Anyone else having issues with mail and UPS?
I'm fed up with my mail not getting delivered within a reasonable time, this includes bows and clothing I've sold on the classifieds. It's been taking over THREE weeks for checks to arrive from Tradgangers.
Now get this.... sent a package Next Day Air to Dayton OH yesterday. I checked the tracking this morning and the package was 'in transit' in Lexington KY....next city Cincinnati and Dayton after that, straight up I-75, real simple huh? Kept reloading, same message.....
I just now reloaded and it said 'DELAYED'..... its now in Janesville WISCONSIN!!!!!
Oh, and now UPS will not guarantee over night, so you can't get any refund. Sounds like a license to steal.
Anyone else fed up with this garbage service?
Yup. But even if we are, what good is it to complain and :deadhorse: on this sight?
Makes me feel better to vent. :readit:
:biglaugh:
Yep it's all messed up!
I've had no problems with US mail or UPS or FedX...
Bills and junk mail is always on time :biglaugh:
Deno
My postmaster told me a lot of New Yorks mail is being shuttled thru KC because of the amount of Covid in NY has less workers showing up what with quarantine and all. The mail is slow, and I also saw UPS is having trouble. So far I haven't lost a package, just slow...
Well, I have a bitch too as long as we're at it. I sold a BPE fletching jig to a fellow Gang-er from OH.. Sent it from WI, Package only measured 10 inches square and 2 1/2 inches thick and weighed less than 2 pounds. Shipped it the cheapest way I could and was stuck $11 to do it. That was more than 25% of what I sold it for. Why bother? Bet Amazon wouldn't have had to pay that much. :banghead:
Roy, get this, I was told NOT to use fed ex as they were having issues in TN causing delays, so I used UPS. Seems all carriers are in disarray. :banghead:
In SA TX so far not having any problems, so far!
:coffee: :campfire: :archer2:
What I love is how every delay is blamed on COVID-19.
Seems to me that if your package goes to PA or has to go thru PA there are lots of problems. Am talking about USPS now. Just shipped a longbow in a pvc tube to PA. It took only two days to get from S IL to Pittsburgh, then 4 days to get to destination city in PA. It bounced back and forth to/from Lehigh, PA 3 of those 4 days.
Had a package coming to me from the NE that was stuck in PA for 15 days with no further scans with no idea what was happening. Frankly tracking numbers are only as good as the people running the scanners. If they don't scan the package one doesn't know what it happening.
I used to work part time for PO and we could never get away with this poor of service nor would I have wanted to. I saw first hand how many employees could care less about their job responsibilities let alone their personal ones.
All shipments with priority Fed-ex goes thru Memphis, I fed-ex every day over night, and my lab said to send it Fed-ex ground since it is trucked in,,The problem with UPS and Fed-ex priority is the Airports are both in Tennessee ,As for the Postal service well they just suck, and loosing a net loss of 8.8 BILLION last year probably don't help..Find a Greyhound bus and stick your crap on it and I promise it will get there.
Kelly I hear ya there.
I've had 2 bows I built and shipped in cardboard boxes that got destroyed.
Now I use pvc pipe and put that in a rectangular box so it doesn't fall off the conveyor belts.
Yep, I've noticed at work that USPS and shipping services are often way delayed... then one package will get cross-country in two days. No rhyme or reason I can discern.
No problems at all anymore in the midwest and west, but anything going to or coming from the east is still slow.
I also just got a letter addressed to a Charles Jones in West Virginia. I'm in Illinois! The address was nowhere near mine. Just the name. I must be famous.
I had some arrows ship from Kansas to Michigan on 2/6/2021 and I still don't have them. There were no updates for over 2 weeks. For the last 2 days they show as processed through the Detroit processing center, 50 miles away.
D.p
Seems covid is the excuse they needed for poor customer service......
Quote from: Roy from Pa on March 02, 2021, 01:24:26 PM
Kelly I hear ya there.
I've had 2 bows I built and shipped in cardboard boxes that got destroyed.
Now I use pvc pipe and put that in a rectangular box so it doesn't fall off the conveyor belts.
I take a section of those triangle priority boxes and slip it over the pvc pipe, then tape it in place in the middle so the pipe can't roll.
I shipped a bow USPS Priority from Illinois to Pennsylvania on February 5th and it arrived today March 2. It was "in transit" with no additional information from February 6 until March 1st. I had dealt with the buyer before and he was incredibly understanding and patient. May try FedEx next time.
Terry, if you want to come to love UPS, try FedEx for a while.
A lot of reasons exist for delays, but I think one of the major problems is simply a lack of concern on the part of the deliverers for providing good customer service.
Just a thought why COVID may be impacting so many folks. My local post office tells me the protocol they have been asked to follow for screening employees creates real staffing problems. I may not have all the details right, but this is my current understanding.
Each day each employee must be screened. They check several 'symptoms', including temperature. As an example, if a person has an elevated temperature, they are not allowed to report to work. They are sent home. If temperature remains elevated for two more days, they are asked to see a physician and get a COVID test with results coming back in 1-2 days. So at a minimum, a high temperature and a negative COVID test would keep the person out of work for 3-4 days. If they have been exposed to a person with COVID, they have to self quarantine for two weeks and have a negative COVID test before being allowed to come back to work.
There are several other elements, but I think you get the idea. Local postmaster tells me in late 2020 they were trying to run the business with 35-40% of the staff out due to failed screening. Since the first of the new year, things have improved. Now, the typical shift staffing is down about 20%.
First class mail is top priority. Packages, regardless of shipping method are lowest priority. So the 'new' normal really does mess up shipments. The 'old' normal may not be back until early Summer. I suspect similar issues are impacting UPS and FedEx.
Everything that I've ordered has been showing up right on time. Haven't had any delays.
I've been using UPS or FedEx for last 6 months. USPS has you at there mercy and I have looked at tracking for USPS and it boggles my mind where package goes. FedEx and UPS have been on time
Everything I have shipped/received UPS since covid hit a year ago has arrived with good tracking in 2 or 3 days.Quite a few packages.
I started using them when I ship.I had bad experiences with USPS.I had one bow take 2 weeks,one take 5 weeks and another take a whopping 7 weeks.With no tracking essentially.Some did arrive close to on time USPS recently sent to me as customer wanted to ship USPS.
Hopefully it clears up in the not too distant future.I never had issues with USPS before Covid.I do prefer to use them to support them.Thier typically cheaper than UPS,FED-X.I am waiting for things to get better with USPS and will resume using them.
Oh THIS is motivational! :knothead:
Thanks for the bashing. Gotta be asleep in 20 minutes so I can get up at 4:30 to go to work as your beloved mailma'am. :knothead:
Nobody screening me.
Red-headed stepchild of America. :deadhorse:
Where the heck is "in Transit"- been there for the last 4 days, must be a popular resort or something.
If you think its bad on the outside try it from the inside. No, its not good but I am no longer in the small package world and deal with larger shipments. Kind of like constipation from the weather it is all backed up. Everyone sitting at home on their computers basically has made it like peak season Oct to Nov 31 every day for small package. At least it has kept the economy alive and the FedEx and UPS are making significant returns for the investors. Seems we must be way more productive working from home since we have that much more time to shop on line.
Yes!
Bisch
Killdeer, seems I recall you deliver mail to residential mail boxes... is that correct?
I work for a truck load carrier and get my ass chewed daily because drivers are running an hour late.
But had a 2 day priority Christmas package of banana bread show up 60 days late and moldy. I guess I should have ruined someone's day instead of laughed
About a year ago I bought a weld mask from a US welding supplies company. They wouldn't ship to Australia and it was the only place I could find that particular mask so I had them ship it to a friend in OH who would then send it to me.
It made it to my friend no problems but then took 8 weeks to leave the US. Once it left it seemed to take the normal time it takes for stuff from the US.
Australia post is no different. I sent a parcel express to Brisbane which is 3hrs drive away. It took 2 weeks and went via Melbourne. Like sending something from LA to San Fran and it goes via Houston TX.
I just shipped a bow from Texas to Kansas via UPS. It made it in 2 days but cost me 92 dollars with insurance...WTH???
Well Folks, I gotta say.....
Friday, I called Big Jim's to check on my new Mag-handle that I was on the "list" for since last Sept.
A very pleasant young lady (who's name evades me) informed me that she "was just about to call me" and if I was ready to make the payment, she would "hurry up and get it ready cuz the guy hasn't made the pickup yet".
Now, this was about 1:30pm Friday afternoon...
At 12:40 Monday afternoon, the mailman was dropping the box on my porch!!
That's pretty darn quick in my book! Then again.... Maybe I just got lucky?? :dunno:
Delivering mail to mail boxes sounds easy. Yesterday I delivered a "kitchen island with iron handle." And the flimsy boxes with the slidey forty-five pounds of dog food. And all the bed frames that Amazon doesn't want to trouble their drivers with.
Now, I am not saying that everybody in the industry has a stellar work ethic. But most of us are humans like you, and get their feeling of self worth by looking back at a day's job well done.
Threads like this shouldn't be allowed under the skin. They are honest gripes being launched at faceless entities. It is easy to sit at your computers and complain about how a job is being done or not done. Especially if you have never done it.
But I admit, I take them personally, and now, with my attitude duly jaundiced, I prepare to go serve my adoring public.
Unless you park close to the mail box. So there! :readit:
Killdeer
Kathryn, my dear sister.... You can be my mailma'am anytime!!!! :bigsmyl:
That's not what I meant.... that being said, YOU are not the problem with the USPO, neither is my mail man. You are taking it personal and its not directed at you or those employees at all. It may be faceless to you, but its FACT to many that the post office is a disaster and has been for months. Again, my mail man is great. And I'm sure you are too.
I never blame the waitress for the screw ups in the kitchen.... so don't be offended by my post cause I'm not griping at mail box deliverers. :campfire:
Having shipped too many archery related items to count over the last 30 years, I have to say that I have had better luck with the USPS than I have with UPS or FEDEX. The only lost or damaged items that I've dealt with were with FEDEX. I sold a couple of longbows in PVC pipe with end caps that arrived at their destination with the pipe broken and the bows damage beyond repair. This was schedule 40 PVC, not the light weight drainage pipe!
As far as the shipping situation with the USPS now, I have no idea if this happened all over the US, but 2-3 years ago there was a "restructure" for better efficiency of the USPS here in Indiana. The government closed several of the "hubs", one was here in Terre Haute. Before this was done, if you mailed a letter or any item to a local address, it went to the Terre Haute hub and it usually arrived in one day. Now, if I choose to mail a birthday card to my neighbor across town, it goes to Indianapolis and then back to Terre Haute. At Christmas, packages mailed to local addresses took 5-7 days to reach their destination and packages mailed to my son in Tennessee arrived in 2-3 days. So much for better efficiency!
I go to AZ every winter from my home in Washington state, it's about 1450 miles and if I drive without the wife I can make it in two days ... with the wife it takes three because we spend two nights on the road and drive shorter days. It takes about 5 tanks of gas at $50 a tank, one night stay on the road $110, and food about $75. So about $435 to go from WA to AZ, or $545 with the wife.
I just send my grandson a BD card from AZ to WA and it arrived in three days and cost 45 cents.
The USPS handles 181,900,000 First Class Mail daily ..... on average they process 19,700,000 and hour, 327,838 a minute and 5,464 a second. It's hard to comprehend those numbers but take a little time and think about it and then think about the logistics to get all those pieces of mail to their destination. Even with the occasional delay it's pretty amazing.
Ken,.... it's not been a problem until about 3 months ago... I had very few problems over the years, but now the wheels have fell off. Hence my and many other's frustration as of late. UPS is not even giving money back on next day air failures now, and I'm a victim as of yesterdays non delivery of Next Day Air was delivered today. No recourse or money back. What we are frustrated about is what is happening now, not in the past.
Here in SA TX at my local PO there has been little slow down. If I use the larger PO down the road it's a different story. That's just within SA TX. I'm sure that with over 1 million people in town there are several PO's. I had one package returned to me earlier in the Covid era that sat in the main branch downtown for 15 days!!! So it all depends.
I don't find the problems with USPS to be at the end destination, ie. the mailmen and mail ma'am that deliver to your house or place of business. Via tracking every time it says arrived at destination PO it gets delivered that day.
Rather the delays seem to be in how packages are routed from shipper to buyer. It is there where the "in transit" or proceeding "on to next destination" or arrived at xyz post office and it has no other tracking information for days. Or it goes to X post office, then to Y post office, then back to X post office, then on to Z post office and finally to destination post office and is delivered.
Having been a "mailman" delivering to country folk and businesses my motto was, when the mail was sorted to my work space/station I delivered it that day even if it was bulk mail that I had 3 more days to deliver. And parcels were just as important as first class mail. Mind you I was only part time rural carrier for 18+ years using my own vehicle to deliver over 440 mailboxes covering 128 miles daily. Left the Post Office in 2004 when First Class letters and Magazines was the majority of the mail volume and mail order/internet orders was in its infancy. These days I would think it's almost reversed, at least based on our household.
It has been a mixed bag for me with USPS Priority Mail. Some shipments make it on schedule, and others get held up for a few extra days even when they arrive at the same distribution center on the same day as the package that is on schedule!
It's better than it was. It took a month for a Hoyt Excel riser I bought last summer to go coast to coast. I'd have "bet the farm" some postal worker had jacked that one because it came from someone they would have known what it was.....better late than never!
Quote from: olddogrib on March 03, 2021, 04:12:15 PM
It's better than it was. It took a month for a Hoyt Excel riser I bought last summer to go coast to coast. I'd have "bet the farm" some postal worker had jacked that one because it came from someone they would have known what it was.....better late than never!
Not so for me and others that I have talked to, including Sponsors I've talked to about shipments being delayed. Lucky for you sir.
Over 3 weeks late on a check I sent last month, and when it arrived he told me it was post marked the 17th and TOOK it to the post office on the 10th.
3 more checks I send are 2 weeks our not delivered.
Check for bow I sold over 3 weeks for the check to arrive... on Friday last week
Sold another bow 3 days after the 1st one, and no check still.
Three Sponsor checks late by 3 weeks, and one a day over 2 weeks still not here.
Took over 2 weeks on a clothing Item I sold on the classifieds, and over 3 weeks on another.
That's just what's happened since the 1st of January. ........ its been a nightmare.
I've had mixed results, I bought a bow from the classifieds last summer that went from eastern PA to Minnesota, then came back to Michigan, took about a month to get here. :banghead: I had some broadheads I bought from here take a couple weeks to get to me from Colorado. Of late I've had good results, bought some boots that took about a week, and the bibs I got from you Terry were here in just a few days. It can't be too bad in my area, between my daughter, and wife it seems like there are multiple packages, from different carriers arriving daily!!!! :knothead:
Jason
Why would we expect better service..They are Union so you can't be fired without a Grand Jury, There Broke to the tune of 9 billion last year, and they are the Postal service..If I ran my biz plan like there's well.. i would not have the money to be typing on this Mac.
Georgia is still delivering and counting all those mail-in ballots. Oops, disregard...that just slipped out. And I hear they're out of the red now delivering for Amazon! Terry, if you have to shut down your own post....I understand, lol.
I ship worldwide, about 85% domestic (Flat Rate Priority) and 15% international (1st Class), six days a week, and 99.9% of time it's with our US Post Office.
You'd have to not ship as much as I do, or are living under a rock to not realize there's been an escalating problem with ALL shipping vendors since the Spring of last year. Domestic priority used to be spot on with the USPS delivery times posted, but these dayze almost all of mine take between a week and a month. International shipments to any continent now take two to six times longer.
I get at least two incoming component vendor shipments to me a week, using USPS, FedEx or UPS. Same exact delays.
Worse yet, I'm now seeing domestic "lost packages" that I've rarely ever seen in the last 17 years. I had a component shipment sent to me by a parts vendor in Florida and it took only 4 days to hit the FedEx hub that's 47 miles from me. It's been "sitting" in that hub since February 15th. FedEx has no clue what happened, as expected. I go through this at least once a month with all shippers. This is not fun ... and proof our economy is tanking big time.
As long as the world is being physically, emotionally and economically suppressed and depressed, this bad shipping trend will continue, just as will the mask wearing, social distancing, and lock downs.
PS - Good to see ya posting, Ms. Killdeer! :wavey: :campfire:
It's crazy, ordered an item from a supplier in Florida estimated 3 days shipping. A month later it arrived, I tracked the package as it went all the way to San Francisco California, just to get to Ohio.
Insane volume. Hubs flooded. Yesterday, maybe 60 parcels. Today 200.
Everything in my working case goes out today. I cannot deliver what I do not have.
(I am a paint brush. No use slapping me upside a wall unless somebody gives me a drink at the bucket!)
Economy tanking? I don't think so. We are going into massive debt, with shoring up those whose jobs have been eliminated. The relief checks? Lower the annual income level. I am working, qualify, but am fine without it.
It is not free money. It is our taxes. Given away.
It will need to be paid back, and then some, because we have operated on a deficit for decades.
This virus has taken so much from us. Our loved ones, our livelihoods, our confidence, our freedom. Yet, this has taken only a fraction of what the toll was from the flu in 1918. We need to buck up, batten down, or whatever cliche' you choose, and be tough enough to do what we can every day to make life work.
There is no alternative. Scrape, dream, strive. This is war of a different kind. This is a war that we can win. And it is 3/4 won. Hang in there, friends.
Killdeer
Did I just hear Ethel Merman? :scared: :scared: :scared:
Ooops spoke too soon. Waiting for some arrows from MO that are late.
Quote from: thump on March 03, 2021, 08:10:59 PM
It's crazy, ordered an item from a supplier in Florida estimated 3 days shipping. A month later it arrived, I tracked the package as it went all the way to San Francisco California, just to get to Ohio.
I need more fangers and toez to count the number of times the same thing has happened to me in the last 10 months.
I had a Texas shipment travel to the Teeterboro NJ airport only to be shipped back out to MISSOURI. That sight seeing journey wasted 9 more traveling days. Naw, the screw ups aren't happening all the time, just
lots more frequently. It really is insane, these shipping dayze.
I sent two bows the same day, same time, USPS priority! The one I sent from Alaska to Pennsylvania made it in four days, the one I sent to Montana two weeks ago still hasn't arrive!!! I ordered some 2" glass from Bingham they send it out the same day 12 days and counting!! The tracking thing is a joke, all they tell you is that its in transit!! Of course they blame Covid for everything but to me its just poor service!!! Everything was sent Priority which is suppose to arrive in 3 to 4 days not 3 or 4 weeks!!! Very aggravating !!
I have had problems sending and receiving USPS mail for a year now. Other business have told me they have similar problems. I have called the local USPS office at least eight times and never get any answers. I received one Certified Return receipt six months have sending it. The problem has hit many companies, several major retailers have stopped taking returns. The problems are not limited to USPS, UPS, FedEx, or FedEx ground which was sold to another company, but continues to operate. :banghead: :deadhorse: :knothead: I have noticed several new companies that have jumped in to handle deliveries.
I prefer to send USPS Priority Mail, insured after taking a picture of the items shipped, and putting a second shipping label inside. Ever wonder why Amazon has their own delivery vans?
Mailed a baptism card to my nephews son who lives a mile away from me and it took 2 weeks to get there.
I gave away 4 stone arrowhead necklaces to 4 ladies on another site. 3 of the ladies received their packages within 4 days. It took over a month for the 4th lady to receive hers. The gals lived in 4 different states.
I think problems are territorial and not every where.
Quote from: Killdeer on March 03, 2021, 08:33:14 PM
... Economy tanking? I don't think so. We are going into massive debt, with shoring up those whose jobs have been eliminated. The relief checks? Lower the annual income level. I am working, qualify, but am fine without it. ...
Any country, nation, whatever, depends on communications and shipping. Those are the cornerstones of free market. As they go, so does the economy. We have a major economic issue in the USA that gets worse with every pen stroke of the current administration's dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks "leader", and as supported by insane States that are as tyrannical as the CCP.
The "relief" dollars just throw us all out with the bath water as our great grandchildren will be paying back that nonsense four fold and the dollar is yet again greatly devalued. What a great way to kill the USA. Specially since the vast majority of that "package" is political pork, and a good portion of those billions are going overseas.
So yeah, it all goes back to the economy. It's the essence of what we are.
Preach on brothers (and sisters), preach on....and I thought I'd be banned by today, lol! Where was everybody back in November? Killie, wait until you see the workload in 2024, when the Dems make sure mail is the only way we can vote. One voter, one mailbox. All you can stuff, what a great idea.....
It's good to vent, but that ain't solving issues with the mail systems or our nation. It takes people with a common cause and a need for collective justice. Hmm. Isn't that what happened about two and a half centuries ago, right here in this land?
I have always went to my local post office, and shipped by priority mail, and always had great results. Having said that, with the current situation with the delays, I have now used UPS and have not had a problem. It may cost a little more, but it worth it for the results in being delivered.
Quote from: olddogrib on March 03, 2021, 05:48:50 PM
Terry, if you have to shut down your own post....I understand, lol.
Not gonna shut it down, and it does belong here. Tradgang is about Trad Bowhunting and this is effecting Tradgang AND its members. If you don't run a business, you might not get it. Yes, Tradgang is a business, has to be registered with the state every year and fill a tax return. Its effecting my other business also. Also, with 3 week delays, general mail in bill payments are coming in late, and causing late fees. Who pays for that? 52 cent stamp causing 25 dollar penalties. I'm in the process of setting up all online payments.
Just got a check after 17 days, less than 3 weeks :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: Hope the bow makes it to the buyer!!! :readit:
Faring pretty well just received some arrows predicted to be here 2 March, arrived this afternoon. Been getting my trades from here and the other site pretty timely, not pre-slow down speed, but not terrible either. Better than some, I feel blessed.
:coffee: :campfire: :archer2:
I just got a bow yesterday that was supposed to be here on February 22,and right beside the box was a box of shafts from Big Jim that were here in only a few days. Go figure :dunno:
Quote from: Alexander Traditional on March 07, 2021, 09:47:50 AM
I just got a bow yesterday that was supposed to be here on February 22,and right beside the box was a box of shafts from Big Jim that were here in only a few days. Go figure :dunno:
It's completely bonkers how shipping doesn't work ... and it's getting worse. I got a package from Amazon the same day I placed the order, and I'm still in the 17th day of waiting on a package from two states away, shipped via USPS Priority mail. Yeah, go figure is right. :dunno:
Rob I used to buy a lot of bows off the classifieds. I would mail the check,and some of the guys I would buy bows from knew me,and would ship the bow without getting the check and letting it clear. The bow would beat the first class letter mail a lot of the time. That one is really hard for me to figure out.
letters go to a different sorting facility than packages..If i send my next door neighbor a letter it goes 2 hours west of me then 2 hours back to the neighbor and packages go 5 hours east of me then back to my neighbor due to sorting..I now just walk across the street and give them there Christmas cards..Go figure..
Didn't know that.
I was told by a higher up in USPS Covid is taking its toll on workers . They are short handed .Packages going air are going commercial airlines and that is also a big problem. I have had packages stuck at airport for a week. The fact that they backed the democratic party has nothing to do with it :biglaugh: I was told a long time ago if its an important item or expensive use UPS.
So did the Keystone pipeline pipefitter's union....those Dems seem to have a short memory after November!
The usps has been less than stellar this year, that's for sure.
I'm sure glad I retired years ago. I can't imagine what it is like trying to answer questions about delays today. And in most cases the local delivery person doesn't have a clue why your parcel didn't arrive on time.
I know most of us are not complaining about our own delivery personnel, but for me as a former Postmaster, it didn't matter where I was- in church, at events for my kids/ I would have people upset about delayed letters, or parcels asking me where the letter was.
After I retired, I had a few of those same people come and say " you know Gary, I always appreciated that you would take the time to try and help me with my situation at the time." I appreciated that. I don't think it is remotely the same now.
When I came home from service in the Army, I got home on Sunday and the following Saturday I was carrying mail. When I retired it took approximately 90 days from the the time you hired somebody to when they were actually working. (Background checks, training, etc.
And that is part of the problem. It takes so long to actually hire someone and put them to work. At least that was my experience, ten or fifteen years ago.
We ship Priority USPS primarily and have had a few delays. Not too bad on our end though.
Then add to that a week shutdown caused by the Southern Snowpocalypse of 2021. :o
this was the first time in 15 years, and 2000 or so packages sent, that I had to file an insurance claim. It's because of the corona virus, and China for letting it loose.
I mailed smokin joe his spices he won on Saturday (package) and it got there today.... but the check I sent him 3 weeks ago still hasn't arrived.
And to beat it all, tens of thousands of ballots arrived at the polls BEFORE they were mailed, and thousands more THE DAY they were mailed. :readit:
yeah, the ballots, I wasn't gonna bring that subject up. I'm sure we'd agree on it though.