Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Why is the United States Postal Service so messed up?

I ordered a new Ballstic SG MAXX case for my iPhone 5c.  I'm still finding the Otterbox Defender case with its sizable gap between the display and the screen protector to be a problem.



The "Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility" was the first item to show up.  Just today, the other two were added, even though the Electronic Shipping Info Received" should have been the first thing, and the "Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility" would have happened before the "Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility" activity.

It seems that the government are using the haphazard method that UPS uses.  FedEx never seems to have any problem, and packages can even arrive early without extra cost.

Considering that they already had the package last night, shouldn't it already be en route to me, rather than likely sitting in the facility still?  Maybe, it is, and they just haven't updated its activities.

I wonder how much damage is involved with USPS, UPS, and FedEx.  I know that UPS hires many part-time workers and I've heard stories of flinging boxes when people are bored.  I've heard plenty about USPS workers who are too busy to be bothered by work.  Is it only the people behind FedEx who care?  I've never had a problem with them--the extra money always seems worth it.

Shipping during the holidays is crazy, because so many people are doing it.  I'm sure the local post office is crowded during their open hours.  Gift cards may be the majority of the gifts, but even those are usually sent.

 As of the 13th, things started to change again, though there never was a departure activity from Florida.
It seems odd to me that they delivered the package on the 14th, even though it was just a day later than expected.  I've never seen them wait so late to put a package on the route to be delivered.  Usually, it should be on the route before 6:30, but perhaps, the logged activity was done separately from the physical activity.  However, being that it was Saturday and the holidays, maybe they have a more lenient schedule, especially with the bad weather lately.

By the way, isn't it odd that England's Royal Mail delivers the post and the United States Postal Service delivers the mail?

Also, beware of companies "helping" you to submit a change of address.  It's free, and some will show up in a web search ahead of the USPS, and they charge.

Update 2013.12.16: Saw the USPS TV advertisement with "up to 11 scans" and thought "in which order?" after having this experience.  They may be more modern, but they still have too many Sand Crabs.

Update 2013.12.18: Amazing that UPS, usually problematic for me, can move when necessary.  I have a package from Amazon.com with 3-5 day shipping, arriving the next day.

Of course, had this not been the holiday season, it would have been sitting in one of their depots for 4 days, until they felt like delivering it.

Update 2013.12.29: I guess UPS really messed up.  So many packages scheduled to arrive before Christmas day just didn't make it.  When I was watching the news video, I was somewhat shocked that UPS had zero problem with letting their workers damage packages while they were being filmed.  It just didn't seem that anyone cared, which is probably UPS' biggest problem.

Update 2016.05.01: I've got to say that I'm sadly amused again.  I ordered a couple of items on Sunday and they were said to be shipped late Monday.  Naturally, it takes a while for the information to be available to the receiver of the package.

On Wednesday, I left a message for the seller that the USPS did not acknowledge the tracking number at all.  On Thursday, the seller's status showed "Completed" rather than "Shipped" and I thought that there was a mix up.  Friday morning, there was a knock at the door and the packaged had been delivered.

3 Day = 1 Day of activity?

When I checked, the tracking information was available, but apparently, it was all done when the package arrived at the local post office.  No scans had been done prior to its arrival.

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