Anyone Else Notice A Major Slowdown in the Mail? 4 4

[Crops068]

I shipped a box to CGC last Wednesday (3-day Priority) it left here and went to Austin that day.  It has sat in Austin until last night where it finally left.  That is a full week sitting in a hub.  I talked to the local Post Master and he said it is actually down from the 3 week backup.  And the issue isn't that all packages are delayed it is when your package arrives and what bin it is put it.  If they shelve it at the end of the day it is essentially pushed off until they catch up.

If it wasn't for the fantastic workers I dealt with locally I would have lost my mind over this, I nearly did a few times to be fair.

Now I get to wait until at least this weekend to see if it gets delivered on the new expected delivery date.....

[october]

Almost a month since a package from the UK was mailed to me. It's been sitting in limbo somewhere in the USPS system for two weeks. 

Switching to FexEx for anything remotely valuable. Shame what USPS "leadership" has done to this service. 

[ThothAmon]

No problems here in W Ct. Mail coming and going normally (from all over US and Canada). 

[Robot Man]

On 8/18/2020 at 11:18 AM, vheflin said:

U.S. Postal Service puts changes on hold after mail-in voting outcry

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-post-office/u-s-postal-service-puts-changes-on-hold-after-mail-in-voting-outcry-idUSKCN25E1Q2

Full statement:

WASHINGTON, DC — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued the following statement today:

"The United States Postal Service will play a critical role this year in delivering election mail for millions of voters across the country. There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether the Postal Service is ready, willing and able to meet this challenge.

I want to make a few things clear:

The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall. Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation's election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day. The 630,000 dedicated women and men of the Postal Service are committed, ready and proud to meet this sacred duty.

I am announcing today the expansion of our current leadership taskforce on election mail to enhance our ongoing work and partnership with state and local election officials in jurisdictions throughout the country. Leaders of our postal unions and management associations have committed to joining this taskforce to ensure strong coordination throughout our organization. Because of the unprecedented demands of the 2020 election, this taskforce will help ensure that election officials and voters are well informed and fully supported by the Postal Service.
I want to assure all Americans of the following:

 • Retail hours at Post Offices will not change.

 • Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are.

 • No mail processing facilities will be dosed.

 • And we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.

Heard today that there will be no more mail processing equipment or mail boxes removed. But no mention of the ones that were removed put back in service. 

As of the morning when I was there, My post office is not giving overtime to it’s employees. 

[manetteska]

5 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Heard today that there will be no more mail processing equipment or mail boxes removed. But no mention of the ones that were removed put back in service. 

As of the morning when I was there, My post office is not giving overtime to it’s employees. 

Exactly.

 “We’ll be good from now on (now that we are caught); we promise.”

[jools&jim]

Out of four packages I've received from MCS over the past few months (including one last week), only one arrived later than expected (delay of one day).  My wife just received a book from the UK which arrived in under a week.  So...no problems or complaints here...

[manetteska]

There is hope. 

Several weeks with nothing, then it just shows up. I also signed up for text notifications and never received any when it reappeared in CA, was out for delivery, or was delivered.

[Crops068]

On 8/19/2020 at 12:54 PM, Crops068 said:

I shipped a box to CGC last Wednesday (3-day Priority) it left here and went to Austin that day.  It has sat in Austin until last night where it finally left.  That is a full week sitting in a hub.  I talked to the local Post Master and he said it is actually down from the 3 week backup.  And the issue isn't that all packages are delayed it is when your package arrives and what bin it is put it.  If they shelve it at the end of the day it is essentially pushed off until they catch up.

If it wasn't for the fantastic workers I dealt with locally I would have lost my mind over this, I nearly did a few times to be fair.

Now I get to wait until at least this weekend to see if it gets delivered on the new expected delivery date.....

Update on my fiasco.  What should have been delivered on August 14th and was completely lost from the 12th until the 19th was finally delivered today to CGC.  And it must be a record it is already received on my Submissions page.....  Only 10 days late on it being delivered

[Hollywood1892]

3 hours ago, Crops068 said:

Update on my fiasco.  What should have been delivered on August 14th and was completely lost from the 12th until the 19th was finally delivered today to CGC.  And it must be a record it is already received on my Submissions page.....  Only 10 days late on it being delivered

thank God it arrived 

[F For Fake]

My ebay annoyance had a happy ending. Apparently opening the Help Request with USPS shook the package loose, and it arrived with the buyer on Saturday. So, $18 for priority mail, shipped on 8/6, arrived 8/22. I guess I'll see if I can get a refund on the postage, but the buyer is happy now and closed his case.

[MatterEaterLad]

Sent a comic in a USPS Priority medium flat rate box. It arrived crushed.

Luckily the comic was inside an inner box designed specifically for slabs and there was enough bubble wrap around it. The outer box was trashed but the slab was fine, wasn't even cracked.

First time something like that's happened. Could be a coincidence. Could be the horrible conditions at the USPS right now. 

[ThothAmon]

4 recent eBay purchases, all arrived early!

[musicmeta]

Definitely noticed a slow down in the mail.  I mailed out some books last week via Priority Mail and instead of them getting delivered in 2-3 business days it's more like 4-5 business days for domestic delivery.
Got some books going to Canada and it took "TEN" days to get from my Post Office to the International Postal hub in Chicago.  No telling when the package will actually get to it's final destination in Canada.  I suspect several more days IMO.

[lonetree]

Tracking information for some packages is delayed.  Sometimes, It doesnt show up until the item is delivered.  Priority Mail taking 4-5 days.

Also, I order quite a few USPS Priority Mail boxes.  Lately, they either don't ever come or take 6+ weeks.  1095 Priority Mail Boxes ordered in June show shipped but never arrived.  Ordered again in July, never shipped.  Ordered again last week.

[snitzer]

Looking to sell/ship a few items soon and am left wondering...is it to the point where folks are just going w/ FedEx or UPS now? Is it even worth bothering w/ the USPS at this point? 

[DavidTheDavid]

6 hours ago, snitzer said:

Looking to sell/ship a few items soon and am left wondering...is it to the point where folks are just going w/ FedEx or UPS now? Is it even worth bothering w/ the USPS at this point? 

I’ve still used USPS and haven’t had issues, knock on wood. Packages have been slow to arrive, but they’ve all gotten here. Even so, I am reluctant with purchases because of this problem.

[JohnH19]

I sent an eBay sale package from Canada to Florida on May 6th. It got to a postal station in Chicago on May 9th and then it sat there. The buyer filed a claim after 2 months and eBay refunded him the full amount, including postage, of $400+ out of my PayPal account.

Last Thursday, August 20th, the package arrived at its destination after 3.5 months. The buyer purchased a second identical item in the interim so now he’s not sure if he wants mine. Now we’re negotiating a new repayment amount, because he won’t pay the original purchase price, or a return of the item. Oh, well. At least it showed up. 

[Crops068]

9 hours ago, JohnH19 said:

I sent an eBay sale package from Canada to Florida on May 6th. It got to a postal station in Chicago on May 9th and then it sat there. The buyer filed a claim after 2 months and eBay refunded him the full amount, including postage, of $400+ out of my PayPal account.

Last Thursday, August 20th, the package arrived at its destination after 3.5 months. The buyer purchased a second identical item in the interim so now he’s not sure if he wants mine. Now we’re negotiating a new repayment amount, because he won’t pay the original purchase price, or a return of the item. Oh, well. At least it showed up. 

Can't you file with eBay now that it has been successfully delivered?  Also I would have thought with there being a claim on the tracking it would have put a hold on it keeping it from being delivered or re-routed back to you.  Either way, the buyer should absolutely send it back to you.

[AnkurJ]

Doesn’t get worse than this....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc7ny.com/amp/usps-package-ashes-lost-in-mail-donald-pickering/6393728/

[Gaard]

2 hours ago, AnkurJ said:

Doesn’t get worse than this....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc7ny.com/amp/usps-package-ashes-lost-in-mail-donald-pickering/6393728/

Slightly more significant than comic books. Hopefully, they'll be found.

A couple of thoughts:

- Being human ashes, one would think that they are not only clearly marked, but also well-packed. Not saying they weren't, but I didn't see where the story commented on either thing.

- Being human ashes, I hope the funeral home doesn't take cost into consideration when deciding which delivery service to use. Safety should be the only consideration.