bostoneo
The Chosen One
Damn the post office!
Cue the vegi band
Cue the vegi band
USPS 1st class rates going up! 1/21/2018
- Thread starter bostoneo
- Start date
Well, competition for parcel shipping is stiff and the PO gets part of its budget taken towards government pensions...they gotta get money from somewhere lol Is it a flat % increase across the board? I haven't looked yet.
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Time to stock up on "forever" stamps. Honestly the USPS has been missing the boat of years. If they were not a pseudo governmental agency they would have gone under.
In the 1950's in Florida I recall getting two mail deliveries a day, first class mail was like five cents, and the people in the post office cared.
Federal Express, UPS, and e-mail have killed the post office, and the upper management is still sleeping at the helm. Yes they offer a good service in Priority Mail, but honestly need to lower their rate, spend less on advertising, and return to being service orientated,.
Friend is a mailman of 30 plus years, say firing a postal employee is tought, it is like trying tofire a shotgun with a broken trigger spring. His take is many people just put in their time, no rush, no service, just collecting a check.
In the 1950's in Florida I recall getting two mail deliveries a day, first class mail was like five cents, and the people in the post office cared.
Federal Express, UPS, and e-mail have killed the post office, and the upper management is still sleeping at the helm. Yes they offer a good service in Priority Mail, but honestly need to lower their rate, spend less on advertising, and return to being service orientated,.
Friend is a mailman of 30 plus years, say firing a postal employee is tought, it is like trying tofire a shotgun with a broken trigger spring. His take is many people just put in their time, no rush, no service, just collecting a check.
ChuckMejia
The General
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I so "Old" the Marine Corps was still issuing pin-striped utilities, and rought out boot when I served. Stuff that was left over from WW-II, and Korea. Young pups like you read about history, I lived history.
ChuckMejia
The General
Thought you didn’t make it thru initial training?
How long did you serve for again?
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Think your memory is slipping, go old school, get paper & pencil, write down important stuff. Like I said the elderly lived E history, the young only learn what is in book, or teachers are allowed to teach. Now many history books are banned in school.
Railway Express was about the only big competition the Post Office had years ago in the 1950's, they were a package carrier. Railway Express is history.
Honestly the USPS need to go back to offing what they called "parcel Post", it was not fast, is was 7 - 10 days coast to coast for a package. Honestly I would say like this service, as most of the things I send ion the mail, (packages) if they took 7 - 10 days it is not a big deal.
In G.O.D. (Good old days) we did not have online ordering, it was called catalogues, and mail order. It was fill out a form, address envelope, put in check, cask, or money order. Item arrived in 4 - 6 weeks. Credit Cards with the exception of maybe Sears, or Montgomery Ward was the few available.
No if you order today on line, use a credit card, pay-pal, you expect delivery yesterday or sooner. It all that speed really nessessary? NO IMHO.
Railway Express was about the only big competition the Post Office had years ago in the 1950's, they were a package carrier. Railway Express is history.
Honestly the USPS need to go back to offing what they called "parcel Post", it was not fast, is was 7 - 10 days coast to coast for a package. Honestly I would say like this service, as most of the things I send ion the mail, (packages) if they took 7 - 10 days it is not a big deal.
In G.O.D. (Good old days) we did not have online ordering, it was called catalogues, and mail order. It was fill out a form, address envelope, put in check, cask, or money order. Item arrived in 4 - 6 weeks. Credit Cards with the exception of maybe Sears, or Montgomery Ward was the few available.
No if you order today on line, use a credit card, pay-pal, you expect delivery yesterday or sooner. It all that speed really nessessary? NO IMHO.
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ChuckMejia
The General
So you’re saying the times we live in today won’t be recorded in the history archives when the time comes?
You make no sense. I hope I don’t grow old and bitter like you. I hope you find happiness one day.
Either way, don’t bring up the service when you really never hit the fleet.
btubes18
The Thing
While, yes, I think the Post office has a bunch of issues, I will tell you I find them MUCH easier to use, CHEAPER, and more reliable than other options. I think the business side of things can be done much better. They should be meeting with Amazon and Walmart to get the exclusive deals on packages under a certain weight. They are losing out in my mind on a big business opportunity. They have the infrastructure might as well capitalize on it.
I ship 5-15 packages a day and the convenience of the post office is really pretty awesome...a few things I love:
I can schedule a pick up to my house online for free until 3AM EST THAT DAY. (and it's free and I don't need to be home)
I can get FREE boxes and Envelopes shipped to me.
First Class and Priority mail GENERALLY gets to my customers in under 3 days.
My post office and postwoman are generally extremely friendly.
The free $100 insurance on priority mail is fantastic.
They deliver 7 days a week....and pick up 6
if you don't know you can get discounted rates for USPS on lapyap/shipnow or pirateship
The rates for Fed ex and UPS are actually pretty damn high if you don't have a business account. Note, that I am shipping mostly packages that are below 10 pounds in weight. Furthermore, I have had more issues with damaged packaged from fedex and ups than I can count and ONLY 2 issues with lost/damaged packages with USPS and I got a refund for it.
Personally, I think it's a real pain that when I return something to Amazon, I have to find a UPS or Fedex drop box (large enough to take a package) to return it to. If they had the deal with PO they would be able to pick up my package right at my house. I actually avoid returning items on amazon because of this issue.
I am not saying it's perfect, but for a guy that does do a lot of shipping, I think the Postal service gets a pretty bad wrap.
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ChuckMejia
The General
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I do believe USPS Priorty only is $50.00 insurance, might want to check this out next time you go to the post office.
As far as UPS they are just terrible to deal with if you ever have a claim. Their fine print say any item must have 2" on all sides of padding, and their standard reply to any claim is rejecting it.
Spoke with a local UPS delivery driver about this claims nonsense, and his take was it is just a company wide policy to reject claims. Apprenly if a drive leaves a package on a door step in a good neighborhood, it getsw stolen. It is ther drivers fault.
In a gazillion times shipping items one claim was USPS, it went fast. Package was lost, I kept my paper work, have proof of value, claim was paid easy. Fed - X Ground was a horrible experience, they ran over my box sometime in transit. Was delivered to the guy I was sendING to in pieces. He sent photos, I could see "trend marks". Was a very long fight with Fed-X Claims.
As far as UPS they are just terrible to deal with if you ever have a claim. Their fine print say any item must have 2" on all sides of padding, and their standard reply to any claim is rejecting it.
Spoke with a local UPS delivery driver about this claims nonsense, and his take was it is just a company wide policy to reject claims. Apprenly if a drive leaves a package on a door step in a good neighborhood, it getsw stolen. It is ther drivers fault.
In a gazillion times shipping items one claim was USPS, it went fast. Package was lost, I kept my paper work, have proof of value, claim was paid easy. Fed - X Ground was a horrible experience, they ran over my box sometime in transit. Was delivered to the guy I was sendING to in pieces. He sent photos, I could see "trend marks". Was a very long fight with Fed-X Claims.
Josh Smith
Opus junkie
Wow these people have way to much time on their hands. I will admit I watched it twice
Josh Smith
Opus junkie
Btw everything is going up in price can only expect USPS to do the same.
btubes18
The Thing
Using ebay they negotiated up to $100 for priority and priority express...so for my purposes, I'm good.
Seems like from you experience you would agree out of the big three, USPS is a better experience. I think for what it is, it provides a lot of value and competitive advantages over other options. Hence, why I wrote up the reasons I like it. To your point it may have gone down hill since the good ole days, but some of the modern advances they do offer are above what the other options offer. Their rates are cheaper and reliability is better. All in all, I just don't get why people complain soo much about the USPS compared to Fed Ex and UPS.
btubes18
The Thing
I looked at my rates and my most frequent methods of shipping and it looks to be on average $0.05 increase....while I say yes it's an increase but it is closely inline with the 2017 US Inflation rate of 2.2%.
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Us little customers get $50.00.
Funny thing is I ordered some Copper Magnitic Braclets off e-bay, they came in from India. We're sent Register Mail, and the funny thing was. Had I wanted to send a similar package cross country. The Registered Mail cost would find be more then I paid for the item, and delivery.
btubes18
The Thing
As i stated earlier, try using pirate ship or lapyap shipnow they have the ebay rates so "US little customers" can get the same benefits ebay accounts have....Us little customers get $50.00.
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Thanks for the clearification it is now 110% clear.
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Why do you need to bash on anybody’s length of service? The marines are a volunteer unit. Just trying is a lot.
For the record my FIL was only in Vietnam 3 months when hit in the head by heavy machine gun fire. Yet he has two pages exclusively dedicated to the circumstances of his injury and bravery. I myself was in for 10 years and am a disabled veteran.
I wouldn’t ever feel the need to come down on somebody over any length especially when the volunteered for service be it Navy, Marines or Air Force.
My father was Air Force for 8 years during the Korean conflict and he and 2 buddies served on Enewetak during hydrogen bomb testing. It affected their health for life.
As far as the Postal Service they do work with UPS surepost and Prime depending on the weight.
Think that fast food entry level people are now getting paid and it’s only common sense that rates will rise.
Sure that everything is rising. We don’t have to like it, but it’s inevitable.
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