More USPSBS

Published on October 26, 2006 By pseudosoldier In Misc

1. A package I sent two weeks ago, without delivery confirmation or insurance, has not yet arrived at the other end of the transaction. This was for an online trade of collectible items. The least this will cost me to correct is shipping his half of the trade back; the most it could cost is me paying price guide prices for the items (d'oh!). Yes, I am majorly responsible for not getting DC on the package... but it still wasn't delivered, so there is shared responsibility.

2. Three NetFlix movies that I put in the drop box on Monday have still not arrived at NetFlix, despite that the average delivery time prior to this was two days (today makes three). It was with considerable trepidation that I put bills in that same drop box today...

I'm considering doing all my mailing on base from now on, even though I know it will go through the same impersonal, inefficient system. feh.

Comments

chiprj

on Oct 26, 2006

When I was in Korea the first time, we had a guy working in the unit mailroom that turned out to be a total criminal. HAHA! He would "lose" mail behind the safe for people that he didn't want to give mail to. He was finally caught after he was supposed to mail a very important package for the unit. The old head of the NRO was retiring and as a goodbye gift, they sent a folded flag all over the world to every platform that reported to the old NRO. This flag went up on the space shuttle before it got to us. It was neat to fly that night. We all signed a log and added to the flag's package.

The flag went missing in the mail and the guy retired and got some other gift. The mailroom guy said he had mailed it off registered mail but could later provide no proof that he had done so. I don't remember for sure if they caught this guy because of that package or if it was some other piece of registered mail that never made it through, but they eventually searched the mail room and found behind the safe a big pile of undelivered mail and the flag. The flag was a mess. It had been shrink wrapped and was behind the safe where there was a heat vent and it had melted the shrink wrap into the fabric. Completely ruined. I don't know how it turned out, but a single count of mail fraud for each piece of mail found behind the safe was what was rumored to be the charges.

pseudosoldier

on Oct 27, 2006

Update: Netflix got the three movies today. I hope the other movies get here Monday.

I'm not so much accusing them of theft as I am of incompetence and/or apathy.

Spc Nobody Special

on Oct 28, 2006

You've done it now......gone and pissed off the postmaster general.

dharmagrl

on Nov 01, 2006

I've been having the same issues. I got no mail for 5 days one time, not even junk mail - and that NEVER happens here. I also had a check that I mailed out for a bill returned THREE times, despite my having contacted the company to verify their mailing address. I eventually called the post office on base and asked just what the feck was going on. Here's the scoop:

The USPS has gone to a completely automated system, which makes for all sorts of issues. They've also started shipping mail to out of town sorting offices when the local mail sorting place gets backed up. For instance, the mail the my doc sends me from St Louis sometimes takes 10 days to get here. Ten days, for a total of 18 miles. It boggles the mind. Anyway, it sometimes takes that long because the local sorting place has gotten backed up, so mail has been driven to Kansas City to get sorted. They send it FURTHER away from me so that it can come back to me. And, in the time it takes for that mail to get sorted at KC, the St L facility has gotten rid of it's backlog so it would have been just as quick to leave it where it was. I joked that that's one reason the price of a stamp has gone up recently, so the USPS can cover it's gas costs for driving my mail all across the land. The man on the other end of the phone said that it wasn't no joke, that that's one of the reasons for the increase.

I don't trust the USPS anymore. I've experienced and have heard of so many cases of mail going missing or not getting to it's intended destination in one piece or a reasonable amount of time that I've lost all faith in it. I only have one bill that I pay via the USPS anymore, and I'm going to see if I can't change that - and if I can't, I'm sending that sucker registered mail. I don't care too much about the cost; the peace of mind will be worth it.

MasonM

on Nov 01, 2006

I've never trusted the Postal Service.

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