lizards2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 On 5/6/2024 at 8:35 PM, ttfitz said: I usually do vacation holds on the USPS website, pretty quick and easy I've heard you like people..., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the blob Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 On 5/5/2024 at 5:18 PM, Topnotchman said: The ground advantage I’m sure is done by the post office themselves . But large amounts of express and priority have been done by Fed Ex for decades. Ups just got the new contract starting in September. Maybe it’s fed ex who is prioritizing with their own clients now that their long term PO deal is ending. My understanding is that by law they don't allow the USPS to have planes so they have to use Fedex, UPS's fleet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 On 5/7/2024 at 1:50 AM, lizards2 said: On 5/6/2024 at 11:35 PM, ttfitz said: I usually do vacation holds on the USPS website, pretty quick and easy I've heard you like people..., Who's been spreading such vile and disgusting lies? lizards2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAHokie Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) On 5/6/2024 at 6:08 PM, newshane said: Very true. Like I said, I've had awesome experiences with rural post offices. But the city stinks. I've also had generally excellent luck, and they are still my top choice for shipping anything. I have mixed experiences. In the city I could order something from Amazon and get it the next morning a lot of the time. Now, in a more town type area, it takes several days to get to the town and then eventually they will bring it. I also find it amusing that if I mail a letter to the town next door, it must first go to a hub in a different state and then come back. I understand the reason for that, but it seems kind of funny and inefficient. Edit: I will say the in-person experiences at post offices in more rural areas are far superior to the city ones for me. Edited May 7 by CAHokie Off Panel and ttfitz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse-Lee Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 (edited) Just a follow-up - I got a response from the Portland hub, and they said they were having issues with the system updating tracking, and that the package I was asking about was delivered. An hour or two later, the tracking number updated to show the package was delivered. I still have one more package there that was supposed to be delivered today (well, yesterday now I guess - May 7) which would have been roughly about right for a Ground Advantage package, but it has not yet updated as delivered. But at least one of the two is resolved - I'll have to wait to open a new inquiry on this one if it doesn't resolve soon. Edited May 8 by Jesse-Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Cataldo Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 My saga is about to come to an end. After 32 days in transit the package popped up in at the Columbia, SC hub last night and is on the truck to be delivered today. Hopefully all seals are still intact and contents undisturbed. The damn thing took a longer vacation than I ever have! I'll post the contents later on when I'm home from work. Vader : "This will be a day long remembered..." Now, to talk about the box UPS just lost on me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Cataldo Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 Welp, I got home from work and the box was here. It was completely shrinkwrapped (never a good sign) and had a huge gash through the side (also not a good sign). Miraculously, everything seems to still be in the box and the only casualty is that one of Doomsday's arms was broken. I'm very happy it showed up and it's caused me to have faith that the box that UPS just lost might get here eventually as well. Here are the contents of the box I finally got today after being mailed April 6th. Jesse-Lee, CAHokie, ADAMANTIUM and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 On 5/8/2024 at 8:32 PM, Chip Cataldo said: Welp, I got home from work and the box was here. It was completely shrinkwrapped (never a good sign) and had a huge gash through the side (also not a good sign). Miraculously, everything seems to still be in the box and the only casualty is that one of Doomsday's arms was broken. I'm very happy it showed up and it's caused me to have faith that the box that UPS just lost might get here eventually as well. Here are the contents of the box I finally got today after being mailed April 6th. Was that a square package? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceHole Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 (edited) Keep in mind...the Post Office, BY LAW, cannot own or operate airplanes! This is why the post office has contracts with businesses like DHL, FedEx and UPS for air transport. Mostly used to ship from coast to coast, otherwise they truck it. They previously used commercial flight airlines to ship the mail...I remember being on a plane and watching the luggage getting loaded and then seeing mail being loaded. That all stop after 9/11. Edited May 10 by IceHole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Cataldo Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 On 5/10/2024 at 10:20 AM, lizards2 said: Was that a square package? More or less, yes. Just slightly rectangular. About 18"x15"x15" or thereabouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 On 5/10/2024 at 7:34 PM, Chip Cataldo said: On 5/10/2024 at 7:20 AM, lizards2 said: Was that a square package? More or les Yeah - my experience is that square boxes get beat to sh*t and torn up in USPS shipping. I would never promote using a square box. Nor would I use a square box. Use rectangular boxes for safety. greggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksAreMyPeeps Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 On 5/6/2024 at 1:16 PM, newshane said: Unfortunately. I firmly believe they are trained to move as slowly as possible. I've seen lines of over 20 people, and every clerk in the office is (barely) moving without a care in the world. Everyone in line could be huffing and puffing or threatening violence. It only makes them move even slower. I guess I wouldn't be cut out for the job. If I saw a line like that, I would pick up the pace to move them out of there. The clerks just look up with a blank stare with no concern whatsoever. ***This is at EVERY post office (Edit - in the city or large towns). I miss living in a rural area. Your best customer service care can be found in the tiny offices manned by a single clerk. In small towns, you can actually form a relationship with the clerks and carriers, which makes it a wonderful experience. Big towns or cities? Forget about it. I think my theory about movie theater concession stands applies here. I observed years ago that when you have a line at a concession stand, and multiple people working, the line moves at a crawl. When it's one person, it seems to move a little quicker. I think that's because with one person, they know that they're going to have to take care of the entire line by themselves, and want to be done with it. When multiple people are working, if you slack off, other people will handle the bulk of the work. Off Panel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newshane Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 On 5/11/2024 at 10:29 AM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said: I think my theory about movie theater concession stands applies here. I observed years ago that when you have a line at a concession stand, and multiple people working, the line moves at a crawl. When it's one person, it seems to move a little quicker. I think that's because with one person, they know that they're going to have to take care of the entire line by themselves, and want to be done with it. When multiple people are working, if you slack off, other people will handle the bulk of the work. I'm just not geared to slack. Doesn't really pay off to be competent at work, because your managers will simply give you more work. I may know the lesson, but I never really learned the lesson. greggy, Off Panel and workingdog 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeksAreMyPeeps Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 On 5/11/2024 at 12:02 PM, newshane said: I'm just not geared to slack. Doesn't really pay off to be competent at work, because your managers will simply give you more work. I may know the lesson, but I never really learned the lesson. Yep. The reward for a job well done is more work, not more money. workingdog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 (edited) On 5/10/2024 at 12:43 PM, IceHole said: Keep in mind...the Post Office, BY LAW, cannot own or operate airplanes! That was mentioned before in this thread, but I've been unable to find such a prohibition, what's your source for that? Most places, like postaltimes.com, say something along these lines: "There is a very good reason for the USPS to avoid operating its own aircraft. First and foremost, it comes down to economics. Buying an aircraft, filling it with fuel, hiring pilots, and getting a ground game set up at airports is an expensive business, and mail is not a highly profitable sector." The USPS history of airmail also has no mention of a law against operating their own airplanes. It notes that "On February 2, 1925, Congress authorized the Postmaster General to contract for airmail service. The Post Office Department immediately invited bids from commercial aviation companies." Similarly, the Wikipedia article on airmail refers to the Kelly Act - "The Air Mail Act of 1925, also known as the Kelly Act, was a key piece of legislation that intended to free the airmail from total control by the Post Office Department. In short, it allowed the Postmaster General to contract private companies to carry mail." Note it says "allowed" rather than required. Edited May 11 by ttfitz typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADAMANTIUM Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 Oh ya that one from Rome Georgia of mine got delivered fine, took a normal amount of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwination Posted yesterday at 04:30 AM Share Posted yesterday at 04:30 AM Had one delivered today from an order on April 6th. Buyer had long been refunded, and I'd just received a claims check in the mail yesterday for the loss. Had one delivered yesterday that the buyer was being very patient on (and I'd actually gotten an update like two whole weeks ago on it) from April 15th. That leaves one lost package I'd also refunded and am being reimbursed for from April 18th that I do hope still arrives (since it's a scarce item). Crazy stuffs. Everything's been moving smoothly the past few weeks, though. My wife tells me that "consolidation" and streamlining may have something to do with it, as DeJoy has informed congress that some of his changes haven't been rolled out too smoothly and have had to be put on hold... Really, though, getting personal phone calls from offices of destination for all three of those packages blew my mind, not sure I'd get that service (even if it didn't result in packages being located and only claims filed more easily) from one of the corporations but who knows... pmpknface 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
