Avoid using USPS

I've had afew bad experiences with USPS in the last couple months, and I thought I'd share...

First, Ed's Mom sent me an Xmas present in December. I was at home the first day delivery was supposedly attempted. No one came to the door. Believe me, I would have known because the dog goes crazy when someone sets foot on our property. But, when Ed came home and got the mail there was a "delivery attempted" note in our mailbox. The second delivery attempt was made the next day, but (like most people) Ed and I were at work when the mailman came. So, our only option was to pick it up at the post office. Well, the post office closes at 5pm on weekdays, you know, when most people are just getting off of work... Yeah, we don't get home until 5:15pm so there was nothing we could do there. Option C is to pick it up on Saturday before 1pm, but it was the last remaining week before Xmas and we had shopping, wrapping, doctors appointments, dental appointments... Our weekends are always busy. So, I called them and asked if it could be delivered to my work. Nope. No can do, for security reasons it must be delievered to the address it was sent to. To top it off, it'd be returned to sender if I didn't pick it up within 10 days. So, in a mad rush before my doctor's appointment and Ed's dental appointment we ran over to pick up the gift. They didn't even ask for ID when we picked it up. All you need is the little slip they leave in your mailbox. Right... Real security there...

Second story is pretty general. Ed and I have both recently had online purchases delivered via USPS. The stores we bought from sent us a USPS tracking number, but all it said was "billing information received" until we actually took delivery of the item -then it finally updated as "delivered". Useless. You can almost tell what intersection your package is at with UPS, FedEX, or DHL. I'd pick them over USPS any day.

Last, is a story about my engagement ring and I could kill the USPS over this one. It wasn't lost or anything, but their lack of tracking information available to the receiver OR to their own customer service people... Grr.... I was hoping to get the ring on Friday so I could show it to my parents and my Grandma when I went over there on Sunday. It didn't arrive at work on Friday, so I kept watch on the tracking info to see if it'd be delivered on Saturday. If it looked like it might be delivered, I figured I'd go into work so I could receive it (there's usually no one in the office over the weekends). On Saturday morning the tracking information finally showed that the ring left Georgia on Thursday (so the tracking info is about 2 days behind!). I had no idea where the ring was currently, so I called their customer service number at 9:30am. I told the man on the phone about the situation, he pulled up the tracking info and confirmed that the package left Georgia on Thursday. He had no more information than I did about where the package was currently. So, I asked him, in his opinion, if the package left Georgia on Thursday via Express mail, could it be delivered today? He said "it looks like it's scheduled to be delivered on Monday or Tuesday". I hung up a bit disappointed, but figured that there wasn't much anyone could do. The rest of Saturday we spent out shopping for my brother's present (a little last minute, but I pretty much knew what I was going to get him), then we took the Laser for a run to Schaumburg to put some miles on the tranny to be sure it was working okay. Saturday night we got home at about 11pm and I pulled up the tracking info for my ring one more time. When the screen came up I almost had a fit! "Delivery attempted 11:35am". IT was delivered 2 freaking hours after their customer service told me it'd be delivered Monday or Tuesday. -That means that while I was talking to the USPS guy on the phone, the ring was on the truck for delivery. Proving that the USPS has NO CLUE where your item is at any given time. Nope. I'm doing my best to avoid EVER doing business with the USPS again.

Did I mention GRR?
Grr....

EDIT: As an update I thought I'd share the fact that I complained to USPS through their online questions form about the engagement ring thing. I got a response saying that they'd refund the shipping costs if I bring in the label. I thought that was nice of them...