USPS sucks.

[beccaiscool]

We had to file our taxes via snail mail this year as we qualify for the First Time Home Buyers credit. We fill out all the forms, write everything down, sign it, put a stamp on it, and send it on it's way via USPS. First Class. This was on the 27th of January

Comments

[foogati]

It's the U.S. Postal Service -- this is what they do, and they're notorious for it. It says right on their website that they guarantee nothing and it's not their fault if they lose something. And they lose a LOT.

Next time, use something that can be tracked (like Certified Mail with return receipt, $4.80 I think) or ditch USPS altogether and use UPS or FedEx. You shouldn't have to take extra precautions -- if a private business had even half the issues USPS has with losing customers' sensitive stuff and general customer
service, they would have folded ages ago. Seriously, who not only offers, but encourages customers to purchase insurance on packages they said in case *the company* loses or damages the item? That tells you three things: USPS loses/damages customers' shit way too much, they can't afford the insure themselves because of how highthe costs would be (which is directly related to the first one), and they should be avoided whenever humanly possible.

[cerulean_me]

Yeah, it's sooo terrible. You pay less than half a dollar to mail a letter, and more than 99% ot gets where it's going, on time. Soooo terrible!

[sarahcb1208]

and, for the most part, at the same time, by the same carrier day in and day out.

[andalusi]

No kidding. Private carriers charge a hell of a lot more for what the Post Office does for only the price of a First Class stamp.

[sarahcb1208]

And, unlike postal carriers in other countries, striking for them, though they are unionized, is illegal.

[tigress666]

My roommate's mom has an ebay system. She says USPS is the one that is best about handling packages gently and prefers esnding them.

I prefer them cause when you send something, it gets to you as fast as they can (they recently got a package my parents sent me on Thursday from Atlanta, GA to me in Seattle, WA by Saturday). Where as UPS will actually get your package in to your area sooner than promised date, and hold it at their facilities til the day it is promised and not one day sooner (we've seen this enough when tracking packages and never seen them actually send it out sooner than promised date we're sure this is a policy of theirs).

And as some one said, with as much mail as USPS gets in, yeah, some of it is going to get lost. It happens. No, they don't offer tracking unless you pay for it, but guess what? Try mailing something at UPS or Fedex for 44 cents.

[bluelinegoddess]

UPS and FedEx have options to buy insurance if they damage or lose your package too. It's called "covering their ass".

[clynne]

if a private business had even half the issues USPS has with losing customers' sensitive stuff and general customer service, they would have folded ages ago.

The USPS starts at about half a buck to deliver a letter, or if you pay for certified/return mail, about five bucks. Fedex and UPS start at about $11 for a letter. GOSH, I wonder why the USPS doesn't guarantee their service that is 25 times cheaper than private industry?

[taperkat]

Express Mail usually gets there 24-36 hours or you get reimbursed, has insurance included in the $18ish price, and is trackable. Take that UPS/Fedex.