US Postal Service

[SouthPark]

True! With the covid situation, where even some airlines are out of action, and workers having a hard time ------ mail delays are definitely going to be expected.

In times of uncertainty - even guarantees are going to be hard to guarantee. So the postal service probably should not guarantee right now, unless they seriously can guarantee.

[thefish1337]

I had orchids shipped from Florida that took 10 days and arrived smashed. My box got routed to Nebraska, and then to Wisconsin and then finally on its way to the west coast. It's no surprise to me that the installation of the new post master general and the dismantling of USPS leadership has resulted in the increase in crappiness recently. We have a fox in charge of the hen house:

The cost-cutting measures, intended to address the Postal Service’s longtime financial problems, were imposed last month after DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser and former supply-chain executive, took over the top job in June. DeJoy, 63, of North Carolina, is a major donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. He is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who is not a career postal employee.

source

The annoying thing about all this discourse on the USPS is the notion that the USPS is losing money or "financial woes"... its a government service- not a business. It's also extremely dishonest because:

In 2006, Congress passed a law to require the USPS to prefund 75 years worth of retiree health benefits in the span of ten years—a cost of approximately $110 billion. Although the money is intended to be set aside for future Post Office retirees, the funds are instead being diverted to help pay down the national debt.

No other private enterprise or federal agency is required to prefund retiree health benefits on a comparable timetable. The mandate is responsible for all of USPS’s financial losses since 2013.

Source

For all the conspiracies about election rat****ing? I'd say that's just an added bonus for a certain political party that has been trying to dismantle the USPS for decades. Ironic that the so called "pro-buisness" party so badly wants to destroy a service that so many small businesses rely on- including many of my favorite orchid vendors.

[WaterWitchin]

Is it possible, even though this is the off-topic thread, to not get into political theories? Just a question... but I sure don't want this one thread to end up like the stuff seen on Facebook.

I will shut it down if it continues. No offense to anyone. But cannot bear for OB to become a place where we start the political vents and rants. Please find a different venue, or stick to discussing troubles with the mail system vs UPS vs FedEx, without the politics of pointing fingers. There are already plenty other places to do that. Please, not here.

[Dollythehun]

Old thread, I know. So, up front: I don't want this to turn political. I need to vent and if anyone wants to sympathize with me, please feel free. It has not been a good week.

I divided a huge Onc. Sharry Baby. I gave a blooming division to a local friend. I sent one to WW's son in law in KS and the biggest, fattest one, in high spike, I sent to a friend in AZ. It took a huge box to do that, oversized of course. It cost an arm and a leg for 3 day priority. The same friend sent me an orchid on the same day. It got here in two days!

As of today, 8 days later, I am unable to even track the box. Calls to the USPS are an hour wait and the recording says that they don't have the number in their system, nor can they answer any questions other than I would get if I tracked it myself.

I am angry! I wanted to do something especially nice here, for someone who's been very kind to me. I honestly will never send another package USPS. UPS won't take them here so, my only recourse is FED EX.

And, to be fair, WW and I send a lot of plants back and forth. Half my garden lives in Kansas. I always have trouble getting the packages out of Illinois! Hers, on the other hand, seem to zoom right through. I am obviously not living right.

Ugh! I'm done.

[WaterWitchin]

Totally agree, on all counts. I really think a part of it has to do with competence at the very local level, or sometimes a poorly run distribution center. Ours in Kansas City is a major hub, for many reasons (like being halfway between in all four directions for most of the US. It runs super well.

When Dolly sends my way, it ends up in some Elk City place in Illinois and just stops off and lives there for awhile. Frustrating.

We had difficulties with our local USPS when Covid first starting really rearing its ugly head. Stuff not showing up, way out of time, and much more sporadic daily service. I spoke to a PO official at our local center, and she indicated a LOT of folks at their facility were older and said to heck with it, and retired. They scrambled for quite a few months before getting back on course.

I can tell you one thing... the way USPS has been recently, I won't be ordering baby chicks in the spring as I usually do. Plants are bad enough... baby chicks would be past devastation.

[Ray]

Any carrier will deliver plants. Just pack them properly and DON'T TELL THEM they're plants....

[Dollythehun]

Fine, Ray! I'm a rules girl. When there's huge signs that say "No plant Material" I do as I'm told. Especially when you've written in the box it's perishable plant material. I'm a good little minion.

[Roberta]

Anything I care about, I now ship FedEx... I found that FedEx Home (Ground) is about the same price as USPS Priority Express, they'll even tell you how long it will take... and often takes less. (Much cheaper than FexEx 3 day saver) And unlike USPS, FedEx tracking is solid. (Since the scanners and sorters were removed from USPS facilities, even their "informed delivery" ... what's supposed to be arriving on a given day, has become useless.) And the packages tend to arrive intact (unlike USPS, they don't run over them with trucks) When I ship plants, I do just say "protect from heat and cold" without saying why... Generally going to an individual not likely to get snagged by an ag inspector, but places like California and Florida there is always the potential.

[Leafmite]

A few years ago, the USPS, especially locally, was fantastic. Now, the postal delivery people just do not care. Neighbors give us our mail; expected mail never arrives. Packages are not put in a sheltered place but left out in the full sun or rain. I never received some of the sympathy cards people sent me...only learned of them from phone calls. Our postal delivery person doesn't even try to deliver certified mail...I was expecting one so I waited and watched the truck briefly stop at our box then go. I thought that, perhaps, it hadn't come but I found a note in the mailbox that they could not deliver. Spouse had to pick it up at the post office. Hmm. I signed up for informed delivery which I hoped would help prevent lost mail but I had to go vote in person because my absentee ballot never arrived (even though it was sent). Sigh.

I noticed that most of the places from which I usually order have switched to UPS or Fedex now. Amazon set up their own delivery in our area, too. Just a few vendors still remain.

[Dollythehun]

Our mail carriers are sterling! My problem us never with them. But, I'm following Roberta's advice.