USPS Issues/Delays

[MGMmjl]

I bought something on eBay back in mid-April, and as of last Friday (the day before the refund period ended), I still had not received the item. So, I said I hadn't gotten the item and got a refund. Of course, it showed up in the mail yesterday.

I have seen articles and reports from different areas of the country about a lot of USPS deliveries being delayed. I guess this may have been related to that.

Have you experienced any issues recently with either something you have sent or were supposed to receive through USPS?

 

[HopperFan]

I bought something on eBay back in mid-April, and as of last Friday (the day before the refund period ended), I still had not received the item. So, I said I hadn't gotten the item and got a refund. Of course, it showed up in the mail yesterday.

I have seen articles and reports from different areas of the country about a lot of USPS deliveries being delayed. I guess this may have been related to that.

Have you experienced any issues recently with either something you have sent or were supposed to receive through USPS?

The head of the USPS has been on the hot seat about this. In Atlanta Georgia they closed a large number of distribution centers sending everything to one new south of Atlanta, while off an interstate, it's not what I would consider a good logistical move. The center is grossly behind on it's work and trucks coming to pick/drop are waiting in lines hours to get their loads handled. DS has a small business in ATL where he ships USPS and he's actually pulled some inventory offline because so much of it is being delivered after refunds or lost altogether. I'm sure this wasn't the only metro area being centralized and having major issues.

It's really been hard on small online businesses that ship USPS. I wish UPS or Fed Ex were a good option but they are too expensive for smaller items. It is very frustrating as the USPS has been a mess for years and this new guy has done nothing to improve the service aspect of it, only removed services, slowed some mail (I believe they are trying to eliminate 1st class) and raised prices. AND add that our delivery service has never been so bad. We are lucky the driver shows up more than 3 days a week, they throw bigger packages in the lawn and scan items delivered that were not. I'd rather they reduce delivery to 3 days a week to save money on trucks and drivers, I mean that is about all we get anyway.

https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press...ngthy-delays-at-palmetto-distribution-center/

 

[NYCgrrl]

I can only speak as a consumer who has been fortunate. No delivery problems with USPS in sometime. I know I made it thru the December holidays fine. Now I just got a delivery from DHL that was slower than normal but apparently it came from China. Goes along way towards proving the adage about judging a book by its cover. The company was named Holsper and I thought it was based in the UK. Upshot? Excellent workmanship, unexpected packing (no box, lots of shrink wrap). It’s a world, it’s a world.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I know there have been a number of USPS delay issues noted locally, but when it comes to eBay and sometimes Amazon, it's often because it's a shipment coming in from China. Some of them are really good at masking this in the product listing, but I can usually tell it's outside of the US if the expected delivery date is more than a week out.

 

[georgina]

Have not been having delay issues with the USPS delivery in my area. A few odd things like Target saying my physical gift cards were delivered at 11 AM when our mail never comes before 4 PM, and a front door wreath I ordered from Etsy in Canada took a while, but that was not unexpected.

 

[tvguy]

I have seen a few people who have "Informed Delivery" ( a service when the Post Office e-mails you scans of the mail you should be having delivered that day) say the recently that SOME of the items don't arrive until a day or two later, and most say it is usually just one of the items, not all. I don't have the service, so no first hand experience.
My bills still come on time. The grocery store flyers come right on schedule, although those are technically junk mail.

 

[tony67]

I ordered a battery for my computer UPS recently - from a place 265 miles away. I usually get it within a day or two at most.
I order these pretty regularly.
I can see it was picked up at the correct location - so its not shipping from China or anything crazy.

This time for some reason they shipped it to Austin Texas first and its been there for over a week - that is 1900 miles away.

No idea why and I doubt Ill ever get it, but Amazon will make me wait a few more days before refunding so I can order it again.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Have you experienced any issues recently with either something you have sent or were supposed to receive through USPS?

My aunt texted me recently when she received a birthday card I sent - and it had taken several days longer than I expected. I'm going to have to start sending things earlier!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I bought something on eBay back in mid-April, and as of last Friday (the day before the refund period ended), I still had not received the item. So, I said I hadn't gotten the item and got a refund. Of course, it showed up in the mail yesterday.

I have seen articles and reports from different areas of the country about a lot of USPS deliveries being delayed. I guess this may have been related to that.

Have you experienced any issues recently with either something you have sent or were supposed to receive through USPS?

Yes. I sent my sister a gift card for Valentines Day and she never received it. My husband sells on Ebay and sent a box, always insured and with tracking. The tracking just ends. He watched it for a long time and nothing. He refunded the buyer. I sent my MIL Mother's Day card UPS because I can't trust that it will get there. The lady at UPS said she's been waiting months for her passport and some checks. We've gone to our local post office to complain, as are many other people, and told there is nothing they can do. The guy I spoke to told me he never sends checks or gift cards USPS. As the poster above stated, 3 distribution centers in ATL closed, and was supposed to be "stream lined" in the new distribution center in Palmetto. It's a complete fail and from I've learned from TV, it's also supposed to be the "model" for distribution centers in the future. Closing many and using one massive one. Our senator got involved, there has been hearings in Washington DC. It's constantly on the news in my area.

 

[PrincesCJM]

My biggest issue with USPS is a local issue. The person who tends to deliver packages can't read or doesn't read the address. He sees the house number and consistently delivers to the WRONG road. Last time I check 5 Maple St and 5 Oak St aren't the same thing. And no, that's not my real address but it's a good example of the issue I'm running into. In my small town in Maine, it is not uncommon for one mail truck to deliver big packages and other trucks to deliver the actual mail and small packages that would fit in the mailbox

 

[fly girl]

I bought something on eBay back in mid-April, and as of last Friday (the day before the refund period ended), I still had not received the item. So, I said I hadn't gotten the item and got a refund. Of course, it showed up in the mail yesterday.

I have seen articles and reports from different areas of the country about a lot of USPS deliveries being delayed. I guess this may have been related to that.

Have you experienced any issues recently with either something you have sent or were supposed to receive through USPS?

I sell on eBay and have had numerous issues this past year with shipping times via USPS. I had no problems during the holiday season, it all started at the beginning of this year.

The biggest problems have been with Ground Advantage packages and when shipments go to Atlanta or Washington state distribution centers. I have had delays in excess of 6 weeks with these 2 locations. Infuriating.

Thankfully, most buyers have been extremely patient and understood it wasn't due to any fault of my own. However, one guy had the nerve to file with his credit card company saying he never authorized the payment and had no knowledge of the purchase when eBay told him to be patient and that it was still in the USPS system. Really? UGH! I had proof he knew with eBay message trail. The CC company sided in my favor.

It is really awful for the small time eBay seller like myself. But I have no choice as it is the most economical. No one would want to pay more than the item itself in shipping by using UPS or FedEx.

 

[barkley]

if i am sending something i know has a hard deadline and/or i need proof of delivery just in case i will opt for anything over usps. too many get lost in la-la land and it's impossible to get anyone at usps to respond (local refers to 800 number, you leave a message and noone ever gets back to you).

 

[Chickenlady]

We live in a rural area of NH. One post office and zip code for 3 small towns. We don't get mail delivery every normal day. With their lack of delivery personnel, we don't even know which days we will be getting mail....its usually 3 times a week. BTW, I have USPS Informed delivery, which means I get an email with that days "arriving mail".....but that only means I know what is arriving on the next day that they get to my area for delivery.

 

[MGMmjl]

I sell on eBay and have had numerous issues this past year with shipping times via USPS. I had no problems during the holiday season, it all started at the beginning of this year.

The biggest problems have been with Ground Advantage packages and when shipments go to Atlanta or Washington state distribution centers. I have had delays in excess of 6 weeks with these 2 locations. Infuriating.

Thankfully, most buyers have been extremely patient and understood it wasn't due to any fault of my own. However, one guy had the nerve to file with his credit card company saying he never authorized the payment and had no knowledge of the purchase when eBay told him to be patient and that it was still in the USPS system. Really? UGH! I had proof he knew with eBay message trail. The CC company sided in my favor.

It is really awful for the small time eBay seller like myself. But I have no choice as it is the most economical. No one would want to pay more than the item itself in shipping by using UPS or FedEx.

I know it has to be frustrating for eBay sellers. The item I bought was a cheap baseball card (around $5), and the seller refunded it when it appeared to be lost in the mail. It had the eBay delivery service tracking, and it hadn't shown any updates since the seller provided a tracking number. The seller said that tracking isn't very good or complete, but it will usually at least show some movement. I received the card the next day in the mail. I know it was a small amount being only $5, but I still wanted to pay the seller. He relisted the item, and I was able to "repurchase" it so he wouldn't lose any money.

 

[fly girl]

I know it has to be frustrating for eBay sellers. The item I bought was a cheap baseball card (around $5), and the seller refunded it when it appeared to be lost in the mail. It had the eBay delivery service tracking, and it hadn't shown any updates since the seller provided a tracking number. The seller said that tracking isn't very good or complete, but it will usually at least show some movement. I received the card the next day in the mail. I know it was a small amount being only $5, but I still wanted to pay the seller. He relisted the item, and I was able to "repurchase" it so he wouldn't lose any money.

That was nice of you.

I had a similar situation that the package wasn't moving and sat stagnant for 14 days. Filed missing mail weeks prior and didn't get any feedback so I just told the buyer I would refund or send another. He asked for me to send another one. I did, and guess what ... the next day his original one was delivered. At that point I had to just laugh. I sent a message saying keep it or send the new one back via stamped envelope so he didn't have incur tracking charges (it was a small item that could be put in a standard envelope.) No reply, so he received 2 for the price of 1. Not a huge loss on my end, but still annoying.

 

[EACarlson]

I work for a company that deals a lot with monthly and quarterly business taxes. What used to take three days to be received by certain states now regularly takes 8-10. We've had to send tax reports to one state via certified mail so we can prove that we mailed them on time because of how long USPS is taking to deliver it. It would be less expensive for us to send them overnight FedEx, but the state won't accept FedEx deliveries of tax reports.

 

[mamamary]

No problems here. My dh buys and sells on eBay and we’ve not had any issues at all.

 

[Dznypal]

I also sell on eBay and having been trying to have them find a package that’s been sitting somewhere since jan
First I tried to file a claim on line of course and couldn’t get it to send
So the I called the customer service a couple of times which was totally useless like someone mentioned you leave a call back and of course no one calls back
I’ve called customer affairs
What a shock when no one answered there
Finally I have been able to actually talk to a real person but all they tell me are places I’ve already tried
Then they get an attitude when I tell them I e already tried that
Sorry to get carried away but it’s so annoying when it’s such a deal Thst they have insurance but try and collect
So now I’m out the item and the money since of course I refunded the buyer
So as long as this is about USPS
Does anyone know of a person I could send a complaint too
Thanks

 

[Travel60]

I know people who are just getting Christmas cards that were timely mailed. Like a box full got stuck somewhere and was recently found.

 

[HopperFan]

I know it has to be frustrating for eBay sellers. The item I bought was a cheap baseball card (around $5), and the seller refunded it when it appeared to be lost in the mail. It had the eBay delivery service tracking, and it hadn't shown any updates since the seller provided a tracking number. The seller said that tracking isn't very good or complete, but it will usually at least show some movement. I received the card the next day in the mail. I know it was a small amount being only $5, but I still wanted to pay the seller. He relisted the item, and I was able to "repurchase" it so he wouldn't lose any money.

My DS sells cards on eBay (and other things too). Having major issues. Cards not arriving lost forever and some getting returned for insufficient postage. A group online are discussing and it is being reported that USPS has told sellers that there is a problem with eBay. They say USPS has told eBay they are miscalculating the postage on cards and refusing to update at their end. Some are lucky to get their cards returned for insufficient postage and many are just being thrown in the trash because USPS is over it. DS has pulled all cards off the platform. He has a few out there and one buyer said he'll just wait, that he has heard of the eBay issues. What is frustrating is that eBay is really trying to become "the place" to buy cards but with this it's not going to be good PR for them.