1st -- I currently have a certified package sitting somewhere in the USPS. Got the postcard that said to pick it up at the PO, but it wasn't there. Or at my door, or at my apartment's receiving room. Supposed to get a phone call from the postmaster of Cary today, but I'm not holding my breath.

2nd -- (Just because I'm ranting anyway) buy.com sent my X-Men and Gladiator DVDs last Wednesday, and it STILL hasn't come in. Thankfully there is a tracking number there, but that doesn't do a DAMN thing to get those in here any quicker. And with the holiday rush starting any day now, God only knows how much slower things will become.

Ups is much worse. Your package may end in south america before you recieve it!

Just got off the phone w/ the Cary, NC PO. He said that it *was* there, but he thought that it was a letter, not a parcel. I should have said "Parcel" when I gave him the card. He even made it sound like *I* was the idiot. Now I'm going to have to kill tomorrow's lunch break there too. Not like its a 45 minute round trip or anything.

No wonder these maggotfarmers bring guns to work!

I hate the USPS for some different reasons:

I recently moved and submitted a change of address form for mail forwarding... nothing was forwarded to me and I had to get the new tenants at my old apartment to save my mail.
Called the USPS to fix this 3 TIMES!!! and each time they apologized etc... and today.. I'm still not getting any forwarded mail (been half a year now)
Moreover, I used to get a whole bunch of my neighbors letters in my mailbox (happened 3-4 times a week) and often, the postman just put a whole stack of letters/ads/periodicals outside the mailroom so we could sort it out ourselves.
what retards

if you're wondering... this is the Berkeley, CA postal office

yeah, slightly off-topic (but I really hate them for this)

I wish more stores would ship Fed-Ex, like L.L. Bean, Playboy, and a bunch of others. I've never had a problem with Fed-Ex. Now, if I had to choose between USPS or UPS, USPS wins hands-down. UPS, I believe stands for, Union Package Smashers!

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Autotelik:
I hate the USPS for some different reasons:

I recently moved and submitted a change of address form for mail forwarding... nothing was forwarded to me and I had to get the new tenants at my old apartment to save my mail.
Called the USPS to fix this 3 TIMES!!! and each time they apologized etc... and today.. I'm still not getting any forwarded mail (been half a year now)
Moreover, I used to get a whole bunch of my neighbors letters in my mailbox (happened 3-4 times a week) and often, the postman just put a whole stack of letters/ads/periodicals outside the mailroom so we could sort it out ourselves.
what retards

if you're wondering... this is the Berkeley, CA postal office

yeah, slightly off-topic (but I really hate them for this)<HR>

Similar problems for me in San Mateo CA

[This message has been edited by porieux (edited November 20, 2000).]

The problem I have here is while the mailman might leave the package at my door or even knock loudly to inform me of my packages, the UPS guy will try his damndest to aviod you by knocking as quietly as possible and immediately run off before you can answer the door. Just today my neighbor across from me (a mere 4 feet or so) received a UPS delivery and even though I was home and had the door open, I never heard the bastard knock. Seeing as how i'm supposed to be getting my buy.com packages thru UPS, i'm sure i'll have to wait an extra day or so to get them.

Not to try to excuse poor service, but if you live in an apartment building (which it sounds to me like some of you that are having trouble with forwarding do) there are a few pointers I might make. Anything listed here goes for a regular house too.

Always make sure your apartment number is in your address and that your address in general is complete; if an important piece of mail comes without the apt # or complete address, make sure the sender is notified to include the #.

Notify anyone who sends you mail of a change of address. Periodicals, bills, whatever. A forwarding order does not notify everyone who sends you mail. There are some pieces of mail that say "Change Address Requested" or something similar, and these places will get a change for you because they are paying for that with the endorsement. I see a lot of people never change their magazine subscriptions and when the forwarding order expires their magazines just start getting sent back to the publisher.

Also, bulk mail is not forwardable. If you were used to getting a Victoria's Secret or LL Bean catalog or whatever every week, if you move you'll have to get on their mailing list again - most of those kinds of mail are just delivered to the current resident.

As far as parcel delivery, most people like parcels just delivered to their door or parcel box - but if there's something special you need or want it can probably be accomodated by leaving the carrier a note or discussing it with them.

If you are getting misdelivered mail, leave a note with it and leave it in your box for pickup. If the problem is extreme and continued you may want to contact a delivery supervisor to try to correct the problem. It's easier than you think to make a small mistake when each carrier is hand-sorting thousands of pieces of mail before they go on a route, but consistent and negligent mistakes aren't really excusable either.

Oh note too - I'm not suggesting that some of you don't have legitimate complaints either, just thought I'd throw in some helpful pointers - and saying that you should be able to work with your carrier or post office to improve any deliver problems.

I don't know when you filed your forward form but I beleive you need to allow 3-4 weeks for it to be active. If you file it late, it often seems like it doesn't work. Then you'll get a trickle of forwarded mail 4-5 weeks later.

I've grown to know most of my mail carriers and the following worked great for me. I leave a thank you card in my mailbox beside just filling out the form. In the card I say thanks for the great service and leave my new address and information. This is very effective... after all, most folks have a fairly consistant carrier delivering your mail. Each time I've done this I've received incredible forward service from USPS. Even got a call that a certified was at my old post office and was being forwarded!

And all this in an urban, high density area. The service I've received in suburban areas has been just as good.

I also give my mail carrier a little holiday gift, too. Afterall, this person can make your life better or worse sometimes. In the card I usually write a short note about something the carrier can do... like leave sign for items with someone nearby who I know will be home during the day.

quote:<HR>
Thanks for the great service!
P.S.If you ever get any certified mail for me, please try to leave the item with Mrs. Walsh in #2. She'll be glad for the excitement!<HR>

Everytime, this has worked like a charm.

-Beebs

Yes, the postal service is suck! Since (and even before) I started ordering DVDs I expect a parcel at least once a week, once a week like clockwork. I live in an "Melrose Place" style building, no receiving area, no inside door to leave my deliveries by.

Anyway, I'd been seeing a lag between notices from my carrier. Buy.com is really good (to me), I'd get my items 2-3 days after the delivery e-mail. So the past few weeks I'd get a notice, like on Friday saying I had 5 parcels to pick up. So instead of just giving me my notice on time, they had been waiting for a few packages to build up. That I didn't mind too much...

I noticed that a few weeks had gone by with no notice. Unacceptable. I go before work to see what's up. The snippy mail clerk asked me for my notice, "I don't have one, but I know there should be packages for me, I get at least 2 - 3 DVDs delivered each and every week, without exception." She comes back with nothing. I'm mad.

So track my package with Buy.com, states they tried to deliver my parcel on Nov 14th (my husband was home, but of course no one wants to walk up the stairs to knock on the door, which is also OK, when I get my notices in a timely fashion). It is now Nov 22nd, the first notice hasn't come in!

When I call the post office the nice manager say he would notify my carrier. I go after work the mail clerk points me to this door to get my parcels. My mail carrier comes out with 2 items, "Oh yeah, I know who you are, you get packages every week." I kindly ask her to at least give my notice when something comes in (although she technically should try and see if someone is home).

The next day, a notice.

Maybe I'll try that card thing Beebs!

don't any of you guys go POSTAL on us now!

Post office rules(most of the time). I've got Gladiator sitting in one of 9 trailers of stuff that's not being delivered today at UPS. I got both an Express.com order and a CDNOW order that shipped out the same day(Monday) in my mailbox today. As long as it doesn't require a signature and will fit in the mailbox, USPS is the only way to go for me.

I have to disagree. Lately I have had much better luck with the USPS then with UPS.

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MY SHORT BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST


MY GETTING LONGER BUT SLOWLY EXPANDING DVD LIST

"The earth does not belong to people; people belong to the earth. Everything that happens to the earth happens also to the sons and daughters of the earth." -Chief Seattle.

USPS is much better. They've really turned things around with Priority Mail. They pretty much always meet the 2-3day delivery time, and delivery on Sat makes all the difference.

I know my postman, get to know yours, it couldn't hurt.