They are so incompetent. I placed an order for an optic on the 27th. It was shipped the same day and was to arrive on the 30th. The 30th comes around and I get the “your item will be arriving late. Tracking has showed the package has left and returned to the exact same facility 3 times over the past 7 days. The company is only 5 hours away. Are we back in the 1800’s where mail took forever? USP and FedEx don’t have this issue and the post office is bigger than those two combined. There is no excuse for the incompetence of this agency. No wonder it looses money every year.

'Cause they're cheaper - I am having the same problem with an Amazon shipment.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
'Cause they're cheaper - ...

This ^^^^^ and because they succeed far more often than they fail.

I never thought I'd say this, but they're better than FedEx in my area at this point.

Because when they compare cost vs. speed vs. % of screwups, USPS is still the best option for most businesses.

FedEx and UPS could be a bit faster, and could have a bit lower screwups overall, but may not have either to justify the higher shipping costs, which would have to either be eaten by the business (which would increase their costs and decrease profits) or passed along to customers (which would cost them customers/sales and therefore decrease profits)

Amazon uses them almost exclusively to deliver to my area. The USPS will not deliver oversize items to my house because they insist that our mailbox is placed half a mile away at the end of our road rather than at the end of our driveway. Thus, anything bigger than our normal sized mailbox is left at the main post office. Consequently, I have to drive to town to collect most of my shipments. My tax dollars (not) at work.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I never thought I'd say this, but they're better than FedEx in my area at this point.

You probably mean FedEx Ground. FedEx Ground is "FedEx" in name only. In fact, if you look, you'll see their trucks all feature the word "Ground" in smaller, lighter characters, under the big "FedEx" logo.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
FedEx and UPS could be a bit faster, and could have a bit lower screwups overall, but may not have either to justify the higher shipping costs, ...

I believe FedEx Ground costs roughly the same as USPS Priority Express? FedEx Express (aka: "Air"), which is the real/original FedEx, costs a good deal more, as does even UPS Ground.

FedEx Ground, IME, is no better than USPS Priority or Priority Express.

Plus they are everywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I never thought I'd say this, but they're better than FedEx in my area at this point.

Here too.

I get overnight USPS shipment from Phoenix to Tucson, while Fedex and UPS Ground packages to me take a trip around the world.

I had a series of problems with diabetic supplies delivery. USPS lost two consecutive orders, saying all the while they were delivered. The company then sent them fed ex ground, signature required. The never came, but Fedex ground said they had my signature. (There was no electronic POD for some reason.) Finally, I received an order overnight express. Two weeks later, the two packages from USPS showed up, but the Fedex never did. Initially I thought someone had stolen them, but they were test strips and lancets proprietary to the company producing both the glucometers and the test strips, totally useless to someone without the program and free to those who do. Very odd.

They're better than FedEx.

I often wonder why people/entities that ship a product I ordered use UPS rather than the USPS. It almost always seems to take 10 days with UPS and, based on my experiences, costs more to accomplish that same extended time.

They're all crappy these days.

I sent a small flat rate box to the son in UT, 7+ days ago.

He didn’t get it so I checked the tracking number. It went to the Chicago area, then back to Milwaukee, next ‘out for delivery’ at my mailbox.
It came back, one dented hole in the box.

I checked all the address locations & such, correct & normal. Next weekday I’m home, I’ll try again.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
You probably mean FedEx Ground. FedEx Ground is "FedEx" in name only. In fact, if you look, you'll see their trucks all feature the word "Ground" in smaller, lighter characters, under the big "FedEx" logo.

What's that got to do with anything? Express trucks have their designation the same way.

O.K., how about the combined effort of UPS and the USPS. Below is my recent tracking for something I bought on line last week. You'll have to read the progress from the bottom up. This was going from MN to MT. Hey, at least it was in town here 4 or 5 days ago before they decided to give it a free trip to MA and, hopefully, back. Oh well.

In transit
Contact
United States to United States · Transit in 8 days
Arrived at USPS Facility
Aug 07 2021 09:00 pm

· 02205, US, United States
Arrived at USPS Facility
Aug 07 2021 11:03 am

· Chelsea, MA, 02150, US, United States
Arrived at Post Office
Aug 06 2021 08:04 am

· Chelsea, MA, 02150, US, United States
Arrived at Post Office
Aug 06 2021 05:04 am

· Chelsea, MA, 02150, US, United States
Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending
Aug 05 2021 11:01 am

· Billings, MT, 59101, US, United States
Depature Scan: Enroute to USPS
Aug 04 2021 11:05 am

· Salt Lake City, UT, 84104, US, United States
Arrived at UPS Facility
Aug 04 2021 08:01 am

· Salt Lake City, UT, 84104, US, United States
Departed UPS Facility
Aug 02 2021 11:00 pm

· Brooklyn Park, MN, 55445, US, United States
Package processed
Aug 02 2021 10:03 pm

· Brooklyn Park, MN, 55445, US, United States
Package received for processing
Aug 02 2021 10:00 pm

· Brooklyn Park, MN, 55445, US, United States
Shipment tendered to UPS Mail Innovations
Aug 02 2021 10:00 pm

· Oakdale, MN, 55128, US, United States

I'm not a fan of USPS, but I've had a bunch of stuff shipped to me USPS Priority over the years if it wasn't time critical. What I HATE is when FedEx or UPS use USPS as their delivery service. Why in the hell would I pay UPS to deliver to USPS in my town so that USPS can then sit on my package for another day in order to deliver it? UGH.

^^^^^^
This right here, copaup!! Can't STAND when the order states "DELIVERED" in the UPS or FedEx system and I schlepp my ass out to the mailbox to find it empty. And then it hits me..."DELIVERED" to them just means they fulfilled their delivery obligation to USPS. What a PITA!!!!

What ALSO grind my gears (and I think it's been discussed on the boards somewhere) is when the item shows "SHIPPED", but in the explanation, it states "Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item". To me, that is NOT "SHIPPED". My definition of "SHIPPED" is when it leaves the shipper's, i.e., USPS's facility. If USPS is still "awaiting item", it's not "shipped".....

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
I never thought I'd say this, but they're better than FedEx in my area at this point.

Here too.

I agree that USPS is better than FedEx. In fact, I have little trouble with USPS.