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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

USPS Rant

This is more a consumer affair issue than a consumer credit issue, but what the heck. It's my blog and I'll rant if I want to.

It amazes me that the United States Postal Service can get away with not only shoddy customer service, but failure to provide the delivery service it was hired to provide when I paid the cost of postage. There seems to be little or no recourse to the consumer when the USPS fails to perform, ZERO accountability on the part of the USPS - - and I don't know what, if anything, can be done about it. It's aggravating.

On May 9, 2007 I mailed a care package of dry goods and clothing to my starving college student son in San Francisco, CA.

I paid $32.82 for Parcel Post, delivery confirmation and insured the box, taped the label real well so it wouldn't tear or smudge and sent it on its way. I was promised 5 to 10 day delivery of the item at the counter.

Now check this out.

Label/Receipt Number: 0307 0020 0002 6114 4660
Detailed Results:

Bullet Enroute, May 22, 2007, 6:37 am, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Bullet Enroute, May 19, 2007, 8:03 pm, DES MOINES, IA 50395
Bullet Enroute, May 16, 2007, 2:27 pm, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Bullet Enroute, May 10, 2007, 1:31 am, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32099
Bullet Acceptance, May 09, 2007, 3:12 pm, SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34488

I sent the following inquiry via usps.com:

05/16/2007 06:27 AM

I am completely dissatisfied with both the online tracking information and the actual progress of the actual shipment of the following item, which has NOT YET BEEN DELIVERED:

Label/Receipt Number: 0307 0020 0002 6114 4660
Detailed Results:

Bullet Enroute, May 10, 2007, 1:31 am, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32099
Bullet Acceptance, May 09, 2007, 3:12 pm, SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34488

It has been a week since this item was mailed. Where is this package?

===========

I got the following response from "Bernard A."

Response (Bernard A) - 05/18/2007 04:47 AM

Thank you for contacting us requesting more information on item number
0307 0020 0002 6114 4660.

I apologize that we do not have any additional information regarding
the status of your item.

Complete tracking information is only available for Express Mail®
items. Services that confirm delivery are designed to be a low cost
alternative to full tracking. Retail rate Delivery Confirmation™, which is
brought into the Post Office™ for mailing, will include an acceptance
scan. It does not include tracking of the package en route.

We will document this issue if your item has not been received within
14 postal business days from the date of mailing. However, I need some
additional information so this can be sent to the correct office and you
can be contacted:

- Your home telephone number
- Full name of the sender
- Address of the sender
- Full name of the recipient
- Address of the recipient
- Type of mail (letter, large envelope, package, large package, or
unknown)
- Class of mail (Express Mail, First Class Mail®, international,
military, Periodicals, Priority Mail®, Bulk Mail, Parcel Post®, Media
Mail®, or none)
- Services added (Certified Mail™, Registered Mail™, Return
Receipt, Merchandise, Insured, C.O.D., Signature Confirmation™, or Delivery
Confirmation)
- Label number
- Location the mail item was sent from (sender’s residence, other
residence / business, Post Office™ ZIP Code™, Collection Box®, or
unknown)
- Time and date the mail item was sent
- Contents of the mail item and value
- Whether you would like to receive a call regarding this issue (There
is no guarantee that further information can be provided via email.)
- If you suspect foul play:
- Do you know who was involved?
- Do you know the name(s) of whom you suspect?
- Was it a Postal employee?
- Do you have a description?

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don’t hesitate
to contact me.

Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.

Regards,

Bernard A

(I replied with the information he itemized.)

When I saw that the item was in DES MOINES, IA, I attempted to call the number on the receipt 1-800-222-1811. We finally got a live person by repeating the phrase "Customer Service" about 20 times at each voice prompt rather than entering the tracking number.

The first person we spoke to on 05/21 said we could not file a complaint until the package had been missing 14 days.

I immediately called back and filed complaint reference number CO31963670. I was told an investigation would be initiated as to why the package went to Des Moines, IA and someone would call me back within one business day.

24 hours passed and I did not receive a call back. I called again and filed complaint reference number CO31944256. I was told an investigation would be initiated as to why the package went to Des Moines, IA and someone would call me back within one business day. I told the person I spoke to this is the same information I had been told the previous day, and I wanted to speak to someone who was actually performing the investigation. She said that I could not speak to Consumer Affairs until I had filed three complaints. I told her one email + 2 phone calls = 3.

TJ at Consumer Affairs in North Florida was the most polite and understanding person I spoke to through this entire ordeal. Unfortunately, though, even she was unable to get a response from the Richmond, CA facility as to why the package was shipped to Des Moines, IA. She also got no answer from Des Moines, IA as to why they did not perform customer service and overnight my package back to California immediately.

I have seen that the Office of Consumer Advocacy in 2006 filed interrogatories upon the US Postal Rate Commission regarding concerns about the ability of the Postal Service to determine the number of pieces of mail that is entered into the postal system versus the number that is delivered. I guess that is a good start, but they got their rate increase anyway. It is pretty obvious why they really needed a rate hike in postage. Not because of rising gas costs which is always the scapegoat of choice, but because of blatant inefficiency.

I wonder how much it cost for extra handling fees to send my son's package from Richmond, CA to Des Moines, IA and back to Richmond, CA?

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