USPS
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2016 21:42:56 +0000
So I'm pretty annoyed with USPS now.
Sep 29?Order @ woot!
Fri Sep 30USPS tracking site says delivery Sat Oct 1. This seems amazing.
Sat Oct 1Rain all day. No packages; no other mail. That night USPS tracking site says both packages delivered @ 11:37, 11:43.
Wed Oct 5Carrier leaves "sorry we missed you note" for one package. Tracking number has a digit wrong. Card has URL to reschedule delivery.
Sat Oct 8Rain all day. Re-delivery scheduled. No packages. No other mail.
Tue Oct 11Carrier speaks to Anniemal and says I need to pick up the packages.
Wed Oct 12Re-delivery scheduled. Carrier leaves note asking me to pick up packages.
Fri Oct 14I (1) fix an air pump, (2) pump up the trailer tires, and (3) go to Post Office. Wait in line.I ask why the packages couldn't be delivered. The woman at the desk says they were too big for the truck. [If the packages are too big to deliver, why would USPS accept them?] My packages are out on a truck for delivery. [I guess they weren't too big for the truck?] My trip to the post office (and all the steps required beforehand) was a waste of time and effort.
The guy from the back says they're out with a different carrier. They were too heavy for the woman delivering on our route.
I mentioned that my trip was a waste of time, and he said "All you had to do was call." Excuse me, but if, in several opportunities to communicate, you never provide your phone number, I infer that you don't want people to phone you. The missed-you note had the PO address and hours, but no phone number. The please-pick-up note had no phone number. The USPS web site did not provide the phone number. If you want people to phone you, you don't make them go find their phone book.
Why would I consider calling when (1) you told my wife I have to come pick them up and then (2) you left a note asking me to pick them up? After repeated failures (including saying "Delivered" on the website), am I supposed to consider that delivery is a possibility?
And if I'm told - face to face - conflicting stories - they're too big for the truck / they're out for delivery now - what would I have been told on the phone?
I looked on the web Wed night and went to the manufacturer's site (rather than the vendor's). The cots fold to 30 x 30 x 4.5 and weigh 18 lb 11 oz. Figure that 2 of them weigh 40 lbs in the shipping boxes. The cots are too big to put on my bike's racks. I can't imagine someone doing a delivery job can't carry a 20-lb box. If I have to go pick them up someplace, I have lost the main convenience of shopping on line. If I have to go pick them up, should there be a shipping charge? Am I due a refund? (Since I did go to pick them up, should it matter that they were finally on a truck for local delivery, almost 2 weeks later than promised?)
Why did the tracking site say "Delivered"? That was suspicious because the update happened that night. Normally the update shows up shortly after the delivery time, not hours later.
The re-delivery site needs some redesign. You fill in a lot of info. Then you provide the tracking number. All of that previous info, except your phone number, could have been picked up through the tracking number - name, address, senders' address, shipping date, etc. It complained about an invalid character, but it didn't say in which data field. No clue where/how to fix it.
And there's the broken tripod. USPS has not been doing well lately.
Monday 01:56
I finally unpacked one of the Wenzel cots. It's lower than the old Coleman cot, so there won't be much storage space under it. It's wider, and doesn't have the spring system to hold the cloth "platform" so it shouldn't develop the old cot's noise problem. The Wenzel's rated to hold 300lb (136kg), vs 225lb (102kg) on the Coleman.
The chaise seat-back feature is potentially useful, although not if the cot is positioned along the side of a tent with sloping walls. It doesn't work so well as a chair though, because if the other end section is folded over, the end bar ends up under one's butt if you slide back far enough for your back to rest on the folded-up section. You can fold both ends in to make an ottoman configuration; this works, but it makes a pretty low seat.
It's much easier to carry when it's not in the box.
The old cot is 13 lbs (5.9kg) and narrower. I bought it in July 2014, so it's been to 3 Pennsics. (And it also got some use at home.) The seams on the taut cloth "platform" are showing signs of stress, and I don't know how many more Pennsics it will last. When the seams do start to go, I think they'll fail over a wide area and the cot won't be useable. It seems like a part that should be replaceable, but it also seems like it should last longer. There's also some sort of poly/plastic layer on the back side that is peeling away.
Sun Jul 20 16:12:53 EDT 2014
It will be interesting to see what the new cot is like after its cloth stretches and sags.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/843440.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
So I'm pretty annoyed with USPS now.
Sep 29?Order @ woot!
Fri Sep 30USPS tracking site says delivery Sat Oct 1. This seems amazing.
Sat Oct 1Rain all day. No packages; no other mail. That night USPS tracking site says both packages delivered @ 11:37, 11:43.
Wed Oct 5Carrier leaves "sorry we missed you note" for one package. Tracking number has a digit wrong. Card has URL to reschedule delivery.
Sat Oct 8Rain all day. Re-delivery scheduled. No packages. No other mail.
Tue Oct 11Carrier speaks to Anniemal and says I need to pick up the packages.
Wed Oct 12Re-delivery scheduled. Carrier leaves note asking me to pick up packages.
Fri Oct 14I (1) fix an air pump, (2) pump up the trailer tires, and (3) go to Post Office. Wait in line.I ask why the packages couldn't be delivered. The woman at the desk says they were too big for the truck. [If the packages are too big to deliver, why would USPS accept them?] My packages are out on a truck for delivery. [I guess they weren't too big for the truck?] My trip to the post office (and all the steps required beforehand) was a waste of time and effort.
The guy from the back says they're out with a different carrier. They were too heavy for the woman delivering on our route.
I mentioned that my trip was a waste of time, and he said "All you had to do was call." Excuse me, but if, in several opportunities to communicate, you never provide your phone number, I infer that you don't want people to phone you. The missed-you note had the PO address and hours, but no phone number. The please-pick-up note had no phone number. The USPS web site did not provide the phone number. If you want people to phone you, you don't make them go find their phone book.
Why would I consider calling when (1) you told my wife I have to come pick them up and then (2) you left a note asking me to pick them up? After repeated failures (including saying "Delivered" on the website), am I supposed to consider that delivery is a possibility?
And if I'm told - face to face - conflicting stories - they're too big for the truck / they're out for delivery now - what would I have been told on the phone?
I looked on the web Wed night and went to the manufacturer's site (rather than the vendor's). The cots fold to 30 x 30 x 4.5 and weigh 18 lb 11 oz. Figure that 2 of them weigh 40 lbs in the shipping boxes. The cots are too big to put on my bike's racks. I can't imagine someone doing a delivery job can't carry a 20-lb box. If I have to go pick them up someplace, I have lost the main convenience of shopping on line. If I have to go pick them up, should there be a shipping charge? Am I due a refund? (Since I did go to pick them up, should it matter that they were finally on a truck for local delivery, almost 2 weeks later than promised?)
Why did the tracking site say "Delivered"? That was suspicious because the update happened that night. Normally the update shows up shortly after the delivery time, not hours later.
The re-delivery site needs some redesign. You fill in a lot of info. Then you provide the tracking number. All of that previous info, except your phone number, could have been picked up through the tracking number - name, address, senders' address, shipping date, etc. It complained about an invalid character, but it didn't say in which data field. No clue where/how to fix it.
And there's the broken tripod. USPS has not been doing well lately.
Monday 01:56
I finally unpacked one of the Wenzel cots. It's lower than the old Coleman cot, so there won't be much storage space under it. It's wider, and doesn't have the spring system to hold the cloth "platform" so it shouldn't develop the old cot's noise problem. The Wenzel's rated to hold 300lb (136kg), vs 225lb (102kg) on the Coleman.
The chaise seat-back feature is potentially useful, although not if the cot is positioned along the side of a tent with sloping walls. It doesn't work so well as a chair though, because if the other end section is folded over, the end bar ends up under one's butt if you slide back far enough for your back to rest on the folded-up section. You can fold both ends in to make an ottoman configuration; this works, but it makes a pretty low seat.
It's much easier to carry when it's not in the box.
The old cot is 13 lbs (5.9kg) and narrower. I bought it in July 2014, so it's been to 3 Pennsics. (And it also got some use at home.) The seams on the taut cloth "platform" are showing signs of stress, and I don't know how many more Pennsics it will last. When the seams do start to go, I think they'll fail over a wide area and the cot won't be useable. It seems like a part that should be replaceable, but it also seems like it should last longer. There's also some sort of poly/plastic layer on the back side that is peeling away.
Sun Jul 20 16:12:53 EDT 2014
It will be interesting to see what the new cot is like after its cloth stretches and sags.
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/843440.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]