A general question for the Crossfire masses:

Have you ever, at any time in your life, mailed something to a destination with hopes of it getting there, only to eventually find out that it never reached the destination (i.e, got lost)?

Apparently, the USPS ate an envelope I sent a few weeks ago, and the intended recipient (a relatively new forum member) now thinks that I'm a low-life scumbag that has no moral convictions or common decency, and of course assumes I never sent the envelope in the first place.

I refuse to drag his name into the mix, so don't ask. I don't believe in slandering others. But I've never been more insulted by anything on this forum. No, not even the political boards.

Just wondering, thanks.

 

It was over 20 years ago, that I walked one block to the post office in Jonesville, Michigan and tossed an envelope with the rent check in it thru the slot. In fact, it was 1989, the year my brother came back from Germany - he was staying with me, that lasted four months, so I KNOW it was 1989.

Three weeks later, landlady asked where the rent was. I wrote another check and drove it out to her.


In January 1994 I started dating Linda. By May of 1994, we'd broken up. It was SOMETIME in that 5 months that the envelope showed up in my landlady's mailbox!

The guys at the post office could not explain it.

 

It happens. There really is no excuse for it, but it does happen.

Don't you just love it when the clerk asks you if you want insurance for loss or damage? Its like if you don't pay extra, we can't be responsible for our own actions!

As for shipping packages, I have had no real problem is USPS. But UPS delivers packages that are often damaged. Damaged to the point they are retaped and put into a large clear plastic bag. I avoid them when ever possible.

James

 

So it does exist for others. Okay, just making sure I wasn't a scumbag with no decency. Now I can sleep tonight.

Thanks Mark!

 

The irony is that the package I received was shipped USPS, and arrived in beautiful condition.

The whole transaction was smooth as butter, until I started getting my integrity questioned.

To say it was a "turd in a punch bowl" is an understatement. At any rate, envelope #2 is en route and I'm betting on the fact that USPS can't make the same mistake twice.

 

The line in red gives an idea why somethings get missed, or lost.
It does happen.
There is no line that says how many items are lost.

By the Numbers
68 billion — revenue in 2009, in dollars
177 billion — total number of mail pieces processed in 2009
584 million — average number of mail pieces processed each day
24 million — average number of mail pieces processed each hour
405,000 — average number of mail pieces processed each minute
6,761 — average number of mail pieces processed each second
40 — percentage of the world’s card and letter mail volume handled by USPS
2.1 billion — dollar amount paid every 2 weeks in salaries and benefits
596,000 — number of career employees
218,684 — number of vehicles in our fleet the largest civilian fleet in the world
1.1 billion — dollar amount spent on fuel in 2009
1.25 billion — number of miles driven each year by our letter carriers and truck drivers
444 million — number of gallons of fuel used in 2009
36,400 — number of postal retail locations nationwide
14 — percent of the nation’s population that moves annually
43.8 million — number of address changes processed in 2009
1.1 million — number of people who visit usps.com each day
222 million — amount of stamp and retail sales online at usps.com
390 million — total revenue from Click-N-Ship label purchases
7.3 million — number of passport applications accepted in 2009
135.1 million — number of money orders issued in 2009
252,000 — number of daily transactions processed on 2,500 APCs
548 million — amount in revenue generated from APC transactions
58,288 — number of stores, banks and ATMs that sell postage stamps
923,595 — number of new delivery points added to the network in 2009
0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service

 

I send a RCM back to a forum member and told him it was on it's way (Priority), should be there in 2 days (AZ - CA).
A week later I was still getting PM's asking where the RCM was. After awhile I started feeling like maybe he suspected that I kept it to use as the Loaner RCM.
It finally arrived about 2 weeks after I mailed it. Felt like a heel.

Hey, whata want for $5! Not my fault!

 

Definitely puts things in perspective, thanks for sharing that.

And it's not exactly like you can call and file a complaint...

USPS: "What does the missing envelope look like?"

Me: "Well, it's white, rectangular, has a stamp...."

USPS: <crickets>

 

It's happened to me more than once. Met you at the Dragon and I wouldn't say low life scumbag in those exact words.... Naw, just teasing

 

Me neither. BUt he IS quite hideous looking to have such a hottie with him.

 

I could site several mishaps I've had with USPS...but it wouldn't serve much purpose here...you get what you pay for. I'm still amazed that the same stamp will send a letter across town or across the country.

But, it took the private sector, i.e. UPS and FedEx, etc, to wake up USPS.

It just shows that competition in the private sector trumps government.

 

 

Thanks chap

 

I can understand how you feel John, as I would never want my integrity questioned. Evidently this is either a rather new member, or someone that is not very active in this forum, or they would have immediately assumed that the problem was with USPS. Those on this forum that know you, know very well your religious and moral convictions. A more trustworthy person, I could not imagine knowing. Hopefully this individual will learn that he misjudged you and in time will make amends for the disparaging words that he used in respect to you character.

 

Thank you Bob, that means a lot and the feeling is mutual. Glad we got a chance to finally meet at the Dragon!

He is a new member, so I'm assuming he hasn't paid much attention to my posting history and track record on this forum. At any rate, his name will not be mentioned. We share a world with a bunch of scoundrels, so it's unfair for me to assume he'll automatically give me the benefit of the doubt. Time will prove him wrong when he receives the followup letter with the needed funds.

Still trying to figure out why he elected not to simply use PayPal, as I offered to give him the funds before he even sent the parcel. Now I'm a crook?

Oh well. Thanks for the support Bob (and everyone else). I'd still buy him a beer at the next meet. Life goes on.

 

We made some machine parts for a customer once in a rush and shipped them FedEx for next day delivery and they went missing. We remade the parts and replaced the order and the insurance paid for it.
Five or six years later the customer said he had received some parts that he had not ordered. It rang a bell with me and I described the parts to him and he said thats what they were. I reminded him of the lost package and we laughed.
It was a mystery to FedEx, so they looked into it and a report was made. FedEx said a maintenance worker was repairing a conveyor belt and found the parcel hidden underneath it. It was assumed that the parcel fell of the back of the conveyor and stayed there all those years. We got paid twice, the customer paid once for the parts but received two sets.
$hit happens.

 

[quote=JHM2K]A general question for the Crossfire masses:

Have you ever, at any time in your life, mailed something to a destination with hopes of it getting there, only to eventually find out that it never reached the destination (i.e, got lost)?

Apparently, the USPS ate an envelope I sent a few weeks ago, and the intended recipient (a relatively new forum member) now thinks that I'm a low-life scumbag that has no moral convictions or common decency, and of course assumes I never sent the envelope in the first place.

I refuse to drag his name into the mix, so don't ask. I don't believe in slandering others. But I've never been more insulted by anything on this forum. No, not even the political boards.

Just wondering, thanks

JHM2K,
just to put things into prespective for you....i am close enough to the american border that i can go over and ship from the us using the USPS. why would a canadian use the american service...well because it is much less expensive...and much more efficient. here in canada the clerk measures the length and width as well as thickness ,and then uses some complicated formula combined with the weight of the item to come up with some outrageous amount for me to pay. i ship many times the same item to the same place ...in canada it never turns out to be the same price. it should be....same item ....same destination.....same service.......never the same price....often not even close. so consider yourself lucky....in the states the clerk puts the item on the scale and voila...you get a reasonable cost. no tape measure...no formula....and i can use the machine 24 hrs a day if the post office is closed.
what i am trying to say is....you guys in the states have it great compared to canada.
cheers,
gryfan

 

I would have to say that overall I cannot complain, I think that for the most part they do a great job for the price. To me the post office is easier to get to and to deal with than the other services. I use the USPS for 99.9% of everything that I ship or send.

 

oh yea,

i forgot to mention ....i can get a package to itsky or tighted1 in colorado or arizona in no more than 3 days by using the us postal service from niagara falls......but can't get a letter across town in canada in 3 days.

you guys have a great postal service compared to ours.
gryfan

 

Overall I too think they are good for what they process as are the commercial competitors. There certainly some who work for them who are worthless ... but I don't know that we can blame the entire system and thus all the employees.