Quote Originally Posted by zoom-zoom View Post
Wanna hear the most tragic story ever? A friend of mine lost her husband (he was only in his mid-30s) to cancer on Christmas day a few years back. The married at the JP <2 weeks earlier, on their way to the hospital. Her wedding/engagement ring was a gorgeous Tiffany platinum setting. The diamond had fallen out and she miraculously found it where she had filled up her gas tank.

So she takes it to Tiffany and they ship it back to her. When the UPS guy hands her the box she discovers that a hole had been carefully cut in the bottom of the box and the small ring box inside removed. The shipping box in no way identified it as having come from Tiffany, so someone within UPS was aware of who the shipper was and managed to remove the contents.

It was insured, so the ring was replaced--but it wasn't the ring and stone that her late husband had purchased for her so shortly before passing. It was insult added to injury.
I had this happen iwth a FedEx package containing a custom backpack. I shipped it from the Fedex facility and it was opened enroute and resealed with a new label and (less) weight over the original label. I don't know how anyone would have known what was in it, but it did happen. They paid the claim but the pack was irrepelaceable.

No shipper is 100% infallible. I ship anywhere from 30-100 packages a month with my business.

With the USPS though... they make it so difficult.
- The recent rate change: you cannot download a PDF chart off the web. It doesn't exist.( The web support people said, Oh we should have that, what a good idea!!) You have to drive to the post office and stand in line to get one. It still doesn't make sense to the average layperson. They keep telling me, you can use the online calculator. Sorry folks but that takes 10x longer to fill in a web page than is does to put something on the scale and look at a chart on the wall.
-making labels on the USPS website takes 10x longer than doing it on the UPS website.
-You can't put a signature release on file for deliveries that require a signature. You can do this with Fedex/UPS; you can also sign the tag and the guy will bring the item back the next day. USPS? If you miss the guy with the signature tag, you have to go to the post office and stand in line.
-OMG, the lines at the counter. The glacial pace at which they consistently move.
-overall complexity. I had a packaged returned to me because, although it was the same size/color/font/logo as a "flat rate box" it was some other kind of USPS box. Jeez louweez, can't they just send it on already?

And here's the one that really gets me. The USPS makes most of its money processing junk mail. Therefore, a constant deluge of junk mail is important so people don't lose their jobs. I've read many quotes to that effect. Sorry, I don't get that. I should have to sort my mail over the recycling bin or throw it away to keep someone in a job? Surely there's another way to do it....