Would this irritate you ?

[Rick Fisher]

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/USPS.png

Everyday for a week, I log into the USPS website to see if there is a change with this package.. Its from Japan Woodworker..

Everyday for a week, it looks like this..

It took 2 days to get from L.A. to Vancouver. Normally Vancouver to the Island is overnight..

I called USPS .. They told me that normally this type of shipment can take 10 days and to be patient..

I wonder if it will change tomorrow ?

[Stuart Tierney]

Something is screwed up, I don't know what it is, but it's screwed up.

Sent something that should have arrived in 3 days from here to the US, took over 2 weeks.

Sat in Chicago for 12 days.

Got from here to Chicago in 17 hours, from Chicago to it's destination in a day or so. So add the 3 days or so travel time and the 12 days sitting in Chicago, over two weeks.


I don't know what it is, don't have the gumption to find out but probably some kind of industrial action.

Stupid, because common packages have been taking 5-10 days, but the slow one was EMS. :confused:

Stu.

[Andrew Arndts]

when it comes to Canadian Postal Service and USPS... they really don't talk to each other. so unless you send it via UPS, Fed Ex, etc. to watch it on it make it's journey.

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

Based on my previous experience, shipment time is not much different than other carriers, but USPS status updates on the web are pretty bad even with local shipments in main US... I simply do not bother anymore... Just keep the good faith and you will get your package...

[jeff vanek]

Based on my previous experience, shipment time is not much different than other carriers, but USPS status updates on the web are pretty bad even with local shipments in main US... I simply do not bother anymore... Just keep the good faith and you will get your package...


i agree, usps tracking is horrible, with fed ex and ups, their tracking info is alot more detailed

[Jerome Hanby]

IIRC, I've never seen the USPS tracking show me any useful information until after the item arrived...

[Stuart Tierney]

Funny thing, I've always found that USPS tracking on the stuff I send out is quite reliable and up to date.

Maybe it's stuff coming in from overseas they keep tabs on pretty closely. I do know the Japan Post updates are almost up to the minute, so maybe that has a hand in it as well.

Who knows, I'm still annoyed I paid nearly $100 for express postage, that took over 2 weeks to get there. Colour me 'upset'.

Stu.

[Darren Brewster]

IIRC, I've never seen the USPS tracking show me any useful information until after the item arrived...

Canada Post is the same way. I've had packages that tracking hasn't shown to have even shipped until after they have arrived. Pretty useless.

[Frank Drew]

I agree with those who haven't found the USPS tracking system to be very useful: my local post office clerk swore up and down that a package coming to me cross country had absolutely, positively not been accepted for delivery by any post office in the U.S., tracking number notwithstanding, because their system was not showing it as logged in. Next day it arrived. Whatever....

I've also found Canada-U.S. postal shipment to be much slower than equivalent distance shipments within the U.S..

[Rick Fisher]

Hmm.. It appears the USPS is much the same as the Canadian Postal system.. Their motto is " We aren't happy till your not happy" ..
Package has not moved this morning ..

Picturing Canadian customs practicing knife throwing with my chisels...

[Darren Brewster]

Hmm.. It appears the USPS is much the same as the Canadian Postal system.. Their motto is " We aren't happy till your not happy" ..
Package has not moved this morning ..

Picturing Canadian customs practicing knife throwing with my chisels...

The people that work locally to me for Canada Post are amazing. It is just their worthless tracking system that bothers me. I get much better service much more politely than any of the other companies.

That said, I wish they would start to haul-ass on my Sigma Power setup from Stu. Waiting sucks.

[Eric DeSilva]

This isn't hugely difficult--UPS Ground doesn't show tracking, because it is in a big truck driving from one place to another and it is pointless to rescan it. UPS priority services have pretty good tracking, because packages go by air and hit multiple sort/intermediate facilities along the way where the package gets logged and the status updated.

[Bryan Slimp]

I bought a #4 Record from a Canadian on eBay and it took about two weeks even though the payment was sent within 24 hours and the item was shipped that day.

[Rob Fisher]

IIRC, I've never seen the USPS tracking show me any useful information until after the item arrived...This has been my experience with USPS tracking. Completely useless. USPS shipping on the other hand is ok. Just not very fast.

[John Coloccia]

FWIW, USPS has become my favorite shipper by far. It seems far better and more organized than it was 20 years ago. I'm not sure why their tracking is so hit and miss. Generally, though, anytime I get anything from BC (I order some wood from there several times a year) the tracking goes something like this:


Blah blah blah...
blah blah blah...
Handed off to foreign carrier...

And that's it. Once it leaves the shipper's country it always seems to fall into a black hole for me.

[Rick Fisher]

My strategy is to check the tracker more often.. I am sure that will speed it up.. lol

[Chris Griggs]

My strategy is to check the tracker more often.. I am sure that will speed it up.. lol

My strategy would be to order/buy a 2nd thing from a nearer retailer (I think there's a fairly major plane/tool making company in Canada) and let that item keep me busy until the the other thing arrives.

BTW what did you order, that you are so excited about?

[Ron Kellison]

The people that work locally to me for Canada Post are amazing. It is just their worthless tracking system that bothers me. I get much better service much more politely than any of the other companies.

That said, I wish they would start to haul-ass on my Sigma Power setup from Stu. Waiting sucks.

You're going to love those Sigma Power stones! I've worn out Kings, stuck with Nortons for a few years, sampled Shaptons and now that I've had a chance to work with Sigma II's I'll never go back!

Regards,

[Jim Matthews]

I lived in the People's Republic of China from 1989-1992.

Packages inside the country routinely disappeared. Not stolen, confiscated or lost - vanished.
I think there's a warehouse somewhere with notions from the 1980's still waiting to find the recipient.

Stuff shipped in from outside the Middle Kingdom was another matter entirely.
I had one customs agent ask me why foreigners liked the awful - tasting toothpaste (Coppertone) so much.

[Rick Fisher]

I contacted Japan Woodworker, they where able to find out that it was stuck in Canada Customs.. I ordered some Japanese Paring Chisels from Japan woodworker, and some extra sharpening stuff from Lee Valley.. MKII Honing jig.. etc..

I have a worksharp, but am a bit hesitant to put these chisels into it ..

Its only 3 chisels.. so its not a monster deal, but its still exciting.. I am picturing some Customs agent with a big ole bandaid on his hand from trying to figure out what the heck they are ..

[ian maybury]

I buy a lot in the US and the UK for shipping to Ireland, and have to say that while I use it quite a lot for reasons of cost the service is very patchy. I've been shocked at how the cost seems to have escalated in recent years too - or maybe it's just that the costing system is such that certain categories of volume and weight attract disproportionately high charges. (I think the courier companies have got everybody used to daft charges)

I'm never quite sure where exactly the fault on poor service lies, and think it probably varies. Observation suggests that maybe about 10 years ago the US postal service got involved in some sort of programme of placing their business in whatever country with carriers other than the local mail service - probably for cost savings. Whatever the reason, and it's probably changed again - that seemed to more or less finish fast, reliable and cost effective delivery from the US.

Tracking numbers are a joke, the systems of the various carriers rarely ever talk to each other. We had a while where everything came through the German post office and was inevitably delayed. Another where instead of using the local mail service (which is notoriously cost inefficient, but actually doesn't do so bad a job on national deliveries) they used notoriously inefficient local delivery firms for a while. Customs involvement on US parcels is another common source of delay - every now and then they seem to attempt an improperly organised clamp down on collection of duties that ends up gumming up the system. The service from the UK has gone badly downhill too - you get delivery in three days if lucky, but if not it can stretch to ten or more.

As somebody who has done a little work on supply chain improvement I'm just bemused at the situation. Choose the wrong partner and it's never going to happen, but it takes time to bed down systems like these too. It's not possible to be efficient, and to keep on yanking the businesses to give it to others. Not to mention that partners won't invest in that sort of situation. Not to mention either that the blurring of responsibilities in international deliveries probably means that they will be the first to suffer as a result of local cut backs.

I've no idea what they must do with the massive volume of goods in transit that these delays must lead to too. I've a sneaking feeling too that the unpredictable nature of the delay arises out of the fact that you're OK if the system is flowing as your package comes through, but that if there's a hold up and it ends up at the bottom of the pile in some ginormous warehouse that it'll sit there until the pile is cleared. :) (a first in, last out system)

Whatever the problem, it's sobering to think that there was a next day service to all of Ireland with twice daily delivery from the UK in the late 1800s. So much for computer systems, responsibility, empowerment and all the modern rhetoric. It's hard not to think that as a society we've not lost it, what with bad decisions, wasteful change that buys little if any improvement, and ever falling staff effectiveness - that the only thing that runs faster these days is people's mouths.....

[John Coloccia]

They probably think they're combination chopsticks/knives with ergonomic grips. Too bad they're paring chisels...they don't come with napkin rings.

[Darren Brewster]

The people that work locally to me for Canada Post are amazing. It is just their worthless tracking system that bothers me. I get much better service much more politely than any of the other companies.

That said, I wish they would start to haul-ass on my Sigma Power setup from Stu. Waiting sucks.

Well, the powers that be must have been listening. The 1000, 6000, 13000 set arrived not 24 hours after I wrote this. Can't wait to get some shop time. :)

[Rick Fisher]

Heading into day 13 of customs carefully analyzing and probably scientifically investigating the products, keeping the country safe .. lol

[Mike Holbrook]

I have two items won at auction that have been sitting in the Atlanta PO for three+ days without being delivered. Some suspicious mind may envision the hand saw as some kind of sword. I don't want to think what nefarious acts someone might envision for a Millers Falls Miter Box & Miter Saw. I guess the point is national security concerns certainly have grown to the point of challenging inter/intra state commerce and individual rights. I guess the shipping of hand tools may suffer an especially rigorous scrutiny.

[Rick Fisher]

Tomorrow will be day 17.. Sigh.. Doesn't this hurt cross border trade ? Starting to get grumpy about it .. lol

[Kevin Hampshire]

I'm still waiting for two Stanley planes that the USPS misplaced back in October. They say they'll find them but I'm not expecting much given that they lost them the first time.

[Moses Yoder]

The problem is not the security concerns, but the "Occupy" wall street movement. They want $20 per hour minimum wage, and all the postal workers are stacking up work to do in case they get it. Mucho Overtime.

I can hardly wait to buy a Big Mac when the minimum wage is $20 per hour.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Sawmillcreek TERMS OF SERVICE:
1. Religion and PoliticsAll members shall abstain from engaging in religious or political debate.

[Rick Fisher]

Well, I needed to learn more patience either way..

[David Keller NC]

Hmmm - Like John, I've had very good luck with USPS as a shipper, and very bad luck with UPS. In my opinion, UPS stands for "Ultimate Package Smashers". :D

[Rick Fisher]

Well.. Still waiting..

Customs has had the package for 25 days today !

Funny, it doesn't really make me feel safer .... lol.

I expect that the Xmas rush should be starting soon, that should speed it up .. sigh..

[Jim Neeley]

Yeow, Rick.. :-(

Have you asked USPS when they will accept a lost claims report?

Jim

[Mike Gottlieb]

Rick, this is unbelievable. About a month ago I purchased some stones from Stu which were delivered in less than ten days.

[Rick Fisher]

I contacted the postal company and they report that its not lost, its at customs.. Canada Customs has 60 days to tell you what they are doing with the package..

Kinda crazy.. its not a complicated package..

[Rick Prosser]

At work we get a lot of stuff held up in customs (not usually Canadian). Things are usually held up because of something simple - like some field on the document not filled in or not readable. I could not begin to know how to fill out the forms...We have a special group that just walks things thru customs to reduce delays. Seems that when something has an issue at customs, it gets set aside and waits until someone sends the correct info - but no one is notified that there is an issue - at least, not at first.

[Jim Neeley]

"Where SERVICE is only a slogan!" ;)

[michael case]

"We run the tightest ship in the shipping business." vs. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

I just had a shipment sent by some new hybrid system where UPS gets the package across the country and THEN TURNS IT OVER TO USPS FOR LOCAL DELIVERY. Sounds like a plan eh? Well, would you believe that the UPS part which involved pick up from the vendor and thousands of miles of transit took half the time or less than the part where the USPS took over for the last six miles. Why I am not surprised? Its just my tax dollars at work again. Privatize the whole damn thing I say.

[Chris Griggs]

I find that where you live and even the specific branch of USPS or UPS makes a huge difference. Depending on where in the country I was living I sometimes had better results from USPS and sometime from UPS. Anyway, this doesn't seem like an issue with the shipper, it sounds like there is probably stack of boxes sitting in customs somewhere that no one has bothered to get too yet. Or a that a customs employee needed to "borrow" some chisels to install new hinges on there crappy BORG kitchen cabinets ;)

[Jim Neeley]

kitchen cabinets... or curb furniture.. :)

Probably a new first-line customs agent who had a question with some part of the paperwork and has "elevated" it (added it to the stack of parcels for their supervisor to review... when they return vacation).

Do I seem cynical? I still remember, about 20 years ago, going to our local Dept. of Motor Vehicles for a title transfer. I got there at 9:30am and got in line. By 11:30am I was about halfway through the line and employees started peeling off for lunch. Come 12:00, with a hundred or so "customers" still in line, the staff of 9 personnel were down to one worler. The rest were out at lunch. I got out of there about 2:30pm thinking "There's no way a private-sector business would stay in business treating it's customers like this".

[Curt Harms]

"We run the tightest ship in the shipping business." vs. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

I just had a shipment sent by some new hybrid system where UPS gets the package across the country and THEN TURNS IT OVER TO USPS FOR LOCAL DELIVERY. Sounds like a plan eh? Well, would you believe that the UPS part which involved pick up from the vendor and thousands of miles of transit took half the time or less than the part where the USPS took over for the last six miles. Why I am not surprised? Its just my tax dollars at work again. Privatize the whole damn thing I say.

Supposedly there are no tax $$ used for the USPS. I've gotten stuff via that 'hybrid system' and it has worked pretty well. FedEx tracking shows it being delivered to the local post office at 6 a.m. and I get it that day. This is a smallish post office about 30 miles from the FedEx facility with no more than a dozen people working there. Not enough people to have a bureaucratic tangle. That may or may not be the reason but we get pretty good service anyway.

[Andy Margeson]

Maybe it depends on where you live. Here in southern Oregon, UPS is painfully slow. It can take nearly two weeks to get something from the east coast. Even then, they wait until nearly dinner time to deliver because residential deliveries are their lowest priority. USPS is much much faster. I regularly request vendors to ship to me via USPS rather than USP ground. Personally, I think USPS Priority Mail flat rate boxes are the best deal going.

[Tim Davis 1947]

USPS is a nightmare...I have checked at the post office about packages and delivery and told "no not here" but was actually there all the time. This has happened more than once. Wonder why the are in the RED....

[Van Huskey]

For some USPS perspective I pulled up my metrics for shipping and over the last 10,000 packages USPS has damaged 2, 1 was lost and 7 were in route substantially longer than they should be. 6,532 were priority mail shipped inside CONUS and 99.8% of those were delivered within three days (or 4 if mailed on Thursday). They are also by far the most cost effective shipper IF one ships small items, by that I mean items that fit in their supplied boxes. They don't use tax dollars in fact over the last few years the fed siphons money off the postal service and is the only reason they operate at a loss. The issue with USPS tracking is that it is only true point by point tracking if it is sent Express mail, in the cases of priority, first class and others they primarily just give delivery confirmation as this is technically all they say they will do. If it is handed to a postal clerk it will usually show up then as accepted, and sometimes but not always show up at the different sort centers it goes through. Bottom line it is not tracking as in the point to point tracking Fed Ex and UPS do for all their packages.

From an anecdotal point of view any of the services can look horrible but if you accept an N of 10,000 as being statistical USPS looks pretty good, in this case I have nothing to complain about at all with 99.9% of the packages that were shipped, and over 800 of the packages were sent abroad to over 60 countries.

[Van Huskey]

At work we get a lot of stuff held up in customs (not usually Canadian). Things are usually held up because of something simple - like some field on the document not filled in or not readable. I could not begin to know how to fill out the forms...We have a special group that just walks things thru customs to reduce delays. Seems that when something has an issue at customs, it gets set aside and waits until someone sends the correct info - but no one is notified that there is an issue - at least, not at first.

I once had something returned from Australia as missing a customs form, the trick is there are three copies of the form all identical except a number (1,2 and 3) and a designation as to whom the form "belongs". All three forms were there in the clear plastic form holder just #2 was in front of #1. Customs can produce some serious delays for seemingly tiny issues.