Usps or useless? I know that everyone that routinely ships packages hates their postal services but this is different. I bought an international priority shipping label via paypal because the buyer paid via paypal and paypal happens to sell USPS labels (I later was told that USPS is selling, paypal only processes payment, which dissolves any liability on paypal). When the shipment seemed stuck for a month, possibly lost, I tried to start a case with USPS.com. What happened was that they refused to start a case displaying information that says that my tracking number doesn't deserve a case. I know the opposite. They have to investigate, plus there is up to $200 insurance on intl. priority.
After this experience, I decided to purchase USPS labels directly from UPSP.com The labels look minutely different. Via paypal, the tracking on usps.com says small package, no priority no insurance. With direct purchase from usps.com, all of the above are displayed. The difference in cost is about a dollar on top of $34. I always thought that if they advertise with the same name i.e. intl. priority, they should render the same service. Apparently they don't. So watch out you paypal sellers. When things get lost by USPS or its partners, you will be losing money. I suggest you take the extra time to purchase directly from usps.com. Maybe that is better.
Your experience (please don't rant over general postal frustrations, just service differentials etc.)?
liudr:
, paypal only processes payment, which dissolves any liability on paypal).
Your experience (please don't rant over general postal frustrations, just service differentials etc.)?
Probably in the small print.
Most just tick the check box and get on with it.
Many years ago i had a surface shipment from USA due to weight.
Stopped by customs at the receive end due to some reason i forget but due to a paperwork irregularity.
Carrier blamed me. No recourse due to small print.
Huge benefit for me of buying USPS shipping labels from Paypal vs USPS.com is you can buy First Class postage, which is significantly cheaper than Priority. I can mail a package anywhere in the US for $2.60. What most people don't know is that you can buy labels on Paypal even if it's not for a purchase paid via Paypal. I highly doubt there is any difference in customer service related to where you bought the label. A tracking number is a tracking number. My experience is USPS will always try to get out of paying or even making the slightest effort to investigate a lost/stolen/misdelivered package. It's not worth paying extra for insurance. I just pay out of my own pocket if something comes up missing and end up coming out way ahead on the >2000 packages I mail per year.
Domestic first class is $2.60 for <=8 oz. but it's still only $3.65 for 16 oz. That's another benefit of buying the First Class on Paypal or other online services is you can go up to 16 oz., whereas at the post office they only sell
First class for <= 13 oz. Once you get over 16 oz. you have to go with Priority and the price jumps up a bit but it comes with the $50 insurance for whatever that's worth. There are some sort of size limits on the First Class if you read through enough of the fine print but once you get up to that size the box alone would weigh more than 16 oz so it's nothing you really need to worry about and the package dimensions don't affect the price.
For really dense items like the skillet flat rate may be the best deal, especially if you're shipping it a long distance but usually flat rate ends up being more expensive than metered postage. It always bothers me when I get a low density shipment in a flat rate box. With these US sellers caring so little about their customers it's no wonder China gets all the sales.
I don't ship 2000 per year and I have no problem with USPS overall, with my medium expectation. The issue is with them selling same products with different amount of service, i.e. intl. priority via usps.com and via paypal.com.
Here is what it looks like on USPS.com if you purchase intl. priority postage via paypal:
Product "Priority" is not mentioned. Insurance is not mentioned either although all intl. priority has $200 included. It says intl. priority when you purchase and costs $31.30. There is no way to create an inquiry to ask USPS to investigate where your package is.
Here is what it looks like on USPS.com if you purchase intl. priority postage on USPS.com
Here both priority and insured are mentioned. It says intl. priority when you purchase and costs $33.95. You can create an inquiry to ask USPS to investigate. I am going to try with one inquiry in a week or so because one package has been sent out for 3 weeks and has not yet bee updated as arrived in destination country.
I wonder if this is happening a lot lately for packages bound for Europe. It is taking a lot of time for priority to reach that side of the pond.
I have always used this form to start USPS investigations into lost/stolen/misdelivered packages: https://emailus.usps.com/emailUs/iq/usps/request.do?forward=emailUs
You just need a tracking number. My experience is they say "We'll get back to you within 3 days" then I get no response. After the 3 days I go back to that page and fill out the form again which allows me to "escalate" the case. Finally after a bunch of run around they basically tell me "tough luck" and I end up just having to refund the customer who has usually become quite aggravated by all the delay. It's frustrating because I have no way of knowing if the customer is lying to me or if they actually didn't receive their package. I'm selling on Amazon/eBay/Etsy so I'm basically held hostage by the threat of negative feedback. I once ended up talking to a postal employee who was nice enough to do a "geotrack" of the problem delivery and find that it was delivered one block over from the destination and they still wouldn't compensate me even though it was indisputable evidence they had screwed up.
The postal employees seem to be incapable of using email to communicate about the investigation. I always select email as the way to contact me when I fill out the form and then they call me on my phone instead.
Amazingly I haven't lost any international packages yet(I probably just jinxed myself) so my experience is only with domestic shipments
pert:
The postal employees seem to be incapable of using email to communicate about the investigation. I always select email as the way to contact me when I fill out the form and then they call me on my phone instead.
Same in the UK.
Postie it seems would much rather talk to someone on the phone.
Thats the ones that actually do the work , not man call centres.
Thanks pert. I'll use that link next time. The package has started moving again, after 2 months. I cleared customs in Italy and the addressee refused it (he's not at his work address and is in vacation instead).
I wonder if this happens to others, taking very long to clear European customs, especially very recently?
liudr:
I wonder if this happens to others, taking very long to clear European customs, especially very recently?
Not had a problem in the UK, 2 to 3 days normally for customs.
Most from China/ Hong Kong.
Sometimes a considerable delay when duty is levied though.
Have to pay before delivery depending on carrier.
Was annoyed though after receiving a package within 3 days to have an invoice for duty and handling charge 3 weeks later from one carrier.
I would have refused the package if i had known.
It was from Hobby king BTW, i knew the risks but the delayed demand for payment was very annoying.
liudr,
We ship stuff almost daily using small and medium flat rate packaging, both US ($6.80, $13.95) and international (~$33.95 and $60).
Nothing has been lost in 6 years of mailing stuff. We were also able to show an item had been delivered by tracking number - even when tracking did not appear to be provided, there was tracking available. Customers found them locally.
There were a couple of long deliveries for "packages" (vs international flat rate shipping), items sit somewhere in NY for a couple of weeks before going overseas. We let folks know that will happen, most opt for the 6-10 day shipping instead.
We print labels from within paypal when we can, all the addressing is there, we select options as needed.
