UPS - 2 enthusiastic thumbs down

[Jim65]

Just once I would like Post Office to deliver a package on the day they say it will be delivered. When I get a delivery date from UPS or FedEx, 99.9% of the time it comes on that day. The Post Office has NEVER delivered on the right day (and no, I am not exaggerating) I would never say all USPS employees are lazy, but there are certainly enough there to fuck up the whole system.

[rdwyer]

For as long as I can remember, the USPS has always had an attitude with its customers. They treat their customers with disrespect. Ever call their customer service? It's a waste of time. Yeah, the carriers are good people. But the rest of them could care less about your complaints. They have been this way for over 30 years.

[thecatspajamas]

I don't know what your experience with the USPS has been, but for the most part, I have found postal employees to be good-natured and helpful. There may be the odd surly individual, but I've found that if you treat them with courtesy and respect, and are clear with your explanation of issues that sometimes arise and focus on finding a solution, they will generally respond in kind. If you go in both guns blazing, intent on venting your frustrations and tearing them a new one, or treating them like the worthless lazy douches you presuppose them to be, your experience is likely to be much different.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by rdwyer

For as long as I can remember, the USPS has always had an attitude with its customers. They treat their customers with disrespect. Ever call their customer service? It's a waste of time. Yeah, the carriers are good people. But the rest of them could care less about your complaints. They have been this way for over 30 years.

Here's the thing - if all the people you run into have an attitude problem, the problem isn't the people you're running into.

[ibuysportsephemera]

I have had great success with the USPS. I have been shipping packages with USPS since 1997. I have only had 1 package lost and it was on a card that had no tracking so I give it a 50/50 chance it was actually delivered. I can't say enough good things about my local USPS employees.

Jeff

[rdwyer]

Our housing tract hasn't got their mail on time for 2 years! We're lucky if we get it before 6pm daily. Most of the time, it's after 6:30pm. They claim our tract doesn't have a regular carrier. Can't remember the word they used for an excuse. We used to get mail 11am daily!

We're the only tract in this city that gets service like this. Many times you'll see 2 carriers delivering at 6:30pm. We're told that the carriers who do our route have 2 other routes besides ours. That's why we're last.

We're told that they have an obligation to deliver before 6 pm. They lie when they don't. I got every right to complain about this service. Don't appreciate the comments here. Get your facts right.

[7nohitter]

I think Rich does have a right to complain, getting mail haphazardly after 6pm would be infuriating for anyone. However, Rich's problem is an isolated one and one which makes me feel lucky to have the opposite service.

My mail carrier is great! I've had the same one for 8 years....when the wrong address appears on an envelope he knows exactly where it belongs. I had an ebayer mail me a card to an incorrect street name and house number, but my name was correct on the package. My carrier made sure I got it.

Hard to complain about that!

[PolarBear]

Maybe some USPS people are really nice and maybe some are rude.

I've seen both.

The real problem is that since they're the government, you are 100% at their mercy. If all of them wanted to be rude and they lost your package, in the end, you will have zero recourse if they decide to do nothing.

I've been there.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Just once I would like Post Office to deliver a package on the day they say it will be delivered. When I get a delivery date from UPS or FedEx, 99.9% of the time it comes on that day. The Post Office has NEVER delivered on the right day (and no, I am not exaggerating) I would never say all USPS employees are lazy, but there are certainly enough there to fuck up the whole system.

That's not even remotely true. I have had nothing but positive experiences with the USPS. Sure they drop the ball every now and then but who doesn't. You guys who constantly bitch about "fill in the blank" delivery service should try and deliver a MILLION packages a day with no screw ups. And I don't doubt some of the workers have an attitude with people forever bitching that their package wasn't delivered on a silver platter. I had 3 packages today, all delivered BEFORE the specified delivery date. How come no one ever starts a post with " hey, the delivery service did a great job today" It's always "f'ing UPS or USPS....." Also, the post office in my town is staffed by the nicest, most helpful people you would ever want to meet. They always greet me by my name, ask me how I'm doing and go out of their way to help me at every turn. As for UPS, I have had 1, 1 instance in the last 6-7 years where they didn't deliver on the specified date. So thumbs up to them also.
I have wanted to post this for sometime, so now I have.

[bnorth]

I have good and bad USPS stories. The Postmaster works the front desk here and is the nicest most helpful person you could ask for. My mail carrier is horrible on a good day. Misses picking up mail fairly regular and don't care about anybodys mail. On a rainy day it is being carried out in the rain. Worse part is they are a friend that I actually hang out with a few times a month. I have most of my mail and all my cards sent to my work address so I get a different carrier who actually does a good job.

I have sent several thousands of packages and have never lost a single one. The last 2 years though over 50% of the time it will take 10 days to 2 months for them to actually arrive at the destination.

[Econteachert205]

I have had overwhelmingly good luck with usps. I've also been guilty of complaining about them. The problem is that you remember the negative experiences much more vividly. Most postal workers are hard working. As a teacher I hear the same thing about lazy teachers, because again, often bad experiences are the most vivid.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I can't remember the source, but I have read research stating that it takes 10 positive experiences to overcome a negative.

[mechanicalman]

Positive USPS story: I won an auction for a $4500 card on eBay. Two days later the package arrived empty. 99% certain it was sent that way by the seller and not ripped out of the envelope and re-sealed. Anyway, eBay and PayPal did nothing because the tracking showed that "a package" had arrived. Had to go through Amex, and they wouldn't do anything UNTIL my local postmaster wrote an affidavit that said that the envelope in question felt lighter than the posted weight and therefore represented evidence of tampering. Finally got my money back. Forever grateful, and now I only open up high value packages while at the post office.

On the flip side, the "investigation" by the USPS inspectors went absolutely nowhere. I have no idea what those guys are focused on; this would seem like something that would get their attention.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Positive USPS story: I won an auction for a $4500 card on eBay. Two days later the package arrived empty. 99% certain it was sent that way by the seller and not ripped out of the envelope and re-sealed. Anyway, eBay and PayPal did nothing because the tracking showed that "a package" had arrived. Had to go through Amex, and they wouldn't do anything UNTIL my local postmaster wrote an affidavit that said that the envelope in question felt lighter than the posted weight and therefore represented evidence of tampering. Finally got my money back. Forever grateful, and now I only open up high value packages while at the post office.

On the flip side, the "investigation" by the USPS inspectors went absolutely nowhere. I have no idea what those guys are focused on; this would seem like something that would get their attention.

Really glad to see you got your $4500 returned...Everyone's nightmare : the empty package---when this is resolved or has gone as far as it can go , could you please re-visit us with the grisly details , if possible.....we would all like the seller's E-Bay ID because there are many of us on this forum who sometimes buy/sell at similar prices ( though not too often ). You could be saving us a ton of grief. Thanks. Knowledge is power.

..

[bcornell]

Originally Posted by Econteachert205

I have had overwhelmingly good luck with usps. I've also been guilty of complaining about them. The problem is that you remember the negative experiences much more vividly. Most postal workers are hard working. As a teacher I hear the same thing about lazy teachers, because again, often bad experiences are the most vivid.

This has been my experience, as well. USPS employees almost all do a great job. Compare them to people at Comcast, AT&T, or most big private companies, who are so often terrible at customer service.