A private takeover could be in the works. It has been suggested earlier if I remember correctly back in the 70s. The Amazon Prime trucks were busy all over the holidays.

I need to get funds to a dealer in the Seattle area . I wanna send paper funds via Priority Mail rather that paying the almost $100 extra for using a credit card via the phone . But I’m thinking the C note charged for using the CC might be the better deal , but then I have to sweat the gun coming thru USPS UPS or Fred :cuss: in this day and time you’re screwed whatever you do :banghead:

PA appears to be the epicenter of my frustration. In early December I ordered a book from a used bookseller outside of Philly for my daughters birthday (12/24) to be delivered in LA. It still hasn’t been delivered. On 12/15 I sent a bank check to a guy in PA for a M70 and the check has not arrived. The seller seems to have more patience than I do.

A check was sent to me from northern PA - it would have been about a 2 hour drive to just go get it - took over a week to get here.

and before Christmas I ordered something for my wife - shipped from California - left the left coast on the 21st headed to upstate NY - on the 28th it landed in Warrendale PA, were, according to tracking it still resides :corn:


my wife sent something to a co worker last week - I offered to drop it off since I was running an 45 minute round trip errand that would take me with in a 1/2 mile of the house- it's that close - but she has a note to write and it wasn't done so it went in the mail- still have not heard that she got it yet -


there are always a few rare delivery horror stories but lately it seems that the rare events are not the delays

Dont blame the poor service of the post office on covid because I have experienced poor service for the past 5 years. I have used priority mail forwardind , at a cost of nearly $300 per year, while in Florida. While the deliveries were prompt the post office continued deliveries when they were to be stopped, wrong forwarding address, and deliveries resumed before they were scheduled were amongst my complainants. In 2019 it took them 12 days to deliver a first class letter to Baldwinsville, NY a distance of 80 miles. This year my wife mailed a xmas package to Sacremento, Ca.and after arriving in Sacremento 14 days later it remain in the hands of the P.O.for another15 days before delivery was made. I have little respect for the services the P.O. provides anytime and aviod using there services from Veterans day until January 2.

i don't for a minute think its COVID related

Our mailman is a good, conscientious guy. He says that many of the newer, younger hires are playing the Covid thing for everything they can get. He was working 12 hours to try to cover, but his health (not Covid) got worse, and he dialed himself back down to 8's

John I realize that the post office has some very good employees. I am very pleased with my current delivery person and the person in Florida who delivered my mail last year was outstanding , however during the late 70s- the early 80s I received my paycheck from my neighbors on at least 3 occasions. When I returned from Florida last year I asked our past postmaster if he was promoted to his current position on merit or kissed someones backside to acquire that promotion. He did not reply

I ship exclusively using UPS since 1982. I’m in the title business so I ship a lot of one or two day packages. Will not even consider using USPS for anything important.

I apologize to the USPS for the slanderous remarks that I have made on this forum in regards to the services they provide. My wife handed me absolute proof of efficiency earlier today. I received my property tax bill on time and in excellent condition.

“If it’s a bill, it won’t sit still. If it’s a gift, not on my shift.”

The problems with the USPS now seem to extend beyond their distribution centers where some packages sat for weeks per their tracking system. Yesterday I had a package out for delivery. I was home for most of the day. The little white mail truck never showed up. People where I live are reporting the same, no usual mail delivery and sometimes for days. Yesterday a woman reported her mailman told her he was the only one in town making deliveries, this in a city of 30,000. Apparently many carriers are out of work for two weeks at a time due to having close contact with a person with Covid or they have the Covid. As you know this is and could be a serious problem, think of the people who get prescription meds via the mail and other important items. This is bad time to be mailing valuables or time sensitive items. If they want it I hope postal carriers get priority for a vaccine, a broken unreliable mail system has a lot of repercussions.

You nailed it Pete!





.

I have a bead sight out there in space some where....charlie

So I just bought a cool double gun from a gent in the upper midwest and he shipped it on Monday Jan 4 by REGISTERED MAIL. If you're not familiar with Registered Mail, it's is held in high security/locked cages etc and every person that handles the package must "sign" for it. From what I understand it can't be tracked as typical and kind of goes into limbo until delivered. Let's see how long it takes getting to PA. :whistle:

Not long into Covid, I had a Reg mail package take 3-1/2 weeks to get to me. Most of that time was spent sitting in Jamaica, NY.

My mailman when he delivered my gun after 27 days said he had worked 35 days in a row. At Christmas time they go from a salary to being paid by the hour. He had so much mail he made the first trip out and then went back to the P.O. and loaded up again for a second trip. I saw him late in the evening with his beacon on top of his truck going long after dark.

He said one of the main hangups was the contract carriers that move the mail from one center to another. They also work for other delivery companies and they were booked beyond hope of timely deliveries.

Come on guys, cut the USPS some slack. They’re worn out from having to handle millions of fraudulent mail-in ballots.

Only time I ever had a damaged firearm was when it was shipped via USPS. Never had a problem with UPS or FedEx. I had that gun insured and the USPS fought me on that. As soon as the St. Louis office was contacted by our lawyer we received our insurance check.

Next election they will accept mail in ballots thirty days late instead of three.

My experiences with registered mail was like taking a step back in time when the mail was carried by the pony express.

I've never been as frustrated with any form of shipping as I was with registered mail. Between the special packing & taping requirements, the hit or miss tracking features & particularly the slow shipment process. I told myself I'll never use it again & haven't.

Good luck with your gun, I wish you the best!

My question is unless the signatory of your package travels with your package how secure is it? To me it is another revenue creating scheme by the P.O. When the china virus is history, this forum will still be reviewing the faults of the P.O. Personally, I would pay $1.00 for a 1st class letter for improved service from a private carrier who seem to deliver on time despite the virus.

USPS Service Levels
 

I am waiting for check from VA that was mailed 12/11/2020. A fellow PGCA member in MS is waiting for a package that I mailed 12/14/2020.

The USPS service levels seem to be at an all time low. Reliance on government services is a slippery slope indeed.

UPDATE on Jan 8
Well, wonder of wonders, the gun was scanned twice on Monday and Tuesday as it traveled through two places in the north midwest and again this morning at about 1-am in Philadelphia. Getting close and way atypically fast for Registered Mail.

The cookies we sent to Rock Hill, SC on 12/9 were delivered yesterday. A late X-mas gift. I hope USPS settles down now that the election is finally over.

I spent 40 minutes in our PO two days ago in a long line of folks still picking up Xmas gift packages.

Did the cookies arrive or was it a box of mold?

I'll repeat the first 2 paragraphs here for background, first one was posted on Tuesday Jan 5

So I just bought a cool double gun from a gent in the upper midwest and he shipped it on Monday Jan 4 by REGISTERED MAIL. If you're not familiar with Registered Mail, it's held in high security/locked cages etc and every person that handles the package must "sign" for it. From what I understand it can't be tracked as typical and kind of goes into limbo until delivered. Let's see how long it takes getting to PA. :whistle:

UPDATE on Jan 8
Well, wonder of wonders, the gun was scanned twice on Monday and Tuesday as it traveled through two places in the north midwest and again this morning at about 1-am in Philadelphia. Getting close and way atypically fast for Registered Mail.

LAST UPDATE on Saturday Jan 9
Just a note that the gun was delivered this morning. 5 days in transit; that's significantly shorter than many had reported of their experiences with Registered Mail and with tracking scans along the way.

I know what you'll be shooting tomorrow!! :)

I bought three items on ebay on the evening of 3 January. Two were at my post office yesterday. I didn't check the mail on the 7th, so they could have been there earlier.

Ordered a part from Brownell Tues. pm and tracking said it would be here(Mass.) Sat. It arrived at noon today. Are things getting better? I expected a long delay in that i said cheapest way and after reading this thread only hoped for 2 weeks.

Ordered a jacket from an eBay seller in Wisconsin.. Wisconsin to Michigan. Scheduled delivery was January 6th. Tracking just says "In Transit, Arriving Late" Not anything urgent, but still annoying. I could of drove there and picked it up myself by now.

I have been sitting on that Fraser that I restocked and waiting until after the holidays to send it back to the owner. With it traveling across the country, I did not want to deal with it taking a month to get there. I decided to eat the extra cost and send it express mail since it was the only service that the post office was still guaranteeing. Meaning, if not on time they will refund me.
So, I was banking on it being late and getting my money back. But... they delivered on time next day. So good news it got there, bad news I lost the bet.

Often, it's the little things that make the customer happy and in the end, paying out of pocket will come back in the form of more satisfied customers.

its incredible - between amazon and ebay - more than half the items I have ordered are in that state. some since before Christmas

one was an item we needed from Amazon (no local pharmacy stocks it ) so I reordered from a different seller that had a quick date listed -the tracking on the day after I reordered said the tracking label was created - then item awaiting pick up and the item in shippers possession.

and then then next day - they repeated those same steps - then a couple days later - got the red dot - in transit arriving late :rotf:

the annoying thing is the first try's shipper keeps moving the arrival date out and the Amazon policy says you can't begin the refund process until 3 days after the last shown date :shock:

I've gotten to the point if we really need it - I have my daughter order it on her prime account - those items get here in a couple days - even on Sunday

Sadly that wouldn't help any of us shipping or buying guns

USPS
 

Guys and gals you better insure what you turn over to the postal service. No this is not a hockey stick that I bought. Not only did it arrive in this condition, but it arrived 5 days after the priority mail delivery date that printed on the tracking receipt.

I once had the USPS fold an envelope and stick it in my mailbox that in giant letters said “DO NOT BEND!”

Hoping that was not an antique fly rod.....

I have had some issues with USPS on time delivery during the 2nd half of 2020. All items were delivered, not always on the day expected. A firearm took 3 weeks and the PO could not tell where it was.
On December 13, 2020 I won a bid on e-bay for a used Brady Game Bag from the United Kingdom.
Was shipped on December 16 with a notice due to heavy volume items may arrive late
My post office delivered to me on December 30, 2020
Not bad
The USPS in various parts of US due to the virus and lack of workers are behind
Hopefully we will see a return to normal this spring
Jim

If you you are a postal worker and are breathing your job is secure. While it is true that many workers are capable of doing a very good job there is a minority that is only willing to do enough to get by, often times, far less. Up until May 2019 our local postmaster showed up at 8:30 AM after his workout, was the first to leave for lunch, and often had personal business after 4 PM. It only takes 1 person to destroy your parcel or misplace your letter and it appears the post office has an ample supply of personnel for that purpose.