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The USPS is really sucking bad lately (Original Post) SouthernDem4ever Mar 2023 OP
The only thing that moves fast is Priority Mail. roamer65 Mar 2023 #1
I agree and I have used Priority Mail often enough FakeNoose Mar 2023 #5
I sent a priority mail montanacowboy Mar 2023 #9
The vast majority of the time, priority costs the same or just a very marginal amount more MichMan Mar 2023 #19
I have had two checks I sent that were a large amount to pay a car insurance premium and a visa kimbutgar Mar 2023 #2
There is a reason for so many to use ACH or Bill Pay /nt bucolic_frolic Mar 2023 #4
I switched over to online payments because first class mail is shit now. roamer65 Mar 2023 #8
I think most of us switched to on-line because it's much easier, no stamps, no writing checks, Silent Type Mar 2023 #10
I did it Rebl2 Mar 2023 #11
I don't pay any bills by check. friend of a friend Mar 2023 #25
Must be a regional or local issue Blue_Adept Mar 2023 #3
Same here MichMan Mar 2023 #17
Mail times are fastest for me between big cities, even coast-to-coast bucolic_frolic Mar 2023 #6
I've had bills lost in the mail. cost me late fees. They lose whole packages, too lindysalsagal Mar 2023 #7
We have had 5 different carriers in 3 months. redstatebluegirl Mar 2023 #12
Our letter carrier is unhappy, he is overloaded with packages, CharleyDog Mar 2023 #13
You could do all your shopping local to make it easier on him. MichMan Mar 2023 #18
Yes, thank you for that idea. Duh. I do my best, yet I live CharleyDog Mar 2023 #31
yes. not sure why this is such a mystery for so many. stopdiggin Mar 2023 #21
I completely agree that it is indispensible SouthernDem4ever Mar 2023 #22
BAD is right! CountAllVotes Mar 2023 #14
my only real measure is eBay purchases stopdiggin Mar 2023 #15
I have a tracking number for a small package that was mailed 8 days to, they just changed the SouthernDem4ever Mar 2023 #23
Mine has been excellent MichMan Mar 2023 #16
Yup, utter garbage here Amishman Mar 2023 #20
Our local post office SickOfTheOnePct Mar 2023 #24
I run a small mail order company GenThePerservering Mar 2023 #26
Missed delivery of signature mail, they left paper with link to arrange redelivery... 4dog Mar 2023 #27
We are in rural NC, but we get our meds by mail in 2 days from Fayetteville NC. friend of a friend Mar 2023 #28
Makes me furious hermetic Mar 2023 #29
The GOP wants it to fail. Probably the most respected Fed agency at one time. Became Independent Samrob Mar 2023 #30

FakeNoose

(35,409 posts)
5. I agree and I have used Priority Mail often enough
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:27 AM
Mar 2023

As it is now, I don't mail many letters (First Class) during the year. When something is important enough to mail, I use Priority so that I have a tracking number, and the postal service has never let me down.



montanacowboy

(6,274 posts)
9. I sent a priority mail
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:33 AM
Mar 2023

Small envelope from Seattle to Bowling Green, KY and it took three weeks. It showed in-transit
For 2 weeks with no tracking city at all. finally it showed up on the tracking screen in Atlanta and days later finally reached destination. I had the usual $100 insurance but it was worth much more. Never again will I do that.

MichMan

(13,013 posts)
19. The vast majority of the time, priority costs the same or just a very marginal amount more
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:16 PM
Mar 2023

than First Class, plus you get insurance

kimbutgar

(23,106 posts)
2. I have had two checks I sent that were a large amount to pay a car insurance premium and a visa
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:21 AM
Mar 2023

Bill. It took 7 days for the check to be delivered. One check got lost it hasn’t been cashed and I hope I don’t get a late payment charge. This used to never happen now it’s getting worst.

Silent Type

(6,152 posts)
10. I think most of us switched to on-line because it's much easier, no stamps, no writing checks,
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:40 AM
Mar 2023

no addressing envelops, no recording in check register, etc. If the mail were delivered immediately, I'd still handle bill paying on-line.

Rebl2

(14,501 posts)
11. I did it
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:45 AM
Mar 2023

years ago because I didn’t want large checks being lost or late.

I think part of the problem is they can’t find people that want to work there, so not enough employees. I remember years ago (late 90’s into 2000’s) they would offer people money to retire early. My husband retired a few years ago from the PO but they wanted him to stay. He was over 65 by a few months. They could count on him to do the work he did, unlike some of the other people he worked with.

 

friend of a friend

(367 posts)
25. I don't pay any bills by check.
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:36 PM
Mar 2023

Whenever possible I put them on my credit card. A couple of services such as electricity are autopay from one of my checking accounts.

Blue_Adept

(6,435 posts)
3. Must be a regional or local issue
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:21 AM
Mar 2023

I send a lot of media mail stuff out from the Boston area to across the country. That's a 7-10 day delivery and it's getting to texas, California, Florida, all within 2-3 days.

MichMan

(13,013 posts)
17. Same here
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:02 PM
Mar 2023

I expect Media Mail to be slow, but it has also been just a few days at most, even several states away.

bucolic_frolic

(46,597 posts)
6. Mail times are fastest for me between big cities, even coast-to-coast
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:27 AM
Mar 2023

But regionally, not so much, and into second and third tier cities times are so-so to poor. Floppy white mailing bags and parcels are slowest of all.

redstatebluegirl

(12,468 posts)
12. We have had 5 different carriers in 3 months.
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:45 AM
Mar 2023

We get the wrong mail and our mail ends up at our neighbors or worse. Lots of lost mail. I pay everything online now.

CharleyDog

(766 posts)
13. Our letter carrier is unhappy, he is overloaded with packages,
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:53 AM
Mar 2023

In our rural area, he has to deliver packages to the door (if too big for the community mailbox). So many packages!
He's a man sitting in a little truck with packages up to his neck. He's stressed out too. Why do we have to work people this way?

MichMan

(13,013 posts)
18. You could do all your shopping local to make it easier on him.
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:04 PM
Mar 2023

At least he wouldn't have to deliver any to your house

CharleyDog

(766 posts)
31. Yes, thank you for that idea. Duh. I do my best, yet I live
Wed Mar 29, 2023, 12:12 PM
Mar 2023

in a tiny town (less than 5000) with few stores.
The thing is, Amazon made a deal with USPS to deliver packages, and
the USPS didn't hire more workers.

stopdiggin

(12,675 posts)
21. yes. not sure why this is such a mystery for so many.
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:25 PM
Mar 2023

there's been a sea change involving the internet and retail over the past 20 years. And it is accelerating. Doesn't everybody know this? The business that USPS is handling today - is completely different from the model they were running prior to the internet.

People upstring here are talking about not mailing their checks ... Well, yeah?? Neither do I - and neither does about 85-90% of the population ... Ditto medical, government, banking, personal correspondence .... Are we starting to see some correlation here?

(Having said that - the USPS is completely indispensable to the operation of our economy and government, and to a certain degree our social fabric - and if it requires a degree of subsidization - just like our schools, roads, public transportation --- SO BE IT!)

SouthernDem4ever

(6,618 posts)
22. I completely agree that it is indispensible
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:31 PM
Mar 2023

Last edited Sun Mar 26, 2023, 02:41 PM - Edit history (1)

Which is why we need someone running it that gives a shit. All Dejoy wants to do is streamline and cut things to make it more cost effective and much much less efficient.

CountAllVotes

(21,032 posts)
14. BAD is right!
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 11:54 AM
Mar 2023

My disabled placard was delivered to the person next door.

They also delivered a check I was expecting to someone else it seems.

I rec'd a bunch of mail with other peoples names/addresses on it!

ENOUGH of this crappy service already!



& recommend.

stopdiggin

(12,675 posts)
15. my only real measure is eBay purchases
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:00 PM
Mar 2023

and experience there has been mostly superior. (and no, never 'Priority' - regular delivery is working just fine.

SouthernDem4ever

(6,618 posts)
23. I have a tracking number for a small package that was mailed 8 days to, they just changed the
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:33 PM
Mar 2023

delivery date to 3 days later. The package is going from TX to GA. It should not take that long.

MichMan

(13,013 posts)
16. Mine has been excellent
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:01 PM
Mar 2023

I live in a rural area, but all our mail gets routed to Detroit for processing. It has been very fast and prompt the last several months in particular. My local post office told me that Detroit upgraded all their processing equipment.

Amishman

(5,758 posts)
20. Yup, utter garbage here
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:20 PM
Mar 2023

We get mail two or three days a week, we don't have daily service.

They also refuse to bring packages up to our house, and just stick the damn pink 'pick up your package at the post office' slip in the mailbox every time.

SickOfTheOnePct

(7,290 posts)
24. Our local post office
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:33 PM
Mar 2023

has always had a don’t-give-a-shit attitude, or at least they’ve had it for the 18 years we’ve lived here. I avoid using USPS unless there is no other choice, and that is rarely the case.

GenThePerservering

(2,493 posts)
26. I run a small mail order company
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:40 PM
Mar 2023

And ship thousands of mail pieces. The USPS has been coming through for me with fast transit times, even on first class and media.

Sorry, no complaints here.

4dog

(518 posts)
27. Missed delivery of signature mail, they left paper with link to arrange redelivery...
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:40 PM
Mar 2023

So I go to the page and fill out the info, and the page fails to let me send. Retried twice, no different.

 

friend of a friend

(367 posts)
28. We are in rural NC, but we get our meds by mail in 2 days from Fayetteville NC.
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:41 PM
Mar 2023

We use the USPS app to track our mail.

hermetic

(8,603 posts)
29. Makes me furious
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:41 PM
Mar 2023

Last year I sent my son a birthday card and check and he never got it. Had to pay $35 canceled check fee. Mailed all my Christmas cards last year in November. Pay ALL my bills online now. The U S mail service used to be something to be proud of. Now, thanks to drump, it's basically worthless. A pox on DeJoy.

Samrob

(4,298 posts)
30. The GOP wants it to fail. Probably the most respected Fed agency at one time. Became Independent
Sun Mar 26, 2023, 12:48 PM
Mar 2023

agency of the Executive Branch in 1970. Before that it was a Federal agency itself and a cabinet level agency at one time.

It historically was the best bang for the buck and the most efficient government agency until conservatives figured out that it was what you might say, too "woke." It was at one time the biggest equal opportunity employer in the country. Thus, it became a target for cutting and privatizing. (Couldn't have all those "others" in relatively good paying jobs with good benefits, right?) Check out the history for yourself but check to be sure it isn't AI fooling you.) Oh, yeah, Nixon was President when it became and "Independent" agency. As close as they could get to privatization at the time.

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