The emotional attachment to it all.

I didn't know if anybody was struggling with this stuff like I was. This week I was starting to get concerned because a couple of my packages got held up. The support it's just not out there to help resolve any problems. It comes down to this after you order something and it is shipped off to you you either get it or you don't. If you don't get it you spent a long time waiting and after struggling you have to go back to the person who you paid with and hassle with getting your money back.

The post office is doing a terrible job at times but in some cases they're okay or an adequate job. After it looks like my packages were going to be stuck for a long time I said to myself that's it I'm going to stop buying because I don't need to ask for more trouble.

Today I get up and after weeks my packages have started to move. Now this could be false hope. They can get stuck in a new location for weeks or even lost at that point, but that they have moved to me is a positive sign that they're becoming closer and more likely to be received.

Now while all of this is happening there are sales and people making offers to me and life goes on. So I sigh and with a heavy heart I start making purchases again. Packages are starting to come in and that's encouraging as well. I walk into the bathroom and look in the mirror and I ask myself are you crazy? What are you doing?

I know that I may experience problems in the weeks to come but for some reason the risk is worth it. Will I be rewarded or taught another lesson?

Sound familiar?

 

If you have all this time to worry about the symptom, I hope you're spending some of it concerning yourself with the cause.

The Post Office is in the fight of its' life right now, and it's all due to all the other things that are screwing up our lives.

We have to stop thinking about ourselves as customers, and start acting like citizens. Citizens who have something valuable to lose, if the Postman can't do his job because of what they're forced to re-allocate their operating expenses to funding their pensions further into the future than any other corporation or private company is required to by legal mandate.

If you're really concerned about the state of your Post Office, you can avoid using UPS, FedEx, DHL, and other for-profit couriers, because those are the people who take their profits, and use them to buy power in Washington: power to require the USPS to cripple their own services. If you really want to help...buy a stamp. Buy a billion of them. Send a letter to your leaders, telling them you know what your Post Office is worth, and what they're doing to it, and stop using it as a football. Because if we run the USPS bankrupt right about the time they'd otherwise be put into service delivering ballots in November (and yes, it's really that tight), you are going to lose a heckuva lot more then just reasonable delivery of a record or a CD.

 

I understand your feeling about the post office. There are those out there that said the post office will be changed it will be eliminated it will be defunded it will be all kinds of things but I don't believe that for one second. the post office is vital as he say it not only delivers our mail it delivers ballots it delivers all kinds of things that are vital for this country to continue to function.

Now you see me complaining about the post office which I do and it is a service that I pay directly and indirectly. This service is just like any service it could be run efficiently or inefficiently. I have been using the post office during this quarantine for three months and up until this point I've had no issues with it and as a matter of fact do praises it.

For me to put the United States Post Office into perspective I would still, despite its inefficiency, go with it as far as package delivery over FedEx UPS DHL and all of the other package and mail services. There is value in USPS. For the amount that they charge you there still a greater value than the other mail and parcel services.

Now that said you say it's under siege it's in a fight for his life it's all these things which may or may not be true but because of all this I am not really allowed to speak up about the inefficiency of the post office or even look it's way. well I'm sorry it's part of my government and I can criticize it and all I want just like I can crystallize my governor my mayor the presidents or any other arm of the federal government.

Now there are times when I have sent messages to my local government on behalf of the post office because I do believe in it and I have friends and family who have been in the post office so I'm not a hater of the post office. I'm a supporter and I will choose the post office over other services because it is more important to me than other services.

If I am to post messages stating these areas are inefficient it's not to criticize the post office overall and make a football out of them, because this is not a game. This is facts and this is important. it's to let people know that if your package comes through these distribution centers it may take up to a month because of the way things are not because of the post office wanting to hold your package for a month it's because that's the way they're dealing with parcels in that area.

We as consumers have expectations and just want those expectations to be met. if it's going to take us a month okay tell us it's going to take us a month and then when it takes a month we won't be upset.

For me I've told others that my package is just entertainment and it should be low priority when it comes to certain parcels. Someone who is getting medicine through the mail takes priority over my CD and I completely understand that but the way things are run there's no rhyme or reason to how are packages get to us at times which is concerning but just because we raise our voices doesn't mean we hate that's just what your drawing as a conclusion.

It's just beyond me sometimes how we see parcels routed all across the United States inefficiently and it makes us shake our head and share the stories of how the post office is not working well. If we ignore problem it will just continue. We're not here to break the backs of the United States Post Office we're just here to let everyone know what's going on so that we can mentally prepare for that.

 

Since I posted this thread over a month ago I got all kinds of mixed reactions but I have seen other threads were people are frustrated and struggling over the way the post office is handling their deliveries. So I know that I'm not alone.

For me I'm now experiencing an incredible efficiency when it comes to things getting to me on a regular basis but things being lost within a hundred yards of my house.

It's an ongoing process and you have to work closely with your post office but if you stop focusing things can easily spiral out of control when it comes to delivery at your house.

Some postal workers have called their process a lucky process. You either have a lucky package that gets too quickly and efficiently or you have an unlucky package that takes what seems like an eternity to get to you. Then again there are packages that fall somewhere in the middle.

 

it's all mr. orange and his new postmaster generals fault

 

The post office has been struggling long before this guy put this guy in place. We all struggle because of an outdated system. We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to pay for a quality system or to bring the system to a state of efficiency. I don't think we do or are. We have been paying little for mail for so long it is hard for us to value it more.

 

Actually, it's not an outdated system, that could not be further from reality. Despite the regulations requiring it to fun their pensions further into the future than any other business in history, it has still managed to maintain a state of economy, excellence and efficiency that no other company would be able to keep going despite the endless number of hoops presented it must jump through...all so its' competition can get the real people in charge to make them look bad for the public to lose faith in.

What is actually an outdated system, starts, as always, faaaaar to the east of you, in a little cottage across a big man-made pond from a tall white monument, in which a shallow little turtle spent decades crawling through regulations with the power of the filibuster, chewing every well-intentioned piece of law to shreds, so he and his wife could live in a comfortable, sprawling terrarium.

 

It's actually worse as a seller...I'm about to refund a buyer for a package that has literally stalled for weeks.

I'm not planning on selling anything in the near future, at least via the post office as a shipment method. Too erratic right now.....just enjoy what you have and take each day as it comes.

 

The whole online selling is a mixed bag. I have watched videos on YouTube of comic book sellers who say that they don't sell online cuz it usually winds up as an argument about grading. And packaging and shipping as you know can be a nightmare and if you refund and the buyer gets it and isn't honest you are screwed.

I tell sellers to wrap my CDs in cardboard. Most do, but when they don't, nine times out of 10 the CD is crushed. And half the sellers just shrug and say well too bad. many sellers charge me a lot for shipping and don't refund the difference when I see that they paid pennies for shipping. that's why I'm buying CDs for $0.50 at my record store because I can inspect things know what I'm getting and accept what I'm getting for the price I'm paying.

 

It kills me how many people get crushed CDs. I don't think I've ever receive one and I have been buying lots of CDs online for years. Some people just have rotten luck, I guess.

I send out plenty of CDs as well. eBay sells these nifty bubble mailers which work great. I even place the CD in with the jewel case lid facing up and fold the mailer over to create a second bubble layer of protection because the lids seem to be a bit more fragile than the tray. Never a single complaint, not one.

As for shipping and the USPS, I quote media mail and charge anywhere from $2.80 (actual) to $3.00. First Class is variable pricing and depending on where the buyer is, I can sometimes upgrade and it costs a bit less than $2.80. Often, if the item comes in at 4 ounces or less, I can upgrade at my cost to first class for $3.18 and ship across the country.

Bringing this full circle, if a buyer demands extra cardboard because of their history of bad luck, I'll oblige. But this will bump the weight to the next price point and shipping 5 ounces across the country is $3.67. I'm less inclined to pay nearly a dollar out of the item price to upgrade but I'll gladly send by way of the originally quoted method, the shipping adventure that media mail has become.

Personally, I'd rather have a decently packed item spend less time in the system via first class mail than a bullet proof package sent via media mail that will likely be in the system for three times as long.

 

Looks like the post office announced it will be raising shipping prices in October. Without updating a long outdated system that people everywhere have been making excuses for, our mail and package delivery will be no more efficient than it is today. Don't get me wrong it isn't the worst that it can be but it certainly is not the best. With the election and Christmas added on top of that it probably will get worse but we will have to wait and see and I'm sure there will be more stepping up to make more excuses for them.

 

I have had CD and record packing issues happen to me rite here at shf . A Fool sent me a CD in the repro card
album cover style in the cheapest mailer ever nothing else and it showed up mangled. Sent him a message and nothing.
I let it go no more business with him.
I think there should be a packing guideline here like the grading.

 

Exactly I don't do business with people who don't care. I asked them to wrap my CD in cardboard if they comply and nothing bad happens to it I do business with them again. If they don't comply and my CD comes broken I let them know. If they offer nothing for my bad experience I don't do business with them again. On the other hand if everything comes out well I give them glowing positive feedback and do business with them again.

 

Ditto to Gaslight’s post 8 above. I am done selling until the postal service gets proper attention from our lawmakers and enough money to do its job. I recently sold several dvds and CDs on eBay, media mail. It has been nearly two weeks and several of the packages are “in transit arriving late.” Goodness knows where they are and whether they ever will get there. So far, no complaints, but mentally, I am getting ready to start issuing refunds.

I know part of the problem is using media, but most of the stuff I sold were dvds and CDs for less than $5 with free shipping after paying shipping on the first one ordered. If I had to charge for first class or priority, I wouldn’t be able to sell anything because postage would be more than the price of the item.

I have been selling for more than a dozen years. Media used to be fine, so I know it can work if the post office is not overwhelmed. I don’t blame the folks who work there. In my opinion, the problem is that they lack the resources to do the job.

I want my buyers to be happy. I don’t blame them for getting stressed by the now-regular delays. I get stressed as a seller. So, I am not listing on eBay for the foreseeable future. When I sell here, it will with first class or priority pricing.

I am not a single issue voter by any stretch, but lawmakers interested in bringing the post office up to reasonable standards will definitely get my attention.

 

Then stop supporting the ones that want to make the infrastructure look bad, so they can sell public services out to the highest bidder. Every dollar that gets those people to buy ads to lie to you, are the ones you need to change seats.