USPS at its finest!

Iamero

Barksa #1 Fanboy & Professional Paper Puncher
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  • Feb 14, 2017
    7,473
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    Michigan
    Well I have had very few issues with USPS up until now, and I am thankful for that. I still ship with them, but I am more humored by this than mad or frustrated at this point. I have 50 cal barrel that I shipped to RWS last week Tuesday and it was set to arrive Friday 09/15. Well here is the route that it took:

    1) Local post office to Grand Rapids, MI distribution center.
    2) Grand Rapids, MI to Manning, Iowa.
    3) Updates Friday, 09/15, that it is in Sioux Falls, SD.
    4) Later that day corrects course and says it's headed to Des Moines, IA distribution center.
    5) Saturday 09/16 it updates and says it's back on its way to Manning, IA.
    6) No update through the 19th until 7:03 PM when it says it has now arrived in Detroit, MI.
    7) I get involved, call them to open a case, they say it is being rerouted back to Manning and this was their fault and not sure what happened. OK, cool.
    8) Doesn't update again until today, the 21st, and it arrived at 9:21 AM in Grand Rapids, MI.
    9) Still says its in process to its destination.

    Well, they know where my package is at least. Just thought this was humorous and figured you guys might get a kick out of it. I talked to my local post office and they said that if it gets routed back to me then they will call me and I can come in, inspect the package and addresses, and then they will cover express mail back out there for all the headache. I didn't insure the package so I just want this sucker back in my possession or in RWS's.

    Here's to hoping!
     
    I gave up on them when it took 16 days to ship stuff from Midway to my house which is a 2.5-3 hour drive from there. The tracking wasn't any help and neither was the post office, they just told me to keep waiting.
     
    If you stop to consider how much volume USPS handles, they do a damn decent job. Every one fucks up occasionally but several times Ive had a record or package shipped from LA on tuesday and had it thursday, for $5.95 priority mail. Thats hard to beat.
     
    ^^^^^^That aint no shit. ^^^^^^^^^ I got about 45lbs of 178 a max from Flordia to Colorado for 16.95. I use them as much as anyone here, I would bet. I used them even more, when I was selling a lot of stuff on eBay.

    I have seen a few packages appear and disappear. I alway insure.
     
    Here's what tee's me off. Customer sends something to me. I work on it and send it back to the same address a week or so later. Shipping to me? 15.18 shipping back? 24.19. It travels the same distance, route and carrier. But costs me 9 freaking dollars more to send it back.
     
    ^^^^^^That aint no shit. ^^^^^^^^^ I got about 45lbs of 178 a max from Flordia to Colorado for 16.95. I use them as much as anyone here, I would bet. I used them even more, when I was selling a lot of stuff on eBay.

    I have seen a few packages appear and disappear. I alway insure.

    I still ebay a bunch of high end audio gear and If Im sending anything of real value I usually use FredX just because of the tracking and insurance, especially if its going out of country. USPS insurance stops at the border. But for small domestic stuff theyre great. In many years Ive never had anything completely lost, but I did have a deal like the OP where it went in circles for a while.
     
    Oh I still send all my stuff through them because you can't beat the flat rate. Especially when I'm sending 10-15lbs of bullets to California and it takes two days and costs me like $17.
     
    Here's something interesting : my local reloading / shooting supply
    guys here's in Aus copied me in on an email from FedEx .

    The gist is FedEx will no longer ship any firearm related product
    to Australia ! Anything that touches a rifle , or ammunition is a
    no go . That means case trimmers , scopes , stocks , reloading dies
    etc etc . FedEx can get fucked , the last order I got from Wiebad was
    totally fucked up anyway . Ironically my local post office ended up
    with the package somehow , and because i regularly get shipments
    from the US they recognised my name and held the package for me .

    USPS have flawlessly delivered evrything I've ever ordered from the States ,
    Id say they are going to get a lot busier as more freight companies get
    infected with liberal bullshit .

    EDIT : with insurance and tracking of course :) .
     
    I still ebay a bunch of high end audio gear and If Im sending anything of real value I usually use FredX just because of the tracking and insurance, especially if its going out of country. USPS insurance stops at the border. But for small domestic stuff theyre great. In many years Ive never had anything completely lost, but I did have a deal like the OP where it went in circles for a while.

    Exactly my experience. From time to time, USPS can indeed send packages in the wrong direction, but actually, it happens very rarely. I completely lost only 1 domestic package out of 11,000+ shipped, due to their automated equipment damaging it, as I was told. I do believe that USPS insurance works well, based on my experience. USPS flat rate price and related delivery speed for this price can not be matched by either FedEx or UPS.
     
    Always have good luck with 'em, they've messed up once or twice but it usually wasn't their fault. The one time it was I sent a package a few states away, my EoTech for refund. Should have been there in 3-5 days. One month later, it arrived after going to damn near every state in the union. No shit. They unfucked it on their own too, no call from me. They FINALLY got it, then months later I got the check from EoTech.

    A .50 barrel going around the world would bother the shit out of me, those ain't cheap and they almost always beat the shit out of the ends of the packaging even if delivered rapidly and responsibly. Hope it was packed VERY well on the ends.
     
    ^^^^^^That aint no shit. ^^^^^^^^^ I got about 45lbs of 178 a max from Flordia to Colorado for 16.95. I use them as much as anyone here, I would bet. I used them even more, when I was selling a lot of stuff on eBay.

    I have seen a few packages appear and disappear. I alway insure.

    I should probably qualify this by saying, I have never seen them loose one for good.
     
    Well Saturday it arrives in Sioux Falls, SD again. Left there and is now in Huron, SD. Looks like this endless loop is starting all over again.

    Time to see if I can get them to order a return to sender and end this bull crap.
     
    lamero, you are mailing a firearm to RWS, I had same issue, it just takes a while because he lives in a remote location, if there are 1 million people in a 400 mile circumference around his location that would be a high amount. They just got rid of the pony express out there a few years back. Its slow but it will get there and back. Good think is he has a relatively fast turn around and does great work.
     
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    Yea I sent another package to him Tuesday of last week and it already made it there last Thursday, haha.

    This is is my 50 cal barrel that's bouncing around. You know, a 15lb 40" package.
     
    Oh I use them. But my local guy is a total dick. I order free boxes online and here is a great idea so you never have to buy bubble wrap again. Order as many flat rate priority padded envelopes as you can and use them as packing material. S nod ups Honestly they are a antiquated bloated scourge. Every time I go there is usually lines of illegals sending money orders back to Mexico untaxed. That and junk mail is the only money maker they have. And that came from a ex post master who is a friend. She called junk mail job security. They are billions with a b in the hole. There unionized workers think they are above the law or question. Some of the workers do harass and fuck with people's mail. There is a reason fedex and ups is in business. And if those companies were in near as bad of shape financially. they would be out of business asap. It's dead weight that should be trimmed and run 3 days a week. But the cash flow from money order sales shipped out of the USA should be treason.
     
    UPS is more fun than that. They said they couldn't deliver to the post office, so in response to their email updates, I gave them a complete street address to which they could deliver the package on three different occasions over two days. In their wisdom, they delivered my package (Steiner military/marine 7x50 commander binos W/ compass) to someone on the other side of town with a similar name. Fortunately, the guy that received them found my phone number on the routing slip, and called me. He then arranged to get my binos to me. Thank goodness for an honest man!