USPS issues

Hello,

Is there a USPS slowdown?
It seems packages I expect are arriving slower and slower.
Some examples include:
- Acoustic Sounds order, shipped via USPS = 8 weeks to Niles, Illinois
- Second Acoustic Sounds order, shipped via USPS = 9 weeks to Niles, Illinois
- EBay Item, shipped from Morton Grove Illinois = 9 weeks to Niles, Illinois
-EBay item, shipped from New Jersey May 11th = still waiting

In contrast:
Amazon order (NOT Prine delivery) ordered May 11th, arrived May 13th
Amazon order (NOT prime) ordered June 28th, arrived June 29th.


Hmmmm....

 

Short answer is yes, with the pandemic things have slowed down. Some of these seem overly long though. I just got an order from Acoustic Sounds to the Cleveland area. Took only a couple weeks.

Edit - second AS order placed on 6/21 scheduled to be delivered on Monday. So about 2 weeks as well. Could be where your main hub is located as well - if it's in the Chicago area things seem extra slow coming out of there. I placed an order through Shuga in Chicago that took forever to get here.

 

Those seem extra long. My deliveries have been longer but maybe just a week longer, not 7 or 8 weeks longer.

 

USPS Tracking - what are your current experiences?

Delivery times of shipped goods are all over the map! Your experiences?

The USPS hasn't tried to hide the fact that there are delays. It's in a RED banner across the top of every tracking page, plus Media Mail sucked before the virus...how is it going to improve during the virus ?

 

I had a package sent Media Mail arrive 6 weeks later from ordering. I had another get to me 2 weeks later.

Media Mail is already a potentially very slow process. It can certainly be fairly quick, but it all depends on the place the shipment comes from and where it flows through. And with the pandemic, USPS has had to consolidate some locations and processes. Normal 2-3 day Priority Mail or 1st class mail may take a couple of days longer than normal, but we're talking 1-5 days in general.

 

Bound to get a whole lot slower if they don't get funding soon...

 

Bitching should be moved here-
Marketplace Discussions
My packages arrive via covered wagon, kinda neat

 

I'm one of those people who are very supportive of the USPS during these pandemic times. Mail has slowed down, no doubt, particularly media mail. But I don't complain about it. It makes perfectly good sense for a couple of reasons: many more people than normal are ordering things on-line either because stores are closed, or because shoppers are, or believe they may be, more vulnerable by going into stores and thus feel safer ordering on-line. SO a lot more mail is being handled. Because of the pandemic, some of the postal workers have gotten sick, some even have died. More mail, fewer employees, more time needed to handle mail = slower mail.

The fact that USPS has been up and running throughout this entire pandemic is something I HUGELY appreciate. I would never criticize them for continuing on despite risks to employees health.

Big kudos to USPS!

 

Once shipped by USPS it may take a little longer but I have not noticed big delays in delivery times.

Amazon Prime and FEDEX are stellar as always. I love the FEDEX feature where they show you where the truck is on a Google map as it gets closer to your house.

 

yes, there has been a slowdown

A record label I used to be affiliated with had hundreds of priority packages sit in Cincinnati for 2 weeks before they started moving again

I had experienced that with Media mail, but never Priority

 

The last 4 things I bought on ebay or discogs got to Detroit quick (10 min from my house) and sat there for a week or more before making their way to my house. All were shipped 1st class. But then I ordered a book on ebay, they shipped it media mail and it came right away.

 

Already reported for merging with one of the other two threads already in place. They don't look into every thread and have repeatedly pointed out how the report button is there for that purpose. Some still have a high-school mentality and think it's a " tattle button."

 

My understanding is that some shippers are now listing orders including transit from their distributor, thus it looks like an elongated period till they actually receive and ship it. The purpose apparently is (1) with work force fluctuations the order is pegged within their system as existing; (2) to show that something is happening rather than saying it is delayed or back ordered. This is most definitely CoVid related.

 

Now that everybody's stuck inside many people are ordering things so this is probably been worse than Christmas traffic is in regards to packages being sent. That said the USPS has not been prepared or adequately staffed to handle the volume they been required to move. That said I've been watching tracking where packages will get stuck in certain locations. Because they don't have a streamlined system it's just catch-as-catch-can. Some packages will come into a distribution center to be moved and other packages coming after will pass them up as lucky packages to go on to their final destination. The other packages that are unlucky get stuck for God knows how long until they can be dealt with or moved further down the line towards their final destination.

This whole process is compounded by inadequately trained staff and either strained or unfocused workers that have scanned packages multiple times or worse not scan packages at all to register where they're at with in the process.

So what you will see is a package dropped off at the post office and won't be scanned into the post office for sometimes days or a week later. Did it really sit there for a week or did it take that long for the system to update? Now the system is showing its received and will it be scanned out or will someone miss it entirely and then somehow it magically shows up miles away being scanned into a distribution center to be sent on?

Sometimes you'll see the package scanned in and then out minutes later and then scan back in minutes later. This tells me people working within that location are confused they don't know if the package is coming or going.

I've had a package stuck in one location for weeks and I put in a trace to see where the package is and the post office themselves escalated this case then finally called me back to tell me they don't know. They could tell me that because it is Media mail I have no claim towards compensation if it gets lost. If for some reason the label comes off and they find it they'll send it to Atlanta open it and catalogs for a claim to come in to describe it for them to forward it to its final or intended destination.

If after a month when it was shipped you haven't received it you can then contact your payment service and put a claim in with eBay or PayPal or your credit card and let them know you never received the item and you can possibly be refunded.

How long will this last? I think this is now The New normal.

 

Maybe yesterday's post might have been a little bit too critical of the USPS. To me in this last couple weeks have been kind of an education. My parcels are starting to move again sometimes only a few miles sometimes significantly but that shows me that they are not lost. That doesn't detract from certain distribution centers being less efficient than others. I will hope that they improve or mail coming through them changes so that they can become more efficient.

Now going forward if I order something and it is being shipped I will keep in mind that it could take as long as a month to get to me. You can think what you like but me I'm going to mentally prepare myself for what possibly can happen so that if it does I won't be surprised or disappointed going forward. I'm still appreciative of all the efforts the post office makes for what little it charges.

 

Around here, most of these parcel thugs drop boxes at the USPS office to be delivered by the rural carriers. My son is a rural carrier, his wife a postmaster, so before you say it can't work that way, trust me, I know first hand. It is so bad during the cotrumpvid-19 virus, my son has made as many as 4 trips to the P.O. in one day to reload his mail wagon. His route is 70+ miles and almost 800 boxes.

Hey Chewy.com, you DO NOT deliver, someone else is doing that. Stop your ads from saying "you" deliver.

 

Thanks for sharing new. Looks like delivery is different depending on where you live as FEDEX and Amazon do deliveries themselves where I live and not through USPS so I have no experience with what you are reporting. I also have experienced outstanding service from FEDEX and Amazon so have no complaints.

That being said I think the USPS does an outstanding job and never understood people complaining about their service.

 

I have a package ("Rough and Rowdy Ways") that has been sitting at a postal warehouse in my town since June 23, without moving.

Amazon have already offered to replace it.

The whole point of pre-ordering an album so you can receive it on release day is lost if they don't deliver it.

 

I've been waiting 16 days now for vinyl from a seller that's about 200 miles away, had another record tour the southern states on its way out of Tennessee to Kentucky. I suppose they are doing the best they can, so I have learned to temper my expectations of how long a shipment will take to arrive.

 

I generally don't have an issue with USPS but did have this recent bad experience:

I ordered an album from a shop only about 3 miles from me. Due to not owning a car and not wanting to be on public transportation for a long ride there and back, I opted to have it shipped to me. USPS sent the package down to Los Angeles and then back to San Francisco for some unknown reason. Then it took a couple of days to actually get to my local post office for delivery. Then the next three days had status updates that indicated they did not have access to my location to deliver mail even though there was a mail carrier here each day delivering packages. I don't know if it was my filling out a complaint form online but they finally delivered my package the same day, which was 9 days after the item shipped. Yes, 9 days for a single album to travel 3 miles. Meanwhile something I ordered on Amazon was delivered in two days, as promised.

 

I guess I should feel bad in comparison with some of your shipments posted on this thread. As of today it's working on 20 days since an 8 x 10 photograph shipped. What's more worrying is that it hasn't been scanned in 10 days.........


August 9, 2020
In Transit, Arriving Late
Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.
August 5, 2020, 11:36 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
August 5, 2020, 10:21 pm
Accepted at USPS Origin Facility
LOS ANGELES, CA 90028
July 30, 2020, 2:45 pm
Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending
LOS ANGELES, CA 90093
July 30, 2020, 9:54 am
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
LOS ANGELES, CA 90028

 

I have 1 LP package that has been stuck in limp at the last major city before reaching my city for almost a week. I have another MAJOR box set package that was entered as "label created" over 7 days ago and hasn't been updated. I understand the slow down but its frustrating!

 

A month with no update. Love the reassurances that it’s totally not lost.


July 15, 2020
In Transit, Arriving Late
Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.
July 11, 2020, 11:10 am
USPS in possession of item
DELRAY BEACH, FL 33484
July 11, 2020, 8:00 am
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
DELRAY BEACH, FL 33484

 

LA Seems to be a black hole. I have a package there now stuck for weeks.

 

Noticed that shipping speed has picked up the last 2 weeks. Been averaging 4-5 days from the east coast to CA.