The USPS SUCKS

[Guy Berger]

QQ... has anyone tried ordering from Europe lately?  how long does mail typically take to arrive?

I ordered a bunch of CDs directly from a European label back in early August and they haven't arrived 6 weeks later.  The label told me mail to the US is taking much longer than previously, and that I should expect it in about a month... I'm fine waiting longer, too.  But am just curious at what point I should assume the package is totally lost.

[Rooster_Ties]

Bought a CD on eBay on Sept 6 (being shipped from Newport Beach, CA). It was shipped On time and with tracking, with an USPS expected delivery date of Tue, Sept 15.

I signed up for all the tracking text-msg options, to follow its progress, and the last useful update I got was on Sept 10 saying it had left a Los Angeles distribution center, but then - radio silence.

I did get one generic msg on Sept 14 that is was going to arrive late, but I got the sense that it was an automated message sent whenever no new info if available (or being generated) on the eve of what was previously the package’s previous “expected” delivery date.

But nothing since, and really no specific info on it since Sept 10.

Not overly worried about it / it’ll probably get here at some point, sooner or later. But a question...

Does a “tracking number” actually give you any (real) insight as to where it is? I’ve read online about other packages recently just “disappearing” in the system for days or even weeks, only to presumably reappear “eventually”.

No super-specific question, I guess - other than tracking numbers really don’t mean much if a package just “stops” moving in their system / right?

(Meaning I can’t re-enter the tracking number to find out where it actually is, because the USPS system only “thinks” it is, wherever it was when they last scanned it.)

Edited September 19, 2020 by Rooster_Ties

[Brad]

A tracking number just tells you general location and that it may have arrived or departed a certain destination. For example, back in March, tracking on a package from NY showed that it had arrived and then departed Jersey City and was on its way to the final destination. However, it took another two weeks to arrive notwithstanding that I only live 40 or so miles from Jersey City. 

[ejp626]

Already discussed to some point, but this article has a detailed map and timeline showing how the new Postmaster General's policies led to a dramatic slowdown in mail deliveries.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/21/usps-post-office-mail-slowdowns-louis-dejoy

In other words, it wasn't just your imagination it was the direct result of Trump's appointee.

[Rooster_Ties]

FWIW, it’s a week later, and my CD from Newport CA has still not arrived.

The original scheduled arrival date was supposed to be last Tuesday (9/15) according to the first tracking info txt-msg I got on 9/8 (when it first entered their system), but the last meaningful update was that it had left LA on 9/10 (other than a generic update on 9/14 that basically said “it’s gonna be later”).

Not the end of the world, but I wonder how many more days (or weeks) it’ll be. It’s 1 week late as of today.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Rooster_Ties

[Big Beat Steve]

A quick question to those from Florida:

I have my eyes halfway set on an item on US eBay that is located in Boca Raton, Florida. No music item, but not bulky at all. Will fit in a small and relatively lightweight parcel. According to you who live in the State and to your experience, what is the current USPS situation shipping-wise? What is the probable risk of an item being stuck forever in some distribution center there and not actually leaving the area (let alone the US) for ages?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Big Beat Steve

[Dan Gould]

24 minutes ago, Big Beat Steve said:

A quick question to those from Florida:

I have my eyes halfway set on an item on US eBay that is located in Boca Raton, Florida. No music item, but not bulky at all. Will fit in a small and relatively lightweight parcel. According to you who live in the State and to your experience, what is the current USPS situation shipping-wise? What is the probable risk of an item being stuck forever in some distribution center there and not actually leaving the area (let alone the US) for ages?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

I couldn't begin to tell you what is going on for overseas shipments from Florida as I haven't sent anything that way in a very long time.

Recently I've shipped two packages to north Georgia, an adjoining state. One media, one first class, and both arrived quickly.

I don't think the odds are especially likely of a major delay on this end - though that may depend a bit on whether, from Boca, it's going to Miami (close by) and then overseas, or Miami to NYC to Europe.  Those are both pretty hugely busy distribution centers.

 

[Rooster_Ties]

After 18 days of radio silence (in terms of any new tracking info), the CD that I got via eBay suddenly appeared in last night’s mail, about 3 weeks after it shipped.

Was never overly worried about it, but it definitely took its sweet time getting here (from California, to DC).

A similar eBay purchase about a month ago from Hawaii (of all places) only took about 5-6 days, iirc.

Maybe the fires out in California had some impact, I really don’t know.

[Dave James]

It's hardly just the USPS.  Over the last couple of months, the service from FedEx has deteriorated markedly. Nothing has been lost yet, but as to their projected delivery dates, they might as well be throwing darts at a dartboard.   

[Dan Gould]

12 minutes ago, Dave James said:

It's hardly just the USPS.  Over the last couple of months, the service from FedEx has deteriorated markedly. Nothing has been lost yet, but as to their projected delivery dates, they might as well be throwing darts at a dartboard.   

So Trump appointed someone to screw with FedEx too? I've been assured that the USPS troubles are due to Trump's interference so that's the only thing I can conclude.

In all seriousness we only get Chewy thru FedEx and since they are so close by - Ocala I think - we get our order in a day, every time.

[catesta]

I've experienced a couple of minor delays (business related) with FedEx but that has been limited to FedEx Freight and understandable.

A supplier shipped 3 pallets of herbicide from Salem Oregon to Garden City LI. This supplier always uses FedEx Freight and the terminal always gives us a 1 day heads up so we can arrange offloading at a rail yard. This last time the delivery was scheduled to arrive on the 22nd but didn't make it until the 24th. Tracking was accurate though, so we knew of the delay and my people still got the phone call the day before.

[Big Beat Steve]

5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

I couldn't begin to tell you what is going on for overseas shipments from Florida as I haven't sent anything that way in a very long time.

Recently I've shipped two packages to north Georgia, an adjoining state. One media, one first class, and both arrived quickly.

I don't think the odds are especially likely of a major delay on this end - though that may depend a bit on whether, from Boca, it's going to Miami (close by) and then overseas, or Miami to NYC to Europe.  Those are both pretty hugely busy distribution centers.

Thanks. I'll keep my fingers crossed, then.

[Dan Gould]

Credit when it is due: Media Mail (LP) arrived Simi Valley CA September 28, at local PO October 1 for delivery today. Original delivery estimate was Monday.  I am certain that somehow this must have gotten on a plane when it was supposed to take the scenic route across country.  

[Rooster_Ties]

https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/woman-forced-to-forfeit-lotto-prize-after-usps-loses-ticket/amp/

[Justin V]

A tale of two packages from New Jersey:

One is a wallet game, likely packaged in a small, padded envleope.  It arrived at a Philadelphia facility on Sunday morning, about 7 miles from where it was shipped.  It stayed in Philadelphia until yesterday evening and arrived in Akron at 2 this morning.  It will likely arrive tomorrow.

A CD arrived at the post office on Wednesday, ended up in Indianapolis(?) yesterday and is in Cleveland now.  It should arrive tomorrow as well.

In other USPS news, my daughter loves the mailman and treats him like her own Mr. McFeely.  She shadows him on his route from when he is across the street, to the corner and then to our house.  When it hits the dead of winter, they'll both be sad about not seeing each other.

[Dan Gould]

I thought maybe post-election and pre-December maybe the PO would pick up its game but it doesn't look that way. Four days to get out of Jersey City, the armpit of the Superfund State in the Union. I guess I should be glad it was a box stuck there, and not me. But I better disinfect the crap out of it when it finally shows up.

[medjuck]

Probably everyone else here knows all this but I didn't: I'd always presumed that it cost the same to send something anywhere in the country and cost was based on weight or size only.   Not so: except for letters, the further away something is the more it costs to mail it.  However, media mail is an exception: you're charged by weight only no matter where in the States you're mailing to.  

I found this out when I went to mail a Mosaic set to Rooster and it only cost a little over $3 to go from Santa Barbara to DC.  Even more amazing:  I sent it Tuesday and it arrived today!

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, medjuck said:

...when I went to mail a Mosaic set to Rooster and it only cost a little over $3 to go from Santa Barbara to DC.  Even more amazing:  I sent it Tuesday and it arrived today!

Not sure what time of day you were at the post office on Tue, but it was dropped off at the front desk of our apartment bldg at 12:15pm Eastern (so 9:15am Pacific). That HAD to have been well less than 48 hours — I’m astonished!! — and all for just $3 and some change.

BTW, thanks again!!

[sonnymax]

You're welcome, boys!

[Justin V]

5 hours ago, medjuck said:

 I found this out when I went to mail a Mosaic set to Rooster and it only cost a little over $3 to go from Santa Barbara to DC.  Even more amazing:  I sent it Tuesday and it arrived today!

Hmm, we probably should experiment with different destinations.  Feel free to send me a Mosaic.  

[AllenLowe]

well, I mailed my absentee ballots to Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Anybody know how things turned out?

Edited November 20, 2020 by AllenLowe

[kh1958]

10 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

well, I mailed my absentee ballots to Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Anybody know how things turned out?

Rudy G. is looking for you. Beware the brown facial drip.

[JSngry]

Be ready to be morphed into a Batman comic book.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

4 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Rudy G. is looking for you. Beware the brown facial drip.

Rudy quoting My Cousin Vinny...

 

[Ken Dryden]

An earlier order from Dusty Groove took around a month to get to me and it sat in Chicago's miserable processing hub for most of that time.

A Discogs order took 32 days to get to Tennessee from Oklahoma, with it parked in Dallas for most of the time. 

Incompetence at its worst...