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I need my post office. UPS and Fed Ex are unreliable. I have had packages lost and many

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mfcorey1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 12:59 PM
Original message
I need my post office. UPS and Fed Ex are unreliable. I have had packages lost and many
just dropped at the door with no one at home.
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Fumesucker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
1. UPS and Fed Ex would go broke without the USPS..
A remarkable percentage of their packages go through the USPS system at some point..

I heard this somewhere and asked a postal inspector I happen to know, she confirmed it's true.

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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:09 PM
Response to Reply #1
18. + neither one could pick the volume -- not even close
the USPS consistently ranks as the best and CHEAPEST mail services in the world. Emails killed them but not as much as the Republicans. 2006 - see if this makes any sense - the USPS is forced to fund the next 75 years of health care NOW. They have a $5.5 billion payment due this month, no way they can make it..... of course they can't that is the point they have a union. This is union busting.
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Buns_of_Fire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #1
20. In my little burg, FedEx (and maybe UPS, too) uses USPS for "Final Delivery"
unless it's something that USPS flat won't handle anyway, like stuff outside their size and weight limits or ammunition or hazardous materials or small-scale thermonuclear devices.
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bemildred Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
2. Mail is very cheap too. nt
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TwilightGardener Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:03 PM
Response to Original message
3. Fed Ex delivered to me a box of live plants I'd ordered from a mail order nursery--
Edited on Mon Sep-05-11 01:03 PM by TwilightGardener
it arrived smashed up, leaking, upside down, with the potted plants having been removed by Fed Ex workers, wrapped in a bag labeled Hazardous Materials, and re-packaged. Some of the plants were broken to smithereens, despite the nursery's very careful packing job (I'd ordered from them before on the strength of their packaging and condition of the plants). Fed Ex sucks ass.
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Kali Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:03 PM
Response to Original message
4. Hell, they won't even come down.my road. (not that I blame them, it is bad) d
But I MUCH prefer th post office.
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mfcorey1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #4
8. I mailed a package from UPS. I checked the trackig and it said it was delivered, however I never
received it. Then the follow up began and the driver indicated he delivered it to an address that was not on the package. And get this, the address didn't exist either. It was obvious what happened. If you ever have this problem, don't work with them. Report it to law enforcement and you will get a real investigation. UPS, sometimes, is lackadaisical about your concerns is what I found out. They never did find my package.
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RebelOne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:36 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. Yes, I have had the same problem with UPS.
It was supposedly delivered, but then when I tracked the package, it was said that the package was undeliverable because the party was not at home. I am home all the time. Finally, a UPS worker delivered it to me while he was off duty and on his way home.
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Booster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:06 PM
Response to Original message
5. I've watched both UPS and Fed Ex employees toss packages
from their truck to my front door without ever coming to the door. I hate both of them. I bought an LCD tv off Ebay that was a really good deal only to have Fed Ex deliver it with a huge hole in the side of the box. The guy said just file a claim and you'll get your money back. I explained to him that I cannot duplicate the deal I got on the tv so, while I was glad to get my money back, everybody's time was wasted for nothing and I had to start all over again looking for a tv. idiots
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elleng Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:07 PM
Response to Original message
6. Contact your congresscritters, tell them this AND
tell them to change the law/rule handicapping Postal Service by forcing it to pay FAR IN ADVANCE for employees' benefits.
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ChoppinBroccoli Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:09 PM
Response to Original message
7. The Post Office Is Faster, Cheaper, And More Reliable
So much for that whole, "the private sector does everything better" myth.
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Historic NY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:11 PM
Response to Original message
9. The Post Office delivered a large heavy old car radiator just wrapped..
in cardboard and shrink wrap for $24.00 the other guys wanted $114.00. I apoligized to my mailman for the inconvenience and he said he was happy to deliver it.

My mailman rings the bell or hides boxes that don't fit the box.

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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:16 PM
Response to Original message
10. My company uses UPS a lot...
and they lose or cannot find addresses on a good percentage of packages. The USPS is much better in my opinion.
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KT2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:25 PM
Response to Original message
11. USPS is great!
I just do not understand the animosity some have toward it. It is fast and cheap and the people in my local office are great people.
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SharonAnn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #11
23. The right-wing has been campaigning against it for decades. And they have a LOUD voice.
And they repeat the lies and the misrepresentations over and over and over again.

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc. all carry on and on about how bad USPS is.

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klook Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:30 PM
Response to Original message
12. UPS will just leave anything on your doorstep
I ordered a musical instrument worth several hundred dollars and made sure I was at home on the scheduled delivery day to play it safe. The UPS delivery guy just left it on my doorstep without even knocking on the door. I know because I heard the thump and raced to the door, only to see him driving off without a word.
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RebelOne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:37 PM
Response to Reply #12
14. At least my UPS delivery person knocks at my door
before dumping the package and taking off.
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Uben Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 01:55 PM
Response to Original message
15. I'm 56 and I have never used the USPS.....
...but the little green men next door who raise unicorns do.
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unblock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:00 PM
Response to Original message
16. and ups drivers are the most obnoxious on the road!
they routinely tailgate, speed, merge right in front of you, cut you off, etc.

as if they're the only ones on the road who need to be anywhere at a particular time.
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AngryOldDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:06 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. Not to mention park wherever they damn well please.
That said, I've had more issues with FedEx than with UPS.

But with both, if you need customer service by phone, good luck.
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:13 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. yeah but they only make right hand turns
actually that is true. Other routes where it isn't worth it to have two trucks running they don't make right hand turns.

BTW- ever seen anyone in a UPS uniform pumping gas into their car or at the grocery store? Nope you better not - they have to change out of uniform (branding) before they leave work. No internet pics of the Brown drunk or getting busted.
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elocs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 02:36 PM
Response to Original message
21. A good explanation of USPS problems:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/03/02/losing-money-isnt-the-u-s-postal-services-only-problem/

Problem Number One: Congress Is in the Driver's Seat

Therein lies the USPS's ultimate problem: every policy decision must be approved by Congress, leaving the agency as agile as an elephant. Critics regularly attack the Post Office for its supposed inefficiency and inability to function as well as private companies like the United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx (FDX). One big problem is that these competitors are able to set their own policies, while the USPS's rates, hours and even its pension plan funding are determined by Congress. This last item isn't incidental: In 2007, while the Post Office was attempting to deal with plummeting revenues, Congress dropped an anvil on its head with a law requiring the USPS to pay between $5.4 billion and $5.6 billion per year into its retiree health benefits trust fund. By comparison, most of the country's other businesses are legally allowed to underfund their retiree benefit programs. Although this number was later cut, it still represents a major expenditure for the beleaguered agency.

Not helping matters is the fact that people are barely using the post office anymore. E-mail has rendered traditional letter writing almost obsolete, while online bill pay, direct deposit and other services are also cutting into demand. According to Potter, mail volume fell from 213 billion pieces in 2006 to 177 billion pieces in 2009, a 17% decline in just three years. By 2020, he estimates, USPS deliveries will fall to 150 billion pieces.

And much of the existing mail volume is actually unprofitable. Media mail, periodicals, nonprofit mail, and library mail are all money sinks; in fact, 90% of the agency's revenue comes from business mail, a large portion of which is junk mail. While dropping "advertising mail" would make almost everyone happy, the post office can't afford to lose the revenue. According to Potter, the mail that we tend to toss out immediately actually pours over $15 billion per year into the Post Office's coffers. While part of the USPS's shortfall could be made up by raising prices on more popular services, the agency would have to go hat in hand to Congress in order to get approval to do so

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/fqAZU0


More at the link.
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donheld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 10:56 PM
Response to Original message
22. I cannot get UPS or Fedex
USPS can get in the building, and the others cannot.
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dsc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 11:13 PM
Response to Original message
24. I actually can't get fed ex or ups at my place without making arrangments in advance
My actual mail is delivered to a box with packages delivered to my apartment office. UPS and FED EX won't deliver to the office unless I tell them before the package is delivered.
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Divine Discontent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 11:29 PM
Response to Original message
25. I have sent thousands of things through post office with little prob - UPS, not so fortunate!!!
UPS has broken numerous things, and one of their employees stole an ipod out of the envelope it came in. They are horrible. I ship sometimes through fed ex ground, but USPS is my 1st choice. UPS is a never choice! So disgusted with their 'service' (insurance was denied on the ipod).
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Sep-05-11 11:44 PM
Response to Original message
26. FedEx certainly does NOT drop off at door without authorization
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