Just how bad is the USPS?
Posted by created5658@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 848 comments
As a brit, we have Royal Mail - which is pretty much regarded as fairly good for it's purpose, however I've heard a lot of smack talk about USPS and how slow they are, what's it really like?
MrLongWalk@reddit
It’s actually pretty good, I’m curious what you’ve heard and where you’ve heard it.
danegermaine99@reddit
One side of the political spectrum hate it because it’s a successful government endeavor they feel is taking business away from private delivery companies. The rumor machine spins the USPS as a nightmare of inefficiency and ineffectiveness.
dimsum2121@reddit
Well, in fairness, "successful" is a relative term here. They're successful at delivering good services, yes. But they also haven't made money in years.
Why is that? Because of price caps imposed on them, along with a requirement to continually raise wages and pay larger pentions. I recognize they were freight trained into this situation, but it is a losing financial situation.
Marie8771@reddit
The USPS is a SERVICE. it doesn't make money, it costs money. It is a service provided by the government as part of its function to the citizens.
rogun64@reddit
I've never understood why people expect it to make money. We don't expect the US Army to make money, so why is it different for the US Postal Service?
joshrocker@reddit
USPS is generally good, but they are slower and have worse tracking than the other major (private) delivery services. So it gets them a bad rep sometimes, even though they’re great most of the time. One thing I appreciate about USPS is know generally what time I’m getting packages from them since they come around the same exact time everyday. Where the other services are all over the place in what time they’ll deliver (at least in my area).
MayoManCity@reddit
Where I am USPS is the cheapest, fastest, most reliable way to send a package. Private delivery companies are truly terrible.
Maktesh@reddit
This is also the same for me now. It wasn't true in the past in previous locations, but carrier performance is highly dependent on location.
UPS typically has the best tracking, but USPS always arrives more securely.
MayoManCity@reddit
FedEx is an embarrassing stain on the otherwise great American logistic system
clunkclunk@reddit
It amazes me that FedEx can get a package 3,500 miles without an issue, and right on time, but the final leg where it's a dude in a truck just messes everything up. From fake "we attempted" to "package out for delivery, address does not exist, package returned to warehouse, package out for delivery" type stuff, it's embarrassing.
tspike@reddit
I must be the lucky exception. My FedEx guy actually brings my packages to my front porch and leaves a dog biscuit for my pooch. The UPS guy is a real asshole and refuses to extend basic courtesies.
CalmRip@reddit
Which amounts to "Eh, we thought about running the box by your place, but it was gonna add 15 minutes to my route, so no."
GirlScoutSniper@reddit
I have the same experience.
Wermys@reddit
Not really slower, Range does matter though. If you are 1 state over in the east coast you will likely get it 1-2 days after mailing it. But the further it travels the slower the service. So if its across country from New York to Arizona for example you are looking between 3-5 days or beyond that for delivery.
joshrocker@reddit
Range is a huge factor. What I’ve personally noticed is when a company ships something USPS (without some kind of upgraded charge for 2 day or whatever time) that it tends to get there when it gets there. The tracking doesn’t always reflect how long it will take. Where when something comes FedEx or UPS, you can be pretty sure that you’ll get it when they originally say you’ll get it. Of course there are exceptions and UPS and FedEx miss dates for sure, but they’re pretty accurate (at least for my area, which when it comes to shipping companies seems to be a huge factor).
Neracca@reddit
At what point did you consider that could be due to Republicans fucking with them to make them look bad? Or is that a step too far for you to comprehend?
ITaggie@reddit
Very region dependent. FedEx is by far the worst of the 3 major shippers in my area. UPS and USPS are almost indistinguishable in terms of efficiency and tracking IME.
Then there's also DHL, who we don't talk about.
Beetle_Facts@reddit
I worked for an e-commerce site in a hybrid customer service/warehouse position. USPS priority mail was, in most cases, cheaper and faster than UPS or FEDEX. The tracking is definitely worse, though.
USPS is an asset of the federal government. With our taxes we are subsidizing a nationally connected network. It doesn't need to be profitable. Libraries aren't profitable, either. They're part of living in our society.
SteveArnoldHorshak@reddit
Excellent comparison. A certain percentage of Americans are just hypocritical asses.
dimsum2121@reddit
It's not an excellent comparison. The post office is a unique style of government entity that acts as both a business and a public service.
Comparing it to public schools or the military is nonsense, it's much more similar to state run liquor stores, etc.
You don't pay your school every time you send your kid there, you vote for people who impose taxes that pays for the school. USPS runs on public funds and direct payment for services, it's both a business and a public service.
That being said, I'm very pro post office. I love that we have a robust and functional national post service, I think it's still and important and relevant function of government. What I don't like is the fact that they've been kneecapped financially, by mostly repubs but some Dems too, for decades now.
They should be allowed to raise prices, and should not be expected to pay retirement benefits far exceeding any other government entity.
The-wizzer@reddit
The post office is only funded by revenue from postage.
dimsum2121@reddit
And they aren't allowed to raise the price of that postage to a point where they are able to not lose 6 billion a year.
That was the entirety of my point. They are handicapped by legislation that prevents them from even coming close to breaking even.
SkeeveTheGreat@reddit
it would be cost prohibitive and kind of defeat the purpose of the USPS to raise the cost of shipping. the USPS shouldn’t have to break even or make a profit, it’s necessary service.
00zau@reddit
They could 4x the cost of sending a letter and the only thing most people would notice would be a reduction in junk mail. Individuals aren't sending letters regularly.
dimsum2121@reddit
Then it should be publicly funded. The only way it can make money is via postage, therefore it's growing massive deficit is covered by loans, i.e. debt.
The independence of the post office was decided on 50 years ago, I didn't vote for that shit.
In the current model it needs to stop losing money.
MM_in_MN@reddit
I’d USPS wrote appropriate contracts for bulk mailers…. They wouldn’t be losing $6B a year.
They write shit contracts to process junk mail that nobody wants. Private businesses do not write contracts to provide a service for less than the cost of doing that service. But The USPS does.
dimsum2121@reddit
Agreed. And they cut Amazon a big ol' deal.
SteveArnoldHorshak@reddit
The post office may well be a unique style of government entity, but it’s only because politicians forced them into that untenable position. Otherwise comparing them to the military would be a completely apt comparison.
dimsum2121@reddit
Yes, if things were not the way that they are then they would be different. Agreed.
rogun64@reddit
This was my point.
But this is only because we choose to do it that way. I'm not saying it should be different, but just that it could be different and I can only imagine that Franklin's vision for it was much different in the beginning.
dimsum2121@reddit
Well then, it seems we agree.
Curious_Property_933@reddit
We expect UPS and FedEx to make money (and they do), so why is it different for the US Postal Service?
Mysteryman64@reddit
Because people in non-profitable areas also need mail delivered.
Don't forget, UPS and FedEx piggy back their profitability off of USPS by letting them do last mile delivery in areas they've decided aren't profitable enough to serve.
Or should farmers have to drive into town every day to collect their mail?
florenceinthepond@reddit
We're 61 miles from the nearest FedEx. Not sure about the nearest UPS.
Mysteryman64@reddit
Have fun driving into town to get your water bill!
florenceinthepond@reddit
Sounds downright awful.
rogun64@reddit
Because it's not a private business and it has different goals than UPS and FedEx. My understanding is that both are happy with how the system is structured, because the USPS provides them help at the expense of taxpayers.
florenceinthepond@reddit
What? Are you sure? Is this since DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General?
michelle427@reddit
Goodness No. the precious Military can suck money out of the government and we give them all the money we have.
jurassicbond@reddit
USPS doesn't get tax dollars and is supposed to be funded by their services. Either they need to make money or they need to get tax dollars
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
The idea was that the stamps and delivery fees were supposed to pay for the service rather than tax dollars, kinda like how gas taxes were to be collected to pay for the roads. The people using the service are the people paying for the service.
Some people don't like the idea of paying for a service they don't use/receive.
alkatori@reddit
I'd like to see how the US army chooses to make money.
BB-56_Washington@reddit
"This F-35 lightning was brought to you by nord VPN"
PhoenixRisingToday@reddit
It’s not a “losing financial situation”’. USPS is a service that the USA offers as a civilized country. And like every other service, it costs the taxpayers money. Nobody thinks that we should cover the cost of the Federal highways we use.
dimsum2121@reddit
It loses $6 billion a year. It's a unique style of government entity that acts like a business and a public service.
PhoenixRisingToday@reddit
Nowhere did I say you don’t like it.
I don’t like the perpetuation of the idea that the USPS should be self supporting. Sure, that would be great but it certainly should not be mandatory. And I think the people making the most noise about that are not driven by what’s best for us, the citizens.
danegermaine99@reddit
In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.
https://ips-dc.org/how-congress-manufactured-a-postal-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it/
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
That law was repealed several years ago. It really isn’t the source of their problems.
Neracca@reddit
Motherfucker do you think that the second a law changes that all the effects of it before the change just instantly reverse?
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
They never complied with the law anyway… Seriously, it was not what caused any of their problems.
danegermaine99@reddit
Parts of it were repealed in 2022 (2 years not several years) by the Postal Service Reform Act. By then the damage was done and the USPS was over $160 billion dollars in debt. Their operating budget had been slashed requiring reduction of services and quality control.
killerbanshee@reddit
When will the military start making money?
Agreeable-Ad1221@reddit
Okay but like some people really do want to end public libraries right now for being a "waste of money"
florenceinthepond@reddit
Yes, along with the Department of Education. Scary times.
eLizabbetty@reddit
And the USPS delivers mail to everyone, even when it's not profitable. A private delivery service doesn't not have to deliver anywhere they don't want ... mountain roads, dangerous city neighborhoods... only the USPS delivers the level of service to each address.
CalmRip@reddit
By boat, airplane, SkiDoo, and they even ran the Pony Express when part of US 80 in the Sierra got washed out in the winter of 1982-83.
clunkclunk@reddit
Even in 2024, USPS delivers mail via mules for a settlement at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Amazing. I love it.
Different-Humor-7452@reddit
This is exactly the issue. Conservative interests would like to privatize it so that rural or difficult areas would no longer have mail delivery. There are some businesses that can't be for-profit and do the same job.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Yes, the current Postmaster General has been working hard to bring it down.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Rain, sleet, snow...
lellenn@reddit
Bush Alaska off the road system where the only access is by small plane…FedEx and UPS don’t deliver there. And the only reason USPS can do it cheaply is cause of the massive subsidies in place. Otherwise costs would be sky high. Even more than they are now.
dimsum2121@reddit
Agreed 👍. USPS is great. I wish they were allowed to operate without so much legislative handicapping.
107reasonswhy@reddit
Public services are not meant to make money. Do our public school turn a profit?
Maktesh@reddit
Mate, there is a wild difference between "not making money" vs. losing billions.
kmoonster@reddit
It's not a business, tho.
Do roads lose billions when most are not a toll road? Does a fire department lose money for it's community?
dimsum2121@reddit
USPS doesn't receive any direct tax funding. 100% of its budget is funded by its products and services. Comparing it to roads is comparing apples to oranges.
The issue isn't USPS, btw, it's the shackles they've been put under by shitty legislation.
kmoonster@reddit
The money may not be budgeted that way in advance, but it has to come from somewhere. The slight of hand to make it appear to run at a loss is in large part due to, as you say, shitty legislation.
AyAyAyBamba_462@reddit
It's not technically a public service, it falls somewhere in between a service and a business in the same way Amtrak isn't a public service.
ITaggie@reddit
Public services can have cost-recovery models too.
RunFromTheIlluminati@reddit
Well then let's go all the way and make it fully public.
lellenn@reddit
I believe that’s actually how it started out. I’d have to do research but the current configuration is a relatively recent one I think.
AyAyAyBamba_462@reddit
unfortunately then it would be underfunded even more than it already is.
vile_hog_42069@reddit
As a mailman, I don’t understand why were expected to turn a profit. The USPS is a public service similar to libraries, fire department, police department, waste management etc.
Difficult_Chef_3652@reddit
They're also forced to put aside money for people who will be hired in the future. Ridiculous.
GirlScoutSniper@reddit
In 2006, Congress passed a law that imposed extraordinary costs on the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) required the USPS to create a $72 billion fund to pay for the cost of its post-retirement health care costs, 75 years into the future. This burden applies to no other federal agency or private corporation.
dimsum2121@reddit
Yup
CHICAG0AT@reddit
They don’t “lose” money, they are a service to the American people that the government pays for. The government IS NOT a business and we need to stop this mindset that anything that doesn’t “””make money””” is inefficient or wasteful etc. It’s a SERVICE and it costs what it costs, same with Amtrak.
dimsum2121@reddit
USPS does act like a business, it's a unique entity. You can google it or you can read my explanation to another comment here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/s/JYqfG2aMsN
CHICAG0AT@reddit
I understand, and again, I would happily pay whatever it costs to cap the price of postage because it is a SERVICE.
dimsum2121@reddit
Well, I don't want to. I will happily vote to allow them to run without piling up billions in debt.
CHICAG0AT@reddit
Again, it isn’t “debt,” it’s a “service cost.”
dimsum2121@reddit
No, the price of postage is the service cost.
No entity, fully publicly funded or not, should be losing a continuously larger amount of money every year.
The $6.5 billion number I quoted earlier is outdated, it's $9.5 billion for FY 2024.
I am pro post office, that's why I want them to stop losing money.
kmoonster@reddit
Do visitors pay the full cost of managing lands in State and National Parks?
We pay an entrance fee.
CHICAG0AT@reddit
You don’t understand the role of the USPS in terms of the economic engine of the US and that’s ok.
The post office isn’t “losing” us anything.
dimsum2121@reddit
Lol. Fabulous, condescension in the face of civil discourse.
Have a good day bud.
NSNick@reddit
For context, $9.5 billion is roughly 0.1% of the federal budget.
CalmRip@reddit
I wish I could upvote this 50 times.
palmettoswoosh@reddit
The role of govt is to provide a service for the welfare of its ppl. The role of a business is to make money.
dimsum2121@reddit
Agreed, that's why the post office shouldn't be an independent entity. But it is. That was decided on 54 years ago, I didn't vote for it and I wouldn't now.
Just look up why the post office is different from other pu pic services.
OMG--Kittens@reddit
Based Californian?
dimsum2121@reddit
Lol, grew up in Jersey if that makes a difference!
RunFromTheIlluminati@reddit
It's also not meant to be a profitable business.
dimsum2121@reddit
There's a difference between profitable and losing billions every year...
RunFromTheIlluminati@reddit
Remind me how much the Pentagon loses every year?
dimsum2121@reddit
Remind me how two wrongs equate to right?
TheKingofSwing89@reddit
The post office shouldn’t be required to make money. It is a government service. Governments aren’t businesses, thank god. Even though some want to make it into one.
dimsum2121@reddit
The USPS is not the same as other government services. And I never said they need to make money, but they shouldn't be going billions into debt every year. It's an unsustainable system perpetuated by crony politics.
TheKingofSwing89@reddit
How would you fix that? Increase mail volume?
dimsum2121@reddit
Allow appropriate rate increases, and write more favorable (actually sensible) contracts with bulk mailers.
mickeymouse4348@reddit
USPS doesn’t lose money. It costs money. It’s a service that we pay for
dimsum2121@reddit
It is a unique government entity that acts as both a business and a public service. It is not like the PD, FD, public schools, etc.
You can google it or read my further explanation here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/s/JYqfG2aMsN
journalphones@reddit
No, the USPS *costs money to operate. Just like the fire department.
dimsum2121@reddit
They are not analogous. Here's the best explanation I can give rn : https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/s/JYqfG2aMsN
martlet1@reddit
Dumbest take ever
UnderlightIll@reddit
And FedEx is AWFUL. Ordered my partner's wedding ring and it was supposed to be a signature required. Nope. Left it in the mailroom on the floor and in the delivery said I signed for it and was handed to me.
Efficient-Flight-633@reddit
fedex was leaving our packages all over town. It was like those weird facebook trends where you take a picture with a thing on your vacations. "Where is my package today? Oh that looks nice"
timbotheny26@reddit
I think it also depends on how well (or poorly) run your local post office is.
I know it's a single, anecdotal report, but Gus Sorola (formerly of Rooster Teeth) has a couple of stories about his local post office and it sounded like a nightmare of mismanagement and incompetence.
DBDude@reddit
My post office used to be great, then it went downhill after getting a new postmaster and losing my regular mail carrier.
e3super@reddit
I mean, have you been to a UPS Store? I've had plenty of miserable experiences with the Post Office, but I've had just as many with UPS and FedEx, and the private ones are the only ones I've had deliver shit to the entirely wrong address or drop expensive items off and sign for them themselves.
Remote_Leadership_53@reddit
FedEx is good but can be really expensive. UPS has absolutely sucked for me for the last year or so. Always so, so late
readytofall@reddit
FedEx doesn't even try to deliver my packages. I've only ever gotten slips saying I wasn't home even if I was. Occasionally our building has a slip from UPS, it always has 5 from FedEx.
teslaactual@reddit
I've had the exact opposite experience
StarWars_Girl_@reddit
FedEx for me is the worst one. They have misdelivered packages sooooo many times. UPS is mostly good. USPS is a toss up.
OhMyGaius@reddit
Agreed, FedEx in my area is easily the worst, they also have a habit of putting packages in weird/lazy locations like in front of my garage or on my driveway instead of dropping it by the front door like a normal person would.
StarWars_Girl_@reddit
My neighbors caught FedEx throwing a package off the truck on their ring camera. sigh
mew5175_TheSecond@reddit
I have had the opposite experience. UPS is way better for me. And I always assumed it was because UPS is unionized so the workers are happier and care more.
Fedex is non union and it's basically like the fast food of delivery services. Workers couldn't give two you know whats about anything because it's a demanding job that pays crap.
amd2800barton@reddit
Yeah I’d say that the post office is consistently decent, especially when you consider that they have to service every single household, while private carriers can just hang on to a package at a store and mail you a “come get your shit” card. Post office also has to deal with antiquated letters, which they still charge literal pennies for. If I want to send a paper letter to my brother halfway across the country, FedEx will charge me $10 for an envelope, but the post office lets me use a stamp I bought years ago for $0.50.
The only place I’d say the post office disappoints is their ‘retail’ locations. FedEx and UPS i can usually find a good store where the line moves quickly, and everything is neat and clean. The in person post office is as bad as going to the DMV. Mail carriers? Great. In-office customer facing postal workers? Like Roz from monsters inc.
StarWars_Girl_@reddit
Or the sloths from Zootopia
amd2800barton@reddit
The sloths aren't angry enough. The desk workers at the post office are slow, but they're also annoyed about everything. Or they're some old guy who is extremely kind, but getting bossed around by an absolute b, who's yelling at everyone. Post office is just never a pleasant experience. I think all the good people are out listening to podcasts while they drive or walk their route, and everyone at the desk is just crotchety and waiting for that pension to kick in.
OhMyGaius@reddit
Strange, it must be very dependent on location because I’ve had nothing but good experiences at all the post offices close to me, which has been around 4 or 5 locations? They do seem pretty busy, but the workers have always been exceedingly polite and helpful when I needed something, most recently to get a new passport. Had one postal worker help me out with a package to France and he saved me around 20 or 30 dollars In shipping costs by sharing some tips on how to efficiently pack and pick shipping envelopes/boxes.
shelwood46@reddit
When I lived in NJ, they discovered one of the local carriers for our post office was chucking 90% of his deliveries in the dumpster for about a year. He went to jail.
sh1tpost1nsh1t@reddit
So much this. I love the post office. From a logistics and scale standpoint its just fascinating. I love that (at least until recently) it provided good paying, secure, working class jobs. I loved what it did for the quality of life in rural areas, and their access to goods and information.
I even love my local post offices. The speed of service. The friendliness of the people the. Everything.
Except that one. That one post office closest to my work. The people are surly. They lose things. The lines stretch on forever. It's a FUCKING NIGHTMARE to go there, to the point where I'll drive well out of my way to go to a different one, instead of the one I could literally walk to.
If I went to just that one, and it was my entire frame of reference, I'd LOATH the post office.
JohnnyBrillcream@reddit
Yeah, one in Houston is an absolute nightmare of lost packages, mine is very well run.
ChessboardAbs@reddit
Yeah, never mind that those private delivery companies often use USPS to do the final delivery ANYWAY, l'm sure we'll be in no way completely screwed when the idiots finally DO manage to kill the post office. /S
annaoze94@reddit
It'S nOt PrOfItAbLe!!!!!1
Western-Passage-1908@reddit
My mail lady just dumps everyone's mail in my mailbox because it's easier than going to the other mailboxes for the houses next to me. They are a nightmare in my experience
Responsible-Fox-9082@reddit
It is not a successful government endeavor. You can't hand a monopoly to a company, give them their own federal law enforcement, attempt to limit any company that attempts to do the same and then for insult to injury not even be able to afford to operate anymore and call yourself successful.
The post office has been dying for years and is just getting kept alive when the government needs to give. Mail isn't the heavily necessary thing it used to be. Paying for the extra equipment and personnel outside of governmental work is costing money they don't have.
The biggest insult is again calling them efficient. They aren't. If you want a letter moved from say Portland Oregon to Buffalo NY the post office is the slowest. UPS can do it overnight to at longest 3 days. FedEx might take 4. The post office? It took at least a week if they didn't lose it somewhere. The worst part of that is UPS can do 3 days and have fucked up along the way
florenceinthepond@reddit
It hasn't been 'dying for years', it's been systematically murdered through legislation. At this point, it's still an ongoing 'attempted murder'.
Responsible-Fox-9082@reddit
It has been dying. Unless you're going to extend their monopoly to email and digital legal paperwork then it's dying. All the legislation has done is prolong it's death in an attempt to keep it competitive in an era where a pdf can be used to confirm a contract
RSLV420@reddit
And to those who are going to bitch and moan about "USPS not being a monopoly" - yes, it absolutely is. Congress gave it a monopoly and it's literally illegal to compete against the USPS.
MeesterPepper@reddit
My parents were all for the first round of major USPS budget cuts under the orange one's last administration. It was somehow Obamas's fault that this resulted in their rural delivery route being shut down, requiring them to now drive 30 minutes to town to pick up mail or else pay FedEx or UPS close to $100/week for the service.
florenceinthepond@reddit
That's awful. First the post offices, then the mail routes.
uisce_beatha1@reddit
I haven’t trusted the USPS in over 40 years. And I worked there for a while.
SavannahInChicago@reddit
I live in Chicago and USPS is pretty horrible here. And I’m a but for in a wave of blue. I once didn’t get a package and got a note to pick it up from my local post office. I was there for 30 minutes because they couldn’t find my package but they found weeks worth of mail that hadn’t been delivered (pretty much all junk mail). I was told my mail carrier lost his keys and I needed to let my landlord know.
Well, they got a new year then the whole neighborhood didn’t get mail for three months. Block Club Chicago leans left.
Gerrymanderingsucks@reddit
I just wrote about my experience in Chicago! It is insane. I've lived in a few states and cities and nothing can prepare you for what happens in Chicago. My carrier was just putting return to sender on everything instead of delivering them.
EloquentBacon@reddit
Wow that sounds like my town in Jersey. I’m the last stop of the day for the carrier so everything leftover in their bag gets shoved into my mailbox. Though it fits as the bulk of my mail was already delivered incorrectly to other boxes on the route. If it’s a package, they’ll mark it delivered even though it wasn’t so their computer looks like they met their delivery deadlines. We’ll get notes that the package was left in the mailbox when we had ordered a queen sized set of sheets and only have a tiny sized apartment sized mailbox.
TheBimpo@reddit
When in reality it's a miracle of infrastructure and vital service to the country.
Guapplebock@reddit
Successful businesses don't lose $10 Billion like the USPS did in 2024.
count_montecristo@reddit
Is it a successful business endeavor? Genuinely asking because I was under the impression it was something that costs money but doesn't actually earn money. But I don't know enough so I'm curious.
danegermaine99@reddit
If you scroll down there is an explanation in italics
count_montecristo@reddit
The repealed law?
danegermaine99@reddit
Parts of it were repealed in 2022 (2 years not several years) by the Postal Service Reform Act. By then the damage was done and the USPS was over $160 billion dollars in debt. Their operating budget had been slashed requiring reduction of services and quality control.
SuicideOptional@reddit
The people talking shit have money wrapped up in its replacements, plain and simple.
carrjo04@reddit
And I really dislike the narrative that the USPS is doing poorly because it doesn't make money. It doesn't need to, since it's a government provided service
Royal_Today_1509@reddit
I mean USPS is final mile delivery for mainly Amazon and they do a good job. Other than that I don't know what they do.
They seem to do a good job delivering Amazon.
AuraCrash78@reddit
You nailed it!
theguineapigssong@reddit
You can send a letter across a continent for less than a dollar. That's borderline miraculous.
Perfect-Agent-2259@reddit
In our area, they have restructured in the name of efficiency so that everything gets bounced to one of two different "centers" that have sorting machines. I had a piece of 2-day priority mail "lost" in one of these centers for 3 weeks. My taxes, which were dropped off at my local post office, did not get scanned in as "received" for 15 days.
Heck, I mailed a check to our neighborhood pool, which maintains a PO box AT the local post office - the check traveled to the sorting center to be sorted, before being returned to the original post office and delivered, two months late.
You can look up stories about mail in Richmond, VA to get a sense of how bad it is (I don't live in Richmond, but they are going through the same nonsense).
eLizabbetty@reddit
Well, now with South African Elon Musk is the King of Efficiency for the trump administration, ypu can kiss the USPS goodbye
florenceinthepond@reddit
Elon Musk’s X is worth nearly 80% less than when he bought it.
bothunter@reddit
Who cares about net worth when you have a top position in the most powerful government in the world while most of the checks and balances have been removed?
florenceinthepond@reddit
So true.
florenceinthepond@reddit
When, actually, it's an attempt to destroy the USPS.
TheRtHonLaqueesha@reddit
It's better than Canada Post at least where they are on strike.
SkullRiderz69@reddit
Letter carrier here, you should check out r/uspscomplaints Some people are insufferable but some to have legit issues.
WayGroundbreaking787@reddit
The last Trump administration attacked the USPS and cut services. It’s part of the Republican playbook. Underfund a government agency, say this is why government doesn’t work, continue to cut funding and give tax breaks to the rich. Rinse and repeat.
My mail service is fine but my parents mail doesn’t come until 7pm-8pm because the the local USPS is short staffed on drivers and the drivers are incredibly overworked.
dante662@reddit
Hot take, but also wrong. USPS's website disproves the "evil trump" nonsense.
USPS began contracting seriously under Obama, and this continued under Trump. However, hiring/headcount actually began increasing under Trump (in the tail end of 2020), and continues under Biden.
USPS is 100% independently funded, so claiming Trump has any ability to alter the finances is provably false. Same with Obama, and Biden. The issue is that the USPS is unable to compete effectively with UPS, FedEx, DHL, and Amazon, and has had to do massive internal efficiency updates. It is generally unable to service its own debt. In 2022 reforms were passed (such as requiring new USPS retirees to join Medicare, which will lower the premiums USPS is required to pay on their behalf). USPS was also formerly required to pre-fund retiree health care which was completely unsustainable, and removed in the same 2022 reforms.
https://facts.usps.com/table-facts/
Revenue increased under Trump's administration from a low of 69.6B to a high of 73.1. An increase of 5%. Which admittedly isn't a massive increase, but an increase nonetheless.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Are we to pretend now that Louis DeJoy wasn't appointed postmaster general (despite conflict of interest), in order to destroy the USPS from within?
dante662@reddit
The same Dejoy who is increasing budget and hiring tens of thousands of workers a year, every year, for the past 5 years?
Yes, doing a great job at destroying it.
Again, read USPS 's own stats. Sheesh.
b0jangles@reddit
Your example of pre-funding retiree healthcare being removed… it was removed by congress in a bill signed by Biden.
So clearly the President can alter their finances. Especially one with both houses of congress in his side.
CampaignNecessary152@reddit
A hotter take that’s also wrong. The only reason the USPS loses money is because they are the sole government agency required to pre fund retirement accounts. This is for the sole reason of making it look like they are losing money to push for privatization. The USPS is a perfect example of how Republicans “fix” stuff, they take a perfectly good public service and sabotage it in the name of privatizing profits.
RSLV420@reddit
Shouldn't we support busting monopolies?
dante662@reddit
Nothing I wrote is wrong. Everything is backed up by actual evidence and the USPS's own reporting.
The one comment you made, I literally also made, but apparently it's clear you can't read regardless.
CalmRip@reddit
Some of that increase was likely due to increased use of mail in the pandemic.
dante662@reddit
Certainly package delivery volume increased. And USPS is basically positioning itself to be the cheapest option for that...with a level of service to match the price.
peter303_@reddit
Trump put a businessman in charge of the USPS to reduce losing money. Some thought Trump wanted to manipulate vote-by-mail, but that doesnt seem to be the case. Biden must have thought he was doing a bad job because kept him.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Biden couldn't remove DeJoy because of how the USPS Board of Governors functions.
Froghatzevon@reddit
YES! When Dejoyce ( I think is his name) was appointed by Trump , the USPS went down the toilet. Mail delivery take’s minimum 11 business days from Fl to Il. It’s been manipulated into a crap service.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Louis DeJoy, with no prior experience in the USPS & a $30–75 million equity stake in XPO. Under his tenure, USPS has increased its business with XPO.
WayGroundbreaking787@reddit
DeJoy.
Kaurifish@reddit
I guess you live in a wealthier neighborhood. Here in my working class area, we get misdelivered mail (one or more blocks wrong), mail left in random places instead of put in the mail slot, etc.
MrLongWalk@reddit
Lol guess again
cruzweb@reddit
I think for a lot of people it's less about the system as a whole and more about how the local / regional post office locations operate.
I generally like the post office quite a bit and agree that they do a pretty good job most of the time.
That said, my gripes are more or less limited to:
The big regional office in Boston where a lot of my packages end up going through will - entirely too often - put a package on a plane and send it who the hell knows where. I watch delivery times go from "2 more days" to another week because something got sent to Oregon or Puerto Rico and then has to get flown back. This happens on average every few months or so, so maybe 5 times a year in the 2.5 years I've live in the Boston area. It has never happened to me with UPS or FedEx.
I had massive problems with the big regional PO when I lived in St. Louis as well, as packages sent there, especially international ones, would just enter the facility and never come out. I would have to go up there on multiple occasions and bitch before someone would magically "find" it. I genuinely think they were "losing" stuff on purpose because they knew that insurance could be claimed and they would just open and sell the stuff, but that's purely speculation.
My other gripes are entirely with my local post office.
They do not offer informed delivery at my address.
They have never once honored a request to pick up a package. I always have to take something to the post office.
If my regular letter carrier (who is an alt-right guy who at one point this year had a red trump shirt hanging in the cabin of his mail truck, but that's a different story) is on vacation, they simply may not staff someone to cover the route. So we could be a week or so without any mail. If they do staff a replacement, my packages are often delivered to the wrong address (not to a neighbor, to my building number on an entirely different street).
They do not honor vacation holds. Or maybe they'll just hold packages. Or just hold mail. Or hold everything and not honor my request to deliver it when I'm back from vacation. Or not honor a request to hold it at the PO where I can pick it up. They just do what they want. I finally gave up and just as someone else who lives in my building to please bring in any packages when I'm out of town. Their staff will blatantly ignore what's printed out on the instruction list.
Leelze@reddit
It's hot or miss depending on where you're located. When I was in Ventura County in California, I never had a single issue. Moved to Raleigh a few years ago and while it's not awful, I have occasional problems like lost mail, mail in the wrong box, packages left at the wrong house, etc. My parents live on the other side of Raleigh & don't have those issues. It seems entirely dependent on carrier and/or facility.
Heykurat@reddit
Found the Postmaster. 😂
fltvzn@reddit
I’m in Atlanta currently waiting on a box coming from Indiana. It’s now 5 days late and was in the Atlanta area a couple of days ago before inexplicably being shipped to north Alabama and then Birmingham. It has now bounced back between Atlanta and the distribution center south of Atlanta twice. I don’t know WTF is going on with the bizarre routing.
Moving Through Network Departed USPS Regional Facility ATLANTA GA DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 20, 2024, 2:39 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Facility ATLANTA GA DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 20, 2024, 2:06 pm Departed USPS Facility PALMETTO, GA 30268 November 20, 2024, 12:28 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility ATLANTA GA DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 20, 2024, 10:04 am Arrived at USPS Facility PALMETTO, GA 30268 November 20, 2024, 6:23 am In Transit to Next Facility November 20, 2024, 4:06 am Departed USPS Regional Facility BIRMINGHAM AL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 20, 2024, 2:42 am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility BIRMINGHAM AL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 19, 2024, 10:33 pm In Transit to Next Facility November 19, 2024 Arrived at USPS Regional Facility BIRMINGHAM AL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 18, 2024, 8:19 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Facility BIRMINGHAM AL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 18, 2024, 8:53 am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility HUNTSVILLE AL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 18, 2024, 4:23 am Arrived at USPS Facility PALMETTO, GA 30268 November 16, 2024, 12:48 pm In Transit to Next Facility November 16, 2024, 9:09 am Departed USPS Facility JACKSONVILLE, FL 32218 November 16, 2024, 5:44 am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility JACKSONVILLE FL PACKAGE SORTING CENTER November 15, 2024, 2:26 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Facility JACKSONVILLE FL DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 14, 2024, 2:22 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Facility CHARLOTTE NC DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 13, 2024, 5:44 pm Arrived at USPS Facility GASTONIA, NC 28054 November 13, 2024, 3:58 pm In Transit to Next Facility November 13, 2024, 3:55 pm In Transit to Next Facility November 13, 2024, 7:08 am Departed USPS Regional Facility INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 13, 2024, 4:00 am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 13, 2024, 2:14 am In Transit to Next Facility November 13, 2024, 1:50 am In Transit to Next Facility November 13, 2024, 12:06 am Departed USPS Regional Facility FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 12, 2024, 11:14 pm Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER November 12, 2024, 10:25 pm Departed Post Office HARLAN, IN 46743 November 12, 2024, 3:04 pm USPS in possession of item HARLAN, IN 46743 November 12, 2024, 2:02 pm
Adorable_Cat_7741@reddit
It’s terrible. Fed ex, and ups, are billion dollar companies. The USPS has declared bankruptcy several times.
Lost_Figure_5892@reddit
Mail carriers work their butts off, only to get harassed and hassled by their bosses and the public alike. Carriers in town, rural routes, in station- they get the job done. But the United States Postal Service itself, management, policies and procedures, hiring practices, and how they treat employees are rotten from DeJoy ( the director) on down to many station managers. It’s the literal boots on the ground who get us mail faithfully, it’s the higher ups who need weeded out not the workers.
martlet1@reddit
It’s fine. In the bigger cities it can get bad due to poor employees.
I mean you can still get something 3000 miles away for under a dollar. Not bad.
SaltedSnailSurviving@reddit
I don't think it's that bad. I think Amazon has made us all used to same-day shipping, but USPS drivers (at least in my area) are protected by a union. The USPS can't do same-day shipping because there's a union stopping them from abusing their workers to the extent Amazon is. Thus, when people actually have to wait a bit for a package, it's much more noticeable and not the norm.
I think that's why people dislike the USPS so much, at least from what I hear. It usually stems from impatience.
nborders@reddit
It’s fine.
Not Amazon Prime speed but it isn’t in that category.
Reader47b@reddit
Honestly, I think the USPS is decent. It has a break-even mandate, which means it has to fund itself from fees. It's not actually funded by taxpayer money except for materials for the blind and stuff like that (though it is subsidized in the sense that it doesn't have to pay property tax or certain vehicle taxes, etc. as private carriers have to do, and it also has a monopoly on mailboxes - it is illegal for private carriers to deliver to mailboxes, even though your mailbox is on your property and paid for / supplied by you and not by the USPS).
The cost for mailing letters and packages is waaaaay cheaper with USPS than with private carriers like UPS and FedEx. It takes a bit longer, but it is fairly reliable. I have never had major problems. I choose USPS for all my personal shipping and mailing and only have used the private carriers for work because USPS is just that much cheaper. I also get plenty of packages shipped to me reliably by USPS from Amazon and other businesses as a consumer.
The US Postal Service is one of the rare examples of a government service done fairly well. It's also an example of a public good that is better served by the State, due to economies of scale and the non-profitability of serving rural routes and other factors.
Jswazy@reddit
It's not horrible. I have worse luck with it than with FedEx or UPS but not by much. Even then I think that's more down to the local drivers than the delivery services themselves.
Smart_Engine_3331@reddit
Mostly, it's ok, actually. It may vary by region, but I've never had any serious problems with them.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
It’s not bad at all. Occasionally something doesn’t get where it needs to go quickly having gotten lost in the system, but that is rare. For a Mail piece to go totally missing is extremely rare. Prices domestically are fair, but international postage is a bit too high.
Gephartnoah02@reddit
They're usually reliable. It might get through late, but the package probably won't get lost. The real problem is drivers, some adresses they won't deliver to, theylle drive up ,mark delivery as impossible and the drive off a few seconds later. I've literally seen them do it to me before, and I've had it happen several times while living in different states its happening now with my current adress, the diver will deliver to a community mailbox 2 doors down but if the package it too large to shove in they'll just drive off instead of walking over to the door. I dont use usps anymore with my current address.
pfta4@reddit
It really depends on where you live and what the local office is like. I've had problems with it in the past but if you were to look at it statistically from my pov that is a handful of times over 4 decades. That's not bad.
Eagle_Fang135@reddit
I think it is great. It provides a cheap shipping option that keeps FedEx and UPS in check.
They have free service to see what mail you will be receiving. I get notices for any packages. Vacation mail holds are convenient. No complaints.
Every couple years the rates go up. But it costs like 55 cents to mail an envelope to anywhere is the USA. That is a pretty good system.
Sundae_2004@reddit
Evidently you haven’t purchased stamps recently, it’s up to $0.73 now. ;)
Eagle_Fang135@reddit
I just buy a few forever stamps when I go in and need one so haven’t paid much attention. I think I bought like 5 a couple years ago and still have like 3 left. Don’t really mail much that isn’t already prepaid return.
SpecialComplex5249@reddit
FedEx has atrocious service. I’d choose USPS any day of the week over them.
AlisonWond3rlnd@reddit
I love my mail man!
elidorian@reddit
I thought it was good until I moved to a big city. This particular city had staffing issues, and sometimes my mail wouldn't show up, or it'd be delivered to the wrong address. Unfortunately, I had this happen with a VERY important document(delivered to the wrong address.) And they couldn't get the document back from wherever they delivered it to...
dth1717@reddit
As a mail carrier I think we do pretty good and it's one of the cheapest in the world. Yeah we get thieves and lost parcels or shitty carriers but with over 200,000 carriers you gotta expect craziness. And we ( mail carriers) have been working without a contract for over 500 days, we finally have a tentative agreement and it sucks 1.3 percent pay increase. Please support us...
Casus125@reddit
Not bad at all.
Frankly, the USPS is a logistical miracle.
Cheap, fast, and reliable 99% of the time.
dth1717@reddit
/r USPS complaints make it sounds like it's 1% of the time and we sleep with their wives and daughters while drinking their beer
velvetjones01@reddit
The informed delivery feature is so amazing.
OP - the mail is scanned by machines during sorting. You can enroll in a daily email that tells you what’s coming in the mail that day. 10/10
Casus125@reddit
Yeah, their package tracking is REALLY GOOD.
BluudLust@reddit
Better than USPS and FedEx.
NeverEnoughGalbi@reddit
I cry when I see a package is being delivered by FedEx. Tracking seems to go from awaiting pick up to delivered with no updates.
QuinceDaPence@reddit
For me it usually makes a couple laps around the country first with tracking before saying "Delayed", at which point tracking stops and then I'm wondering where my shit is until it says "delivered" and then shows up in a day or two.
Fuck FedEx and the horse they rode in on.
nauticalfiesta@reddit
I just use local pickup and get it from our fedex hub, otherwise its at least another day or two before I actually get it.
sh1tpost1nsh1t@reddit
If it's fedex I just go on the app and request it be held at a fedex store for pick up. Saves the multiple delivery "attempts" before just having to go to the store anyway.
UPS I'd do the same, but they often just don't allow it.
NeverEnoughGalbi@reddit
See, I've never had a problem actually getting anything delivered. They leave it at the side door as requested in my account notes, and sometimes the front porch, which, whatever. I hate not knowing where it is in their system.
a_trane13@reddit
I recently shipped two large packages to Saudi Arabia via FedEx and all I can say is, don’t do that
reddit1651@reddit
One time I was sitting on the porch with a friend and coincidentally waiting for a package from FedEx
the truck pulled up to the curb, paused for 10 seconds or so in full view of us, then drove off. I got a notification that my package was delivered. We couldn’t believe our eyes
Went on and filed a complaint in case the driver stole it, then he came back like two hours later lol
NeverEnoughGalbi@reddit
That's just WOW
maxintosh1@reddit
"Delivery by 10AM"
"Delivery by 6PM"
"Delivery by end of day"
"Arrived at local FedEx office"
🤦🏻♂️
Heykurat@reddit
And they stick a "missed you" note on your door when you were literally 10' away in your living room all day. And you know for a fact they didn't knock or ring the doorbell. UPS does this, too.
mysecondaccountanon@reddit
FedEx: You’ll get an alert telling you it’s about to arrive or it’s arrived 5 hours after it’s arrived. That’s the only notice you get!
MossiestSloth@reddit
Or fucking Ontrac or Lasership.
If I see anything being delivered by lasership I know I'm not going to fucking get it, ever.
cruzweb@reddit
I disagree with UPS entirely. UPS is more reliable with fewer delays or accidental package re-routing, and the ability to have either a UPS store or a partner store hold a package until I can pick it up is a great thing when trying to combat porch pirates.
CaptainPunisher@reddit
I used to work at UPS until 2002, and the tracking at that time was pretty good. Customers couldn't see much at the time, but priority stuff (next/2/3 day service) gas really good visibility because it HAD to be scanned at every location. I could tell you each scan along the way in the house system and approximately where it was at any given moment.
Now, with ring scanners, every piece gets scanned as it's handled, so there's even better granularity for tracking.
Dusk_2_Dawn@reddit
I think you mean UPS
BluudLust@reddit
Yes, lol.
eyetracker@reddit
Wow I beg to differ (in my experience). UPS tracking is good, USPS and FedEx are garbage. They basically tell you it's been shipped, and then tell you where the package was, 2 days ago. Glad yours is better.
BluudLust@reddit
That's UPS for me. Every time it's in a random location and several days out of date.
eyetracker@reddit
Sounds like USPS to me. It tells me it's been shipped and the day after it's delivered. They also announced plans to route our mail through one of the most unreliable routes around (weather related closures) but I think they walked that back.
bendybiznatch@reddit
The USPS is a national treasure.
Worldly_Antelope7263@reddit
I LOVE that option. I swear I look forward to my daily USPS Informed Delivery email.
WheatAndSeaweed@reddit
Not only what's coming, but it automatically tracks packages you've sent. It's a REALLY good system.
WahooLion@reddit
I’ll disagree about informed delivery. I get a scan maybe once a week and mail more often. It’s usually for just one piece and that’s usually an advertisement. When I get home, that piece of mail may or may not be there, but I’ll have a real piece of mail that was not scanned. It’s been a big miss for me. My mailman is amazing though.
velvetjones01@reddit
That is so interesting! I get a pretty good result. What blew my mind was during the pandemic you could click through the scan of the census mailer to fill out your census. It was so slick.
helptheworried@reddit
I would kiss the inventor of informed delivery on the mouth if I could. I often forget to check my mail bc of where it is, and we don’t get a ton of mail. But if I’m expecting a card or something important, I can just check what’s coming up so I remember to check on the right day. It’s lovely
4MuddyPaws@reddit
I find this kind of iffy. They show some, but not everything that's coming.
rasputin1@reddit
strangely the website frequently shows more mail than the email does. I tried submitting this as a bug report but they couldn't understand what I was trying to say
4MuddyPaws@reddit
Ah. For some reason, when I try to go into the website it makes me change my password every time. It's more than a little glitchy on my end.
reyadeyat@reddit
My new address isn't eligible for for informed delivery and discovering that was honestly quite sad. What do you mean I have to walk to the cluster mailbox and check it daily??
throwfar9@reddit
My wife checks what’s coming today before we’re even out of bed. Yes, we’re retired. 😀
XP_Studios@reddit
We may have dysfunctional policy, but when it comes to pure logistics, nobody has us beat
caitlowcat@reddit
Where I am you can’t drop mail in the outside blue boxes anymore because they’re all broken into regularly and are now tapped shut. Locally, USPS workers were stealing packages and going through mail. My son wa emailed a bday card in June and we haven’t received it yet. I ordered a package several weeks ago and the company is certain it was delivered, but nothing.
It may be more reliable than mail delivery in other countries but far from great.
LoyalKopite@reddit
That is federal crime to steal mail it is oldest US govt agency.
caitlowcat@reddit
True. And mail was being stolen by people working there.
florenceinthepond@reddit
This was made public and was in the mainstream news?
caitlowcat@reddit
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/checks-stolen-from-mail-dunwoody-post-office/85-ff2151b6-aa78-4c3b-8e44-3a94261d94c1
I can’t find an article on the car crashing through the post office near me, but it’s my post office I use and it was closed for months.
fartofborealis@reddit
There is a form and complaint area somewhere on the website where you can reach out and complain about these issues. Sounds like you have some bad apples in your part of the system. I complained once for similar issues and the person on the other end was proactive about getting it fixed. It took a bit but my mail seems to be on track now.
caitlowcat@reddit
It’s all over the Atlanta area. The blue outside mail bins at my local place now have big black trash bags over there because the break-ins have occurred so frequently. Also forgot to add that another location had a car drive through the front window. This makes it sound like a live in a very sketchy area haha totally the opposite.
fartofborealis@reddit
Omg that is crazy!!! Sounds like they got some major problems going on there with the mail. The blue drop off boxes in Chicago are not getting broken into to my knowledge but they are slowly disappearing, which is frustrating as someone who lives in an apartment with no outgoing Mail Drop off. I wish you luck with your mail!
florenceinthepond@reddit
Try and find a blue drop off box in a city like Houston.
caitlowcat@reddit
Yeah it got to the point where any checks we have to send (ex. My FIL’s nursing home payment), we just hand deliver.
Casus125@reddit
Holy shit.
PCN24454@reddit
Not cheap or fast. Just reliable
Perdendosi@reddit
More like 99.999%.
Anustart15@reddit
Maybe near you. I don't even get mail delivered 6 days a week anymore and mail will take an extra week or two longer than it should've to show up sometimes
the-sea-of-chel@reddit
Where do you live that you don’t get mail delivered 6 days a week? Is it super rural? Bc I’ve lived in rural GA, metro Atlanta, rural CA, and metro Denver and have never had an issue
Sensitive-Issue84@reddit
The GOP is trying g to destroy it so they can sell it to the highest bidder and make their buddies rich. Talk to your local postmaster and see what's up.
florenceinthepond@reddit
There appears to be mass downvoting occurring in this post.
overcatastrophe@reddit
We have sorting machines in Ohio that were dismantled for "routine maintenance" in 2020 that still haven't been replaced or fixed.
FlamingBagOfPoop@reddit
Luckily there will be a Dept Of Government Efficiency to fix that soon.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Scary stuff.
1369ic@reddit
They'll out source it, giving a big payday at our expense to somebody who doesn't need it.
overcatastrophe@reddit
Break it til it works or fails.
goodsam2@reddit
The problem is more of a change in status and what the USPS is being used for. The USPS makes a larger percentage of their volume in packages. Mailing letters has massively decreased and so the basic sorters can't do packages and take up a lot of room.
USPS has ongoing economic troubles with the amount of letters falling consistently decreasing profits.
Bear_Salary6976@reddit
Many of those machines were dismantled because they are completly obsolete. Nobody sends 1st class mail anymore. Many of those sorting machines were relevant in the 90s.
Technical_Plum2239@reddit
They were for letters, not only first class? Barcode sorters aren't only "first class". But of course people put stamps on things and send them. EVERY DAY.
Can you go into more detail?
Curmudgy@reddit
Weird. Our mail is pretty reliable. Occasionally something will show up the day after Informed Delivery says it will.
Konigwork@reddit
I have a love hate relationship with Informed Delivery.
It’s accurate with like, plus or minus 3 days. It’s accurate enough to be a success, not accurate enough to be useful IMO
Curmudgy@reddit
For us, it’s 95% accurate or so. (Rough guess, not an actual data-based number).
Or to put it another way, it’s always a surprise when something doesn’t show up as indicated, other than packages that are sometimes early.
Im_Not_Nick_Fisher@reddit
Informed delivery is pretty awesome! I signed up after an older relative said they sent me something, but it never showed up. Ended up that they never sent it, and they dropped it in their car. But seeing what’s actually coming is really helpful.
captmonkey@reddit
I think most of the problems I've seen with it tend to be more local and seem to be because of staffing issues. I'll give a shout out to my local USPS workers, because they were very hard, especially around the holidays.
I almost always get stuff on time, but I feel bad because sometimes it seems like they're working very long hours, covering for what should be another driver's route. I remember once last December, it was like 9:30 PM and I was watching something on TV and heard a noise out on the porch and I had a moment of terror discovering someone was outside until I realized it was just the mailman delivering a package.
GreenNeonCactus@reddit
I agree that most issues are highly localized. Mail for a huge swath of GA is/was affected due to sorting center consolidations around Atlanta. It lasted for months.
eugenesbluegenes@reddit
Wow. That's very much not been my experience. Do you live super rural?
Anustart15@reddit
Nope. Densest residential city in New England
eugenesbluegenes@reddit
You must have terrible local sorters then. What are they doing wrong in Massachusetts?
nasadowsk@reddit
Pretty much everything is done wrong in Massachusetts
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
Your experience does not match my experience. What town do you live in?
Anustart15@reddit
Somerville
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
What did the postmaster say when you reported the problems?
Anustart15@reddit
What makes you think I reported this to the postmaster?
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
Absolutely nothing. You've met my expectations.
Anustart15@reddit
Not sure what your point is, but good for you I guess?
I said my postal service sucks, I didn't say I really cared that it sucks.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
lol
MaineMaineMaineMaine@reddit
It has really declined since 2016 in parts of the USA. Mail is weeks late all the time in parts of the northeast. Started after trumps appointee took charge.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Louis DeJoy.
ariellann@reddit
And friendly. I have never encountered a miserable mailcarrier and I live in bumfuck nowhere. They are just the best.
messymel@reddit
Agree 100%. For all the republicans clamoring to privatize this service: the only reason people living in rural areas receive mail is because of the existence of the USPS. You think UPS and FedEx are going to deliver to the middle of nowhere when it doesn’t make financial sense? Also, the USPS delivers a massive percentage of packages shipped via private package delivery services because of this same issue and larger resource availability.
Sp4ceh0rse@reddit
I agree with this. It’s pretty incredible what the USPS does every single day.
NIN10DOXD@reddit
I will say that it's a lot less cheap now. Especially with international packages. For some reason, my friends in the UK don't have to pay nearly as much to send similar packages to me as the other way around. You are right about the cost and reliability relative to the sheer scope of their operation though.
Casus125@reddit
Until you try and send something DHL/UPS/FedEX...
It's not dirt cheap like it was 20 years ago; but damn, just sending a letter via FedEx was like 3x the cost than USPS last time I checked (few years ago..ish)
NIN10DOXD@reddit
Yeah, domestically it's cheaper than everything else by far. I just wish international rates hadn't gotten so high (which is true for all services in the US).
4MuddyPaws@reddit
Agreed. The only time we had problems was just post pandemic. We live in a smallish town, with a small postal office here. A couple of our carriers in the area got very sick and for about a week, we had to pick up our mail at the post office. About 10 minutes away. They just couldn't get enough workers to apply for the job. So the folks on our street took turns going to the post office and picked up all our mail and we played postal deliverers.
Otherwise, for as few workers as we have they have done a great job, especially since our neighborhood has some really wonky house numbering.
funatical@reddit
Yup. USPS is awesome. If I ever have an issue (complex moved us around, stuff ended up in wrong box) I let them know, get a call same day, and they send someone out to fix it that day.
Awesome.
Working_Mulberry8476@reddit
I've lived in areas that either had no problems whatsoever with absolutely excellent staff OR totally mismanaged useless post offices. More of the former but there doesn't seem to be a middle.
2 places I've lived:
1: kept delivering to wrong mailboxes. Our # next street, that kind of stuff. And I'd get theirs. Often. But then it was just random, wrong street, wrong #, and someone would be trying to get me my mail from 3 streets away and I have the guy next door.
Had my mail held while on our honeymoon. Came back to find mailbox stuffed with my mail and neighbors mail and one house from the next street mail and our marriage paperwork, do not fold, absolutely shoved into the back of the mail box behind a mountain of junk mail. It was just forced in as a clog towards the end, punched in.
Guy I called that managed it was clearly depressed by his job. He candidly said they used to have serious rules and consequences and there was pride in the exact work but now they're hiring anyone as long as they can breathe. He was dejected and said he'd do what he could but this was his whole area.
And the place I live now.. is great. It's 10 miles away, no more affluent or more or less crowded area.
I've met the carrier twice in passing, he asked my building and apartment number as I was going toward the last two buildings on a street and said hello. He checked and handed me my mail right off from his bundles of sorted mail. Since then if I see him he'll just yell to me "no mail" or "just junk mail" or whatever as he puts the mail in the boxes. Once a bigger box came and he was let into the building by a neighbor who was going in. He brought it up to the 3rd floor and put it outside our door as well as a couple smaller packages for others instead of making us go to the mailboxes, and he definitely did it because of the one big box we had, any other time boxes were left on the apartment steps.
We once had a temp guy mix up two mailboxes in our building, wasn't me, but he made sure to stop and apologize if the temp guy might have missed anything while he was on vacation. Dude, you're good, better than good, no worries, not your job anyway, you were on vacation.
Some places are excellent, some are crap.
WhichSpirit@reddit
Having lived in both the US and the UK I can honestly say that USPS is leaps and bounds more efficient than the Royal Mail. We just complain about USPS because it's all we know and we hate inconvenience of any kind.
When my British friends and I send things back and forth now, you can tell when USPS and Royal Mail have handed things off to each other just based on quick much it speeds up/ slows down.
TemerariousChallenge@reddit
Honestly in my personal experience I find USPS to be better than Royal Mail, but I've heard some ppl say USPS sucks so i guess it varies by region. I really really wish Royal Mail had something like USPS informed delivery though
Roadshell@reddit
It's fine. I have no idea why people talk shit about it all the time.
Most of my experiences with the DMV have also been perfectly functional for what it's worth.
People just like to bitch.
ColdNotion@reddit
The DMV depends so much on what individual states invest into it. Does your state have enough locations in high population areas and hire enough staff for those locations? If the answer is no, they can really, really suck. I grew up near NYC, and my local DMV office fit the stereotype. The workers were nice enough, but there were nowhere near enough of them for the number of people seeking service, so waits were often over an hour. When I moved to DC I was shocked how much better the system was. Going on a busy weekend I’ve never waited more than 30 minutes, and on a quiet weekday I was able to show up, get a resolution to a complex problem (which was my fault), and get out in under 15 minutes.
fishonthemoon@reddit
Yeah, I have never waited hours on end at the DMV. I am always shocked pikachu when I hear people say they have lol.
Alert-Painting1164@reddit
DMV is just so state dependent. Going to the DMV at Herald square in nyc is hell.
HereComesTheVroom@reddit
Missouri doesn’t even fucking have a DMV. It’s part of the department of revenue and the local office part of it is contracted out to title/license agencies. It’s terrible.
NotAGunGrabber@reddit
The one thing you have to remember about DMV wait times as depicted in movies and TV is that most of the people who write those movies and TV shows are in California. DMV wait times in California suck rocks.
If you don't have an appointment it's entirely possible to get there at 11:00 in the morning and I have to come back the next day because they close before they could get to you.
BuzzCutBabes_@reddit
true. i used to live in new york and waited all day but i got an ID in under an hour in arizona
HereComesTheVroom@reddit
I live in a state that has consolidated half the state government into other departments and so the state doesn’t even fucking have a DMV anymore. It’s all done through private titling agencies contracted by the state and unsurprisingly they are horribly inefficient and incompetent.
toomanyracistshere@reddit
I don't know about the other states, but California DMV used to be much worse than it is now. Until about 10-15 years ago a trip to the DMV would mean spending your whole day being bounced from line to line and dealing with some extremely rude customer service. Now the whole experience is way more efficient, and the staff seems a bit more polite (probably because more efficiency means less stress for them as well as the customers.)
Top-Comfortable-4789@reddit
Oh man I’m jealous. I always have to drive about an hour to get to a DMV that doesn’t have a insanely long line.
atlasisgold@reddit
It’s basically fine
No_Visual3270@reddit
I LOVE USPS. I have never had an issue with mail getting lost, and have very rarely had mail take any more than 3 business days to be transported, even thousands of miles.
Accomplished_Time761@reddit
They are also absolutely useless when you try to call them for information of any kind.
kickitlikekirra@reddit
I've never been displeased by it, and have often been delighted in its speed of delivery.
SicnarfRaxifras@reddit
USPS or UPS ? As an Aussie if I order something and it’s coming via UPS it’s a roll of the dice if it will show up / show up and not be mangled.
jgeoghegan89@reddit
At my old apartment complex, the mail carrier never delivered my packages cause he was too lazy to walk to my door. He'd just put a failure to deliver notice in my mailbox. I was always home too. About 14 times, I had to walk 2 miles to the post office to pick up my package. My current mail carrier is much better though
benjpolacek@reddit
Having had a sister work as a rural carrier, the service is fine. The job though can shuck for carriers.
cherry_sprinkles@reddit
I bitch about USPS all the time whenever they fuck something up, but objectively they deliver 90% of things on time and undamaged. I probably get on average 2 packages a week. This year I have had 1 package arrive damaged, 3 arrive a day late (whatever, it's just a day), 2 delivered to the wrong address and one just disappear into the void (out for delivery for 3 days and then marked as "picked up from USPS" at 10pm when the damn office isn't even open.
My understanding is that it depends heavily on your local sorting center and post office. At my old address, I got packages with water damage so frequently I had to just stop ordering books online at all during the rainy season because I was returning 75% of them for being soaked. Turned out they were using an open bed pickup to deliver to my address and the books were only packaged in those cardboard bags from Amazon.
Also had one incident at my current address with "mail dumping". The guy just left a pile of mail next to the neighborhood mailboxes instead of putting it in each individual box. It was a whole local news story and I think the guy got fired and it's fixed now.
Human-Ad-4698@reddit
Usps is the worst postal service over here. Ups and FedEx are so much better. I purchased some vapes online last Friday and they haven't even made it to the first usps facility. I've had my packages go from being in town ready to deliver, to Texas in just a few hours. Usps sucks
dontlookback76@reddit
I think a lot has to do with your local office. I've lived in the same city my entire 48 years. I've had neighborhoods I've had issues and others where there's never been a problem. I doubt it's the carrier, probably the sorting facility. For the most part, I have high praises for our postal service. Those men and women work hard and aren't always treated well. Plus in some big cities there have been stories of postal workers being robbed of the mail so some dickhead can steal a check and try and cash it.
Worldly_Antelope7263@reddit
I think the USPS is excellent. Of course, there will be lost packages occasionally, but whenever I've had an issue it's been easy to contact the USPS via email or file a claim and I usually get a call from my local post office within 24 hours. Their prices are fair, shipping is quick, and their online options are easy to navigate. I tend to use PirateShip for my USPS shipping needs and they work seamlessly with the USPS.
btmg1428@reddit
IME for the most part, they're good. But when they're bad, they're really bad.
The one time they went really bad for me was when I ordered a used MacBook Pro from eBay. Delivery day arrives, and I was just chilling next to my car, which is on the other side of the road (but facing the house), waiting for the package to arrive. When it arrived, the delivery lady just slammed the package on the ground for no rhyme or reason. It was a goddamn laptop; it wasn't even that heavy. I didn't question her about it because she left quickly and I was still in shock over what happened.
Of course, I got my money back from that, but I've since only used FedEx or UPS for anything that isn't a letter or documents.
Kali_King@reddit
USPS is great! The govt just fucks with it too much, they were going to go to EVs, but then, for some reason, they were giving dumb financial requirements.... Don't remember all of it so I'm not gonna try, look into it if you are interested, dear reader.
Seakrits@reddit
Someone else mentioned it really depends on your personal post office and I might have to agree. Where I live in rural America and our post office is pretty good, but they are extremely limited on hours (not their choice from what I understand), and are only open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the weekdays, which is when most people are at work, and Saturdays they're only open from 8:00 to 11:00. The major downside of USPS overall, I think, is that it tends to be more expensive and it's slower.
oddball_ocelot@reddit
The a set to your question depends largely on what you value.
The United States Postal Service isn't that bad, relatively. It's a huge government bureaucracy. It's a system where efficiency is not valued, like most bureaucracies which provide a service. Like education or military or foreign diplomacy. Are they wasteful? Sure, any entity that large is going to be wasteful to some level. Are they slow? It depends on what you compare them to.
The USPS has 525,469 people working for it servicing roughly 335,000,000 people plus businesses plus government agencies plus non government non business entities (charities and other nonprofits). They are largely self funded taking in very little taxpayer dollars. The massive bureaucracy of federal government combined with the scope of their mission and the precarious nature of the resources at their disposal, it's easy to see how they could be considered "bad". YouTube content creator The Fat Electrician does a pretty good job highlighting this in his video about the Grumman LLV (search The Fat Electrician, Mailcat), it's well worth the watch if you're at all curious.
Not only are they a victim of federal bureaucracy, they are becoming more anachronistic by the day. Emails have largely replaced letters. United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express (FedEx), Dalsey Hillblom and Lynn (DHL), Amazon, and a good handful of smaller companies compete for packages, barring any "Last Mile" rules or regs. Bank transfers are done electronically rather than by paper checks traveling from one place to another by and large. So it's apparent the USPS is behind the curve in today's day and age.
But for $0.73 a government agent will still pick up a letter from my house and hand deliver it to anywhere in the nation. For the price of a stamp, my wife would send a letter from wherever she is and it would get to me in an active combat zone half the world away, from Kansas to Iraq. Or now that I'm no longer enlisted a picture of our children can still be sent from Maryland to my parents in Arizona. And if anything happens to that picture, the United States of America assumes full responsibility. That might not matter as much for a picture of my children. But if it were something more important, a legal contract or transcripts or a bill, that accountability becomes more important.
It's baked into our national DNA to be somewhat antagonistic towards our government. Our national sport is finding fault in government. So I think that's a big part of the faults you're hearing. Sure, those faults might be completely valid, but you cannot deny our predilection as a people to point out those faults.
I'm not sure if this answers your question. There's a lot of nuances that go beyond what a Reddit comment can cover, but I hope I have you a decent thumbnail.
CosyBeluga@reddit
USPS called for a welfare check when I was out of town for a week.
AnonymousMeeblet@reddit
Actually, quite good. The lack of profitability is largely due to how they’re regulated and they keep the prices down for private postal services, while also delivering to places that private postal services won’t.
forwardobserver90@reddit
I’m generally the kind of person who wants to see a reduction in the size of government. However the USPS is a good organization that should be fully supported.
sadthrow104@reddit
Ding ding ding ding government should be treated like a performance based job. If you have a good track record, you can keep, even get promoted.
Bad, wasteful org? Reduce, kill off, find an alternate solution
mykepagan@reddit
Government should be doing things that are not viable in a commercial enterprise (like national Such things have drastically different perfomance metrics from a commercial business.defense and a bunch of other stuff that would get this thread turned into a shouting match)
HereComesTheVroom@reddit
People read about the government spending however many millions of dollars researching bizarre things like hamsters being given steroids without knowing that there’s very good reason for doing it AND that they would never be done in the private sector because there is no money to be made from doing it.
Many_Pea_9117@reddit
Except parties deliberately sabotage organizations that would be successful because they don't want them to succeed because it makes them look bad. One party is guilty of this more than the other.
dimsum2121@reddit
A lot of people don't know that the first 2 jobs of the president were run the army and run the post office.
florenceinthepond@reddit
You mean, 'ruin'?
Thereelgerg@reddit
So are piracy and treason. The fact that something is mentioned in the Constitution doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.
Moist-Golf-8339@reddit
And it would be great if congress would stop taking the USPS income for other projects, then pointing back and saying "Look at how USPS is losing money!"
Tron_1981@reddit
Lets be honest, only one side of Congress has been doing that.
Moist-Golf-8339@reddit
Yep, exactly.
warrenjt@reddit
It doesn’t actually receive tax money either. So even “a reduction in the size of government” wouldn’t apply.
LilRick_125@reddit
Everyone loves to joke about the Postal Service but it consistently polls #1 as Americans favorite government agency.
Most years the USPS ranks ahead of the National Park Service, NASA, and the Department of Defense!
https://news.gallup.com/poll/512585/government-agency-ratings-remain-largely-negative.aspx
georgia_moose@reddit
It's not perfect but in my experience it works about 75% of the time. I have some pieces of mail fail to be delivered for no reason. For parcels, if it is of utmost importance, I go to UPS, not USPS. But for most mail, it is the only option, not because it is 100% reliable, but because it is a legal monopoly held by the federal government.
I will say for all my displeasure with the USPS at times, I find it miraculous that they do deliver your mail in a tin can (the Grumman Long-Life-Vehicle or LLV) with no heat or air conditioning that at best gets 9 miles to the gallon. The engine design (the "Iron Duke") was already outdated by 10 years when the vehicle came into service in the 1980s. It's also one of the few vehicles you Brits might feel at home in here in America since the driver's side is on the right instead of the left.
ChessboardAbs@reddit
Actually, compared to my experience with the mail systems in a lot of other countries, the USPS is fine.
You send letters to certain places, it's basically a coin flip as to whether it's ever gonna be received by anybody. USPS will get it there.
DoctorMuerto@reddit
It's really good. Relatively cheap for a lot of things, and certainly cheaper than UPS, FedEx, DHL for everything. They rates for mailing books and other heavy physical media are especially good. The private companies can be faster, but for most things you can't beat the regular mail.
SystematicHydromatic@reddit
Depending upon where you live it's either decent or terrible. They contract positions out in much of the more rural areas and it's terrible.
eulynn34@reddit
It's actually pretty fucking good when you start considering all the factors. You can send a letter anywhere in the country for $0.73 or a buck fifty for a large envelope and it will almost certainly arrive.
Show me anyone else who will deliver anything anywhere for a dollar fifty.
created5658@reddit (OP)
Wow, okay that surprised me, it's 85p here to ship a letter 'second-class' (1.07usd) to arrive within 2-3 days, I would expect it to be more considering the size of the US compared to the UK.
Alert-Painting1164@reddit
Yeah there are some things in the U.S. that are quite different to what people in the U.K. might think. For example all children have to be given the option of free transportation too and from school, class sizes in Americas besieged public schools smaller than the U.K.
SpecialComplex5249@reddit
If you sent something from rural Alaska to rural East Coast it would probably take longer, but between even moderately populated areas on the mainland, packages arrive in 2-3 days (letters maybe less).
MineralIceShots@reddit
If I recall correctly, Granma can send a post card from new England to a military boat, base, or island (so long as it's a US military base) in the middle of nowhere for the cost of a standard letter stamp (like 75ish cents) and it'll get delivered.
SpecialComplex5249@reddit
Postcard stamps are currently 56 cents. Don’t overcharge Granma!
sluttypidge@reddit
My friend lives 435 miles away from me, and I am able to send her a package, and it will arrive in 2-3 days.
throwawaydragon99999@reddit
A lot of mail in the US is carried by planes and trains. My girlfriend is doing a Masters Degree program in London and in her experience USPS is significantly better than Royal Mail, especially with Amazon packages - things that would take 3-5 days in the US are like 7-9 days in the UK
ThrowThisAccountAwav@reddit
I found the prices in UK better than most of Europe. About 1-2 quid for an international letter but in Denmark it was like 5 quid for some reason.
WayGroundbreaking787@reddit
I lived in California and I got my friend’s wedding invitation from Ohio in 2 days.
tbarlow13@reddit
3-5 Days to ship anywhere in the continental US for that .73 cent stamp. I could drop a letter in the box next to my work on the east coast of Massachuesetts and it would get to Anacortes Washington (3133 Miles or 5042 km away) within 3-5 Days.
mfigroid@reddit
And that's not just the 50 states. The price is the same for the territories and APO/FPO addresses.
MonkeyThrowing@reddit
Damn it’s been a while since I mailed anything. I thought it was 25¢.
nyet-marionetka@reddit
Apparently you last sent a letter between April 1988 and February 1991.
MonkeyThrowing@reddit
Sounds about right. There was also something called forever stamps. I believe they were the old price but you could use them anytime. I had a bunch of those I used.
toomanyracistshere@reddit
Forever stamps have only been around since 2007. So if you just bought a bunch of stamps then and have been using them ever since you paid .41 each for them.
MonkeyThrowing@reddit
OK, I’m never playing against you in a round of trivia :-). I distinctly remember having a stamp that I paid $.25 for but worked for higher denominations. I eventually found it. It was called the F stamp.
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1993.2015.360
mykepagan@reddit
On top of that, anything sent to an address within about 100 mikes of me arrives overnight 99% of the time (but I oive in the population-dense Northeast, so I’m not sure if this is true for everyone).
Alert-Painting1164@reddit
The USPS is great and unlike Royal Mail your USPS delivery person will also collect mail you wan to post. My last two delivery guys for USPS were integral parts of the community. Sure if you go to the 42nd street post office it’s pretty grim but everywhere else I find the people who work as part of USPS almost bizarrely passionate and helpful. US post offices also contain some amazing public art.
EnvironmentalRound11@reddit
Ours local office sucks. Our community doesn't get door service, we all have to pay for a PO Box. When you order a product there is a catch 22 - the company won't accept a P.O. Box number on the mailing address and if you put your physcial address on the order and UPS or Fedx does last mile through the USPS, the post office employees send it back because the PO Box number isn't on it.
Then a week later the small business owner from Etsy or where ever has to pay shipping again to send you the item.
CleverUserName2016@reddit
https://www.gao.gov/blog/u.s.-postal-service-faces-more-financial-losses-how-can-it-stem-tide
AdSalt9219@reddit
At my local post office, every package from any mail order pharmacy is mysteriously held for about 3 days. When you finally get it, the box is torn open enough so that somebody could inspect the contents to see if they were "interesting." The manager is openly hostile to complaints and defends the employees no matter what they've done. A counter employee told me to move elsewhere I didn't like it here. BTW, this is coastal California.
MillerTime_9184@reddit
Like others have said, mail moves well. My experience though is that there is zero accountability or customer service. I one time had a package that was noted as delivered. When I talked up the person in charge at the post office he basically said “if we find it, we’ll let you know”. But they make no effort to actually care.
jdcnosse1988@reddit
I think it's going to be just like RM over on your side of the pond. You'll have people who think it's the worst carrier out there, and people who have no problems with it.
katekyne@reddit
Usps is pretty damn good. There's definitely been an uptick in negativity surrounding it in recent years because politics. I think it's one of the most reliable and efficient government agencies.
CenterofChaos@reddit
It's actually pretty good. Especially once you consider how large the US is. Logistically it's very efficient.
SeawolfEmeralds@reddit
When talking about the USPS simply consider the letter Carrier, rain or snow they deliver and for many people it's their only contact with another human.
SeawolfEmeralds@reddit
USPS is a logistical wonder. All major corporations utilize it. Every private corporation that delivers mail utilizes the United States Postal Service. They don't have that logistic capability to deliver mail to every part of the United States of America they rely on USPS for the last leg of the trip.
USPS nobody has their coverage territory and reliability.
Unusual-Insect-4337@reddit
Its phenomenal
BunnyHugger99@reddit
It's not terrible, but the local location matters a lot. If the area is super rich, they may find it hard to get employees willing to drive from affordable areas to come to work and be properly staffed.
annaoze94@reddit
It's phenomenal and I love it!
armrha@reddit
Well, according to each service, here’s stats:
Royal Mail:
73.7% of First Class mail on time 90.7% of Second Class mail on time 89.35% of delivery routes each day
USPS:
First-Class Mail: 87.5% delivered on time Second Class (Marketing) Mail: 93.4% delivered on time Periodicals: 82.0% delivered on time Packages: 98.1% delivered within one day, and 98.9% delivered within two days Doesn’t seem too shabby, especially considering the US has 334 million people vs the UK’s 69. 98% of the population is mail accessible within one day of target.
Esclados-le-Roux@reddit
I've routinely used mail across Europe and the US, and there's no contest. I just wish everybody knew how good we have it in the US, so they'd stop trying to kill it. It's not 'saving money' if you lose something you really need.
silasgoldeanII@reddit
Royal Mail used to be good but as with everything in the UK, it isn't now.
Esclados-le-Roux@reddit
I remember. Sometimes it feels like the UK is gaslighting me, every time I go back things are so much worse and I'm like 'am I remembering this wrong?' I started using UK trains in the 90s and wow. Royal Mail, same. London is the only thing that's gotten better, and that's only because it was so very filthy (I assume it's clean now because nobody can afford to live there, so definitely fair to debate that point)
silasgoldeanII@reddit
Yeah. I think about how rich countries look and how the UK is and you can tell that there's no money anywhere.
PrincessJimmyCarter@reddit
Or maybe government shouldn't be run like a business. Government's job is to provide useful services to the public, not to maximize profit for shareholders.
armrha@reddit
It doesn’t cost any money anyway. The postal service receives no money from the government at all.
Emergency_Fox3615@reddit
Not exactly…due to regulations limiting their ability to raise rates to, they operate at a $6 billion loss per year. That loss is paid for via loans from the federal government… loans which they cannot and almost certainly never will repay. So in effect, it is government/taxpayer funded.
sluttypidge@reddit
USPS is reliable and cheap compared to FedEx in my area. FedEx won't even deliver to my parents' home and say it doesn't exist.
mikutansan@reddit
i've never had an issue with USPS. They're hard working Americans who are essential to our country. Fed-Ex on the other hand have been the only delivery service that gives me issues.
SirTheRealist@reddit
I honestly don’t have any real complaints about the USPS.
0wlBear916@reddit
It’s not bad. People love to bitch about going to the post office all the time and I’ve never understood why. Tbh I don’t even think the DMV is as bad as people make it out to be.
tlonreddit@reddit
People will dish on anything. For the most part, it’s reliable.
Sandi375@reddit
Especially if you have an issue. We got scammed through an online site, and the scammer even sent a tracking number saying it was delivered. Our local post office looked into it, and they sent a letter to PayPal explaining that we received nothing. PayPal pulled the money out of the scammer's account and returned it to us. I would never say USPS is bad.
ThatOneWIGuy@reddit
They have a dedicated group of people for this reason. They take scams and fraud very seriously as it costs Americans a lot of money every year.
ITaggie@reddit
They have a federal law enforcement agency specifically for those kinds of things. Mail fraud is still a pretty serious crime.
ThatOneWIGuy@reddit
As it should be. It causes serious issues in peoples lives and should be addressed as the issue it is. I hope it stays that way for a long time.
bendybiznatch@reddit
The one time I had to call a post master (couldn’t access my mail because of disability) my issue was solved THAT DAY. It’s a crapshoot if I get fedex packages. UPS I don’t even try. Just divert it to a ups store.
According-Bug8150@reddit
My dude, Atlanta is such a shit show it got audited, and the response of the USPS to every single finding was, "We disagree."
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/special-reports/postal-problems/postal-problems-audit-released-atlanta-usps-palmetto-facility/85-f12ecffc-773a-4817-bffe-19878eae16bd
janky_melon@reddit
USPS in Atlanta has gotten markedly worse since the pandemic.
zugabdu@reddit
The type of person complaining about the USPS is probably the type of person who complains about any government service. It's fine.
AvonMustang@reddit
Fine is a good word to describe the USPS. We do get 1-3 pieces of mail a month that are not ours but it's usually my next door neighbor or this family the next street over as both have pretty similar addresses to ours. Also, I'm pretty sure we don't get every bill we're sent...
ParoxysmAttack@reddit
The employees can be pretty nasty and brazen sometimes but it get things where they need to go quite affordably.
Aggressive-Emu5358@reddit
I have almost never had a bad experience with the USPS, I have used them for an eBay store for years and it’s a 99% bulletproof service, but I do wish more would be invested in them.
Wermys@reddit
I work in a place that does an absurd amount of shipping, not at Amazon level. But pretty high volume and lots and lots of desire to steal products we send. In my experience it depends on 2 factors. Your local post office competency which is the biggest difference and the other difference is your crime rate. Most mail issues are probably related to mis sorting at the post office so a neighbor receives your mail for example. It isn't the carrier that is the issue, they just have boxes with your mail inside them that they put in the mailbox. Instead its the sorters who place the mail in those boxes is where the problem happens. The other issue is related to theft. And that happens also. Had a call today where person received there package but the bag in it was ripped open and the item they needed was taken out Adderall. So either 1 of 3 things happened. Torn at the shipper level possible Or someone did a 5 fingers discount in the mailbox risking a felony charge likely or person called in blatantly lied possible but unlikely. In either case this illustrates the point that the post office is usually fairly competent in getting items to where they need too go. But they can't control your neighbors.
Iwentforalongwalk@reddit
It's actually fantastic. Don't listen to the nonsense
Intrepid_Fox-237@reddit
The fact that you can send a letter from Guam to Maine (almost 7800 miles/12600 km) first class for $0.78 is pretty amazing.
Best postal service in the world.
backlikeclap@reddit
The experience of going to the post office is not great, but the service itself is fantastic.
provocative_bear@reddit
It’s not bad, I overall approve of the USPS. But yeah, in America having a public post office is now a politically divisive issue, I guess.
sea-quench@reddit
I very very rarely have any issues with the usps. Love them!
Lilmissgrits@reddit
Atlanta resident checking in. Fuck DeJoy. USPS was amazing for us. Then palmetto happened. Google it.
I’ve had more meds get lost in the last 2 years than in the entirety of my life and they are sitting in palmetto.
florenceinthepond@reddit
Wow, just googled it: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/postmaster-general-says-on-time-delivery-is-up-80-palmetto-facility-ossoff-wants-better/UZHUEO7C5NFWZPS7LPNCYIP3ZY/
Lilmissgrits@reddit
Yep. They are proud of 80%.
SkewbySnacks@reddit
I live near the intersection of two roads with similar names and ALWAYS get the mail for the same number, but different street. (We're almsot a mile apart) And even though there's only about 10 houses on my little stretch of road, we always have to meet up to exchange mail.
I have witnessed them toss boxes over my fence as well, (including heavy and/or fragile packages) even though instructions say to leave at gate since my property IS gated.
My last postal carrier bent 80 dollars worth of photos I had shipped into my box because he was too lazy to go 500 feet down to my front door, (before we had a fence and gate installed) and they refused to reimburse me for his incompetence. The envelope did say "photos enclosed: do not bend" but it almost fit, so whatever.
The same carrier also CRAMMED a box in so hard I had to pry it out with a tool. Said box was labeled LIVE ANIMALS and it was about 100° F that day. He also did it with a box of candies labeled PERISHABLE: Leave at Door.
Maybe I just have crappy carriers.
MeeMeeGod@reddit
The USPS was complained about heavily for a few months during covids holiday seasons if I am correct? If im remembering it right there were month long delays? Can anyone confirm?
But other than that, its really reliable.
Perfect-Agent-2259@reddit
They have started restructuring it in our area (to improve efficiency, apparently. Will eventually happen nationwide) and we have been experiencing months-long delays again for about 18 months. It's to the point where the paper bill doesn't arrive until weeks after the check was due back, that kind of stuff.
You can read more about it here:
https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/04/04/usps-audit-richmond-mail-post-office
(I don't live in Richmond, but the same thing is going on in Northern VA)
florenceinthepond@reddit
DeJoy busy at work destroying.
Vachic09@reddit
That's correct.
Negative_Way8350@reddit
USPS is great.
People in the US just do this really fun thing where they vote de-fund a government service (except police or military) then when that service struggles without adequate resources they say, "See? Government can't do nothin' right" without a trace of irony.
nowordsleft@reddit
The USPS does not receive any tax money. It is self-funding.
GeorgePosada@reddit
What I think people fail to understand is that USPS would not operate at such a deficit if it wasn’t required to pre-fund its employee retirement benefits 75 years in advance.
Why is it saddled with this perpetual financial albatross? Because of an insane law passed by Congress 20 years ago.
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
The pension prefunding was ended several years ago.
florenceinthepond@reddit
In 2022.
sourcreamus@reddit
They received 120 billion just a couple years ago.
chipmunksocute@reddit
"Starve the beast" is the term for that. Its a very concious political philosophy for a not insignificant part of the US Conservative movement who's core goal is to destroy government. Its not a bad approach tactically, to try and create this negative feedback look. "See its shit so what are we paying for lets keep cutting?" I personally find it reprehensible to not even make a good faith effort at improving govt services but that's just me.
geokra@reddit
Public education in absolute shambles
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
Funding for public education has consistently gone up over the decades, as achievement has gone down.
geokra@reddit
So you’re saying we need to spend even more, then? My point is they’ve sown distrust/dissatisfaction with public education and driven people out of public education. It’s become a system of haves and have nots.
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
No, I’m saying that throwing more money at it clearly hasn’t worked, and the solution must lie elsewhere.
geokra@reddit
I agree, in theory, and my suggestion for more spending was mostly sarcastic. But I do think Republicans have created a runaway train and problem will only continue to snowball.
liberletric@reddit
That’s been the Republican playbook for many decades now.
chocoreader@reddit
Except that it is the only federal institution that has the means to directly fund itself in commerce. It is also heavily subsidized, although being subsidized is reasonable as it has mandates that other postal/shipping organizations do not. It just doesn't quite fit in with your argument. Additionally, the USPS currently struggles because the nature of the postal/shipping industry has drastically changed in the last 20 years and they have had a hard time operationally shifting with changes, while also being burdened with governmental mandates.
woodsred@reddit
Should be familiar to OP after 14 years of Tories
Gomdok_the_Short@reddit
The USPS is actually pretty amazing considering its scale and the fact that most mail makes it to it's destination. But Americans like to complain and things of large scale will always have something to complain about.
Kepler-Flakes@reddit
It's good.
The smack talk is a Republican scheme to try and crush the USPS and privatize it entirely. Which is why the Trump administration destroyed their sorting machines for no reason back in his first term.
justmyusername2820@reddit
My post office is decent. We’ve had the same mail carrier for 20 years and the in person service is always quick and friendly but if I want to mail a package I use UPS because it’s usually cheaper and at our local store we get good service and the packages have always arrived on time and quick
Western-Passage-1908@reddit
Redditors like it. I don't like it because it's main purpose seems to be delivering junk mail.
Nancy6651@reddit
Receiving stuff through USPS is generally good. However, if you need to send a package where you need to interact with staff at the post office, especially near the holidays, you are in for the long haul. I had several packages that were packed, postage paid and labels on the boxes, but the boxes wouldn't fit in the drop chute in the lobby. Resigned to my fate, I waited in the long line, maybe they had 2 clerks servicing the line. After a while, a door opened at the end of the counter and a clerk said "Anyone just dropping off?" I zoomed over there.
Zaidswith@reddit
USPS is good in comparison to most other countries' mail service, but the quality isn't as great as it was even a decade ago.
The quality varies on whichever post office I've lived near.
Hotsauce4ever@reddit
I have never had a problem with the USPS in my very long life. However, I know it’s a huge country and there are going to be places with less than stellar service.
botulizard@reddit
I've never had a problem with it.
There are cultural tropes about it being bad or unreliable, but in reality the Post Office isn't some universally reviled institution that everyone has horror stories about.
DeathToTheFalseGods@reddit
Honestly it’s wholly dependent on your local office. My local office sucks. I have had something that was marked as “undeliverable” 3 times. Had to go out and catch my mailman one day and ask what was up. They said “Oh I didn’t recognize the name on it so I figured it was the wrong address.” This is pretty typical behavior of that office. They are the slowest out of every service too. Usually they are only the cheapest for letters and padded envelopes.
Mmmmmmm_Bacon@reddit
I like the USPS. No complaints.
budbud70@reddit
The USPS is the greatest part of America, IMO.
humphreybr0gart@reddit
It's probably the least efficient of the major carriers here, but it's still not too bad. They generally get the job done without issue.
B_Hopsky@reddit
It's pretty solid most of the year, I've noticed it seems to go to shit around Christmas though, but that's probably due to how much more traffic it gets with cards and packages.
hereforfun976@reddit
It's pretty good and reliable. Maybe a little slow and they did lose my 200$ package and only gave me 85$ back But overall it's still good
PerfectlyCalmDude@reddit
Is it great? No. Is it awful? Usually not. Do I want more places I do business with to run more like the Post Office? No I do not.
fight_me_for_it@reddit
Considering the land size of the US, even with USPS faults, they do a decent job. They aren't perfect but it's not costly for citizens to mail things. Shipping can vary also but overall it can be affordable depending on one's budget.
SquashDue502@reddit
USPS is probably the most efficient branch of the government ever created. I can get anything anywhere in the country in about a week (except maybe Alaska and Hawaii) for a reasonable cost and it usually gets there on time. You can also track packages which is nice.
Ok_Sentence_5767@reddit
I exclusively use them because I believe in public services and guess what, their fantastic!
helptheworried@reddit
It’s pretty good but you have to remember the customer base is significantly larger than the royal mail, so there will be significantly more shitty reviews. Also people are spoiled by 2 day shipping and GPS tracking delivery drivers, so they’re gonna complain about any minor inconvenience.
Now FedEx? I’ll fight them.
cmon_man_gfy@reddit
If USPS gets gutted or defunded my business is fucked. I’ve shipped thousands of packages all over the country including some very rural areas. They are the cheapest and my packages arrive quickly. Usually faster than estimated. I’ve only had 2 or 3 issues over the course of all of my shipments and every time they were resolved quickly and satisfactorily. If someone has a problem with USPS I really don’t know what they are talking about. FedEx sucks ass and UPS is expensive and frequently has issues with certain addresses that USPS doesn’t.
einsteinGO@reddit
I trust USPS to deliver my mail properly over plenty of other delivery services. 👍🏽
rogun64@reddit
Just want to add that the main reason you hear bad things about the USPS is because Republicans have wanted it abolished in the past and so they attempted to make everyone believe it was wasteful. It's just another unnecessary service in their minds, although I think they've come around to realize it's needed in recent decades.
c3534l@reddit
They're the cheap and slow option for parcels, but for mail... I dunno, I honestly have never sent anything time-sensitive by snail mail in 24 years.
rawbface@reddit
USPS is great. WAY more reliable than UPS or FedEx...
DonBoy30@reddit
USPS is awesome.
morguerunner@reddit
I’d rather deal with USPS than freaking FedEx any day. FedEx drivers kept marking my packages as unaccepted/not home when I was. What they were actually doing was knocking quietly on my door, waiting 10 seconds, and then leaving. Once, I only got my package by running out after the delivery person while he was trying to scurry away after playing ding dong ditch.
MonkeyThrowing@reddit
FedEx and Amazon keeps on leaving my packages on the driveway instead of my covered porch.
MaterialInevitable83@reddit
Meanwhile my USPS mail carrier hides our packages behind a pillar so they can’t be seen from the street.
Massive_Length_400@reddit
My driveway at my old place had a covered car park. This one fed ex guy would walk all the way through it just to leave my packages on the other side un covered. Especially when it was raining
MyDogOper8sBetrThanU@reddit
I will pay more for shipping just to avoid using fedex. 50% of time, when I use them I encounter some type of issue. I actually don’t know if I’ve ever had a problem when using USPS.
morguerunner@reddit
Sometimes the USPS is slow or you have to pick it up at the post office, but generally I’ve never had issues with them
mykepagan@reddit
FedEx is complicit in the Apple online purchase scam that happens every year around this time. FedEx drivers pick up the fraudulent purchases, and FedEx Corp. is shielded because their drivers are not FedEx employees, they are independent contractors.
SpecialComplex5249@reddit
At my workplace we frequently have to hunt down FedEx packages that they leave in random places in our four-story building. They are known to claim that So-and-So signed for it even though So-and-So hasn’t worked here in five years.
Im_Not_Nick_Fisher@reddit
FedEx told me my address didn’t exist. Apparently they asked a neighbor down the street and that’s what they told them. When they actually pass my house every day.
oldcreaker@reddit
I expect it will get much worse starting in about 2 months.
Illustrious-Okra-524@reddit
They’re great in my experience
Smooth_Beginning_540@reddit
I find USPS very inconsistent over the past several years. I can get a birthday card from a relative clear across the country in a few days. At the same time, another card might take weeks.
I will not rely on USPS for prescriptions due to this inconsistency.
rimshot101@reddit
The sheer amount of shit they get correctly from one place to another dwarfs their inefficiencies.
b0jangles@reddit
Your example of pre-funding retiree healthcare being removed… it was removed by congress in a bill signed by Biden.
So clearly the President can alter their finances. Especially one with both houses of congress in his side.
Relevant-Ad4156@reddit
It's...adequate. It doesn't compare to the commercial shippers (FedEx, UPS) for packages, but in terms of regular mail, it does alright.
It can be horribly inefficient in places (imagine mailing something to a local address, but it will be taken to another city for sorting, then routed back to the origin city for delivery)
For the most part, things get to where they're going. However, just today, we received a letter (a bill from the local hospital) that was not for our address. And the mistake isn't just "oh, the carrier dropped it in the wrong box on their route"... The intended recipient is in an entirely different city.
cool_chrissie@reddit
It gets the job done a majority of the time. For some reason though, everyone they hire is related to the Grinch and the headmaster from Matilda. They are a bunch of cranks! Maybe not the ones who deliver the mail, but the ones at the post office are quite grumpy
Hardstumpy@reddit
it is brilliant
AdSingle7381@reddit
Having lived in both countries they both work perfectly fine. As others have said the bad things you've heard are probably politically motivated but occasionally mail does get lost or delayed. I will give Royal Mail a slight edge in customer service on the few occasions I've had a problem with either system.
Joodles17@reddit
It works pretty darn well considering its size and operating costs. Being a postal worker absolutely sucks though.
Content_Office_1942@reddit
lol, of all the weird things to shit on the USA for, the USPS?
It's fine, I've never heard anyone complain about it. I send letters, they always seem to get there. People send me letters, they always seem to arrive. I Pay it zero mind.
SenorPuff@reddit
For regular mail, it's great.
My experience with them for packages is the worst of any major package distributor.
doyouevenoperatebrah@reddit
It’s very good.
Coincidently, I work for an English company and have a ton of problems with royal mail
CuriousSelf4830@reddit
It's usually very good, people don't often talk about it until it malfunctions.
Butter_mah_bisqits@reddit
Overall, it’s an ok system. That said, USPS is up to its eyeballs in debt and postal workers are exhausted from overtime. It’s one big government money suck. People receive most mail electronically. Costs could be reduced so easily, but Congress continues to allow them to operate in the red. The biggest problem is junk mail. I get about 10 pieces of mail each day, and maaaybe one is actual mail - like a bill, which I already receive electronically and is on autopay. The rest are bulk mailing advertisements for credit cards, insurance, personal loans, coupons, political ads, etc. that I don’t ask for and do not want or need. If bulk mail pricing was outlawed, I would support the post office more, but as it is, bulk mail pricing is super cheap and companies do not pay near the same price for a stamp that a regular person has to pay to mail a single letter. I find that disgusting and waste of resources: paper (OMG the amount of paper! Save the trees please.), employees, OT, vehicles, gas and pollution, etc. and all on the taxpayers’ dime.
Sihaya212@reddit
Some of it depends on your local post office. Mine seriously sucks right now.
FloridaInExile@reddit
Depending on your local post office, package theft is an issue. But in general, the service is good even if the attitudes suck.
SassyMoron@reddit
It's excellent. I lived in the UK for awhile and they are comparable.
dcgrey@reddit
I'm proud to say the USPS (or specifically "post offices" and "post roads") are in our Constitution! It was essential to knitting us together as a country and putting the 1st amendment into action by having discounted rates for newspapers.
NetFu@reddit
USPS is excellent in most places. However, and I'm sure it's the same in the UK, in some isolated places it's really bad. And the people in those places know it's bad, so they make sure to avoid using USPS for anything they buy.
We ship to customers across the US every day via USPS and have a problem maybe twice a year, effectively less than 0.1% of our shipments.
DancesWithTrout@reddit
I think it works extremely well. I have used it constantly, daily, for many, many years and I have precisely ZERO complaints.
andy-in-ny@reddit
You know the episode of Top Gear where Clarkson races the Royal Mail from Cornwall to the Orkneys? without any Ferries involved, Clarkson/May/Hammond beat a 1st class letter put in a box in eastern Maine to San Diego
Salty_Dog2917@reddit
The USPS is great. The people who complain about it non stop are also people who have rarely or never ever experienced another countries postal system.
EclipseoftheHart@reddit
100%
I used to be pretty active in snail mail & mail art circles and in my experience the USPS is leagues ahead of many other countries postal services. People would have to give some pretty specific information to ensure mail arrived to them (or wasn’t outright stolen) and often had a section on their profiles or message they sent with approx shipping times that could be in the months.
The USPS isn’t perfect, but I have used them to ship some pretty weird stuff and I’ve had maybe only a handful of issues in the last decade or so. I think some of that comes down to familiarity with how the USPS works as a fairly frequent user. I think people who get the most frustrated are people who are less familiar with the policies/rules and/or have a particularly bad office or clerk(s). I’ve been extremely lucky with my regular offices!
Gerrymanderingsucks@reddit
I think it depends.
I lived in a developing county where half my packages went missing and it still functioned better than the Chicago USPS.
I was calling to complain about yet another package going mysteriously missing after our mail carrier just wrote return to sender on everything including a SASE and the postal employee answering the phone told me to fuck off. Another time, an employee stole my package and marked it as delivered and wanted me to sign this shady piece of paper saying I released them from all liability related to the package. I called the postal inspectors about once every 2 weeks at that address. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of national investigation into the office there bc of how horrible it was since we got random packages just dumped on our doorstep weekly.
I've never experienced anything like that in the other cities I've lived in.
PorcelainTorpedo@reddit
That’s so true. I sent a postcard to my dad from a major Mexican city on the first of 7 days that I was there. It arrived at his house 3 weeks after I got home.
SmellGestapo@reddit
I mailed something to Canada a few months ago. It got to Canada within 2-3 days, but then it sat there for like two weeks before getting to its final destination.
NomDrop@reddit
I ship a lot of stuff. The cost to ship to Alaska or Hawaii is nearly the same as within my own area, and it only adds a couple of days to the time. As soon as it crosses a border, it’s two week minimum and an extra $20. Toronto is about the same time as Berlin or Helsinki, doesn’t matter. Customs doesn’t work for any post office or parcel service and they take their own time.
Dusk_2_Dawn@reddit
If there's ever a major shipping delay in mailing something internationally, it's ALWAYS customs. I've never had anything arrive internationally that didn't sit in customs for an ungodly length of time.
PorcelainTorpedo@reddit
Fred Shero, who coached the Philadelphia Flyers in the 70’s, used to leave funny quotes on the chalkboard in the locker room for his players. One that was pretty funny was: “Everyone gets what’s coming to them. Unless it was mailed in Canada.”
taniamorse85@reddit
For the most part, it's pretty good. For example, I've voted by mail for close to 20 years, and my ballot usually reaches my county elections office in 1-2 days.
However, there are times when it is atrocious. About 18 years ago, I ordered a textbook online for one of my college classes, and by the time the term started, it had yet to arrive. So, I purchased it in the university bookstore. Several years later, at least a couple years after I graduated, I received a package in the mail. It was the textbook I'd ordered. I don't even know why I remember that, beyond the fact that it was such an absurd situation.
Queen_Aurelia@reddit
I
cappotto-marrone@reddit
My husband has to regularly mail formal documents with an office 90 miles away. Lately the average delivery time has been three weeks. I could walk it there faster. Once, okay, it happens. By the fourth time it’s a pattern.
The only thing worse IMO is FEDEX.
Top-Ad-5795@reddit
American in his early 40s here. I've been using the USPS the entirety of my life and can only think of one or two times something went missing. There's plenty of inefficiency in our government to complain about, but USPS aint' it.
scenicbiway708@reddit
Thanks. This thread is really warming my cold dead postal heart.
Top-Ad-5795@reddit
I think a lot of the Americans replying to this thread were confused at the question. Like any large organization, I’m sure USPS has substantial issues and difficulties. But I’ve never looked at it as flawed or lacking. You send something through the mail you genuinely expect it’ll get there.
Big_Metal2470@reddit
Tremendously reliable. There are sometimes questions about speed, and I do wish the mail came at the same time each day, but the USPS exceeds Six Sigma standards. That's one error every 3.4 million opportunities. Essentially, if you mail it with a proper address and postage, it's getting there.
notyourgirlscout@reddit
I think it could depend on where you live. I lived half my life in NYC and now I am in CA. Never had any issues in NY. A few months in CA and mail starts to go missing (anything from bills to ssa mail). Post offices here are also very slow and they couldnt care less when i brought the issue up to them.
Express_Barnacle_174@reddit
It’s much cheaper than any of the shipping companies for overseas, however depending on the area getting a package can be a PITA, plus most people just think of junk mail and bills as far as mail goes.
GSilky@reddit
You can send a letter 3000 miles in less than a week for a dollar. That is impressive to me, but I might be easily impressed.
mynextthroway@reddit
It's pretty good. I can consistently plan on something I mail from the Gulf Coast on Monday to be delivered in Chicago by Friday. Faster is normal, but it can take until Wednesday the following week. Every nie and then, it's weeks. But I gave had packages lost by FedEx and UPS as well.
NotMyName_3@reddit
The USPS does a check of a job. Think about it - you can send a 1 oz letter from Key West, FL 33040 to Fairbanks, AK, 99701 for 73¢ and it will be delivered within 9 days on average. Pretty impressive.
SparklyRoniPony@reddit
It’s pretty good unless there is a major weather event, but every courier service is going to break down a little when a big portion of the country has had a hurricane/flood/blizzard. It is a little slower than it was a few years ago, but that has to do with its appointed leadership.
sapphicsandwich@reddit
Depends heavily on where you are.
USPS in my current area is pretty good. No complaints.
USPS at the previous city I lived? Terrible. Would like about delivering packages. Lie about attempting to deliver a package, making me take off work to go stand in short lines that took 15 minutes per person to get through, so I'd wait over an hour. Filled me with an extreme hatred of the US postal disservice.
But like I said, the one near me is good, so the one at my previous city might be the terrible exception.
Jasnah_Sedai@reddit
Full disclosure: I work at a USPS distribution center. But I’m also old and have not worked here for ~4 years, so it’s not like this place is my life. I think I have a fairly realistic view of the USPS.
I don’t think the average person can conceptualize what it actually looks like to process 120+ billion pieces of mail per year, or 7+ billion packages per year. The volume that USPS handles is insane. IDK what the lost mail rate is at USPS, but even 0.05% is 3.5 million packages, or 60 million pieces of mail, per year.
I will also say that people and corporations mail things in the dumbest containers. Cereal/oatmeal boxes are not suitable shipping boxes. Plain envelopes are not appropriate for mailing 3D objects. Mailing a knife in a plastic mailer is not appropriate. Gluing fake flowers on an envelope is not appropriate. Writing an address on a naked pomegranate, affixing a stamp, and tossing it in a mail receptacle is not appropriate. Mailing a raw roast in a plastic priority envelope is not appropriate. Much of mail processing is done by machines. If something is fragile, package it like it’s fragile. A machine does not care that you wrote “fragile” on the box. The number of people who neglect to seal envelopes and packages is truly astounding.
BobsleddingToMyGrave@reddit
I'm only pissy about the Rural Route drivers- they are contracted employees.
Our driver is 90 years old, and he drops mail all over the ground.
Unfortunately, there are still a few things I have to get snail mail.
realmozzarella22@reddit
It’s decent.
If you see complaints then check if it’s a politically inspired discussion. It’s a frequent talking point by conservatives.
ElectricTomatoMan@reddit
It's great. Anyone who talks shit about it is ridiculous.
BonCourageAmis@reddit
Where I live (Northern Virginia) the Post Office is excellent.
Curmudgy@reddit
For only 73 cents, you can mail a letter in Boston and have it show up in Los Angeles, usually within a week. How is it not amazing to provide that service at that price?
Beautiful-Owl-3216@reddit
For about $20 you could put a bowling ball in a box and they will land a ski plane on a remote island in the Bering Sea with the package.
FlyByPC@reddit
Our USPS package guy is amazing. Professional, friendly, on-time -- never seen him not smiling. He makes everybody's day better.
The letter carriers sometimes don't bother to climb the five or six steps to the porch, and just chuck the letters onto the stoop and hope for the best.
IAreAEngineer@reddit
There's a lot of Americans on Reddit, so our complaints take up a lot of it.
USPS is generally good -- some local post offices are not too well run, based on what I see on NextDoor.
I have not personally had problems, but I know others have. I think the complaints come from post offices with bad management.
USPS as a whole is fine, but some offices are not well run.
Mimcclure@reddit
It is great, but being attacked.
They are self funding, so not tax supported. Republicans want to part it out to their friends, so they did stuff like the 75 year retirement prefunding. The retirements of people who haven't been born yet has already been paid in full and is sitting somewhere. This was done to make the post office look bad financially.
Then Trump sold the Postmaster General position to Lewis Dejoy, who owns massive amounts of stock in private delivery companies, among other conflicts of interest.
I worked as summer help for the post office in 2020. I worked in a sorting facility and witnessed the early stages of Trump deliberately slowing down mail delivery to prevent mail in ballots from getting in on time. He knowingly slowed America's largest prescription drug distribution system during a global health emergency purely for his own gain.
GingerMarquis@reddit
It’s fairly good. Amazon, UPS, FedEx are able to do the same thing but faster and every day of the week is all.
freebiscuit2002@reddit
USPS does fine. Its postal delivery network is a bit more challenging in a continent-wide country with about 40 times the land area of the UK - but post office counter services are good. I’ve had no complaints.
Universal_Binary@reddit
I live in a rural area. Very good. USPS is here 6 days a week even when the roads are muddy. Rural carriers are the same for years. Very rarely have issues, and when I do I can talk to a local human that can and does fix it.
I can easily look up rates to anywhere in the world from home. I can mail stuff anywhere in the world, usually without having to visit a post office. When I do visit a post office, almost every town with at least 300 people in it have post offices. Some in big cities have lines, but the smaller ones almost never do.
It is a logistical marvel, and alongside the National Weather Service, is one of my favorite federal agencies.
yabbobay@reddit
I think pretty good. Quite a few years ago, my mom didn't have my address, but wanted to send a postcard on vacation. NH to CA.
I had 6 numbers in my house number. She could only remember the last 3. And didn't remember the zip code. Just left it blank.
It got to me in a week! That's pretty impressive.
thirtyonem@reddit
USPS is great. Private companies like FedEx and UPS even use it for last-mile delivery. It generally has better pricing and delivery time compared to private companies, at least for individuals.
TigerUSF@reddit
I can pay a little over half a dollar and make an envelope in my hand be on the other side of the country in a couple days without even leaving my yard. How anyone could say that's bad is baffling.
Like it's not perfect but it's light years better than telecoms and executes its (Constitutionally mandated) mission very well, considering it's actively attacked by Republicans.
cryptoengineer@reddit
It's actually pretty good.
...and it will deliver anywhere in the US. Out west, there are still a couple places where mail is moved by USPS employees on horseback.
Icy-Beat-8895@reddit
It’s a good system. They are very knowledgeable and do their job well. Sometimes I see the mail trucks on Sunday. But what I’m really cherishing is the package delivery services. Top notch! I could order something on Amazon and it comes across the country and is on my doorstep in a few days. It’s one of the things of American exceptionalism that I have never heard talked about. (No, I don’t work in packaged delivery.)
JWC123452099@reddit
I've had a few issues with mail forwarding and a couple of lost packages but nothing like those I've had with private carriers like UPS (decent overall but not as dependable as USPS) and FedEx (god awful, would not recommend to my worst enemy).
flashyzipp@reddit
Ours is good too.
ophaus@reddit
It's a solid service, definitely meets my expectations.
swimminginhumidity@reddit
The normal mail delivery of the USPS is actually pretty good. Normal First Class mail and even Presorted 3rd Class mail is delivery quickly, even if the letter has to go across the entire country. It's package shipping kinda sucks. And it's online tracking for package shipping is fucking terrible.
Epc7165@reddit
I did shipping and receiving for a few years and we offered shipping with usps, fed ex. And ups.
Never had any problems with the post office. Most over seas deliveries were sent out that way because it was so cost effective.
People talk shit about them but the bills always get here monthly. Hahaha
New_Breadfruit8692@reddit
My only comparative experience was the Irish Post and it was way worse than the USPS as bad as that can be. But I can tell you this, I worked at the post office for 89 days in 1986 and they were the worst 89 days of my life, I hated every minute of it, I do not even think I collected my last paycheck when I quit. This was pre direct deposit. I remember back then there was a spate of postal office shootings where men went in with assault rifles and blew a lot of coworkers away and I was always shocked it never happened in the facility I worked in. Why 89 days you wonder? Because you are considered casual in the first three months, on your 90th day (they told me this after 5 pm on my 89th day) you had to show up in a postal uniform and join the union. I said no thanks, I was done.
roughlyround@reddit
I rely on it daily for business shipping. Overall reliable. That said, I always buy insurance and tracking because the US is a very big place and sometimes things happen with the sheer logistics of that many moving pieces.
happy-gofuckyourself@reddit
That it’s bad is just a talking point to privatize it so we will be able to pay more and get worse service
nycKasey@reddit
I order a lot of stuff online and USPS is always consistently better, faster, and more gentle with my packages that UPS, FedEx or DHS
parrotia78@reddit
Reddit thrives in naysayers.
bangbangracer@reddit
It's actually really good. It's the most reliable and cost effective way to move a package or a letter. They also have to service everywhere in the US. One big thing about the US is that its big here. Lots of space between stuff. So much space that there are just dead zones where FedEx and UPS don't deliver.
The big thing is a lot of conservatives think it should be replaced with a private option.
argella1300@reddit
They’re actually pretty great. Especially when you consider they not only deliver USPS mail, but they also often do “last mile” deliveries for FedEx, UPS, Amazon, and to a lesser extent DHL. They’re also the only government agency if I recall that’s given power directly in the US Constitution, which makes funding USPS a tricky proposition (is it public/federal, is it private, or some secret third thing?) and have the only fleet of vehicles and capabilities to get to every household in the United States every day, rain or shine. Also because of their ubiquitous infrastructure, their inspectors are extremely efficient, especially since the Unabomber attacks and anthrax in 2001.
If you’re ever in Washington DC I highly recommend an afternoon at the Postal Museum. Lots of cool exhibits and artifacts, including an old mail train that shows how mail was sorted and delivered cross country before air freight was a thing
TEG24601@reddit
It is the best way to ship domestically and usually the best internationally.
Hi-itsme-@reddit
As a daughter of two retired USPS employees, I can say it has its shortcomings (looking at you, USPS website!) but it provided my family stable jobs and decent enough income and, at least for my parents, great retirement benefits though I know there have been changes sadly. My dad worked for the USPS almost 40 years, started out as a letter carrier and ended his career as a Postal Inspector who travelled the county to help fix underperforming stations, participated in mail fraud investigations, even having to testify a couple of times in court on mail fraud cases. My mom was a letter carrier, she started later in life at the post office.
As far as the service, I rarely have had an issue they couldn’t correct, rarely have had misdelivered items despite many moves, and part of it is becoming familiar with your letter carrier and clerks at your local station. It goes a long way. In my opinion, the website is not great. I have shipped items using USPS to people in Europe and Asia with no issues, packages arrived within expectations. But for those sort of non-routine things, I go to the clerk even though I could have carrier pickup.
From my personal experience ONLY, I rank USPS and UPS about equal on parcels and FedEx last at least in my area for delivery satisfaction. I have literally watched from my window a FedEx driver throw my parcel into my front yard from the van. I have never experienced anything remotely like that with USPS or UPS.
qwerty_ca@reddit
It's ... all right. It's slightly cheaper than it's private competitors, but also slightly slower and slightly more likely to lose packages / damage them. Overall, you get what you pay for basically.
The worst part of the USPS IMO is that in most of the post offices I've been to, the lines tend to be suuuuuper long all day every day (like imagine 45 mins in line just to do a certified mail), and getting appointments for things like passport services takes quite literally months.
drlsoccer08@reddit
I have never had an issue with it.
Beautiful-Owl-3216@reddit
USPS is the only thing related to the government that has improved in the last 50 years. Their service is outstanding. I ship about 500 small packages per month and maybe 1 is lost.
The only complaint I have with USPS is the counter people are sometimes rude but I think that is because they have to answer stupid questions all day and get aggravated.
avelineaurora@reddit
It's the best mail service in the country for me. Literally never once had issues with timing or anything getting lost, and unlike the shitheels at UPS who sit around all weekend they actually get you stuff 7 days of the week. And don't even get me started on FedEx.
My local post office will even send a second run out in the afternoon for stuff that came after the early truck left.
ladyinwaiting123@reddit
The USPS is a lot faster than the Canadian service. It can take a few weeks to get a package to BC from the western states and I think even letters take that long!! We finally figured out that the culprit wasnt the US, but the Canadians!!!
SamDiep@reddit
Ive actually never had any issue with the USPS. Their finances are a shot show but the actual service is good.
CorrectBad2427@reddit
It’s pretty good, never had problems with it
ChampOfTheUniverse@reddit
The USPS is pretty damn good. I had something cool and pricey sent to me and got the Informed Delivery email with a picture of the package scanned into the local distribution center. Was supposed to be delivered the next day but then was “lost”. I called to get some help, ended up getting contacted by a postal police officer over the situation and miraculously my item was found and delivered. Never had that good of follow through with any private carrier.
Bluemonogi@reddit
I have not had a problem sending or receiving my mail in a timely manner.
Remarkable_Story9843@reddit
It varies by location. I live in a capital city of just under 2 million. My mail is a rockstar. My hometown of 6k people is horrible.
Quirky-Camera5124@reddit
i is really quite good.
EatingAllTheLatex4U@reddit
I've been shipped products for 3 years about 20 orders a year. (New business)
Every single issue has been the customer not inputting their address correctly. None were USPS.
burner12077@reddit
I think they are bad.
For most of 2022 I had my paychecks mailed to me weekly (i know it's wierd, not my choice) right around every 2 months ish one would show up 2 weeks late, every 3 months ish they would just lose it. I'm not paycheck to paycheck so it was okay, but it was very annoying because my work would then wait 2 weeks to see if it was late before voiding it and writing a new check, effectively meaning my paycheck would be 3-4 weeks late.
On the other side I occasionally get baby chicks through the mail, and I understand they are the only organization who does this. Never late on that one (otherwise they would hurt the animals)
mrbloagus@reddit
I wonder if you guys ever hear anything good about the US...
Anyway the USPS is very good for its purpose.
Reverse2057@reddit
Let's just say, the cost to ship a parcel to southeast Asia using FedEx and UPS was both in the $50-$100 range and with USPS it was only $12. They get my business at all times if possible.
peoriagrace@reddit
It's actually amazing. It makes money; but other government programs take most of its money, so it won't lose the funding it does get.
Life-Ad1409@reddit
For such a large country it's pretty good, although I've heard that Royal Mail's better
Chuck a box in the mailbox, it gets to the address in a week at most
kmoonster@reddit
The Post Office is a favorite punching bag of the far right for various reasons, and introducing legislation that hampers operations every few years results in renewed complaints they can then point at and use as reasons for further cuts or hampering actions.
They've created a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, and then use that to continue their complaining and attempts to cut.
MainelyKahnt@reddit
The USPS is fantastic. It's likely slower than royal mail for 2 reasons. 1. America is HUGE and very rural compared to Britain. I live in Maine and there are townships near me that don't have a single paved road and have maybe 100 residents for a huge area. And getting a letter from there to say, rural Texas, is a massive undertaking and the fact they can do it for the cost of a stamp shows how effective it is. Reason #2 is: the troglodytes who want to privatize everything (who sadly just won the past election) have been waging war on the USPS by underfunding it and appointing a pro-privatization postmaster general (Dejoy) to aid in undermining it's effectiveness in the hopes that they can do away with the USPS entirely and supplant it with private carriers like UPS or FedEx.
Peter_Murphey@reddit
It’s dependable enough but if you need to really expedite something very quickly, FedEx is better
maxintosh1@reddit
FedEx is the worst of them (except DHL) in my experience. I'd take UPS any day for that.
SJHillman@reddit
There's two FedEx divisions that are, at least to the average consumer, poorly differentiated. FedEx Ground (purple and green logo) and FedEx Express (purple and orange logo). Ground tends to be the cheaper option and the quality reflects it. Express is generally at least on par with UPS, etc.
The average consumer doesn't know or care that they're run differently, use different drivers, different infrastructure, etc. But people who like FedEx are usually more familiar with Express and people who dislike it are more likely to have suffered Ground.
maxintosh1@reddit
Oh I have total nightmares using FedEx Express (the purple one) as well.
Once had a package get all the way to the Atlanta airport on the day it was expected to be delivered, then sent back to the hub in Memphis. Got it like a week late.
Customer service is atrocious as well.
Never any problems with UPS or USPS.
GizmodoDragon92@reddit
If you like the post office and the service it provides, please tell your congressman that. We are absolutely suffering as employees and if you check the subreddit or look into how screwed all 3 of our unions get you will see that we need help if we’re not to be consolidated and privatized
AnybodySeeMyKeys@reddit
Oh, people like to bitch. Me? I drop something in the mail and it arrives 1-3 days later. Easy cheesy.
janky_melon@reddit
In and around Atlanta service is abysmal. Letters are frequently lost and packages are delayed as often as they aren’t.
Within the city things are slow. If you are sending or receiving outside of the metro area be sure to track/insure whatever it is.
Hot_Aside_4637@reddit
What other country's postal service can deliver a letter to the area the size of the U.S. including territories for 73 cents?
Planting4thefuture@reddit
Great at delivering my neighbor’s mail to me. Mine goes who knows where lol
trilobright@reddit
It's fine, certainly no worse than the alternatives, A lot of Americans of a certain political persuasion just feel obligated to complain about anything "the government" does, unless it involves killing people and/or locking them in cages, in which case it can do no wrong.
raginghumpback@reddit
Honestly, their system is so good I forget it’s a government program
Xelikai_Gloom@reddit
It’s great, but people complain because it will take 3-7 days instead of the next day Amazon delivery they hold as the expectation.
63mams@reddit
Well, it took 45 days for a Christmas card to travel 505 miles. I also handed an Easter card to the mail woman in my apartment complex who was picking up outgoing mail. I jokingly mentioned it had a Starbucks card worth a mere $5 inside. Yeah. My daughter never received that card. I hope that woman burned the hell out of her mouth on my daughter’s cup of coffee. Final complaint: my adult children received their Valentine’s Day cards the week before Easter last year. (420 and 1,000 miles respectively)They receive electronic gift cards these days. Our USPS sucks.
ilovethis_shit@reddit
I mailed a card on the 31st of october within the US, it still has not made it to destination.
dnen@reddit
The USPS is a marvel and has been one for centuries now. The USPS delivers to every address in the country 6 days/week regardless of distance or remoteness. This is one of the founding fathers’ great creations we’re talking about here, let’s be honest. The only shit you hear about the USPS are from lugnuts that don’t understand it operates at a loss because its job is to serve the entire public and it does so better than any other government entity arguably. It’s possible you’re also thinking about around 2020 when there was serious concern that the current Postmaster General was trying to sabotage the mail vote for Trump, among other dumb policies DeJoy had.
The USPS is widely respected and appreciated in America
ThickAnybody@reddit
My package has been in transit for 13 days.
I ordered it from a place in Georgia US.
I'm in Vancouver Canada.
It went to Miami Florida for 5 days and then back to Georgia where it sat for 8 days.
It said on Friday it is expected to arrive here Today(Monday) before 1pm.
Last night it updated to being in Puerto Rico.
Still says it's expected to be here by 1pm, but it hasn't updated that it has left the facility in Puerto Rico yet.
It's a joke lol
brookish@reddit
I think it’s actually incredibly good and just short of miraculous! Amazing considering who is somehow still in charge of it.
Prestigious_Pack4680@reddit
It’s a myth that USPS service is somehow bad. We have the most reliable and inexpensive mail service in the world. USPS is some sort of “business disaster“ is just right wing propaganda trying to delegitimize government. Indeed the USPS is government (not a business) and the service it provides is mandated by the constitution. Any real reduction in service seeing in the past decade has been due to the sabotage by the MAGA oligarch Louis DeJoy it his attempt to increase the value of his XPS stock and Amazon futures.
Thereelgerg@reddit
No it's not. The Constitution gives Congress the power to create a postal service. It doesn't require that a postal service exist or mandate that it provides any specific service.
Prestigious_Pack4680@reddit
English speakers who understand context and history understand that it is a mandate. Isn’t it funny how “original intent” is used to justify or delegitimize anything one wants.
Thereelgerg@reddit
What service does the Constitution mandate the postal service provide.
I disagree with your premise. The fact that the Constitution doesn't mandate that the post office provide a certain service doesn't make anything illegitimate.
The 2nd Amendment doesn't authorize anything.
Prestigious_Pack4680@reddit
A postal service, a well defined institution which has been a feature of governments since the early Persian Empire. Your questioning the color of the sky is a disingenuous dodge,
Circular blather.
English again. Come back when you finish you ESL course. You might try a course in Critical Thinking while you are at it.
Thereelgerg@reddit
The Constitution grants Congress the power to create a postal service in the same manner that it grants Congress the power to declare war or borrow money. Those things are not mandated.
Have you ever read the 2nd Amendment? It doesn't authorize anything, it recognizes a right of the people.
Prestigious_Pack4680@reddit
No. Simply No. Again you arue that the sky isn’t blue. Language has rules of context, both textually and situationally. Deliberately ignoring them is disingenuous and arguing in bad faith.
Of course I have. I am sure you have read it too, but with little understanding. In English, the predicate clause sets the context for the sentence. In the second amendment, the predicate clause is about militias. Do I have to call the MODs in? Are you going to continue to break rule #1?
MusicalMerlin1973@reddit
Well, I’ll say this:
USPS generally goes by once a day. FedEx and ups usually once a day, unless they have a pickup in the morning which is rare in residential area.
Mobile blue bezos polluting machines? lol. I see multiple go up and down my road. Every. Day. Heck, I’ve seen two parked on opposite sides of the roof both doing deliveries. Right. Across. From. Each. Other. The efficiency astounds me.
Striking_Computer834@reddit
It's highly dependent on your local post office. This is my typical week with the USPS:
I put an outgoing piece of mail in my mailbox Monday morning. Monday evening I get home from work to find the day's mail piled on top of my outgoing mail. No biggy. The mailman probably just didn't see it. Next day, same thing. Wednesday, same thing. Contact the USPS, which files a "service request," and tells me someone from my local post office will contact me about my issue. Monday morning I receive an email from USPS notifying me that my service request has been closed and asking me to fill out a survey. Outgoing mail is still in my mailbox. Mailman is still piling new mail on top of it every single day.
OolongGeer@reddit
They're amazing.
I have never heard different...at least, not from anyone who isn't an ignoramus.
CaptainPunisher@reddit
OP, you have your answer, but because it's a federal government entity, there are some SERIOUS legal ramifications for anyone committing a crime to or through the mail. Crimes TO the mail include tampering with it, stealing it, or preventing delivery. Crimes THROUGH the mail are things like fraud and threats. It may sound silly, but there's a postal crime division, and they take their jobs very seriously. If you see their vehicles, somebody is in deep shit for a federal crime. This isn't like getting arrested for stealing stuff from Target or getting into a fight at a bar.
Skamandrios@reddit
I never have any issue with the USPS.
Ornery-Philosophy282@reddit
Great for basic mail. It can get a little iffy with larger parcels.
notreallylucy@reddit
The USPS gets a lot of political crap for not turning a profit. It's a public service. It doesn't need to turn a profit. The reason it doesn't turn a profit is that they're required to have the funds on hand for all employee pensions. Other agencies aren't required to do this, they pay pensions out of their ongoing operational costs.
One of the frustrations I've had with the USPS is the tracking wasn't as good as UPS or FedEx. However, in the last decade or so, USPS tracking has gotten much better, and UPS and FedEx tracking have gotten worse. So they're all about the same now, just USPS is cheaper.
burnsbabe@reddit
USPS is great. It used to be better before certain people in government insisted on it hyper-saving for pensions that won't need paying out for decades as well as insisting that it needs to turn a profit as if it were a business instead of a government service.
kproxurworld@reddit
The USPS is great. It’s extremely reliable and is by far the cheapest shipping option. The problem started in the 90s when people decided the government should be run like a business with the aim of making a profit and not as a service provider at subsidized rates. Now “USPS doesn’t make money” is used to attack the post office when making money was never the point of it.
deebville86ed@reddit
I have never had a bad experience with USPS. You can't really ask for much more when it comes to a federal postal service. You're far more likely to have problems with FedEx or UPS.
moneyman74@reddit
I've never had huge issues with USPS, but its always a good joke about how bad they are. I'm sure there are many terrible outlying stories.
spitfire451@reddit
It's not bad. It's amazing, especially for the price. For less than a dollar you can send a letter 4500 miles from Key West to Little Diomede. How much would a private company cost to do that?
tracygee@reddit
Until about a decade or so ago, the U.S. Postal Service was unbelievably good.
Then they were required by the government to fund their pensions for 70+ years in advance (ridiculous — no one does this), and it caused a massive budgetary problems and they began closing down many post offices, raising prices, and in general quality went down some.
It’s still okay, just not as good as it used to be.
Ikillwhatieat@reddit
DHL is the only thing better, honestly, and it is far pricier. Unless you're shipping live animals cross-country, in which case i would advise air cargo with southwest.
Mysteryman64@reddit
Honestly, USPS is probably my favorite carrier.
FedEx is always fucking late. UPS is expensive as hell and has a nasty habit of crushing and breaking things. I'd take USPS over private carriers any day of the week.
severencir@reddit
All i've heard negative about it is when it's referred to as snail mail when contrasted eith e-mail. My personal experience with it is mostly great as a customer and very entertained as a contractor
lwadz88@reddit
I actually like the USPS. I use them when I can although for small packages they tend to be overpriced. Want to send a letter with tracking $6 lol
bigsystem1@reddit
USPS is good. Anyone talking shit about it probably just has no idea what they’re talking about.
michelle427@reddit
It’s not. I’ve never had an issue with it. The GW Bush administration wanted to destroy it and made it have money to in its budget to pay people who weren’t hired yet.
They wanted private companies to take care of the mail.
houndsoflu@reddit
It’s actually very good, despite how much they are trying to gut it.
NYIsles55@reddit
For me, USPS is the best of the three of them (USPS, UPS, and FedEx). It's fast, cheap, and reliable. USPS comes around the same time each day. With UPS and FedEx by me they tell me a huge range of when they'll come, and then still usually come after that time range. I've also had both of them leave me the "you missed us" note on the door, despite staying downstairs from 8 am to 10 pm waiting for them. I've also had UPS just leave my new $2000 laptop outside at 9 pm, without asking for the signature required, despite me being downstairs all day too.
rolyfuckingdiscopoly@reddit
It’s excellent. I used to do shipping for little local businesses, and USPS was the most reliable by far.
cwsjr2323@reddit
I have shipped hundreds of times via first class and priority mail for decades. Nothing lost, everything arrives safe and on time. It is also a lot cheaper than FedEx or UPS.
WinterBourne25@reddit
In addition to it being fairly reliable and cheap to send a standard letter, it is a major federal offense when you break the law and it involves the mail. That's what makes it so reliable.
NSFAnythingAtAll@reddit
Considering the sheer size of the US (especially as compared to a place like the UK) and the number of parcels it sees, the USPS is incredibly efficient.
nvkylebrown@reddit
The biggest problem is their toleration/encouragement of junk mail.
0le_Hickory@reddit
For less than a cost of can of Coke 30 years ago, you can mail a letter from Guam to Puerto Rico in less than a week. Pretty fucking amazing.
Sanguiniutron@reddit
It's perfectly fine. It does what it's advertised to quickly. Does some stuff get lost or delayed? Of course, nothing is perfect. The one problem I've had with it wasn't even their fault. My rent check was late because we were almost completely surrounded by wild fires.
kurtplatinum@reddit
Cheap and reliable way to send a package.
marklikeadawg@reddit
Pretty good organization in my part of the US. No complaints at all.
newton302@reddit
The only problem I notice with the USPS is that the actual post offices seem to be understaffed. Otherwise I've never had a problem sending or receiving mail.
Sea-End-4841@reddit
Well for seventy three cents you can mail a letter from the farthest point in Alaska to Key West. It will get there. Not a bad deal.
Apprehensive-Pin518@reddit
Honestly it's not bad at all. americans are just entitled mooks with no patience. A lost package here or there but the biggest issue is a lack of funding which is all the fault of the orange cheetoh that they just elected into office again.
cvilledood@reddit
In my area - Charlottesville, Virginia - it is awful.
Our nearest sorting facility is in Richmond, about 75 miles away. If I send a letter to my neighbor, it goes to the local post office, travels down the interstate, sits in the postal equivalent of a doctor’s waiting room, and gets delivered to me within 5 days of sending at best, but as many as 4-6 weeks later. No joke. I’ve had critical business documents sent to me via USPS from across town, which arrived weeks after they were no longer relevant.
TheKingofSwing89@reddit
It’s not bad at all tbh. It’s pretty damn good for what you pay.
ivandoesnot@reddit
USPS isn't getting better. They DO have a lot of good, older, professional -- above and beyond -- letter carriers, but too many of the younger ones seem to be completely incompetent, lazy, etc. Needless to say, the good ones tend to serve/be assigned to the wealthier areas.
Current_Poster@reddit
Despite what's been done with it, it's very efficient and I've never straight-up had a package lost or stolen like I have with shipping services.
soyboydom@reddit
Having lived in the UK, my personal experience with Royal Mail has been miles below the service I’m used to with USPS. People complaining about USPS have never received a letter from their hospital detailing their upcoming appointment a week after the deadline given to request a different date.
CleverGirlRawr@reddit
I literally never have any problems with it.
No_Profit_415@reddit
USPS is pretty good.
dtb1987@reddit
It isn't bad, it's actually pretty great. It's affordable, reliable and one of our oldest institutions.
TorturedChaos@reddit
For reference I run a small business that does a low to medium volume of shipping and mailing. Mostly parcel post incoming and letter mail outgoing. We also do bulk mailing and interact with the business mailing dept of our post office quite off. Guy who runs that is awesome!
IMO they are fine. Not significantly worse than UPS or FedEx nor significantly better. Somewhat depends on the drivers and who you interact with.
I have never had what I would call an amazing USPS driver, but I have had several bad ones.
I do find that the postal workers at our local post office just don't care. They have thoroughly given into apathy. And many levels of the post office have similar apathy. A similar issue I see with government clerks. They have been yelled at so many times they just don't care anymore.
I do know when we send out our billing each month we mail out around 200 invoices. Without fail a few to a half dozen get kicked back to us with each mailing. About half the time when we call the customer nothing has changed with their address. USPS drivers just failed to deliver it.
I also find USPS rules around mailing to be rather arbitrary at times. Like you can't bulk mail invoices unless you send them first class (which need 500 items to bulk mail first class, and its more expensive). Why? No return service built in. But they don't give you the option to decide if you want that or not. Their bulk mailing forms make me feel like I'm filing my taxes every time I had to hand fill one out. (Thank goodness you can do them online now).
Overall I would give them a C grade compared to UPS and FedEx. They get the job done and meet the technicality of what they promise, but nothing more.
Writes4Living@reddit
My personal experience at my home is, its awful. I think its my home though. The entire neighborhood mailboxes are in one spot and the mail person doesn't pay attention to house number. My neighbor could and does get my mail. I get mail for others in the neighborhood that are nowhere near me.
My experience prior to living here it was pretty good.
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
The USPS itself is pretty good, all things considered. Individual branches, however. . .experiences may vary on that one. For example, my current branch is fantastic, but the branch I came from would literally slam the door in your face right at closing time, never bothered to attempt to deliver packages (the carrier would look you dead-ass in the eye while slapping the "sorry we missed you" stick to your front door), maybe had one person actually working customer service if you were lucky, etc.
JoeCensored@reddit
Not bad at all
CrimsonBolt33@reddit
The USPS is so good that companies like Amazon use it when something needs delivered to a place they don't service or don't have enough bulk shipments to make...enough said.
alkatori@reddit
USPS is amazing actually.
pretzie_325@reddit
It's not bad at all. I'm 38 and never experienced issues. Mail sends pretty quickly around our giant country.
No_Bad2428@reddit
I lived rural first half of my life. Urban the second half. Rural mail carriers are great. In the city where they have to cram mail in those big lock boxes at the end of the street, they do not give a shit.
I can't count how many times I have hand delivered mail to one of my neighbors because it was in my box. No one has ever hand delivered mail to my house which makes me think my mail goes in the trash when it doesn't make it to my mailbox.
2manyfelines@reddit
It's been gutted by the GOP
Hamster_S_Thompson@reddit
They have been under attack from corporate stooges for years. They have to recognize costs no other carriers do, can't raise prices, yet still deliver mail to bumfuck nowhere
JulesChenier@reddit
For a country the size of the US, it is a very efficient service. There just happens to be a lot of locations in the US that aren't near large cities or major highways. Those particular areas the service is definitely, slower.
AlivePatient7226@reddit
USPS isn’t allowed to look through your stuff so it’s popular in that regard too.
imperial1968@reddit
I don't have any complaints
silverwolfe@reddit
The USPS is wonderful. It's an incredibly reliable mail service that delivers to everyone everywhere, which, if you are familiar with the scale and geography of the US, is incredibly impressive. They only lose money because they were forced into an unfair situation to make them seem inefficient on a financial ledger so that they are easier to justify trying to privatize the mail delivery system in the United States. Similar to how politicians in the UK want to privatize the NHS.
SteveArnoldHorshak@reddit
The USPS is great. The people who work there are very kind. Things get delivered fast. And despite all the smack talk that you hear I’ve never actually experienced the loss of any mail firsthand. I think the complainers are just the people who like to paint every aspect of government with a broad ugly stroke because they want to discredit government and make it easier to destroy.
Novapunk8675309@reddit
The United States postal services (USPS) is actually good. I’ve never had a lost letter or package, everything delivered within a day or two, all around incredibly cheap and reliable. Now United Parcel Service (UPS) is trash, I hate them, same with fedex. Those two delay my packages a lot.
CVK327@reddit
USPS is honestly incredible. I'm not sure who's talking smack on it. Honestly, all the major carriers in the States are great. USPS phone support isn't very good, but there's at least one post office you can go to in every town if you need.
TheSheWhoSaidThats@reddit
Big fan - idk what ur talkin about
Neekovo@reddit
Riffing on the USPS is a long time American tradition, but it really ramped up in the 90s with the Seinfeld show. Larry David’s mom wanted him to be a mailman, so the Seinfeld show made a lot of jokes about the USPS.
Not everything is about trump
nsfwuseraccnt@reddit
It's pretty good really. At least in my area. That may or may not be the case elsewhere.
TrillyMike@reddit
Rain, hail, sleet or snow!
flootytootybri@reddit
USPS is quite amazing actually. The only time it gets a little hairy is between Black Friday and Christmas but they handle the sheer volume of packages extremely well. Literally all the mail people I’ve met care about their job (except for ones that do passports lol) it’s awesome
Rogue_Cheeks98@reddit
It's actually really good. The only one that more people view as favorable is the park service.
source
RoyalInsurance594@reddit
The oligarchs don't like it.
mkhlyz@reddit
Lived in both countries. USPS is probably better than Royal Mail.
mykepagan@reddit
Charles Stross (British author) made the USPS postal inspectors the heroes in one of his books, which is fun because he generally makes anything American out to be a villain or at least deeply sinister.
AnUdderDay@reddit
Some may think the USPS is bad, but at least their counter aches POS software works
PlanMagnet38@reddit
I think ours is pretty great! The mail comes on time, we know our carrier by name and he brings biscuits for the dog. No complaints!
stangAce20@reddit
Its actually ok, i dont think its any worse than the major shipping companies like fedex or ups and its often cheaper than them too
Bad_RabbitS@reddit
The USPS will get your mail to you come hell or high water, it might not be as fast as UPS or FedEx but it’s damn reliable
KindAwareness3073@reddit
It's remarkably good. Most of the bad talk is just people who didn't really mail the check using it as an excuse.
Griffemon@reddit
In my experience USPS is the best mail service in the US. I’ve often gotten packages ahead of schedule from them.
Miserable-Sir-8520@reddit
As a Brit living in the US, USPS is far, far superior to Royal Mail. Faster shipping, more frequent deliveries, more services available in store
47-30-23N_122-0-22W@reddit
It's a shell of its former self. Deliveries take much longer than they did a decade ago. All tracking is good for is watching packages bounce back and forth a few times from distribution center to center before they inevitably figure out the local packages should go to the local post offices instead of halfway back across the country for lord knows what.
sethmidwest@reddit
The only time it takes USPS a little longer than normal is if I'm sending or receiving mail from outside of North America, and even then it's usually only a few extra days which might be what contributes to what you've heard but generally it's pretty solid - except for packages from Asia for some reason.
-dag-@reddit
It's a goddamned miracle.
grayMotley@reddit
It's actually pretty good. Delivers 7 days a week. Meets its delivery schedule for what you pay for.
Shakezula84@reddit
It's not that the USPS as a service is slow, but dealing with a USPS office is slow. They are always busy because of how many packages people are sending and the budget constraints they face. The goal is for them to be self sufficient, and while Congress usually passes spending bills to make up the difference, they aren't allowed to assume they will.
lilapense@reddit
99.9% of the time it's flawless. Most compliments are by tiny minority of people who have a horrible issue, or who rarely use the lost office and want to complain about their taxes.
And I say this as someone who has repeatedly had horrible issues with the post office
Nodeal_reddit@reddit
USPS has gotten WAY better in the last 10-15 years. I have absolutely zero complaints.
Odd-Help-4293@reddit
It's gotten a little slower in the last few years. But it's still fairly reliable and very cheap.
blessings-of-rathma@reddit
It's good. Better and more reliable than any of the commercial services, and underfunded by politicians who are being sucked off by CEOs.
ResidentWonderful640@reddit
As long as everything's gone right, at it almost always does, USPS is very good.
When something goes wrong though, they usually make a real mess of it. It's like they don't have any real processes for correcting errors, so when there is one no one can do anything about it.
schmelk1000@reddit
I love the USPS. I’ve got friends in Poland I mail things to yearly, from the USPS, my packages range from $40-$80. I once went to the UPS to try and mail a package there and it would’ve cost me around $220. Never again!
MayorOfVenice@reddit
In my entire life, I've never had a major complaint about the USPS. They're overworked and underpaid, shit on by a lot of politicians, have to work in all the inclement weather, and most of what they do is being replaced by electronic alternatives. But when you need them... thank god they're there and thank god they're as good as they are.
castlebanks@reddit
The USPS is very good at what it does. Where did you hear otherwise?
silasgoldeanII@reddit
Royal Mail is dreadful and a shadow of its old self.
Lupiefighter@reddit
You may have heard about the issues that the USPS was dealing with during the pandemic. The Trump administration also made some cuts to the USPS budget so it wasn’t fully prepared for what would be required during the pandemic. The Amazon load in particular was a huge weight on the USPS at the time. More people were also getting medications through the mail, so the USPS pandemic issues made headlines. A lot of those online complaints have painted a picture of inefficiency in the system as a whole. The USPS still isn’t perfect, but it is pretty remarkable how efficient they typically are. It’s unfortunate that a rough year put a mark on the USPS as a whole.
Aggravating_Bend_622@reddit
I've lived in both the US and UK and I find USPS pretty good and in fact a little bit better than Royal Mail which has gone a little downhill since the privatization.
TipsyBaker_@reddit
It's not bad. A generic, cheap stamp letter gets across the country from my small town in about 3 days. Not bad for 73 cents, plus the D&D stamps are fun
eustaciasgarden@reddit
I prefer usps over royal mail. I live in the EU with family in US and UK. US mail is usually reliable and takes about the same about if time. UK can arrive anytime from 2 days later to 6 weeks
DontBuyAHorse@reddit
USPS is fantastic, even with certain politicians trying their best to hamstring them at every turn. I love my mail carriers, I appreciate the hard work they do, and USPS is more reliable and less expensive than the private competitors the vast majority of the time.
reasonarebel@reddit
Where I live, it's fine. I really like my mail carrier. The only problem we have in our area is mail theft. But that's not on them.
Unusual_Soup@reddit
Mailman here, I like to think we generally do a good job. Most issues regarding mail delivery are usually due to understaffing. We are having trouble hiring and retaining employees these days, especially in high cost of living areas.
RatTailDale@reddit
the USPS's services are good but the buildings and workers at the counter are often a different story
nasadowsk@reddit
I'm on a rural route, and the mail woman, and the local Post Office (tm) are really good. No issues with either.
Apparently, the pervious owner of my property used to give the mail woman a "special package" in the barn from time to time. Cleaning out the barn before it's getting thermally reduced, we found an old futon. Ick...
runninganddrinking@reddit
It’s good. You can get mail less than 24 hours at times.
Pewterbreath@reddit
It's---quite good really. Thing is you'll only hear people complain about it because folks won't go online and talk about how they got their stuff reasonably on time. But considering how HUGE America is, and how they're able to move things from coast to coast for a minimal cost, and have been able to for more than a century, like that's an accomplishment.
RespectableBloke69@reddit
I've never had a single problem with USPS. They also have "if it fits it ships" boxes that in my experience are the cheapest way to send almost anything.
The anti-USPS sentiment you hear is likely corporate propaganda from forces that have been dreaming about gutting and privatizing the USPS for decades. It's really important to train yourself to recognize this propaganda. You will recognize this same kind of propaganda used against the NHS in Britain.
insertkarma2theleft@reddit
Really good. I ship things semi regularly and I'm always mildly surprised at how fast they get there. Rates are wicked reasonable too
cdb03b@reddit
Not at all. USPS is one of the most reliable way to send mail. Its only draw back is that it is often slower than other options.
frydawg@reddit
Tbh I’ve rarely heard people get angry at usps
madogvelkor@reddit
I think they're great, I often use them even if the private alternatives are a bit cheaper. They're just easier to use and more convenient.
WolverineHour1006@reddit
The USPS is amazing. For 73 cents I can reliably send something anywhere in the country and it will get there in 2-3 days? And it’s HIGHLY illegal for anyone else to mess with my stuff? That’s nothing short of a miracle. In my experience, those who talk smack about it tend be towing a “government bad, privatization good” line, and think it’s supposed to turn a profit rather than simply provide a vital government service.
Goddamnpassword@reddit
You can send a letter or package to essentially anywhere in the US and have it there is 5 days. Which includes places like the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which is a 9 mile hike and the mail is delivered on Mules.
Any_Flamingo8978@reddit
I think USPS is great. I think for a while they got nicknamed snail-mail, but that was just relative to the immediate nature of email.
DaCrowHunter@reddit
Depends on your mail courier and how much they care. Most of the time, it's pretty solid, but occasionally, you get turds like you do in any field of work.
I haven't heard good things from those that have worked it though.
WheezyGonzalez@reddit
It is just fine. Mail makes it on time to where it needs to go, even when sending to the opposite coast
mtcwby@reddit
I've had really mixed luck and the lack of organization at our local post office is just bad. Back when we did first class business correspondence we'd hand carry it down to non-local post offices because they'd lose it quite often and we'd also seed it with known addresses.
The last time I had a package they carrier left the note saying it needed to be picked up at the post office so I waited in line and then watched the firedrill as they spent the next 45 minutes trying to find it. Apparently they don't organize by where a package is going so they were literally searching the post office for it. Never did find it and then decided that it must be on the truck for delivery. Eventually it was delivered but compared to UPS or even Fedex, it is not organized in the slightest.
Parking_Low248@reddit
Honestly it's pretty good. We are a massive country, people spread out all over, and they manage to get things where they need to be.
The problem is, they are a government service with the budget to match. People look at Amazon, a capitalist behemoth, which happens to be generally faster than USPS when they're doing their own deliveries, and then people get mad when USPS is slower.
I live in a rural area where Amazon deliveries kind of suck and I've had to track down more misplaced FedEx packages than I can keep track of. USPS is great.
SteveCastGames@reddit
It’s works quite well and is a miracle considering how cheap it is and how much land they have to cover. It’s robust enough that even when I was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the pacific I could still receive and send mail at the same flat rate as anywhere else in the country.
meldanell@reddit
Here in Houston, Texas it is horrible.
prettyjupiter@reddit
I have a better time with USPS than fedex or UPS so
Jonny_Zuhalter@reddit
Never had a problem.
The only thing I dislike about USPS is all the bulk-rate junk mail the postal workers are required to put in our mailboxes. Most of my delivered mail ends up being tossed right into the garbage. I would gladly pay the USPS a monthly subscription of a few dollars per month NOT to deliver that stuff to me but that won't ever happen, bulk-rate junk mail helps keep postal rates affordable.
TheBitchTornado@reddit
As reliable as they typically are, if something does go wrong, then it takes an unnecessary amount of time to fix it. Aren't able to go to the post office so you decide to call? Good luck finding the right number and good luck getting to a person. Their main number (the number they always make you default to) is run by a half broken AI and the number of hoops you have to jump through to find the right number and then get to a person is insane. The average time for a phone call is 40 minutes to resolve something relatively minor. They also sometimes misread the label so even if you already returned a package to the post office and handed it over to a clerk, chances are you'll have to repeat that action several times before their scanning system actually does the return to sender. It's frustrating and infuriating.
John_Philips@reddit
USPS is pretty good in my experience! Never really had any issues
UPS is horrendous though. I’ve had multiple things not delivered saying I wasn’t there when I was by the door all day and I’ve had packages stolen when I was in an apartment because they left them outside the building by an alley in the rain in a sketchy area instead of giving it to the leasing office like I asked
ScatterTheReeds@reddit
I think it’s one of the most reliable government services. That’s been my experience, anyway.
moemoe8652@reddit
Now you might’ve heard smack about the post office. They’re, for some reason, grumpy lol. My mail carriers?? Nicest freakin people.
Crepes_for_days3000@reddit
Not bad at all.
GodzillaDrinks@reddit
The USPS is remarkable and works extremely well. The trash talk is from the far-right who don't believe the federal government should provide any services, and they managed to grift idiots by pointing out that the USPS can't turn a profit. Only it's not supposed to turn a profit, of course. Its a service we actively agree to pay for.
This would be like expecting the local Library or Fire Department to turn a profit. Which in a cool historical note is absolutely something we've done before - and it went disastrously badly.
nskaats@reddit
It depends on location. Some have good experiences, but it's not the norm. The biggest issue are in larger cities.
Running a business, you'll cringe any time a vendor ships anything via USPS. If you get the package at all, it's been routed the longest possible way and gone back and forth a dozen times. I have one vendor that's about 115 miles from me. UPS or even FedEx can get the package to me next day every single time. USPS is 6-8 days... if it shows up at all.
MissFabulina@reddit
It used to be absolutely, staggeringly, amazing. You could get a piece of mail or a package across this massive country in a few days. Even if the sender and/or receiver lived in the middle of nowhere! It was reliable and reasonably priced.
Since the orange despot was originally in power and put the current postmaster general in place (during his original reign - 2016-2020), it is bad. You do not know if your mail will even get to its final destination. If it does, it will have cost a lot more to do it. If it doesn't, good luck getting your money back. The price to send anything has soared. If you want to send a package to someone in a small town or a rural location - they might not even agree to accept/send it. I was shocked when I tried to send my mother some perfume (she lives in a small town and the answer was "tough luck"). Now, if I have a package to send somewhere - I use UPS or FedEx. I know it will get there or...if something does happen, I will be reimbursed for the value of what I sent.
I also used to get mail delivered daily. Now, it is a couple of times a week. It seems like they have stopped daily service and have gone to every few days.
So, we are paying more for a lot less these days. All thanks to a decision made by a previous president that is permanent (Biden couldn't get rid of the postmaster general...and he wouldn't quit). I didn't think a discussion of the US mail would be political, but it is!
link2edition@reddit
Its pretty good. But some of its private competitors are better. Still hard to beat USPS on price.
If you want to dunk on US mail in the US you talk about Fed-Ex. All of my bad experiences have been Fed-Ex.
Leinad0411@reddit
It’s not. I’m generally pretty critical of anything government or quasi-government run, but the USPS works pretty well.
Top-Comfortable-4789@reddit
It’s alright. I wouldn’t say it’s slow but the prices can be pretty steep to ship things, even within the US.
MyUsername2459@reddit
The USPS isn't bad at all. It's a pretty good service.
Yeah, people complain, but people complain about everything. I'd rather send a package through the postal service than through UPS or FedEx.
Takadant@reddit
Their leader de joy is an evil scumm bag trying to privatize. Workers are brilliant but need better contracts. +Amazon trying to kill em w free shipping
Zama202@reddit
It’s good, but the 1st trump administration installed a postmaster general who is bent on destroying the USPS from within, towards the ultimate goal of privatization.
theniwokesoftly@reddit
I’ve very rarely had an issue. Actually I had a package from the UK go missing a couple weeks ago. A replacement was sent one week ago and I’m crossing my fingers hard.
FedEx though- there’s a big yarn distributor in Denmark called Hobbii, and they ship with fedex in soft plastic packages and when I lived in Colorado I twice had packages from them that were torn open. One arrived with a gaping hole and one item missing. Another arrived looking like it had torn entirely in half, it was retaped but six of the seven items I ordered were not there.
Weightmonster@reddit
Actually USPS consistently gets high marks. I believe I read somewhere it’s the highest rated government agency.
With a country as big as the US with cost cutting, there are going to be f-ups.
Most of the negative things are from the mail carriers themselves, long hours, no air conditioning in trucks, reduced benefits, etc
PersonalitySmall593@reddit
As a whole it's not bad... but you will find places that are poorly run or staffed.
bjb13@reddit
I’m surprised you’d say the Royal Mail is regarded as fairly good for its purpose given the number of Brit’s I see complaining about it on Reddit. As I understand it, the Royal Mail has been privatized and the service has dropped tremendously. Especially when it comes to offices being open and items not being delivered on time.
The USPS offices are open a very good number of hours and does a very good job of delivering packages and mail over a huge area.
GaryJM@reddit
Yes, Royal Mail were privatised back in 2013, though the Post Office remains a state-owned company. Royal Mail are also not doing too well and they were fined by the communications regulator last year for failing to reach their delivery targets. They are in the unenviable position of being a private company but still being required to provide a universal post system, where a letter can be sent anywhere in the country for the same price. They are also having to adjust to the volume of post being sent halving since 2011 and the volume of parcels greatly increasing. OP rating them as "fairly good" is quite generous, I'd say.
The Post Office are also struggling here. As you said, there are far fewer post offices open than there used to be. My local area didn't have one at all for a while and our local councillor campaigned to get someone to open one. The Post Office are also involved in a big scandal where they prosecuted hundreds of their own postmasters for theft and it later turned out that these "thefts" were really due to bugs in the Post Office's IT system.
bjb13@reddit
I’m fortunate that the town where I stay in Scotland for part of the year has the post office in the chemists and when it is open, the post office is also open.
In the US every small town has a post office. There are 6 or 7 post offices in about a 6 mile radius of where I live which seems excessive. The USPS has talked about closing some post offices but it hasn’t so far.
pizza_for_nunchucks@reddit
Your phrasing of the question is less than stellar or optimal.
The USPS is quite good. Pick the most remote location in the United States or any of its territories, and they deliver there. The mountains of Alaska or the island of Guam - they deliver. (This is what they use to deliver mail in Yellowstone. And they use mules in the Grand Canyon.) This is refered to as the "last mile". And that's why it's very common for other services like UPS, FedEx or Amazon to hand-off to the USPS for the last leg of the delivery. And the price is the same (or varies very little) for letters and small packages whether you're sending somethimg from New York to Los Angeles or to your grandma across town.
This is anecdotal. One of my hobbies isn't very accessible locally - mostly online. So I send and recieve packages fairly often - more than pretty much anyboyd else I know. The USPS delivers ahead of schedule like 90% of the time. Their email notifcation of tracking is better than UPS and FedEx, at least in my experience and opinion.
And furthermore, they have a pretty good union. Relatively speaking, they get pretty good benefits. I've lived in the same place for about 13 years now. The people working the front desk at my local post office have been the same people. And this is a suburb with about 90k people in a a metro area wiht a couple million. There's no shortage of jobs or employees. The local grocery store turns over employees every 6 months or so.
There are multiple reasons you hear about how bad they are. Part of it is that people are way more likely to complain when things go wrong. Considering the volume of parcels they handle, there are A LOT of complaints out there even though there is a fraction of a decimal of complaints versus happy customers. And politics play into it. There are a lot of people that don't like anything run by the goevernment - they will never be happy with any government run agency no matter what. And it does come up fairly often that the USPS is broke. The defininion of "broke" here is a bit skewed. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006 mandate requires the USPS to prefund its retiree health care benefits 75 years in advance. It's fantastic for workers, but a bookkeeping and accounting nightmare.
created5658@reddit (OP)
Sorry if I caused you any offence with my wording of the question. I was basing it off of my very very limited knowledge and a few others (obviously not shared) experiences.
I was purely seeing if the USPS was as bad as I’ve heard, and from what I’ve heard in this post, it’s much better than people make it out to be.
anneofgraygardens@reddit
like other people have said, the USPS is good. It's fast, cheap, and generally reliable.
However, going to the post office can be an enormous pain. I feel like sometimes the employees at the post office are intentionally going as slowly as possible.
sundial11sxm@reddit
It was great until about 2 years ago. My state is having real issues now.
1979tlaw@reddit
I guess where I’m at is outlier for USPS. I was a huge USPS fan before Trumps first term. It was cheap and freaking fast. I could get package from Florida to Missouri or California to Missouri’s in two days just shipping regular mail. It was great.
It started to go downhill for me during Trumps first term. First by changes he made then at the end of his term Covid just killed it for me.
Now I get packages that reach St. Louis and then go to Texas, Tennessee and once Maine before coming back to St. Louis. Resulting in week and a half shipment times. I’ve had package sit at the local office for a week before being delivered. Heck last month they didn’t even deliver our mail for two days because they don’t have enough workers and people got sick.
I’ve switched to paying more and using UPS and FedEx. I hate it. Would rather use USPS but their track record since 2020 for me is atrocious.
Remarkable_Fun7662@reddit
I don't remember ever having a problem.
They can be a bit surly at times.
SmellGestapo@reddit
The US Postal Service dwarfs any other in the world in terms of number of addresses served (167 million) and number of mail pieces delivered (116.2 billion, or 44% of the world's total).
USPS (72%) routinely ranks among the most loved and respected institutions in America, along with the National Park Service (76%) and NASA (67%).
I only ship or mail through USPS if I have a choice, because it's always cheaper than the private couriers and in my life they have rarely lost or even delayed a parcel.
I'm frequently amazed at how quickly my packages or letters arrive, even when going across the country or internationally.
OneleggedPeter@reddit
I live in rural New Mexico (yes, it's a state in the USA). Our mail is pretty good and reliable. It sometimes takes an extra day to get here.
DependentSun2683@reddit
The US has world class shipping. Its not perfect but last I checked Jesus was a carpenter not a delivery driver.
lovejac93@reddit
It’s fantastic. They seem to be able to deliver anything anywhere.
raexlouise13@reddit
USPS is incredible. I’m very grateful for them 💌
zestzebra@reddit
Not sure what "slow" or "bad" means from your persecutive. The USPS is still embroiled in politics. There are many who would like it to be privatized. The wish of corporations who have great influence in the nation's capital and the Post Master General, DeJoy, reflects that fact. Though, consider this, mail a letter from New York City to San Francisco. It will cost you .74 cents, The distance by air is about 2,600 miles. On average, It will take about three or four days to complete the transaction.
Now, about the Royal Mail. As I recall, there was a massive scandal involving sub-postmasters, faulty software and the Royal Mail, leading the over 900 sub-postmasters being prosecuted for theft of Royal Mail funds. Prosecutions that are still being addressed as wrongful. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56718036
fishonthemoon@reddit
I have never had an issue with it. They’ve always been reliable.
My father in law worked for them for several decades and now has a nice pension (not sure how this will be for current or future employees though).
Our local USPS has started to send out mail carriers in air conditioned vehicles so that’s nice for them especially since we live in a hot climate.
Key-Candle8141@reddit
Seems it can be very different depending on location
Where I live now I think they might deliver every other day but thats just a guess base on how much they cram in the box
Then theres stuff like packages that need to be signed for... stuffed in the box
On the upside tho I dont think we ever had porch pirates make off with our stuff so... 🤷♀️
warrenjt@reddit
I’m biased as the son of a postal retiree, but honestly, it’s incredible. Yeah, we’ve all had problems with it at some point. But the fact that you can get something delivered 3000+ miles away in the span of two days for a paltry sum is nothing short of miraculous.
The biggest issue is that the federal government doesn’t know what to do with it. One of the rules on it is that it has to be self-sustaining. No taxpayer dollars go toward funding the postal service, with the nitpicky exception of land to build the buildings. However, there are also federal rules on how much they can increase charges for the service (I believe tied to a percentage of inflation, but I may be wrong). Additionally, employees are NOT part of a federal pension plan, but their own separate postal pension plan (union strong, baby) that is managed by the government; however, the federal government passed legislation that said USPS had to pre-fund the retirement plans 70 years in advance. Literally had to have retirement plans funded for employees that hadn’t been born yet. All while still remaining at least net-neutral or preferably profitable. And they were given something like 10 years to manage to accomplish this. And they pulled it off. And even over-funded it. And when USPS realized they over funded and that the extra funds would make them actually profitable, the government refused to return that extra funding.
Sensitive-Issue84@reddit
I love the USPS, it's cheaper, faster, and not making some asshat rich off the American people. The GOP wants to privatize it so one of their friends can be rich. Sell it to the highest bidder.
Jernbek35@reddit
I love USPS. My grandfather worked there for 30 years and his benefits carried over to my grandmother for 15 years after his death and took good care of it. I’d work for the post office if I wasn’t so concerned with chasing the almighty dollar.
Sea2Chi@reddit
In my experience it's very location and mail carrier dependant.
Some post offices are filled with miserable people who hate themselves and despise you even more. However, it's hard to be fired from USPS once you're in the union, so they tend to stick around doing a crappy job and counting down the years to retirement.
Other locations are filled with people who go out of their way to be friendly and professional.
We've had both, during the height of covid the mail carrier who services my office flat out refused to wear a mask when coming in to drop off or pick up mail. Even my coworkers who weren't big believers in masking were wearing them because we an immunocompromised coworker that nobody want to see get sick. My boss complained to the postmaster which resulted in the mail carrier then refusing to enter the building. Instead, she would open the front door and throw a handful of mail through and not pick any of the outgoing stuff up.
Then when she would pick it up after more complaints, a concerning amount of outgoing mail went missing. We also had someone report a large bundle of mail for us was mis-delivered to a house several blocks away. The postmaster said there's nothing they can do about her.
So.... fuck her.
However, other mail carriers have been fantastic and are super professional. Those people get snacks, candy and bottles of water if it's hot because we're so happy to have one that doesn't suck.
aBlackKing@reddit
For the most part good, but I’ve lost a few packages with them and recently had a package they damaged, and since it wasn’t insured, I get not compensation.
ThingFuture9079@reddit
It's not that bad. I found them to be more reliable than FedEx for delivering packages.
Rancor_Keeper@reddit
Meh, the only problem I have is when they randomly swerve out into traffic in their little mail jeep vehicle. It’s kind of like the rules of driving don’t apply to them because they work for the post office.
devnullopinions@reddit
It’s not bad at all. They are by far the most reliable mail carrier
LordofDD93@reddit
It has gone downhill from about 6-8 years ago (and it’s been struggling a ton since the mid-2000s) but not so much that it’s impossible to use. I can send a card with a stamped envelope on a Monday to a relative who is roughly 800 miles away, using the most basic shipping service possible, and it will likely arrive by Thursday. And it won’t cost me more than a couple dollars tops. Even in the most rough, barbed wire fence neighborhoods the post office is pretty reliable and decently kept, at least from my experience.
It’s easy to rag on them for the same reason folks rag on UPS or other delivery services that are seen as sloppy or forgetful, and I have had situations where they were clearly delayed and it sucked, but it’s generally a solid service and at a great price.
blue_moon_boy_@reddit
It really depends on where you live. It definitely varies by state and city. Like where I grew up, it was 100% reliable, and we never had any issues. When I first moved to where I am now, i had 3 pieces of mail go missing without explanation. And to this day, our local post office is under-run and there's always an endless line that's serviced by 2 employees who are really never of much help beyond basic tasks.
GF_baker_2024@reddit
I have no complaints. My mail shows up on my front porch 6 days per week, with very few errors (occasionally an envelope intended for the next-door neighbor ends up in my mail box). I've always found the PO workers to be reliable when I actually need assistance (mailing a package, applying for my first passport), and urgent things sent overnight have actually arrived on time, unlike some of the non-gov carriers.
Building_a_life@reddit
I wish all government agencies could do their job as effectively as the USPS.
Other_Movie_5384@reddit
We would live in a utopia if our entire government was as efficient as the usps
eac555@reddit
I work for one of the largest 1st class mailers in the U.S. When you see the volume of mail we send out (bills, statements, and checks) you would be amazed.
Positive-Avocado-881@reddit
My dad worked for UPS for 30 years but only ships stuff through USPS lol.
Moist-Golf-8339@reddit
My anecdote as someone who’s employer has used USPS for all domestic shipments (100-200 per day sometimes more):
Trump’s first term he appointed a Postmaster General who was/is actively pro-privatization of US Mail. Biden could have reappointed the position but didn’t. Since then the USPS has been less good, and significantly worse when they rolled out “Ground Advantage” service and changed all of their routing. The St.Paul, Minnesota sorting facility has been particularly bad.
We’ve had to switch to FedEx for a lot of our domestic shipping just for reliability. (UPS is a giant steaming pile of crap so we won’t use them.)
Dawashingtonian@reddit
usps rules
tidalwaveofhype@reddit
My aunt runs her own business where 99% of the time she’s mailing out things and also receiving checks for her work in the mail. No issues and we use usps at least once a week
CommitteeofMountains@reddit
It's had a lot of issues over the last few years trying to adapt to changes in the postal market and its head not being a specialist. They tried to downsize somewhat right before Covid, so they weren't ready for everyone shipping everything. To accommodate that, they dismantled a lot of their paper mail capacity to put in more package capacity right before mail-in voting was proposed and implemented. Now they're having some network issues, possibly related to the current job market, their fleet being in the middle of a much-needed turnover, and the rise of drop-shipping putting extra stress on international connections.
PorcelainTorpedo@reddit
I’d say it’s really really good and reliable. I mean, you can drop a stamped letter (73 cents) into a mailbox anywhere in America and it will be delivered within 2-3 days to anywhere in America. Considering the size and relative emptiness over vast areas of our country, that’s an incredible feat. You also don’t really ever have to worry about your letters being lost. It happens, but it’s very rare. I’d say that the USPS may be our most reliable institution.
timothythefirst@reddit
It’s really not bad at all, it’s just that people only bother to say something about it when something bad happens. Realistically like 99.9% of packages get where they’re supposed to be on time.
But I will say it’s not quite as good as it used to be, they used to have more (cheaper) shipping options and it seems like the tracking used to give more frequent updates.
frylock350@reddit
Outside of headaches with receiving signature required packages the USPS is fantastic. It's reliable, fast and cheap.
WoodwifeGreen@reddit
I've been an eBay seller for 25+ years and only had 2-3 issues in all that time.
It's fast and cheaper than any other shipping services.
Slevinkellevra710@reddit
Republicans say it sucks because it loses money. It's a government SERVICE, not a business. It's not designed to make money. It employs a great number of people with a decent wage. It provides a valuable service that, in many cases, private models would not be able or interested in sustaining.
Technical_Plum2239@reddit
I work adjacent to people who use it to mail, maybe 10-30 packages a week (antique dealers). It WAS awesome, got pretty fucked up by DeJoy (a deliberate tactic to try to privatize the mail likely)and now it pretty great but hopefully gets back to pre DeJoy standards but we'll see with the new President.
SteakAndIron@reddit
I've had issues with every postal service at one point or another. We have FedEx, USPS, UPS, DHL, and a handful of others and I've never really found one to be better than the others.
daddy_autist@reddit
The only time I use a service other than USPS is if I’m shipping to another country where I’m not certain of the quality of that place’s postal service. For example, if I have to send a package to the Philippines or Poland, I’ll go through a private carrier just to ensure that it’s not handled with less care once it hits the destination country.
That said, the USPS being as effective as it is considering the size of the U.S. itself is something close to a miracle.
Fit-Rip-4550@reddit
There is a reason why everyone uses the private services for parcel and package deliveries.
Karen125@reddit
I've never once had mail lost or a package not received.
Over_Wash6827@reddit
They're pretty good. I have no serious complaints other than their inability to reach especially remote areas. For that reason, I rank them behind UPS in terms of major carriers, but waaaay ahead of the disaster that is FedEx.
TacovilleMC@reddit
It's not at all. In fact I'd venture to say it's the best postal system out there.
Blutrumpeter@reddit
It's slow if you don't pay for next day shipping I guess
abcrck@reddit
Nationally? Pretty good. Locally? It can be a nightmare. The mid-sized city I live in has a check fraud ring heavily suspected to be driven by USPS employees. It's nearly impossible to have a check mailed to you here and actually receive it, most times it just never arrives.
Pinwurm@reddit
Extremely dependable.
Generally when shipping packages, it gets anywhere in the country within a few days and I can pay extra for Priority Express (Next Day or 2-Day Guarantee) which is cheaper than FedEx and UPS delivery, whilst also insuring your package & giving a tracking number.
USPS storefronts allow you to also do a number of things - such as applications/renewals for passports (and take passport photos), money orders & cashing treasury checks, as well as sell shipping & office supplies (boxes, pens, stickers, envelopes, stamps), rent PO boxes and hold packages.
For a while, there was a "Postal Savings System", which was a banking service. When it was created, it predated the FDIC - so it was the only bank that actually was government insured. However, that declined by the late 1960's. There have been some politicians calling for it's renewal, as many private banks are rather predatory. I'd welcome it.
FoolhardyBastard@reddit
Never had an issue with USPS. Postage is delivered on time in rain sleet or snow. There are financial issues, ie. the feds don’t give them enough money, and mail carriers are often overworked (especially if they are new). All in all they do a great job.
lameslow1954@reddit
Pretty damn good given the size of the organization. People like to bitch, and the USPS is a convenient target.
RushC2@reddit
Ive had more issues with private delivery companies like FedEx than I have with USPS
LoyalKopite@reddit
I used to work for them as clerk politicians ruined it they do a fair job.
ProfessionalAir445@reddit
I sell a lot on Mercari and vastly prefer USPS to any other service.
UPS is ok, but FedEx can absolutely go fuck itself. If anything gets routed through their Memphis hub, it may take days to never to come back out.
musical_dragon_cat@reddit
It's the better service for mail and small shipments. I use them for my e-commerce business and in 7 years they've only lost one package and damaged under 10. The few times I've had to use UPS, 35% of packages end up lost or damaged. FedEx I've only dealt with on the receiving end and their service is atrocious. Customer service is always a headache and they rarely deliver on time. They're really only reliable for pallets as they handle those better than regular shipments.
oddlotz@reddit
The main issues aired are community mail box issues, understaffed post offices, and assistance if a package does go missing.
Overall I'm very happy with USPS, - it's fats , reliable and cheap. I use it to send and receive packages, and love "Informed Delivery" and "Click n' Ship" (Pay for and print shipping labels at home or office).
I hope they don't go the Canadian cost cutting route of no Saturday delivery.
colorcodesaiddocstm@reddit
Pretty useless imo. 99% of mail I receive is junk mail
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
What a dumb comment.
It isn't USPS job to filter your mail, they just deliver it.
colorcodesaiddocstm@reddit
ok so they do a fantastic job of delivering mail that ends up right in the trash.
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
Right....that's their job. It's weird that you are mad at them for doing their job fantastically. I wish all government agencies did that.
JustABicho@reddit
But that's not the fault of the USPS.
Thing_On_Your_Shelf@reddit
In my experience, for packages at least, it’s actually great. I do t think I’ve ever had a lost package with them. Their tracking is also way better than any other shipper.
For regular mail though it does seem slower than it used to be. I do t mail stuff often, but even mailing within the same state it’s not unheard of for it to take 1-2 weeks.
MetroBS@reddit
Where did you hear it was bad lol idk if I’ve ever heard someone say that
Bear_Salary6976@reddit
I think the USPS does it's job rather well, for the most part. For delivering letters and packages, I think they are very reliable and reasonably priced.
I think the reputation you speak of is a throwback to the 90s and earlier when they were a lot less efficient. It was much more common for letters to get lost in the mail. Granted, that might have happened to 1 out of every 1,000 letters, but over the course of a couple of years, you might be charged a late fee or unnecessary interest because of an error by USPS.
I can remember waiting in line for 20 minutes to send a package. I can remember having my credit card payment arrive 30 days after I mailed it. I once got a letter that was mailed from Philadelphia addressed to a suburban Philly address. I live 500 miles away from Philly, but it was still sent to my house. I think it has been over 20 years since I last had any issues with USPS.
ColossusOfChoads@reddit
Who are these others that you heard this from? There's been a lot of propaganda against them over the past number of years.
Other_Movie_5384@reddit
I have nothing but good things to say about them.
99% of the time, they are cheap, reliable and on time l..
kyliztu@reddit
I’m an American living in London and I’ve had much better experiences with USPS than with the Royal Mail. USPS is quick, efficient, and affordable. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
AmericaEffYeah@reddit
Take most American complaints with a huge pile of salt. Most have never left the country and don’t understand how things work in other nations, so we rarely have people making informed comparisons when they talk about things like our postal service. It’s not perfect, but for a nation of our size, it gets the job done.
Successful_Fish4662@reddit
Lmao, as a half Brit, half American, the royal mail isn’t any better than USPS. Lol
therealsanchopanza@reddit
So they were very bad for awhile but I think they saw the writing on the wall if they didn’t make changes fast. They were getting destroyed by UPS, FedEx, and even Amazon but they adapted and are better.
Still not as good as UPS or FedEx but they’re pretty solid.
Sarcastic_Rocket@reddit
Since it's Government and not a business like UPS or FedEx it has to deliver to everyone. Growing up I was from a small town in the middle of the Rocky mountains. We weren't financially profitable for a business, so if it weren't for the USPS, we just wouldn't get mail. I remember I missed a college acceptance letter because the college used UPS exclusively, good thing they also did email. Not all colleges do an email acceptance letter
liberletric@reddit
It isn’t.
Divertimentoast@reddit
I would say there may be some bias in this observation. People don't really talk about mail when it's efficient and on time but they certainly do when it's not. You are probably exposed to the opinions of a small fraction of the USPS customers who have had terrible (but note worthy) experiences.
Wartz@reddit
The USPS is not bad. What you heard was propaganda started by republicans looking for targets.
ThreeDonkeys@reddit
According to this Pew poll, 72% of Americans view the USPS favorably.
Large majorities of Americans see the National Park Service, U.S. Postal Service and NASA favorably
tnick771@reddit
USPS is an incredible company. Not sure where you’re getting your information from. My guess is it’s the republican talking points that get parroted every time someone wants to privatize it.
Adept_Thanks_6993@reddit
I think the one thing most Americans can agree on is how much we like the post office
eugenesbluegenes@reddit
It's super reliable.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
Did you hear that on Reddit or see it in a YouTube video?
jdmiller82@reddit
I only have good things to say about the USPS. Probably one of our more useful government agencies.
Bear_necessities96@reddit
The only thing it’s the post offices are usually old
StevenSaguaro@reddit
It's great from my experience.
virtual_human@reddit
Mine is pretty good, I love the Informed Delivery notification. I will say that sometimes I notice mail that is supposed to be delivered one day isn't delivered until the next day. Though I don't really care since 98% of my mail is junk and goes straight to the garbage.
1000thusername@reddit
It is pretty darn good the majority of the time. Sometimes package shipping can take longer than seems reasonable, but I think that’s because we are so used to the speed of the letters.
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
.50 cents (or whatever it is nowadays) flat rate to send a letter anywhere in the country… packages are also much cheaper than ups. I think the postal service here does a fantastic job.
I visited a country once where the mail recipient had to pay the mailman to get their mail delivered lol. I’ll never complain about the USPS again.
dpceee@reddit
The USPS is pretty much the only government agency that spans the entire continent. You could live in the remotest rural place and still see them.
backintow3rs@reddit
Private is better (or at least used to be). FedEx and UPS have outperformed the post office my whole life
taoimean@reddit
There's a frequently screenshotted post about USPS and its competitors from sergle on Tumblr that I agree with:
FedEx: shits on my box, stomps on my box, kicks it, dumps gasoline on it, throws one of my chickens into the back of the van
UPS: whispers at my front door “is anyone home” as quietly as possible before leaving a “we missed you!” note, tries to gaslight me into thinking my address doesn’t exist
USPS: sets my package down gently where it’s not visible from the road, knocks on the door and kisses me directly on the mouth
bonanzapineapple@reddit
It's good but it's def gone downhil in past 5 years, at least for rural areas
southerntakl@reddit
USPS is good and reliable. Maybe people are just used to Amazon arriving at their doorstep in 4 seconds so 3 days in transit seems slow
SeaworthinessHot2770@reddit
I live in the DFW area a large city. So it’s possible people’s experiences are different depending on where they live. 99% of the time I have had no problems. I have a small monthly check from my parents estate after they died sent to me every month. I have been getting this check every month from out of state for almost 4 years. It is sent out just regular mail. No tracking number or information they just throw a stamp on it and put it in the mail. Only once has it been late ! It normally takes a week for me to receive it. And one time it took 3 weeks ! Package wise I have been very lucky. I can’t even remember a package problem. I even had a package sent from India arrive within a week of it being shipped.
OkBlock1637@reddit
I hate the USPS. Sent a package to my Sister one year for Christmas. I sent it well ahead of time and paid extra for expedited shipping just to make sure it was there well ahead of the Holidays. Despite having a Label and Address written on the Box for delivery to a Military Base, they failed to deliver it, marking unable to find the address. Mind you it arrived in the City where the military base was located.. they literally just had to drop it off at the base.. They then proceed to lose the package. It eventually showed back up at my house weeks later.
At any normal company you would expect an appolgy and reinbursement? USPS refused to refund the shipping. Took the same package to UPS same address and it arrived ahead of schedule.
USPS is terrible.
If you need to send a package in the USA use either UPS or Fedex.
Rhombus_McDongle@reddit
Did you insure the package?
OkBlock1637@reddit
Not in this case. The package contents were a taste of home. Contents of the package was actually less than the shipping. I had things like Coffee from a local rostery my sister likes, snacks etc. However UPS offers basic insurance for free without having to pay extra, so there is also that.
notthegoatseguy@reddit
USPS actually has a good reputation, not sure what you're reading. It delivers mail across what is basically a country the size of a continent, all for a ridiculously low rate. The jobs are good union jobs if you're willing to put in the work. A lot of USPS services can be done online or at automated kiosks so you don't have to stand in line.
Admirable-Catch@reddit
They were on a lifeline (and still suffering) because of some people in Washington DC deciding it was a good idea to make a law that USPS has to pre-fund the retirement of future employees who aren't born yet. Literally they must pre-fund retirement 75 years in advance.
Tranbarsjuice@reddit
As someone not originally from the US (from Sweden originally), I am amazed by how good USPS is. From a customer perspective I find it fast, affordable and reliable. Considering the scope of their operations I am happily surprised by how well it works. The only issue I have with it is how expensive it is to ship stuff abroad. Domestically their services are great value though.
oarmash@reddit
It’s actually fine?
osteologation@reddit
The only people that complain about the USPS are living in some kind of fantasyland of entitlement. What I can’t understand is how/why people/businesses keep dealing with fed ex? When i use shipping calculators (eBay or pirate ship etc) their prices are similar to usps or ups but they pay their employees so much less. Plus the packages are usually pretty beat up.
oswin13@reddit
It is actually pretty amazing despite certain political pressure to dismantle it. It is severely understaffed and centralizing sorting has slowed it down considerably (see certain politicians)
Nottacod@reddit
Regular mail is fine, package delivery is sketchy, especially around the holidays and if it has to go through Baltimore. When your package disappears, there is no custmer service to speak of.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
Never had an issue with missing deliveries or speed. I would guess USPS is one of the best in the world, considering our size. People will just complain about anything.
CamelHairy@reddit
In 2023, the US Postal Service's shipping and package volume was 7.1 billion. The Royal Mail handled 1.5 billion.
https://facts.usps.com/total-shippingpackage-volume/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1006816/royal-mail-volume-of-parcels-and-letters-delivered-uk/
As said. For the number of letters and packages, I'm actually amazed they do as well as they do.
Im_Not_Nick_Fisher@reddit
It’s pretty great really. The informed delivery is great. You get a snap shot from them any time something might be coming out for delivery. You can see exactly what’s coming, track any packages, and the photo they send is great. I signed up for it when a relative said they sent me something that I never received. But it ended up being that they never sent it and it was still in their car.
But I’m on the east coast of Florida and I can send a regular card or letter to family right across the Alabama border in about two days. I sent a package and it was actually there the next day. Sometimes it takes longer on their end because they have a rural postal carrier. Meaning someone delivers it using their own vehicle, but they are still a postal worker.
Basementsnake@reddit
It’s a lot like fast food, depends on the location. I lived a couple blocks from a post office in my city years ago. It was the worst one I’ve ever been to anywhere. They “lost” incoming and outgoing mail constantly. Their lines were always out the door. The workers were rude and would scream at patrons. There was no accountability at all.
This was back when mailing checks was common. Once my third outgoing rent check was “lost”by them, I started using the post office closer to my work. I started using them for everything: outgoing mail, packages, etc, because the one by my house was just incompetent. The one by my office was totally fine.
brickbaterang@reddit
I get things in a timely fashion it's fine
_ML_78@reddit
I find USPS very reliable. I use them daily for work from home for legal mailings and have never had any issues. I use them for personal use a few times a month. They are amazing really.
ratelbadger@reddit
It's totally fine. I. Have had issues with small town local offices.. understaffed and under paid losing things or getting confused but overall it's like 8.5/10.
D1Rk_D1GGL3R@reddit
USPS is actually really good
huhwhat90@reddit
I use the USPS a ton for work and it works well about 90% of the time.
bluepainters@reddit
It's great, honestly! The criticism is completely unfair.
I used to sell prints of my artwork online– I've sold thousands of prints to locations all over the US and every continent. It didn't take me long to figure out that USPS was the fastest and cheapest option.
Also, I prefer USPS when ordering packages, too. I live in a rural area and FedEx takes twice as long and is more expensive. FedEx packages also sometimes get stuck in "loops" where they will circle through the same 3 shipping hubs, inexplicably bypassing my town several times. UPS is more reliable than FedEx but still not as fast and cheap as USPS.
I don't really understand the complaints about USPS. I think because USPS delivers our everyday mail, most people only occasionally deal with the other mail carriers when they've ordered a package. USPS deals with billions of pieces of mail, so there will unavoidably be problems from time to time. I wonder if people unfairly think USPS is problematic because most of their mail-related issues come from USPS due to the sheer volume of mail they receive from USPS compared to other carriers. But, I guarantee if the country switched to using FedEx or UPS to deliver everything USPS does, they'd see how good they had it with USPS.
ialwaysforget44@reddit
It’s not bad at all. I get mail like clockwork 6 days a week. When I send cards to family in other states, they arrive within a few days.
SpiritOfDefeat@reddit
They’re fine but occasionally they do something weird like send a package to a nearby post office, just to send it 100 miles away, to send it back to the same post office that sends it out for delivery. Maybe it’s just my luck but I’ve had this happen a few times and it’s cracked me up.
Adorable-Growth-6551@reddit
I think the misconception comes from the fact that it became a bit bloated and could not support itself. I believe there were significant cut backs a couple of years ago and now it is more efficient.
We have several delivery companies and the USPS just wasn't competing well against them.
But everyone gets their mail, lost things are rare
Vachic09@reddit
They aren't known to treat their carriers well. They work incredibly well the vast majority of the time. It's when they get backed up or something goes wrong that people even think about mentioning them. Almost no one talks when things go right. There's going to be a high number of complaints for even a small percentage of what they handle, because they handle such a large volume of mail. We Americans are very spoiled when it comes to shipping speed and reliability from what I have heard about some other countries.
FroyoOk8902@reddit
It’s not horrible, but when compared to fedex & ups it kind of sucks. The postal employees are usually not very friendly when you go into the stores and if you need to mail anything they make you box everything yourself and buy a full roll of tape to close a box, which none of the private curriers do. Customer service is trash, which makes it seem worse than it is.
yourlittlebirdie@reddit
FedEx and UPS don't deliver everywhere though, so a lot of rural areas can't get service from them. The USPS by mandate delivers everywhere in the country. That's why those private companies often use USPS for their 'last mile' deliveries, those areas that it's not profitable to provide service to but that still needs it.
Rhombus_McDongle@reddit
You can buy postage online, print a label, box it up at home, and then just drop it in the outgoing box without interacting with anyone.
notthegoatseguy@reddit
FedEx text: You need to be home to sign for this package!
FedEx day of delivery: you better be home in this 2-5 hour window!
Also fedex: lol i aint even gonna knock before i put this package down
Maybe its because I'm in an apartment and USPS has its own parcel boxes, but I never have this problem with USPS. They just either deliver it or they don't. If they don't like all the boxes are full, they'll leave a note where I can have it held at the nearest USPS office.
Kestrel_Iolani@reddit
Remarkably good 99.99% of the time. That said, if there was something I absolutely had to get somewhere by a certain time, I would use a private carrier like FedEx.
And as others have mentioned. It's a government service. It's supposed to cost money.
sikhster@reddit
USPS is great so the oligarchs are trying to make it look bad so they can push a privatization narrative and buy the profitable parts for cheap
sto_brohammed@reddit
I've had far fewer problems with USPS than I have with any of the private parcel services. A lot of them even contract the final bit of delivery to the USPS in certain parts of the country. It's a miracle how well it functions given how hard a certain party has tried to hamstring it.
Redbubble89@reddit
It's just constantly underfunded and Republicans think it should be profitable which is ridiculous. I think more people have a bad anecdotal story about FedEx or UPS.
Hehateme123@reddit
USPS is the most affordable and reliable way to ship packages. They do a great job.
The_Bjorn_Ultimatum@reddit
They aren't really that slow. I have had issues with them though. They wouldn't change my address and it took several in person trips down to the post office to resolve. I filled out multiple forms, and they kept telling me they changed it, but they didn't, so things that were addressed to my new address got returned to sender. This went on for about 3 or 4 months. My new debit card got sent back, and this was at a time when I wasn't living near my bank. So my old card expired in this time and I had to live off checks and cash-back for a while. Ultimately, this culminated in me getting stranded at a gas station at 11pm, having already filled up, because their 3rd party service denied my check.
So needless to say, I'm not a fan.
alexf1919@reddit
Someone’s package probably got delayed a day or something and you saw them bitching online about it lol for the most part usps is great
bolivar-shagnasty@reddit
It costs the same to mail a letter from my house to my neighbor’s as it does from Miami to North Pole, Alaska.
I get an email every morning that shows me my upcoming mail for the day.
The USPS is a logistics miracle that deserves better funding.
Southern_Blue@reddit
It's fine.
Fantastic-Leopard131@reddit
Mm donno where you heard that, in my experience usps has always been perfectly fine and ive never had an issue with it. My guess is that the ppl who do complain are just experiencing a case unrealistic expectation. Amazon kinda ruined peoples perception of how long something should take. Im guessing the people who are complaining its slow are really just complaining that they didnt get it the next day after they order it.
I working at a flooring company. We do full installation so were often doing full on construction in peoples homes. We also have to custom order the materials (not through usps tho) so for the whole process were actually quite fast and estimate we can finish a project in 2-3 weeks. Im always shocked at the amount of ppl who complain its too long of a wait. Like these people genuinely expect we can custom order their floor and install it all in a day or two. It didnt always used to be this way, but ppls expectations have changed and they want things pretty much immediately or they start complaining.
woodsred@reddit
The attitude towards USPS here is not unlike the attitude towards NHS there. It's a public marvel, and people tend to have one of two opinions: 1. It's great but needs to be properly funded to address undeniable growing issues (majority) 2. 'Fuck government services! Free market!" (minority)
That being said, post office employees at the desk are stereotyped as lazy or unhelpful civil servants (which is sometimes true). People fucking love the postmen (and -women) though
Dark_Tora9009@reddit
It’s generally good. Occasionally you get a local letter carrier who’s not the best. Going to a post office can be a bit aggravating because they’re often short staffed, overworked and grouchy. But as far as working to get things mailed and received reliably? I don’t have any complaints
azuth89@reddit
I've always found it to be very good, honestly.
Never had a problem or a big delay or anything, it's generally the same or cheaper than any of the private ones.
rollem@reddit
Trump appointed a friend in his first term who instituted a lot of changes that made service worse. I get mail about twice a week when it used to come 6 days per week. Letters and meds that used to come on time can show up a week or two later.
AnalogNightsFM@reddit
Somewhat slow is to be expected when our country is roughly the size of your continent, slightly smaller. How would Royal Mail fare when they have to deliver mail from Lisbon to Moscow, roughly the distance from Los Angeles to New York?
gsp1991dog@reddit
By and large it’s actually fine… I’ve known people who have had issues with stolen packages or misdelivered letters. But by and large it’s fine most gripes are that FedEx and UPS do a better job and tend to move more quickly
I_amnotanonion@reddit
I regularly get stuff shipped via USPS and never have an issue. They’re generally the best option in the rural area I live in. I also know my mailman well now which is nice. FedEx and UPS regularly swap the person I have
GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit
USPS is awesome. They are absolutely logistics gangsters.
If you've ever been to some of the remote outposts, it's awesome to see the lengths they go.
dystopiadattopia@reddit
It's fine. Maybe a little slower since whatshisname installed his new Postmaster General (don't get me started), but it's pretty much fine.
Soundwave-1976@reddit
Not bad at all. My mailman is awesome and really careful with packages unlike UPS.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Really not bad.
Opportunity_Massive@reddit
They are excellent. I don’t know why they get so much hate. I have always had a good experience with USPS
TillPsychological351@reddit
I've complained about many government agencies, but the postal service isn't one of them. It pretty much works as intended.
EpicAura99@reddit
The USPS is amazing. But there are a lot of vultures who want to sell it off for parts and try their best to get people to agree to it.
Kevin7650@reddit
People like to complain about it often but it’s not bad, some of the bureaucracy can be annoying and it can be slow at times, but it’s still reliable overall. I think most of the complaints stem from it being compared to UPS or FedEx but obviously the private shipping company you pay more for is going to be faster than the postal service.
Konigwork@reddit
There’s politicization of the USPS just like anything run by the government here. Granted, you probably won’t hear over there the normal “hey I got my mail in a reasonable amount of time for a decent cost” since that’s not what drives headlines. It’s better than its critics give it credit for, it’s worse than its supporters claim.
Dragonman1976@reddit
It's not nearly as bad as detractors make it out to be.
Republicans have been trying to defund, dismantle, and privatize it for decades- just like every other publicly funded thing that serves everyone.
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