Mail Frustration... Am I nuts?

[audette]

So, last Tuesday I mailed a package to a buddy of mine. On a whim, I decided to use priority mail instead of first class, because I thought it would be good to get it in said buddy's hands before the weekend.

Priority Mail comes with tracking, so on Friday I checked out USPS's website, looked up the tracking number, and discovered tracking said it has been delivered in their mailbox on Thursday!  I was thrilled about that - buddy received bad news on Thursday, so the package might have come at a really good time to cheer buddy up.

Except, buddy didn't mention the arrival of the package to me.  That seemed out of character, so I asked if it had shown up to find out that while tracking might say it arrived on Thursday, it was not yet in their mailbox on Friday.  Or on Saturday.  Or on Monday.  Buddy went to the post office today to complain, and was handed the package at the post office, with some lame-ass excuse about their mailbox "being full" (they check and collect their mail regularly, so this was BS, and we all know it).

So, yay, at least it's not lost.  *phew*  (it was hand knit knee-high socks, that'd be a chunk of work to lose)

But, I can't help thinking - tracking said it was in their mailbox on Thursday.  And today, it was sitting at the post office when buddy went to complain, as if nothing was amiss.

This annoys the crap out of me.  I could handle it if the package was just late.  I'd be worried a bit about it, but priority mail doesn't guarantee a delivery time, so I could suck that up.  But, for tracking to be incorrect gets under my skin.  I've done various swaps where we use tracking to confirm that things make it to their destination.  I know vendors that use USPS's tracking to be sure they can document the delivery of items they send by mail.  Tracking info not being absolutely correct seems wrong...

Am I nuts that I'm letting this get to me?

[arch01]

USPS' tracking sucks ass. Last week at work I had a printout from their tracking website stating that the certified mail had been delivered at the destination (so picked up by the recipient)-but I was holding it in my hand as returned to sender, no such number.

It annoys the shit outta me on a daily basis since we rely on tracking for work.

[raangoli]

Their "tracking" is the worst. I'll often find that it tells me that it's too early to track in the system, yet I have already received the package. It's definitely not reliable.

[jm1982]

I regularly get emails from Amazon courtesy of USPS (the UPS to USPS service) saying that an unsuccessful delivery attempt was made and that they will try again the following day. In every case, I have found the package at our front door as of the first attempt.

If you have the time, though, I'd call and complain. I like to think that eventually, if they get enough complaints, they might do something about it.

[thatgirl2478]

could they have had a post card from the USPS saying that they needed to come into the PO to pick up the package and THAT'S what they meant by 'in their box'? Because I don't know if I've ever seen it say that it was 'in their box' just 'Delivered' or whatever generic status they have.

[gt7301b]

Your friend should have received a notice in their mailbox if the package couldn't fit. I would complain to the Postmaster about the package being scanned as delivered, when it wasn't actually delivered.  The scan even shouldn't be delivered if only a notice is left.  There should have also been a second attempt to deliver five days after the first attempted delivery, even if the mailbox was full.

[audette]

Sept 22, 2015 10:51:04 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

could they have had a post card from the USPS saying that they needed to come into the PO to pick up the package and THAT'S what they meant by 'in their box'? Because I don't know if I've ever seen it say that it was 'in their box' just 'Delivered' or whatever generic status they have.

Tracking says, specifically "Delivered, In/At Mailbox".

And no slip to pick things up at the PO was left in the box.

[msmerymac]

Yeah, that's laziness or a mistake on the part of the mail carrier for marking that off AND not attempting delivery again.

[irene adler]

USPS can be infuriating. I'm sorry

[UnderProtest]

I think I've given up. My first thought was at least he got it. I have had at least 3 packages just never arrive courtesy of the Royal Mail. No one here is surprised or upset by this common occurrence. But yeah, I would be annoyed.

[Pom]

Not big fans of USPS since they lost an $1100 check and my mom's mother's day card this year. I will be mad for you too.

[livinitup]

That's about what I expect from the USPS.

Last time I paid extra for priority shipping they missed the delivery deadline and I went back and got my money back.

[jinkies]

USPS is the worst.

My parents recently changed their mailing address from a PO Box to have it delivered to their mailbox. (They didn't actually move, but this change did require a change to the town in their address).

Despite filling out change of address forms, the Post Office was not forwarding any of their mail.

For TWO MONTHS.

REASON GIVEN: The machine that prints their forwarding labels was broken.

By the time my parents figured out what was going on, their insurance had lapsed (because they didn't get the bill) and they were behind on a couple other bills.

Postmaster was not apologetic, at all.

[mrsfarmer]

Sept 22, 2015 11:02:46 GMT -5 audette said:

Sept 22, 2015 10:51:04 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

could they have had a post card from the USPS saying that they needed to come into the PO to pick up the package and THAT'S what they meant by 'in their box'? Because I don't know if I've ever seen it say that it was 'in their box' just 'Delivered' or whatever generic status they have.

Tracking says, specifically "Delivered, In/At Mailbox".

And no slip to pick things up at the PO was left in the box.

DH's manager frequently has this happen but the package doesn't show up until a week later.

I live in a small town and recently USPS tracking said in the mailbox, my DH was home, it wasn't there.  I drove to the post office on my way home, they had no clue where it was.  They talked to the carrier the next morning and it magically appeared that day!  Oh, did I mention at the time we were friends/neighbors of the local postmaster?  Yeah, not the right person to lie to.

[thatgirl2478]

Sept 22, 2015 11:02:46 GMT -5 audette said:

Sept 22, 2015 10:51:04 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

could they have had a post card from the USPS saying that they needed to come into the PO to pick up the package and THAT'S what they meant by 'in their box'? Because I don't know if I've ever seen it say that it was 'in their box' just 'Delivered' or whatever generic status they have.

Tracking says, specifically "Delivered, In/At Mailbox".

And no slip to pick things up at the PO was left in the box.

Weird.

[Pibs]

I hate USPS and I'm bummed because they used to never suck. I'm still waiting on a call back from them to troubleshoot delivery of a package from a month ago. It wasn't something that would fit in the box, so it had to be brought to the garage or front door. We have stone stairs going up to our house right next to our driveway. It rains 3/4 of the year here and the stairs get slippery, so we want to eventually rip out the stairs and replace them with something safer but haven't figure it out yet with the HOA. So I haven't bothered to cut back the ivy that's just started to put out feelers onto the top two steps. Nobody uses the stairs -- people just walk up the driveway that's 2 steps to the right.

So the carrier decided they couldn't deliver the package because our stairs are treacherous due to the ivy. The thing is at that point they've already gone 95% of the way up. And if they made it that far, they could have taken 2 steps to the right and stepped onto the driveway and taken 2 more steps forward to get to the garage door.

Soooo everyone else in the world, including DHL who needs to fucking die in a fire, are capable of walking up the driveway to deliver packages, but USPS can't? And they really wonder why they're losing business and money.