and we thought fed-ex was bad...
we've read all the stories about how the us postal service (now there's an oxymoron) is running at a deficit so extensive that we're going to have to receive even less service than ever before and pay far more for the privilege in order to save them from utter ruin. we've thought to ourselves, "gee, it's hard to figure out how someone with a monopoly on first class mail could screw that up, but what the hey". and we've tried to feel sympathetic even so, it being, after all, our national mail.
the cost of a first class letter being a bargain, i'll say up front i support higher stamp prices. but whatever the cost of that first class letter, once they accept it and they assume responsibility for completing their appointed rounds, it's frustrating when they fuck that up. (15 year old daughter rule). by coincidence, i happen to have been party to such a fuck-up recently, pursuant to tossing a first class envelope into the slot at the main lowell post office on father morisette boulevard on january 9th, and trusting to their couriers and the hopeful swift completion of their appointed rounds. (haha, joke on me).
it being an envelope (a safety envelope--i take my precautions as should everybody) containing a check of some considerable amount, the loss was not of insignificant inconvenience. it cost me $25 to stop payment, among many other mundane things, and the second time i attempted the feat (for such is proving to be a feat) i was smart enough, or dumb enough, we don't know which, to give them an extra $5 and change for a priority mail mailer and delivery confirmation service the second time i put second check into second envelope. so far so not so good.
so it's wednesday, january 25th, and i'm told to expect delivery by friday, january 27th, but in any case by the third day, which would have been saturday, january 28th. me, being experienced in these matters, i didn't bother checking for confirmation until monday, january 30th, and what would you know but the package hadn't been seen nor heard of since the wee hours of thursday morning, january 26th, when it was received at the mail facility in nashua, nh. i think to myself, ok, one more day, but given there's no progress whatsoever, i call the usps phone number anyway, wait through the extended delay due to significant call volume (what a surprise) and begin recounting all these details and more for the lady on the other end of the line, who assures me it's being forwarded to the appropriate place for research, and i should be getting a call within 24-48 hours.
so do you know where from which this call might originate? care to guess? nebraska or some other such central mail investigation service location? bangalore, or some other low-cost phone support hub? north carolina, where the letter is supposed to be delivered? nashua, nh, where the macguffin was last spotted? nope, the brain trust at the usps has determined that when they lose a package anywhere anytime at any point along the route, the person who becomes responsible to find it is the desk clerk at the post office where it originated. (as the reverend jj likes to sing, "welcome to the city of lowell").
gee, that's helpful. so helpful, in fact, that they don't even give said desk clerk the case # with all the info in it, so i have to repeat everything once again, and then become informed that, "gee, since it arrived in nashua, there's not much we can do for you here". ya think?
but rather than give me to someone in nashua, they will continue to give me to the desk guy here in lowell for further updates. want to know what i'm guessing? our lowell guy will call nashua who will not know where it is either, and then they'll all scratch their heads or some other less presentable body part and wonder where they're going to call next.
in the meantime, i'm out six bucks to the usps, $25 to my bank for the stop payment, and sitting on the hook for another $25 to my bank and whatever it is that ups is going to charge me to take the next envelope, because i'll be damed if i ever give another nickel to these usps people if this is all they've got. so far i've counted the 800 number and the two people i've spoken with there as completely worthless, not to mention whatever wasted time is being forced on the lowell desk folks and everyone they're going to call in nashua, too.
nope, no way to run a postal service. and no wonder they're broke and going broker.
the cost of a first class letter being a bargain, i'll say up front i support higher stamp prices. but whatever the cost of that first class letter, once they accept it and they assume responsibility for completing their appointed rounds, it's frustrating when they fuck that up. (15 year old daughter rule). by coincidence, i happen to have been party to such a fuck-up recently, pursuant to tossing a first class envelope into the slot at the main lowell post office on father morisette boulevard on january 9th, and trusting to their couriers and the hopeful swift completion of their appointed rounds. (haha, joke on me).
it being an envelope (a safety envelope--i take my precautions as should everybody) containing a check of some considerable amount, the loss was not of insignificant inconvenience. it cost me $25 to stop payment, among many other mundane things, and the second time i attempted the feat (for such is proving to be a feat) i was smart enough, or dumb enough, we don't know which, to give them an extra $5 and change for a priority mail mailer and delivery confirmation service the second time i put second check into second envelope. so far so not so good.
so it's wednesday, january 25th, and i'm told to expect delivery by friday, january 27th, but in any case by the third day, which would have been saturday, january 28th. me, being experienced in these matters, i didn't bother checking for confirmation until monday, january 30th, and what would you know but the package hadn't been seen nor heard of since the wee hours of thursday morning, january 26th, when it was received at the mail facility in nashua, nh. i think to myself, ok, one more day, but given there's no progress whatsoever, i call the usps phone number anyway, wait through the extended delay due to significant call volume (what a surprise) and begin recounting all these details and more for the lady on the other end of the line, who assures me it's being forwarded to the appropriate place for research, and i should be getting a call within 24-48 hours.
so do you know where from which this call might originate? care to guess? nebraska or some other such central mail investigation service location? bangalore, or some other low-cost phone support hub? north carolina, where the letter is supposed to be delivered? nashua, nh, where the macguffin was last spotted? nope, the brain trust at the usps has determined that when they lose a package anywhere anytime at any point along the route, the person who becomes responsible to find it is the desk clerk at the post office where it originated. (as the reverend jj likes to sing, "welcome to the city of lowell").
gee, that's helpful. so helpful, in fact, that they don't even give said desk clerk the case # with all the info in it, so i have to repeat everything once again, and then become informed that, "gee, since it arrived in nashua, there's not much we can do for you here". ya think?
but rather than give me to someone in nashua, they will continue to give me to the desk guy here in lowell for further updates. want to know what i'm guessing? our lowell guy will call nashua who will not know where it is either, and then they'll all scratch their heads or some other less presentable body part and wonder where they're going to call next.
in the meantime, i'm out six bucks to the usps, $25 to my bank for the stop payment, and sitting on the hook for another $25 to my bank and whatever it is that ups is going to charge me to take the next envelope, because i'll be damed if i ever give another nickel to these usps people if this is all they've got. so far i've counted the 800 number and the two people i've spoken with there as completely worthless, not to mention whatever wasted time is being forced on the lowell desk folks and everyone they're going to call in nashua, too.
nope, no way to run a postal service. and no wonder they're broke and going broker.
posted by kad barma at 3:29 PM
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