Massive Postal Delays 7 7

[awakeintheashes]

1 hour ago, Ryan. said:

Dropped a package off at the PO today and the line was literally out the door. Fortunately I was able to walk right past everyone and place my drop-off right in a bin. 

Usually, I have them pick up at my door, but when I do take packages to the PO, I get some sort of sick enjoyment walking right by everyone waiting in line 

Edited December 8, 2020 by awakeintheashes

[Gaard]

1 hour ago, awakeintheashes said:

Usually, I have them pick up at my door, but when I do take packages to the PO, I get some sort of sick enjoyment walking right by everyone waiting in line

No matter how hard I try not to, I always feel guilty.

[Poekaymon]

3 hours ago, Ryan. said:

Dropped a package off at the PO today and the line was literally out the door. Fortunately I was able to walk right past everyone and place my drop-off right in a bin. 

When I lived in the city sometimes the line was an hour long.  They had a box, which no one used, but I usually waited anyway because most times I want my receipt.

Now that I'm in the sticks I go to a one-employee USPS office where I have never even seen another customer.  Pull up right in front, get my receipt in 20 seconds flat, bail out.  It almost feels wrong.

[lizards2]

 I have had no problems at all.  Maybe it is karma, man!  

[skypinkblu]

I'm about 175 miles from NYC. 3 packages are sitting in their regional office. 1 got there from Florida in 1 day, it's been there for 6 days. One of the other ones, got there 5 days ago, it went from New Jersey to Mass, then to NYC, 2nd time I've seen that. The 3rd has no updates at all, except it's on it's way. That one has only been 4 days. All priority mail.

This is not going to be a fun shopping season.

On the other hand, my Amazon package was so late, they offered a refund without my asking, then when the package arrived 2 days later, they said to keep the package and the refund.

[skypinkblu]

46 minutes ago, Poekaymon said:

When I lived in the city sometimes the line was an hour long.  They had a box, which no one used, but I usually waited anyway because most times I want my receipt.

Now that I'm in the sticks I go to a one-employee USPS office where I have never even seen another customer.  Pull up right in front, get my receipt in 20 seconds flat, bail out.  It almost feels wrong.

When you live in a place where your mailman rides a moose to deliver the mail, it's usually not that crowded at the P.O.

[Poekaymon]

12 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

When you live in a place where your mailman rides a moose to deliver the mail, it's usually not that crowded at the P.O.

 

[skypinkblu]

6 minutes ago, Poekaymon said:

 

You know I thought I was answering Lizards;) but I'm glad I answered you by mistake...cute reply;) 

[jimjum12]

On 12/6/2020 at 7:43 PM, Robot Man said:

I've been pretty lucky I guess. Other than anything media mail, I've been getting and sending out stuff that arrives fairly quickly. There was a period during " time" that it slowed down a bit but since then, pretty regular.

I almost always use USPS. UPS has burned me several times and Fed-Ex, I haven't used.

Was talking to my mailman a few days ago. He told me there were a lot of sick calls the past few months. He has had his route extended a bit but no overtime. There are at least one day a week where I receive no mail at all. The next day, I get a large bunch. I have had mail delivered much after 7:00 and came out in the morning to see a package on my door step.

Hopefully, our current Postmaster will find a new line of work and some one else will come in and clean up the mess.

I haven't spoken to our USPS route person, but this sounds similar to what happens here too, Bob. One thing a clerk pointed out to me recently is that I should NOT allow for "electronic signature" when requesting sig-con ... that it can still be just left on the porch with that option, which kind of defeats the purpose. In the last 15 years that I've been mailing out packages, I had never had even one go missing. This year I've lost two. Both were packages that were sent Priority, but neither had sig-con. I now use sig-con on EVERYTHING. Expensive stuff I'm using Registered more and more. I use FedEx from time to time and receive from them, so far no problems here. My preference is still USPS for now. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[theCapraAegagrus]

Well, I spoke too soon. My Gift Exchange purchase, and muzzle brake, are both stuck in USPS limbo. They were to be delivered Saturday or Monday...

[ghengishahn]

My wife sent a package via USPS to her sister that lives in Singapore.  She paid for 3 day priority.  It took 4 months to arrive.  USPS said they would only refund the money if it didn't arrive after a year.

[oldmilwaukee6er]

For me the packages that are getting delayed are the ones that switch carriers, like UPS / USPS surepost, or FedEx to USPS (day or two), or USPS packages through a particular sorting facility in Bensonville, IL (1 week). Priority to and from my area is running right at 3 days. 

[wilbil]

perspective...mail delivery in u.s. history (in order from1600s to now):

by foot, including utilizing native americans.

stage coach

steamboats

trains

wagon trains

pony express

telegraph lines

balloons

airplanes

vehicles 

what these methods had in common: people always complained it was slow. none of these methods experienced a pandemic (well, 1915 to 1918, but you get the point).

the fastest delivery recorded prior to air travel was:

the lincoln inaugural address delivered by pony express to california in 7 days and 17 hours. the pony express only had about 225-260 riders or so in their brief history.

the moral of the story:

we are going backward not forward. because? : a pandemic.

everything will be ok. until then, buy a pony and a revolver. there are much bigger problems than late delivery, i think.

signed: a self interested philately history geek. and an optimist. and a patient person. (some would say i am old enough to have personally experienced all these delivery methods.  that is not true. that honor goes to the black hand. but, he sometimes does not remember).

[lizards2]

11 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

You know I thought I was answering Lizards;) but I'm glad I answered you by mistake...cute reply;) 

You've been avoiding me for too long, Sha. 

And no moose around these parts - too dry.

Edited December 8, 2020 by lizards2

[skypinkblu]

1 minute ago, lizards2 said:

You've been avoiding me for too long, Sha. 

And no moose around these parts - too dry.

(((Mike))) I'm up to my ears in thread, lol...but there will always be...

[lizards2]

4 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

4 hours ago, lizards2 said:

You've been avoiding me for too long, Sha. 

And no moose around these parts - too dry.

(((Mike))) I'm up to my ears in thread, lol...but there will always be...

Sounds familiar!  We got my wife a new Juki sewing machine for her birthday - I pushed her to get a good one, instead of continuing to deal with carp.  Anyway, she's got a new 1K machine, and she is cranking out homemade Christmas presents as I type.

I've been working on a big comic inventorying project, as well as getting new sale books up, so I've had the house in disarray with comic clatter.  I finally got the overflow mostly put away, but now it has been replaced by material and other sewing stuff.

We got a Nordmann Fir for a Christmas tree this year, and I think it is the nicest one we've ever had!

Edited December 8, 2020 by lizards2

[F For Fake]

COVID related staff shortages + holiday shipping traffic = things are getting heavy. Our USPS guy comes later and later these days. In the "before times", our mail came around 2 or 3pm. These days it's not uncommon to see him around 7 or 8pm. I saw him this weekend, and mentioned how late they had him running around, and he literally said they are just about burnt out, everyone is working overtime because lots of people are out, or have retired or quit. He said he'd been on the road since 6:30am. USPS is an essential service, and like Bob said, these folks are burning out too. 

On the receiving end, I've got some holiday purchases arriving sporadically. Most things have been hitting their delivery target. I have one piece of jewelry that I ordered for my wife a week ago that is still sitting in California, and it simply says "arriving late", but I assume it'll shake loose before too long. These are times for patience and understanding. I have no doubt that the vast majority of these folks are doing the best they can. All things considered, I'm glad we're getting mail service at all. 

[Robot Man]

18 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

COVID related staff shortages + holiday shipping traffic = things are getting heavy. Our USPS guy comes later and later these days. In the "before times", our mail came around 2 or 3pm. These days it's not uncommon to see him around 7 or 8pm. I saw him this weekend, and mentioned how late they had him running around, and he literally said they are just about burnt out, everyone is working overtime because lots of people are out, or have retired or quit. He said he'd been on the road since 6:30am. USPS is an essential service, and like Bob said, these folks are burning out too. 

On the receiving end, I've got some holiday purchases arriving sporadically. Most things have been hitting their delivery target. I have one piece of jewelry that I ordered for my wife a week ago that is still sitting in California, and it simply says "arriving late", but I assume it'll shake loose before too long. These are times for patience and understanding. I have no doubt that the vast majority of these folks are doing the best they can. All things considered, I'm glad we're getting mail service at all. 

They are doing the best they can. Even though I don’t like to, we have been ordering a lot of stuff on line. This is a bad time for the USPS anyway but this year seems a lot worse. 

So be patient and if you have a regular mail person you know, maybe a gift card tip would be in order. I know I will.

[miraclemet]

man this week is a mess.. I have packages coming from multiple ebay sellers and DCBS and while slow is totally understandable... all three are in a bit of limbo, which is weird. 

West Virginia, California and Illinois all three scanned and are being processed at their drop off point, but havent shown any movement since.. Earliest got dropped off on the 3rd, most recent on the 7th. Im guessing they're going thru the system and just not getting scanned along the way anymore? Now its scan it when it goes in the system and scan it when it comes out? What a joke. 

[Rockyjo3]

I have the same issue, I have 5 or 6 USPS packages that are late and now showing no estimated delivery date. Pretty much all of them have been scanned at their regional origin facility but haven’t moved since.

Every shipment I’ve received from FedEx though, has arrived on schedule and a couple have even arrived early