shipped a package to Japan and they got it in a week! I ordered something from China on accident and thought it was going to take forever and I got it in a week because they used DHL. My stateside stuff is taking an extra couple days but the worst is US/Canada shipping. It’s gotten to the point where I refuse Canadian transactions for now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by 4reals

I shipped a package to Japan and they got it in a week! I ordered something from China on accident and thought it was going to take forever and I got it in a week because they used DHL. My stateside stuff is taking an extra couple days but the worst is US/Canada shipping. It’s gotten to the point where I refuse Canadian transactions for now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's really odd... I've had absolutely no problems receiving packages on time and even early in Canada from US locations.

[Snapolit1]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/po...?mod=home-page

[bnorth]

I am still having great luck with the PO. Bought a Wade Boggs bat a few days ago with expected delivery Saturday. Just looked and it is out for delivery and I should have it in hand within the hour.

[whitehse]

My tale of woe.....

2 day priority flat rate box....

July 18, 2020, 11:38 am
Departed Post Office
DARIEN, WI 53114

July 22, 2020
In Transit to Next Facility

July 29, 2020, 2:30 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
PALATINE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER

I had to call on the 28th to see what is happening with this card as it is a $500 card, Paypal is holding my funds until it is delivered and there was zero movement for ten days. And now we are back to waiting.

[HercDriver]

I'm an airline pilot, and I can tell you we're operating at about 25% capacity as far as flights go. Every time I do a walk around before a flight they are loading mail, always have been. The USPS doesn't have it's own planes, so they just use the space on passenger airlines, as it's available, or as they contract. Anyway, with the cut in flight schedules we're experiencing, I would expect it to hurt them as well. No data to back that up, other than the ol' eyeball.

Cheers,
Geno

[Tiger Eye]

Recently( three weeks ago) ordered some fishing clothes from a vendor just outside of New Orleans. I live about 80 miles away in Baton Rouge. I got a tracking number from the vendor. Well the item went to the New Orleans airport the next day and flew to Miami, Fla. My items spent 5 days in Miami before getting on a plane to Baton Rouge. Took over 10 days to go 80 miles.

[wdwfan]

I'm currently waiting on 11 packages. That's right, 11. 4 of them haven't been scanned since July 20, another July 21. That's 10 days gone by without any movement. It wouldn't be so bad if they were low $$ cards. But one was a $300 purse and another was a $200 wallet. Another was an $80 Nintendo (I sold that one). So I'm really starting to get nervous. I know I'm going to be covered. I want to contact the seller and let them know, but I know it's not their fault and they should've be held responsible.

In fact, the Nintendo was mailed July 16 and hasn't moved sine the 19th. The buyer has contacted me and wants a refund. So I'm not sure I should refund with it still in transit (I have to answer the open request by tomorrow, so not sure how to answer).

I did take the #s up to the PO today to see if they could shed some light, and they said there's nothing they could do. He said things were slow right now because of the Covid and postal employees getting sick. He did say that if they haven't moved within the next week, then I should file a claim with the PO to get insurance involved.

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by whitehse

My tale of woe.....

2 day priority flat rate box....

July 18, 2020, 11:38 am
Departed Post Office
DARIEN, WI 53114

July 22, 2020
In Transit to Next Facility

July 29, 2020, 2:30 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
PALATINE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER

I had to call on the 28th to see what is happening with this card as it is a $500 card, Paypal is holding my funds until it is delivered and there was zero movement for ten days. And now we are back to waiting.

Here is an update on the movement of my 2 day priority mail flat rate package:

July 31, 2020, 12:25 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
ELK GROVE VILLAGE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Your item arrived at our ELK GROVE VILLAGE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER origin facility on July 31, 2020 at 12:25 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination.

July 30, 2020
In Transit to Next Facility

July 29, 2020, 4:23 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
PALATINE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER

July 29, 2020, 2:30 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
PALATINE IL DISTRIBUTION CENTER

July 18, 2020, 11:38 am
Departed Post Office
DARIEN, WI 53114

July 18, 2020, 11:13 am
USPS in possession of item
DARIEN, WI 53114


Palatine to Elk Grove Village is a ten mile trip.

Slowdown or not I cannot understand how this package was lost for 11 days, then found and being shuttled between two post office distribution centers that are ten miles apart for three days and still not making it's way towards it's ultimate destination in Pennsylvania. Somebody is dropping the ball on these shipments. I cannot help but wonder if I just sent the card first class and not priority if it would have arrived already.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by whitehse

I cannot help but wonder if I just sent the card first class and not priority if it would have arrived already.

There's no way of telling but it's very possible. It's just a complete crapshoot right now, whether the parcel is sent priority, first class, parcel post or otherwise. None are a sure thing right now, in terms of on-time delivery.

But even so, I think the USPS is hanging in pretty well, considering the obstacles.

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by perezfan

There's no way of telling but it's very possible. It's just a complete crapshoot right now, whether the parcel is sent priority, first class, parcel post or otherwise. None are a sure thing right now, in terms of on-time delivery.

But even so, I think the USPS is hanging in pretty well, considering the obstacles.

I have had much better luck mailing First Class parcels compared to Priority. It seems that the Priority gets backed up in the processing plants, where the First Class seems to flow a little faster.

[Phil68]

I have had quite a few issues. One extremely impatient buyer (guy is certifiably nuts, actually--opened a "Haven't Recieved my item" claim on the 11th day after purchase (despite contacting me for 4 days prior and getting responses and tracking info). That said, I did receive this information and have followed up with my local PO as to its accuracy and was told "unfortunately, there have been some issues. Those numbers are a bit high, but definitely some issues."

Here's my crazy buyer's note through eBay--be mindful this was just 7 days after the auction closed...so he was more than a little aggressive...

Hi Phil,

Following our conversation this morning I received the following information from the USPS the 8 listed cities below have encountered a 69% delivery problem as of 07/26/2020 with first class mail & packages. Most have been receiving 200,000 pieces of mail daily and have been storing them in trailers, the back-flow has caused numinous problems for all customers. Changes by the President which began last week have impacted the already financial problems of the USPS. If this problem continues, the entire postal system will collapse. I’m not happy, after spending several hundred dollars; I have no idea when or even if my package will be delivered. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from other customers whose mail travels through these states.......Ron

Chicago NDC
Detroit NDC
New Jersey NDC
St Paul, MN NDC
Texas NDC
Tenn NDC
California NDC
Memphis NDC

[Gnep31]

My situation wasn't USPS but UPS which occurred this past Tues.

I had a large box of cards arriving, including unopened loose packs and boxes. I'm working from home so I used the UPS function to track where the truck actually was....all day.

I don't live in a big city and I watched the driver zig zag, backtrack, go out into the country then back into town all day. On three different occasions he was within a 30 second drive of my house during the day and did not deliver. He finally stopped after 5!

When I did get the box it looked like it had gone 10 rounds with Tyson. Thankfully the packaging was good so the boxes were not damaged, but I took pics before opening...just in case.

I can only imagine the amount of time that would have been saved if he would have had a correctly mapped out delivery schedule. Best guess is he would have shaved off a few hrs at least.

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by Gnep31

My situation wasn't USPS but UPS which occurred this past Tues.

I had a large box of cards arriving, including unopened loose packs and boxes. I'm working from home so I used the UPS function to track where the truck actually was....all day.

I don't live in a big city and I watched the driver zig zag, backtrack, go out into the country then back into town all day. On three different occasions he was within a 30 second drive of my house during the day and did not deliver. He finally stopped after 5!

When I did get the box it looked like it had gone 10 rounds with Tyson. Thankfully the packaging was good so the boxes were not damaged, but I took pics before opening...just in case.

I can only imagine the amount of time that would have been saved if he would have had a correctly mapped out delivery schedule. Best guess is he would have shaved off a few hrs at least.

UPS has a GPS system that tells the drivers which package to deliver next. I'm sure the driver knows that it was stupid to drive by your house so many times, but he/she doesn't have a choice except to follow that route that is determined by the GPS system. The Post Office put one of these systems in place a few years ago, and it was a mess. It had carriers driving the wrong way on a one way street, among other crazy things.

[nooner10]

I have one stuck between locations since July 23, both within 20 minutes of me. I've had other packages from the same seller arrive since this one went missing. I haven't opened an eBay care yet with the hopes the cards show up soon.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[nooner10]

Originally Posted by nooner10

I have one stuck between locations since July 23, both within 20 minutes of me. I've had other packages from the same seller arrive since this one went missing. I haven't opened an eBay care yet with the hopes the cards show up soon.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

And just like that, the day after filing a missing package case, the package was delivered. It has been damaged in transit. Fortunately the cards weren't damaged (though not the best packaging job).

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[insidethewrapper]

Sent a check to pay for my credit card and it never arrived. I talked with the credit card company and they waived the late payment fees and interest fees. Now I have to stop payment on the check which was sent 6 weeks ago, this will cost me $ 28.

[gawaintheknight]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m...p-the-election

[slightlyrounded]

In Canada and I've stopped ordering cards from the US after multi-month delays (one was posted May 18!!!, still not delivered) on several orders. Total mess.

[buymycards]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Sent a check to pay for my credit card and it never arrived. I talked with the credit card company and they waived the late payment fees and interest fees. Now I have to stop payment on the check which was sent 6 weeks ago, this will cost me $ 28.

When I was with the PO, one of our biggest problems was checks that were sent to credit card companies. These companies receive 10's of thousands of checks every day, and they seem to have problems handling the volume of letters and checks. We had constant complaints about credit card companies, even with payments that were sent by Certified Mail and required a signature. The companies would receive the letters but it would be several days before they processed them.

I think they are doing this on purpose so they can make more money on interest and late fees.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by buymycards

When I was with the PO, one of our biggest problems was checks that were sent to credit card companies. These companies receive 10's of thousands of checks every day, and they seem to have problems handling the volume of letters and checks. We had constant complaints about credit card companies, even with payments that were sent by Certified Mail and required a signature. The companies would receive the letters but it would be several days before they processed them.

I think they are doing this on purpose so they can make more money on interest and late fees.

My favorite from when I was doing Ebay was a guy who bought something and after about a month asked where it was.
His check had never arrived, and I'd pretty much just written it off as a non payer. But couldn't be bothered to report it for a sale that was probably around $5.
He said he'd send out a second check, and if the other one showed up in the meantime I'd send it back with the card.
New check somehow arrives! In a reused Utility company reply envelope, complete with pre-printed address barcode.
I told him that was probably why the other one didn't get to me explaining about the barcode... and that he might want to check with the power company.
Sure enough they had received it weeks before and were eventually going to call him for an explanation.

[Jcosta19]

Interesting story on USPS false scanning practices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md....co/TkjDOuCaMU

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[prestigecollectibles]

A few years ago I sent an overnight express to a friend in California. It was guaranteed by 12 noon. I was on the phone with him at 12:20 when the driver gave it to him. I checked the tracking and it showed delivered at 11:59am.

Originally Posted by Jcosta19

Interesting story on USPS false scanning practices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md....co/TkjDOuCaMU

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