Trials at the post office ... [Archive]

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pendragon

12-21-2004, 02:03 PM

I have a business and I ship A LOT … just not with the Post Office. Now I know why.
I showed up at the post office with 8 boxes to ship: six were pre-paid, boxed, ready to go. One was an Express Mail that just needed a box (pre-paid, all forms filled out). And one was International (this one needed to be paid for and I needed to fill out the customs form). I put my boxes in line and go and look for an Express Mail box and a customs form. No luck. So I stand in line. And I wait … and wait.

Meanwhile, at least two people are standing in front of me with their nicely wrapped presents (wrapped, as in Christmas paper). They wait in the whole line until they are next and glance over and see the rack of boxes. They pick one out and approach the clerk: a folded box in one hand, a present in the other. “I need to ship this”, they say.

AARRGGGHHH!

So the first one stands aside to box up her package (it takes two people, herself and her teenage daughter) to figure out how to fold, stuff and tape the box!.

The next one comes up. “I don’t know their zip code”, she says (again, handing the clerk her unboxed, unlabeled, Christmas present. “You have to look up the zip code in that book over there,” politely informs the clerk (notice the use of politely … because she actually was!). “But I don’t want to wait in line again.”

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

So now it is my turn. “Here, these are pre-paid ready to go.” Takes the six boxes. “I need an Express Mail box, but this one is paid for too” “You should have had this ready before you approached the desk.” (HUH?!?!, I have my mailing label, pre-paid stamp and filled out Express Mail label ready to go, but I was supposed to stick it in a box (that isn’t available, I remind you) and these people can wrap their presents at the counter?!?!) “I just need the box, there isn’t any out here.” “You should have had this ready before you approached the desk.” “Excuse me mam, THERE ARE NO EXPRESS MAIL BOXES OUT HERE.” (no, I didn’t shout, I explained) So I take the box and zip-zap-zup have it stuffed, taped and labeled before the next person in line can even shift their weight. Then she does stuff in her computer and prints out a stamp. “Oh, you’ve already paid for it” “Yup, that’s what I said.” By this time I think she was a bit annoyed with me. :)

“I need to ship this international” … you guessed it, “You should have had this ready before you approached the desk.”

The person behind me patiently waits, Christmas wrapped present in one hand, folded box in the other.

LT Garrix

12-21-2004, 02:16 PM

I always hate it when oblivions (a word from Matt Straka of Foxnews, but I love it) do things like that at the Post Office. And it happens all the time. But if you were to try to ask the person at the counter for the box before you got in line they would tell you, you need to wait your turn. :rolleyes:

Post Offices can be trying, but more so at the holidays. As for why this person chose you, I dunno, maybe she expected more since you had the other 6 boxes ready to go.

SpyderDan

12-21-2004, 02:20 PM

I hate the post office. They never get anything right, do they?

Kurt_eh

12-21-2004, 02:25 PM

UPS sure doesn't! ;)

malachilenomade

12-21-2004, 02:40 PM

UPS sure doesn't! ;)

UPS always does! Except now they want to take my UPS computer away :no: Not their fault... Windows is no longer supporting NT and the UPS system I have is NT based. (gives the finger to Microsoft)

That's the advantage of where I work... I never have to go to the post office to get anything except the little customs forms when I run out... and I can get those by the handfuls :yes:

zahncrelnik

12-21-2004, 02:52 PM

I always hate it when oblivions (a word from Matt Straka of Foxnews, but I love it) do things like that at the Post Office. And it happens all the time. ........................ :rolleyes:

It's not that they are 'oblivions', they are helpless.
(Have you noticed how many people are completely helpless?)
These are people who can't find their own 'arse' in the dark.
I wish they could buy a clue, but that just is not possible.

I completely sympathize, Pendragon, it sucks to stand
in line with all those helpless people and then you're
the one expected to do everything including the impossible...

NYPinTA

12-21-2004, 02:57 PM

UPS sure doesn't! ;)

Poor Kurt. :(

Kurt_eh

12-21-2004, 03:12 PM

Perhaps they'll arrive just in time for next year's valentine's day.

At which point, I'll be curled up in the fetal position in a corner, rocking back and forth, and mumbling incoherently...all-in-all, an average day, for me! ;)

Selena

12-21-2004, 04:44 PM

I ship international all the time and I want to know what the big deal is with customs forms? http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_6_2v.gif The post office hides them. They are NEVER available with the other postal stationery and ALWAYS have to be asked for and then the clerk invariably doesn't have any in stock and has to go out the back for 10 minutes to find some.

I had 2 boxes to ship to Australia 3 weeks ago and it took 1 hour for me to get them through the system and everything was packed ready to go - all I needed was a couple of customs forms.

And has anyone noticed that the new white customs forms are all over the place? The senders address is easy enough but the recipient's is a mess. They have the name, and then the address is split into 3 parts. And there is no place to include the state. There is only street, town and country. :pissed: Is it any wonder that stuff gets lost? :shrug:

I don't dare send anything now without insurance and delivery confirmation. They have even managed to lose a Global Priority Envelope which had a tracking number on it but they couldn't locate it. :pissed:

Last Sunday I shipped the Christmas cards from Tennessee to Florida using Priority Mail - cost me almost $10 and the box was supposed to be there in 2 - 3 days. It took 5 days and of course there is no explanation except "I don't know why it took so long!" :dunno:

For Christmas 2002 I shipped my grandchildren their Christmas gifts via Air Parcel Post - (10 - 14 business days for shipping) - cost around $100 for the 2 boxes and it took them 11 weeks to get to Australia. By that time I had filled out a lost declaration and they had begun a search to find the missing items. When they finally showed up at their destination we discovered that they had been shipped surface mail which was way cheaper than air. The boxes were stamped all over AIR MAIL yet they went surface. I was fortunate that I got a refund of the postage but the amount of work that went into tracking the packages was considerable and my grand kids missed out on their Christmas presents.

The post office seems to be one of the most inefficient businesses in the nation ... and among one of the most expensive.

LT Garrix

12-21-2004, 05:17 PM

We have tons here. 1. It's a big military town 2. We have a huge Asian population that mails stuff back to the homeland all the time.

For those interested in shipping international, you can print custom forms through www.usps.gov now. Hopefully that'll help some of you.

As for the USPS messing up, I'm guessing your local branch isn't up to snuff. Either that or ours is exceptional. I mailed out stuff two Saturdays ago and it made it across country by Monday. Either that or I'm just lucky.

who45

12-21-2004, 05:32 PM

Kurt_eh

12-21-2004, 05:33 PM

I grabbed my mail yesterday, and there were two letters stuck together from my insurance company (Woohoo $6.00 rebate!) :D

It appeared that they must have gotten stuck together when the glue was still wet, because the second letter didn't even have a postmark. So I dropped it in the mail today. Hopefully that chap will be just as excited as me to see that $6! :D

Emeraldcity

12-21-2004, 05:33 PM

I ship at the post office CONSTANTLY!!!! Especially internationally. I keep custom forms at home. I fill everything out BEFORE I get there.......and THEN I use that nifty little machine that most of the post offices have now. You can go over, it weighs your package, you slide in a credit/or debit card and "voila" it spits out the correct postage. I even do my international ships that way too. (but only for boxes under 4 pounds, after that I have to wait in line) I am in and out of the door while the rest of the people are STILL waiting for the moron at the front of the line to figure out that now he has to PAY for the postage.

Today, I did have to wait in line for something........some guy came into the post office with two duffle bags (yes duffle bags) full of clothes that he wanted to ship as gifts to his kids....The post office said he couldn't mail the duffle bags, he had to box it up.....so now he proceeds to get several boxes, spreads everything out on the floor so other people have to step over him, and he starts packing. When he finishes he hands the boxes to the clerk and she asks where are they going? You didn't put on a label. Honest to GOD the guy stood there and said "they are going to my kids".
"Sir, where do your kids live?"
"They are with my ex-wife."
"Sir, where does your ex-wife live?"
"In California."
"Sir you need to put the address on each box so we can send them."
"I don't know her address"

ARE YOU F****** KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By this time, people in line are ready to kill this guy.

"sir, can you call her to get her address."
"oh, Ok......"
"Sir, please step to the side so I can help other people while you get the address, and then fill out each one of these address labels and put one on each box"
"OK"

A while goes by and he comes back...... yes, I am still in line. It was MORON central today. He has put the labels ALL ON ONE BOX!!! (shoot me, just shoot me now) The clerk gives him more labels and he has to start over. OK, now all the boxes were labeled (6 of them) and weighed and stamped.......

"Anything else sir?"
"no"
"That will be $175.00 to send to get there before Christmas."

Now the yelling started, this guy just went off yelling that he wasn't going to pay $175.00 to ship 6 (heavy) boxes to California!!! Those damn kids can just get this stuff when they come up in the summer........ Pay for the boxes?? I am not paying for any damn boxes, you should give me those for free!

Oh my God, I don't know what it is. Christmas time brings out the "Post Office Challenged" people ALL AT ONCE!!! Sigh.......anything else I have to mail is going out next week....I am NOT going back to that post office till New Years!!!

LT Garrix

12-21-2004, 06:40 PM

:lol EC, I know I shouldn't laugh, because that must have been a truly miserable experience. I know what you mean about the real morons coming out at Christmas. It's probably a good thing he isn't raising these kids. I hope that his ex is brighter than he is.

I've come across these post office morons, generally the ones that wait until they get up front to realize it isn't boxed, isn't addressed, whatever.

I would love to know what would possess someone to think that last minute postage would be cheap? I've been behind people that decide something absolutely has to be there tomorrow and when they are told it's gonna cost $20 instead of $4 they flip out. Well, duh! Catch a clue people.

Our PO just got that spiffy machine and I used it yesterday, very nice. And it's outside the secure area so you can go in after hours and mail stuff which is even better. :D

Emeraldcity

12-21-2004, 07:47 PM

:lol You should have heard the guy behind me...... he was whispering under his breath "Hmmm, wonder why she divorced you, could it be you are an idiot???" :lol

Don't you love that new machine? It is AWESOME!!! Sending things as often as I do it is great to walk in and just get it done.

Boy.......word to all of you, if you are shipping anything, if the package is under 17 inches in length, USE THIS MACHINE!!! Saves tons of time and headaches.

BrowderChick

12-21-2004, 08:23 PM

I prefer the Postal Service. UPS has always screwed up or damaged stuff for me.

BillFrugge

12-21-2004, 08:47 PM

I have yet to figure out how the USPS does it, but they managed to deliver a package to me that had everything completely wrong; invalid street address, invalid town name, my name spelled wrong, and the zip code was wrong. The only thing that I've been able to figure is that in the whole state of Indiana, the post office must know me pretty well...

UPS, however, boils my blood. They attempted to deliver my package to the Federal Express office, who refused to accept the package. UPS then returned the package back to the shipper! They had no right to do that, as FedEx was not the recipient and had no authority to return the package!

DHL/Airborne has been the greatest! They will bend over backwards to get my packages to me.

pendragon

12-21-2004, 09:02 PM

Personally, I love FedEx. I shipped a box two day a few months ago. It very clearly said "Delivery Friday" right on the label. The place I drop my boxes off at put the box in the ground pile. The FedEx express guy came and went. The FedEx ground guy came and went. My package sat on the floor. The idiots at the mail place couldn't even be bothered to call me to let me know it hadn't gone. By the time I tracked it, it said delivery was scheduled for Monday. I got on the phone and one, by one, traveled through the FedEx system (which is amazing in itself because UPS won't let you talk to anyone that isn't in their central customer service system). I actually got ahold of a FedEx guy that personally went through the truck that wasn't supposed to be unloaded until Monday and hand delivered it on Saturday (to a different address because the Friday address no longer worked ... the person was at home on Saturday). They will always have my allegiance for that one. It was a box of stock that would have cost my company thousands of dollars in sales ... and it wasn't even their screw up!

DHL, however, took two months to get an overnight package to Scotland!

eta_carinae

12-21-2004, 10:49 PM

I feel so lucky. I ship packages to Iraq and have to use a custom form (though technically, it is domestic cause it goes to an APO), but I never have a problem finding them. And the postal people are always really cool to me :dunno:

malachilenomade

12-22-2004, 06:09 AM

Word of warning... never, and I mean NEVER, use FedEx Ground. Unless you want your package destroyed. I've NEVER gotten a package from them that wasn't damaged. Reason being (and this was explained to me by our FedEx Air delivery guy): Ground drivers are contracted. They get paid by package they deliver, basically. It's not their responsibility to get it to you in any actual time frame, they're just supposed to get it to you, unlike Air or UPS or DHL, who are mainly hourly employees who can get in trouble for how they handle the packages and how quickly they deliver them.

Hey, Selena, I could send you customs forms, though I need to know the size of the packages you're sending because different sized shipments require different types of custom forms (small packages only need the little label form but larger boxes require the "half page" form).

zahncrelnik

12-22-2004, 07:05 AM

Saajak

12-22-2004, 09:42 AM

Ah...the joys of backing up the warehouse! I have access to FedEX and UPS ship managers and if I have a package to send I almost always ship it UPS. Not only is it cheaper (yes, cheaper) than USPS, they're far more reliable. If I have to ship something international I usually use FedEx because their Customs Forms print right out when you close out the system for the day. Both FedEx and UPS pick up and drop off at our building, so I've never had a problem with them losing or forgetting anything. We stock almost all USPS forms too, and have a scale and meter machine so when we drop off at the Post Office we go to the back warehouse doors and avoid all the lines.

LT Garrix

12-22-2004, 10:05 AM

And of course the USPS is now offering to pick up your packages as well, but this only works if you have a scale and know the weight.

I'm definitely printing out the online customs form when I send a care package to the hubby. The internet has made a lot of things easier, but it still can't cure stupidity.

Kurt_eh

12-22-2004, 10:28 AM

BackStageJim

12-22-2004, 11:09 AM

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR POSTAL SHIPPING.

UPS
DHL
FED-EX
AIRBORNE
SANTA
PEACEKEEPER TRANSPORT

appy Holidays to all PK everywhere.

pendragon

12-22-2004, 11:16 AM

I'm not sure I'd trust a Peacekeeper Transport ... they couldn't even keep 3 prisoners in check (and one was chained). :D

Saajak

12-22-2004, 11:26 AM

Tell that to my valentines! ;)

But I'm not bitter... :innocent:

Did you bribe your UPS man with candy or chocolate? ;)

Kurt_eh

12-22-2004, 11:28 AM

I think the problem was that there was candy and chocolate in the package... ;)

HarveyWhispers never got her package either...

Saajak

12-22-2004, 11:31 AM

See, the person who usually works with Dan (FedEx guy) and Lance (UPS guy) here is always leaving them treats and giving them little gifts. No wonder they take such good care of our stuff!

DRD 1812

12-22-2004, 12:13 PM

I like to use UPS for shipping things. But when I have to ship overseas, or up to Canada. My recipients do not want to pay the import charges and such. Sent a Goalie catch glove up to Toronto. It was about 35 CDN extra for them to get thier package. The buyer demanded me to pay him back. I specifically TOLD them I was sending UPS. Let's just say they didn't give me a good sales review.

...grr.

I am a naturally nice person. I go to the post office all in a jolly mood. I needed to send numerous things out. Everything was ready. Little did I know it was about five minutes to closing time. (I'm 18 years old, still getting used to doing things myself.)..I go in all happy and say "Hello, How are you doing?"

The clerk just stares at me and says. "We have five minutes to closing time." There was another person behind me as well, processes my things..pay. Before I leave i said "Ya'll have a nice day."...she ignored me and said "NEXT!"

..Sad bear. :(

Emeraldcity

12-22-2004, 12:51 PM

I like to use UPS for shipping things. But when I have to ship overseas, or up to Canada. My recipients do not want to pay the import charges and such. Sent a Goalie catch glove up to Toronto. It was about 35 CDN extra for them to get thier package. The buyer demanded me to pay him back. I specifically TOLD them I was sending UPS. Let's just say they didn't give me a good sales review.

:(

Did you declare a value or put insurance on the item? When you do that, there are generally duties due when the person has to pick it up. I remember shipping Christmas gifts internationally (used UPS) and put insurance on the package ($500.00) and there was duty due at the other end.

I also sell items on ebay and have to specify on each sale "if this item is being shipped internationally and you choose to insure the item, applicable fees and duties may be collected from you when you pick up your item" This generally gives them the warning in advance so people are not surprised.

Of course if the item is small........call it a "gift" and don't declare any value. That seems to get it to its destination in record time.