Decrease in USPS Quality of Service

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Don't get me started! I'm waiting on a light now that seems to be taking a tour of the state. It was in the local sort facility 4 miles away now it's in another 15 miles away. Instead of it going from that sort facility to my local office, it has gone back to the original facility, to be transferred to the local office.

I've had one 2-day package show up in the 2 day time period...out of twenty! I've seen package tracking bounce packages back & forth between the original shipping facility to the sort facility & back 2-3 times before it left the state


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Has anyone tried any other service? Especially for international shipments, I was going to look into DHL, FedEx...anybody else?
 
There are a number of issues with DHL, Fedex and UPS for International Services. First they are often a MULTIPLE of the USPS International Express Mail price, but that is only the beginning the costs.
When an International item comes in via Post, the Customs and Excise people decide if it is worth their trouble to levy any import duties or taxes. On small items, they generally don't bother. Fedex, DHL and UPS do their own customs clearance. They are obligagted by law to charge the relevant duties and taxes, and then they charge you or your customer for the honor of having done so. Yes DHL, FEDEX and UPS all work pretty well internationally.

I emphasize the pretty well, I have had some Fedex Parcels go off the rails in particularly unpleasant ways, I had one that was seized in India because of argument between customs and Fedex that was unrelated to anything we were doing. It was a licensed export, so I was obligated to report the 'loss' and let Fedex explain it. Fedex claimed I had improperly filled out the export documentation. I reminded them this type of export required very specific declarations, valuations and documentation in accordance with US Law. Fedex eventually apologized and acknowledged that the export documenation was in fact correct, and in accordance with US Law. I had another package that got on an Air France airplane in Dubai from Kuwait, and wasn't seen again for 3 months! It took Fedex almost two weeks to figure out that EVERY parcel that got onto the Air France flight was in fact missing! It took another 8 weeks to find it, and then when it go the US, it was delayed again because it was mis-sorted just to add insult to injury
 
I've been disappointed by USPS for the last couple years or so. I haven't lost too many packages, but the tracking consistently underestimates the shipping times.
 
If you're going to use ups or fedex, you get a discount if you get an account with them. I got tired of ups adding charges after the fact so I mainly use fedex for my packages. I can print out labels and just have to drop it off (another option is to schedule a pickup - did this once).
 
I agree with USPS shipping going down. I m suppose to expect a light today after paying for 2 day shipping and still not here. If I paying for this shipping I expect it to be here in 2 days! Now, hopefully I get my HDS light before I go on vacation.
 
I have noticed a little bit of an increase in transit times compared to what I was used to 2-4 years ago. I know their budget is in shambles - perhaps they are eliminating all OT, which is resulting in slower movement of packages?
 
I sent someone stuff and the package was seized at the distant end. User was incorrectly told that he needed to pay money. User said "no way." Package was returned to sender. It took 2 and a half months to return. Somehow, it ended up getting a German label on it. Germany. Wow.

I sent someone some little stuff, package literally took a vacation in the Bahamas for over 1 month of sitting there in the Bahamas. It then took a trek through the Australian Outback. I kid you not. I watched the tracking page in utter disbelief. Somehow it started getting funny. Nothing you can do but laugh, right? The guy who's stuff was lost was 100% cool about it. He ended up getting it.

I am jealous of my packages. They take better vacations than I do. Did I anger the Postal Gods or something? I had a Miami take a detour to Canada one time. Toronto is a great town, but that's NOT WHERE IT WAS ADDRESSED TO GO.

Another time, they took it upon themselves to print out a new label and put it over my label. It was supposed to go to Texas and ended up taking a tour of the Appalachians. They ended up giving up and returning it to sender. I thought I made a mistake, checked records... they relabeled it with an incorrect lable. My original label was underneath on a virgin box.

Grr. :(
 
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MV, that is exactly why I don't ship internationally. What a PITA.
 
tjhabak said:
Very good info there. I still haven't seen any reason yet, though for the sudden 3-4 week delay on shipments coming in from other countries.
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Did you know the West coast CA ports are on strike? There's 30-40+ container ships still at sea with thousands of containers sitting at the ports not moving. I'd bet anything coming/going from the far east is going to be a while unless you ship Air freight/Mail
 
Regarding European shipments. Right now the Euro is devalued about 20% from last summer. So I bet exports to USA from Europe have skyrocketed since the buying power of the dollar has improved by 20% against the Euro. 2015 and likely forward are the time to take a European vacation, 20% more buying power, right now. It is being predicted to reach parity (Euro vs Dollar being about equal) in 2016 so waiting could make it even better in 2016 or latter. Its a crap shoot so you might not want to wait. But now is a very good time to buy products priced in Euros.
 
I have always had the worst luck with USPS, have had many items lost, and if the item has tracking the updates are few and slow, I just thought they have always been bad. Lately I only ship USPS if it is substantially cheaper (and always get "tracking"), otherwise I will go with UPS or Fed-Ex. If nothing else, you would think that USPS could just copy what is working for the other guys instead of slowly becoming obsolete. Like any business, if you do not change with the times you end up falling by the wayside. Makes me think of Blockbuster video rental stores... :)
 
chazz said:
I have always had the worst luck with USPS, have had many items lost, and if the item has tracking the updates are few and slow, I just thought they have always been bad. Lately I only ship USPS if it is substantially cheaper (and always get "tracking"), otherwise I will go with UPS or Fed-Ex. If nothing else, you would think that USPS could just copy what is working for the other guys instead of slowly becoming obsolete. Like any business, if you do not change with the times you end up falling by the wayside. Makes me think of Blockbuster video rental stores... :)
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Its their low prices that keep them in the game, the only thing that keeps them in the game.
 
XeRay said:
Its their low prices that keep them in the game, the only thing that keeps them in the game.
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The thing that keeps them in the game is that they deliver to every address in the USA. The monopoly they have for mail delivery ensures that there will be a presence.

I have to say that while two day delivery doesn't actually mean two day they do a fairly decent job on package delivery.

Try shipping 65 pounds via any carrier than USPS for $12.95. I send all of my used machine tools for recycle for $12.95.

Common carriers like FedEx Ground, UPS Freight and Con-Way will only cut me a deal once I get over 750 pounds, then I have to trailer the load to them. USPS picks up at the house as long as they get notice in advance.
 
Chauncey Gardiner said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the USPS subsidized by taxes? They certainly aren't operating at a profit.

~ Chance
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The USPS was required by Congress to set monies aside to pay for future pension and health care costs. The last number I saw was upwards of 5 billion dollars a year. If the USPS could operate like the rest of government, they would show a profit.

For fiscal 2013, the USPS actually made around 800 million dollars. No numbers have been posted for 2014.
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service ended the first quarter of its 2014 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2013 – Dec. 31, 2013) with a net loss of $354 million. This marks the 19th of the last 21 quarters that it has sustained a loss. Though the Postal Service has been able to grow revenue by capitalizing on opportunities in Shipping and Package Services and has aggressively reduced operating costs, losses continue to mount due to the persistent decline of higher-margin First-Class Mail, stifling legal mandates, and its inflexible business and governance models.

http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2014/pr14_006.htm
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You sure? :confused:
 
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