This happened to me with USPS in November also. I shipped a $200 poster in a double box that included a thick Yazoo tube. It looked like someone ran it over. I put in a claim which was promptly denied without recourse.
On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM Alan Adler <[email protected]> wrote: > I’ll tell my shipping story and try to make it quick. > > I've been a USPS shipper since the 70s, but now only use them for $300 > shipments or less. > 3 times in a row they stiffed me on insurance and were impossible to deal > with. > The last time a tube with a photograph arrived sliced nearly in half and > they refused to pay out. > So, that was it for USPS and big ticket items. > But UPS is too expensive for smaller items, so we still have to “trust” > the USPS for the small things. > > For years my wife and I were probably the biggest shipper at our small > town PO. > We all knew each other. They would get right on the phone and follow > something up. > At one point we hired a retired post office manager from our USPS > part-time and things were really smooth. > > Now, it seems our friends at the post office have no one to call higher up > with any real connection or conviction. > The old “rain and snow” dedication to the customer still exists at the > local level, but doesn’t seem to exist at the top. > One time we heard back that a higher-up said that tubes were now a problem > for their scanning machines! > > Things went wrong when those high-end sorting machines were removed some > years ago across the country. > My sense of it at the time was that the USPS was being floundered with the > intent for that utility to be sold to a private company. My guess is that > will most likely still happen and public mailing will become even more > "caveat emptor” for anything more than a letter. > > So, we began working with UPS since they were a private company and > already up and running. We made friends with the people there and all > shipments over $300 go through them. If something goes awry or we need any > service at all, we get immediate response at the concierge level. You need > a personal contact in shipping these days. We take them baskets of goodies > at Christmas. At least our connections seem to have the interest and > ability to find someone above them in their system to get answers or action > when necessary. Networking within the system. > > UPS can be costly and we do not ship for free. We also require full > insurance and adult sign-off. There have been times we had items shipped to > a UPS hub and picked up there when we felt a particular delivery situation > warranted it. I know we've lost some business since it’s expensive for the > buyer, but with time I feel like the UPS network we’ve established gives us > the most protection and best response of any shipper available to us. > Nothing has been lost or damaged in a couple of years, so there’s still the > final test of how they respond at that level of responsibility. > > From all the stories, it does feel a bit like Russian roulette when a > package goes out, but we’ve at least found a relationship with UPS in our > area that honestly cares and gives us support. So far we’ve been lucky. But > it is probably different at every shipping station in the country. The > personal connection is everything. > > Alan > > On Feb 6, 2025, at 5:36 AM, Tony Calvert <[email protected]> wrote: > > That is exactly right. Several years ago it was hard to get the job, and > if you did you stayed and retired there. My 18 year old nephew was called > in for an interview right out of high school, and just decided not to go. > > On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 6:24 AM Bruce Hershenson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> I agree Tony. And I think it is ALL caused by two problems: >> 1) A lack of manpower. Working for a delivery company is hard work and >> there are a million easier jobs anyone can get, so they are VERY short of >> staff at all times. >> 2) A massive lack of GOOD employees. Most of the "old-timers" were career >> people who really tried their hardest. It does not seem that way at all >> with the younger employees, and many have not been there very long, so they >> are learning on the job, at our expense. >> >> What I most fear is when the last of the few older people who are good >> retire things will completely fall off a cliff. >> >> On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 6:04 AM Tony Calvert <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Bruce, I of course ship considerably less, but my thoughts exactly. One >>> of the bigger problems I see with all of them is the fact that a seller >>> without the accounts or any clout can't get in touch with a human at Fedex, >>> and likely UPS. About 3 months ago I was able to talk to someone at USPS >>> and they actually made an effort and kept me up to date, and likely >>> found the item and it started moving. When I called for the same process a >>> few days ago she told me to just file a claim and just basically told me to >>> piss off. It is a little hard to justify all the crap and time of a claim >>> on a very low end item. I would bet the volume of requests is so high they >>> just can't deal with it. >>> >>> On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 5:39 AM Bruce Hershenson < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> For the past year, I’ve been wanting to start a thread like this, but >>>> since I didn’t see any comments about it, I figured maybe it was somehow >>>> just us. >>>> >>>> But you know we send 50 to 100 packages most days, and it is getting >>>> ridiculous. So often now a package just completely gets stuck in their >>>> system. No updates no nothing. Then a week or two later it suddenly starts >>>> moving again. >>>> >>>> So not only does their service suck, but they also have raised the >>>> prices sky high, and they damage packages they never were able to damage >>>> before. They even completely flatten our tubes, which never happened before >>>> they got their sorting machines. >>>> >>>> All of the above applies to the post office, but it mostly applies to >>>> UPS as well. We just had a visit from our UPS representative and I told >>>> them that the bad news was their service is worse and worse, but that the >>>> good news is they don’t do as bad as USPS. >>>> >>>> He joked about it and said that maybe they should start an ad campaign >>>> saying “ Our service sucks, but at least not as bad as the post office >>>> does”. >>>> >>>> For the last couple of years, I’ve been saying that the thing most >>>> likely to make me retire is the shipping situation. What is really funny is >>>> that now they tell everyone who asks about their late packages to call the >>>> shipper. >>>> >>>> That gets the person to leave or hang up, but then they think that >>>> there’s something we can do about it, and of course there isn’t. It is a >>>> bad situation getting worse all the time. >>>> >>> >> >> -- >> >> > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > > > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
