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small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:35 am
by bloke
Fairly consistently, I’m finding that the post office is throwing such packages in the trash, and I’m only getting reliable service when I pay double for priority mailing with the minimum $100 insurance which is included…
… so - if I want anything mailed and not thrown in the trash by the post office - I’m spending $10, even if the items are very small and lightweight.
Though mailing something small and lightweight for five dollars may be offered on a post office website screen, in my experience that service really doesn’t exist. Not only does it not exist but I surrender property that I had hoped to move from where I am to somewhere else.
That having been said, others of you may have been lucky and had good experiences with first class packages with tracking, but mine have been consistently as described above.
I liken it to top-down engineered hyperinflation, which is actually a type of tax without calling it tax.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:45 am
by Three Valves
When the mafia takes over the postal service;
"Gee, it would be a shame if that parcel got 'lost' or something. Better pay us $20 to make sure it don't"
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:13 am
by bisontuba
Sadly, for that very reason, I ONLY send things USPS via Priority these days....
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:23 am
by bloke
Additionally - in less than a handful of years - Priority mail rates (due to so-called
"9% inflation", and "because they can") have nearly doubled.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:05 am
by kingrob76
I've recently mailed some mouthpieces out and I can get one about half way across the country for about $10, which is first class USPS. I get a tracking number and to have them take that package from VA to CO in a few days seems reasonable to me. UPS and FedeX are more expensive and personally I've had more issues with smaller items traveling via those companies than I have via USPS. UPS in particular will just get flagged as delivered and signed for by "Dave" when no one named Dave lives here (as a example) if the delivery looks particularly interesting (like say, a high end graphics card or anything from Apple). I've had that happen at least 5 times, and in all 5 instances the actual "delivery" was nowhere near where I live.
ALL services in this business suffer from lost items - some actually lost, some effectively stolen by a person in the process (usually the last leg courier). My personal experience tends to lean more towards items being stolen than actually lost (my bills never seem to get lost, for example).
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:47 am
by bloke
If stolen, I surely hope that nefarious postal employee enjoys those three absurdly-large 2341 finger buttons with their silver plating worn off.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:34 pm
by York-aholic
bloke wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:47 am
If stolen, I surely hope that nefarious postal employee enjoys those three absurdly-large 2341 finger buttons with their silver plating worn off.
Well, who wouldn't?
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:58 pm
by Mary Ann
I suspect that is location-specific. I am last on FedEx / UPS routes because of where I live, and I have had zero problems with USPS, FEDEX, or UPS deliveries. The ONLY thing that has happened was a couple years ago a package actually fell out of the USPS truck, he drove over it, a neighbor two doors farther on the route found it smashed in his driveway and brought it to me. Since it was never flagged as delivered, I got paid for the contents and I assume the driver got written up. They are pushed so hard to do so much in so little time that it is amazing that any of them keep working there. 20 years ago the USPS might have still been a good place to work, but not now.
I have a very good friend who is a mail carrier. You would NOT believe the ridiculousness of what the higher-ups send down that they are forced to do, that slows them down, rips them off, makes their jobs impossible because what they are told to do is impossible. The micro-management from people who are CLUELESS about what would actually be efficient is just astonishing. Once again, maybe it's location-specific, but in my experience with USPS it is NOT the carriers or even the post office personnel who are at fault. It is the IDIOTS AT THE TOP that are the problem.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:02 pm
by bloke
Check out this bullsh!t...
It's been 5 weeks flipa-flopa-fipping around post office hell:
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmA ... 0466610752
In Transit to Next Facility
September 16, 2022
Departed USPS Destination Facility
ELKHART, IN 46515
September 12, 2022, 11:05 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
ELKHART, IN 46515
September 12, 2022, 10:56 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
September 11, 2022, 9:23 pm
Arrived at USPS Facility
SAINT ROSE, LA 70087
September 11, 2022, 1:16 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
NEW ORLEANS LA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 10, 2022, 9:20 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
NEW ORLEANS LA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
September 10, 2022, 8:56 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
SOUTH BEND IN PROCESSING CENTER
August 27, 2022, 12:59 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
SOUTH BEND, IN 46601
August 26, 2022, 8:10 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 26, 2022, 6:19 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 25, 2022, 8:51 pm
Departed USPS Destination Facility
ELKHART, IN 46515
August 25, 2022, 10:31 am
Arrived at Post Office
ELKHART, IN 46516
August 25, 2022, 5:44 am
Departed USPS Facility
SOUTH BEND, IN 46601
August 25, 2022, 5:13 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
ELKHART, IN 46515
August 25, 2022, 4:21 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
SOUTH BEND, IN 46601
August 24, 2022, 5:20 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 24, 2022, 2:55 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
August 24, 2022, 12:17 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
August 24, 2022, 1:31 am
Departed USPS Facility
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46242
August 24, 2022, 1:09 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46242
August 23, 2022, 9:54 pm
In Transit to Next Facility
August 23, 2022, 5:38 pm
In Transit to Next Facility
August 23, 2022, 2:15 pm
In Transit to Next Facility
August 23, 2022, 10:34 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
MEMPHIS TN LOGISTICS CENTER
August 23, 2022, 10:15 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
MEMPHIS TN LOGISTICS CENTER
August 23, 2022, 8:04 am
In Transit to Next Facility
August 23, 2022, 7:52 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
MEMPHIS TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
August 23, 2022, 7:39 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
MEMPHIS TN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
August 23, 2022, 1:39 am
Departed Post Office
WILLISTON, TN 38076
August 22, 2022, 4:37 pm
USPS picked up item
WILLISTON, TN 38076
August 22, 2022, 12:14 pm
Dear God,
I know I'm bad...but am I really THIS bad...???
EDIT:
...and I just went through typing FIVE pages of _ _ _-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ on their website to report this, hit submit and
got, "there was a problem with your request...please try again later"
I need however many Voodoo dolls as there are postal employees postmasters.
EDIT #2:
...VERY VERY difficult, but talked to a live American person. and got some 8-digit number acknowledging that I complained that they lost my sh!t.
(woo-hoo !
)
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:28 pm
by the elephant
For about ten years now I have been telling people that it costs me at least ten bucks to ship a mouthpiece via USPS. This is why.
So I'm going to say this to everyone who may be in here reading this right now:
I told you so. 
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:52 pm
by cjk
The USPS scanners which the letter carriers use are GPS locatable to within 6 feet. I believe only the postmaster can use this functionality to geolocate a package. At least it seems that way in my experience. I have had a package delivered to the wrong address on three occasions that I can remember. Once I actually went to the post office and spoke to the postmaster in person. This worked, he located my package and sent a letter carrier to retrieve and redeliver it, but this was time consuming for me. The second time, I flagged down a letter carrier in my neighborhood and gave her the tracking number and she called someone (the postmaster I presume) and retrieved my package. The third time, I left a note in my mailbox with the flag up for my letter carrier with my name, the tracking number, that it wasn't delivered to my address, asking nicely for any assistance they could provide, my address and phone number. I used very big fonts to make it very easy to read and was as nice as possible while being brief. An hour or so later, he called me and let me know the address where it had been delivered. Before I went to get it, that neighbor dropped it off on my doorstep.
so in summary:
figure out how to know your postmaster.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:46 pm
by bloke
I think - just like shipping tubas - we have deteriorated to the point that - if we want to transport anything from a cuff link to an automobile - we had better just deliver it ourselves – whether two blocks away or 2000 miles away.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 1:40 am
by tofu
.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:03 am
by Three Valves
They made the trains run on time so...
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:15 am
by bort2.0
Joe -- I had a package do that to me a few years ago. Eventually, it was delivered back to ME in a very busted up box. I tried to file a claim, but it ended up not being worth my time to do so -- it was an eBay sale and I bought USPS shipping through the eBay checkout... So USPS blamed eBay (huh?) and eBay blamed USPS, and around and around it went from there.
What was the intended destination of your package?
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:40 am
by Mary Ann
That actually sounds like a computer loop, in that the computer tells them where to send it next. And the carrier is NOT able to use their brain to fix the problem because they will be written up and punished for going against what the system says to do. They are helpless.
The subs, yes that is a problem. Once again, they are pushed to go faster than it is possible to do it well and are punished for taking the time to do it right. I am probably extremely lucky that my good friend is a long term carrier because he ALWAYS will find out what happened with various things; maybe that's why so few things have gone wrong. Example: I used the internet to stop my mail while I was gone last week. It CLEARLY asked what was the day I wanted my mail to be delivered, and I put in that day. However, that is not the way it actually works, which he informed me of, and he changed it himself to be correct. Then when I came back three days early, he again fixed it so I got my mail when I wanted it. Maybe you guys should make a friend in the post office?
The scanners are totally impossible. And they keep getting worse. My friend got written up for going "off the route" because the scanner said he did; the newest ones are like smart phones in that if you accidentally touch something (try being "delicate" when you are also handling 70# packages) it goes off into the ozone and you can't find your way back. Nothing he can do about it. His supervisor is human and tries like hell to make things work despite the idiocy from above. There are supervisors however who are NOT human, and that seems to be the type of person who is promoted to supervisor: the ones who state that the carriers are all dishonest crooks trying to get away with murder all the time -- those are the ones who are promoted. I will re-state that the problem is at the top, not the bottom.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:38 am
by bloke
Mary Ann wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:40 am
That actually sounds like a computer loop, in that the computer tells them where to send it next. And the carrier is NOT able to use their brain to fix the problem because they will be written up and punished for going against what the system says to do. They are helpless.
...and here's another dysfunctional USPS loop:
I log into my USPS account, click that I wanted to enroll, and it goes right back to this same page (neither an enrollment nor a "you're now enrolled" page).
- Informed Delivery USPS.png (16 KiB) Viewed 1294 times
Something tells me that their I.T. people are only required to have associate degrees or - maybe - only pass a typing test.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:43 am
by dp
Interesting thread, all I could think was .....
the "Change We Can Believe In" chortling started fourteen years ago!
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:54 am
by bloke
dp wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:43 am
Interesting thread, all I could think was .....
the "Change We Can Believe In" chortling started
fourteen years ago!
at least, here:
never much hope - to go along with that...nor belief
Mostly, I judge it to be full of Shirt.
Re: small first class packages with tracking but no insurance
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:45 am
by Mary Ann
And this morning I got an email from USPS. I had put in a hold mail online a few days before I left for Virginia. It was to end on the 26th of September. So I get an email today, the 29th:
Hello MARY ANN,
We've received your USPS Hold Mail request for 09/16/2022 - 09/26/2022. If your mail is currently being held, you cannot cancel this request, but you can change the end date.
Edit this USPS Hold Mail request
---------------
As for the programmers, what I saw with new engineers coming in fresh out of school, was that they thought they could program, because they took the course work. However, (and my brother who worked for Microsoft ran into the exact same problem,) when told to "fix" something in the software, they would tweak it until it did the tiny little thing they were looking at, without doing the extensive "if / then" checking of Every Single Other Possibility in the software that their little tweak could have affected, and it would end up broken in more ways after they were done than before they started, with them merrily going on their way.
These people are also programming the flight software in commercial airlines.