WARNING!!

[Hara]

I just wanted to relay a recent experience with the US Postal service.

I sent two boxes via priority mail to two seperate members here. One of them lives about 5-6 hours away, the other 3 states away. I shippied at 8:30 Tuesday morning. The closest member got theirs Friday afternoon and as of today, the other member has yet to receive theirs.

I called the post office and they informed me there is NO guarantee of any kind on priority mail, that it is just a rule of thumb that you will get it in 2-3 days.

If it is something you are concerned about, I would definitely recommend you use a different method of shipping. Surprisingly, the macro lived through it, not so sure the [acronym:da8079385b="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frags[/acronym:da8079385b] will.

USPS has tracking numbers for their Priority Mail... I received a package from A H Supply, and tracked it all the way to my house...I believe I have had one or two go missing from UPS and Fed Ex in my time... These things do happen...USPS is much cheaper still.. I am not making light of the subject, but the USPS has the same, if not more options for safe keeping of package delivery than their competitors. You also have the option of insuring the package.. Of course you have to go to the Post Office to get those options in shipping, or do it all on line...

http://postcalc.usps.gov/

[astride13]

I just sold my online stores. I was shipping out over 50 boxes a day for 3 years. I started with USPS and I changed to UPS for many reasons. First of all, UPS is the only one that guarantees all of their services including ground. Second, UPS is actually cheaper in the long run. USPS makes it sound cheap by quoting a 1lb box. Compare a 20lb box to an address and see how it comes out. It will be cheaper with UPS. UPS also includes $100 insurance with every shipment. They also include tracking with every shipment. UPS's tracking has a real tracking also where USPS has a "Delivery Confirmation". Sometimes packages from USPS travel days with no tracking.

In my three years, USPS lost 1% of all packages. Every other day that I was reshipping something and eating the cost. With UPS, they only lost a few packages and they paid for Next Day Air and paid out on insurance and a few weeks on the first package. I will never use USPS again for anything, I don't even send letters/bills anymore with them (All electronic or UPS if paper is needed).

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make USPS sound like the best option, they are definately not that, however, I share a different experience and do know that there are quite a few options now through them, that they did not used to offer...Like insurance. If you choose that option, they are responsible for the amount you insure it for...
Another side note.. UPS only automatically insures $100 for business accounts( if opted for). Not residential or walk in service...You have to pay for that seperately.

[fernzpat]

Man was Hara right! I was the person getting Hara's [acronym:4cd32b2574="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frags[/acronym:4cd32b2574]. The postman (a friendly guy who puts up with my **** Tzu harrasing him everyday with a smile) would not make eye contact with me and said he was embarrased to give me the package.

It looked like the fed-ex letter from the movie "Castaway" that Tom Hanks had on the island for four years AFTER a plane crash!!! Crush on one side - puntured on another and a day late. Water was leaking out of it and one of the [acronym:4cd32b2574="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frags[/acronym:4cd32b2574] had turned into an applesauce in water like mixture.... And all this was with a package that had obviously been well packed!

-Patrick

[beachbumin]

Sorry to hear it Fernzpat. Sometimes no matter how hard you try to package right there is an accident or mis handling that ruins everything. [acronym:a29b395acc="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:a29b395acc], did you rule out a Seminole fan wrecking your package because your a Gator fan!! Those guys are always starting trouble! lol

[loganj]

I'm using Fed Ex at the moment. If you set up an account with them (free) and pre print your airbills online, you get about 10% off on overnight shipping. Plus Fed Ex is convenient to where I live. So far, I have been happy with them. Sorry to hear about the [acronym:ee58f0169f="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frags[/acronym:ee58f0169f].

[gooyferret]

I agree i have most items shipped FedEx and cannot complain about them at all very good service and always on time. Never had a package lost or damaged. In fact they are soo good with my live arrivals that they put them in the office to keep them warm and at the right temp! The lady at the station is just hilarious and always cracking jokes that im going to have a fish fry! Although im not i hope anyways! FedEx is the best service that i have found in my area and wont change for anything!

[Christmasfish]

As a former member of the USPS (on hiatus), I must mention that for people that live in rural areas and during holidays...the much maligned USPS is quite often the one who delivers both FED EX AND UPS packages. It is cheaper and more efficient for them to send it that day with the rural carrier, than send a driver deep in hard to navigate (no street signs or visible addresses, driveways with multiple homes )territory and pay the mileage and fuel for it. I handled at least 8 packages that were from a private mail service every day. And it was already a day late half the time. So they are not all that good.

Automation has made exact and clear addressing more important. Your rural carrier may "know" you, but it needs to reach his station first.
"Priority" mail hasn't been guaranteed for over 3 years. 4 now. And it is states it clearly on the slip. It was raising expenses for carriers to treat EVERY package like a secure package or insured items. As well as slowing the processing of these same costly services.
Certain zip code locations are "off-route" and take an extra day. These are usually small towns that are quite removed from a city nexus or Interstate. Like Payson Arizona. 100 miles form Flagstaff/Tuscon/Phx equally and on a mtn hwy. While living there, Fed Ex delivered an envelope to me on Monday that was supposed to be overnight by Friday! Refunds can't get the ticket paid/the fish revived/ the birthday gift on time. That is one advantage of private companies, the xtra cost covers their offered automatic insurance and you have better recourse. The average letter or package takes two days to go from one state to another. But small post offices sometimes do not get the packages to the 5:30 truck and the package gets delayed. Most delays are at the local level. Distribution centers are big complex machines and all mail flows through quickly.

And most definitely, the box need to be marked PERISHABLE or LIVE in order to get special handling. And marked by the post office as a paid service. EVERYBODY marks their package as "special" in hopes of getting it faster or safer through. Therefore such marks are ignored. And the machines don't see them at all.
Because the 2lbs/$2 was so nice people were flooding our special services dept. And often the packages were not just 2lbs. So alas, it is gone except in name.
Another important to know:
Packages that do not go to the safe cage for hand sorting or Express delivery tracking, gets sorted and Tossed in bins. Packages of varying sizes (read: WEIGHT) then go flying into these 6x5x3 rolling cages before being rolled into a truck. Rough way to go! And if a leak shows it is put into the quarantine to be x-rayed and checked. And any packages that get tainted/leaked on. It is stricter since 911! This can add another day or even 2! And then if it is "safe" it is bagged and marked on why it looks like it does. And the other packages are sent along at that time too
I have had to use my air conditioner on lovely days to comfort baby rabbits or a box full of poultry. They stay in the station and are usually special delivered unless marked permissable. Every agency has off years or bad employes. None are really that much better. They are parity products. UPS left an insured, signature required 10K painting on my uncovered front porch in the rain just last year. I will still use them when shipping oversize or odd items. But they no longer inspire any faith on my part. Don't put faith in any of them, take EVERY precaution!
However I will say...DON"T USE PRIORITY MAIL! You are better served sending it first class. It is handled the same and usually will arrive at the same time. If it is really time sensitive, Express and insured is the only way to go. Animal shipping is a risky venture no matter how you look at it. To bad there are no companies specializing in that.

So be nice about your poor USPS. It was the only self- sustaining govt agency for decades. It has been working with overload for years, got unionized (meaning some non-reliable people sitting pretty with tenure and it has 4 distinct unions which all have different payscales) and has had to compete with private markets that don't have to follow the same bureucratic nonsense.

[fernzpat]

Interesting education Christmasfish!

In Hara's defense (not that your statements were an attack) I live just within the city limits in Tallahassee, FL. So my package from her was not exactly "rural".

I think Hara's point was why have "priority" mail at all if there is no noticeable speed or quality upgrade? That's called good ol' capitalistic marketing to me, which is fine but the service provider should expect some negative feedback when they raise (then lower again!) our expectations...

It's interesting what you said about USPS delivering some private mail... I was puzzled how my recent UPS package showed up in the mailbox the other day. I thought they shared keys or something.

P.S. One of Hara's [acronym:6e59f86a63="Broken or cut pieces of coral which will eventually grow into a new animal"]frags[/acronym:6e59f86a63] survived and is doing quite well, props for her careful packaging...