anyone experiencing delays with shipping equipment via USPS?

billc · « **Reply #20 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 06:16 am »

Last summer I sent a DAC to the Netherlands for some upgrade work.
4 months later it had not arrived. USPS told me the tracking info showed it was still on the local route to the airport. For 4 months. Right.
I reported it missing/lost.
After 4 months the firm in the Netherlands received the unit, did the upgrade, and sent it back to me, with travel time of 3 days.
I still get emails from USPS telling me they have not found it yet...

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #21 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 06:26 am »

Certainly Its incredible.

JLM · « **Reply #22 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 11:34 am »

USPS had an exclusive contract to make Amazon deliveries but Amazon Prime (guaranteed 2 day deliveries) gave heartburn to USPS, forcing Sunday and 2nd same day deliveries. Now Amazon does some of their own deliveries, have even seen Amazon delivery trucks. IMO what has hurt USPS is all the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class materials that they are forced to deliver below cost. Packages are a pain for USPS when they don't fit nicely in the methods carriers use (all use cubby holes to sort at the post office, urban carriers have to make more trips, rural carriers have to drive to the door).

My mom delivered for USPS for 20 years and hated catalogs and big packages.

DaveC113 · « **Reply #23 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 01:35 pm »

USPS has been struggling with international shipments for a while now. I had an $1800 cable in limbo for about 2 months recently. I got a DHL account, they are about double the price of USPS express but if you open a business account you can get a comparable price for far better service.

For domestic mail they are often a day or three slow but not a big deal.

Stercom · « **Reply #24 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 02:28 pm »

I use USPS everyday for domestic letters and packages. No change in service what-so-ever. We use Priority and Express with no problems.

rollo · « **Reply #25 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 02:53 pm »

No problems at all. Priority mail is great. UPS ? Another story. Lost, damaged, and missing.

charles

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #26 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 02:54 pm »

Sending and receiving via USPS International requires patience. I have waited to receive and nervously waited for customers to receive boxes that seem to sit for up to a month in Chicago. I'll bet other distribution centers also experience delays. But they do eventually get there.

rollo · « **Reply #27 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 03:41 pm »

Volume matters. With Amazon and on line shopping the UPS is overloaded. The UPS has been broken for decades nothing new. If one has issues use another carrier. We do you can to.

charles

S Clark · « **Reply #28 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 03:55 pm »

My experience is that the USPS has been very reliable up until recently. I've had a few items lost over the many decades, but over the past 3 months I've had 3 major delays. It has been a clear and noticeable change.

genjamon · « **Reply #29 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 04:08 pm »

What raised my concerns was the confluence of two things: 1) news about removal of USPS sorting machines and cutbacks in labor as well, and 2) significant glitches in my mail forwarding in the last month or so (I was out of town for an internship all summer until a week ago and returned to find my wife's unemployment checks and some other items sitting in our mailbox rather than having been forwarded to us).

I have also had some occasional glitches over the years with USPS, but it still had been the most reliable for me - more so than UPS for sure, and better for flat-rate shipping than Fedex too. But I wasn't so concerned about the normal level of occasional glitches, but rather that we might be seeing some systemic breakdowns with USPS.

The bulk of the posts here seem to be indicating that people are largely still having decent service and that basic functions are still working pretty well on the whole. That's good to hear. As for S Clark, I wonder if this could just be the normal strain of a large increase in packages overall due to Covid home-bound lifestyles. It sounds like your issues have been occurring longer than the most recent cuts to USPS processing capacity.

S Clark · « **Reply #30 on:** 19 Aug 2020, 06:56 pm »

I'm sure that the increased package load is a factor. Cutbacks, however, are the direct result of Mr. Dejoy, who assumed control on June 16th and immediately cancelled overtime. The removal of sorting machines is more recent action that certainly seems questionable at best.

Philistine · « **Reply #31 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 03:27 pm »

I've been shipping Internationally for years, business and pleasure. When shipping packages overseas I never use USPS, they may have cheaper rates but they 'subcontract' to the receiving countries equivalent mail service for final delivery and customs clearance. Once the package arrives at the receiving country it becomes difficult/impossible to track the package.

When shipping overseas I'll use FEDEX, they'll ensure all the documents are in place before the package leaves the US and will have an office at the destination to handle customs/delivery - all within their own infrastructure and trackable. Coming into the US from overseas I'll use DHL or FEDEX, for the same reason. On more than one occasion I've had FEDEX call me to help get packages out of customs, unfortunately USPS isn't geared up for this support. If you have a problem the package gets lost down the 'black hole' and there's no way to get an update or status.

I've lived and worked globally, and impressed with the low cost and speed of sending mail in the US through USPS - most people go into my local post office to bitch and complain, I do the opposite. Try sending mail in Africa, Asia and parts of Europe - it goes 'missing' and takes forever - then you'll have an appreciation of the service we get. Internationally, no, it's not what they're geared up for.

Stercom · « **Reply #32 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 05:20 pm »

Philistine +1 - exactly right.

glynnw · « **Reply #33 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 05:51 pm »

I just shipped a turntable to Italy by USPS and after a month it is now in customs at destination. Thought for a while it was lost. Whew!!!

rollo · « **Reply #34 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 06:23 pm »

Philistine +2.

charles

thunderbrick · « **Reply #35 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 10:11 pm »

I just sent three boxes from Missouri to NJ, two of which were sent the same day. All arrived eventually, but one of the first two ended up on a truck that ran all over the place for a few days.

NONE of them arrived in the time frame promised(?). All were days late.

SlushPuppy · « **Reply #36 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 10:45 pm »

I ordered a CD on eBay from a guy in Maryland on June 17th (I'm in Houston, Texas). After a month I filed a claim saying that I hadn't received the item. The seller contacted me immediately and said to please wait before requesting a refund because the post office was so behind. I said "whatever" and waited. It finally arrived on July 28th. Slowest shipping I've ever had. I've ordered CD's from Japan and England that arrived faster than that

Blackmore · « **Reply #37 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 11:18 pm »

Barnes and Noble order was transferred to Hazelwood MO USPS facility on August 14th and it hasn't made it to my house yet. 50 miles away.

charmerci · « **Reply #38 on:** 20 Aug 2020, 11:32 pm »

Quote from: SlushPuppy on 20 Aug 2020, 10:45 pm

I ordered a CD on eBay from a guy in Maryland on June 17th (I'm in Houston, Texas). After a month I filed a claim saying that I hadn't received the item. The seller contacted me immediately and said to please wait before requesting a refund because the post office was so behind. I said "whatever" and waited. It finally arrived on July 28th. Slowest shipping I've ever had. I've ordered CD's from Japan and England that arrived faster than that

Sent a few small packages last week and all made it quickly. Utah to Ohio in 3 days. The package the week before took only 2 days to Ohio. It seems like there are a number of misses but they're mostly hits.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #39 on:** 21 Aug 2020, 01:19 am »

The claims on tracking number few checkpoints dont justify it vary according the ship price.