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The Post Office has gone DRASTICALLY downhill the past few years especially NOW

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BruceH:
The U.S. Post Office has gone DRASTICALLY downhill the past few years, and that slide is accelerating dramatically. Packages sent Priority Mail now routinely take a week or more to arrive in the U.S., as opposed to 2 to 5 days a couple of years ago.

Packages sent outside the U.S. fare far worse. They often take a month or more, and usually there is no tracking during that time (or sometimes false tracking of places it has never been).
But worst of all is the DAMAGE. Anyone who has ordered from my company, eMoviePoster.com, KNOWS we use the strongest tubes of anyone. Until last year, we only had two or three damaged packages each year, out of the 25,000 or so we send each year!

In the past year, we have had around ten times that. It still is a VERY tiny percentage of the total we send (around one tenth of one percent), which is a tribute to how strong our tubes and boxes are), but when the rate goes up ten times after 30 years of no change, you KNOW they are doing something VERY wrong in how they handle tubes and packages.

We sent a tube back in March. The customer received it crushed, and worse yet, the mailman dropped the crushed tube off at the customer's front door, rang the doorbell and left.
He later that day received an email saying that he had accepted the tube and had signed for it, and that was a lie (the customer has the ring video doorbell that proves otherwise).

He sent us pictures of the crushed tube, and we filed the claim. First the Post Office said we needed pictures of the damage, and we sent pictures of the tube and damaged posters.

Next they said we needed to prove the customer had paid what we said. We sent a copy of the invoice, and they said that was not sufficient. We sent the a copy of his payment, and they accepted that.

But now they sent a new letter stating they looked at our images of the crushed tube and have determined we did not use a strong enough tube, so they are denying our claim, and suggest we double tube all orders in the future! 🙁

I KNOW we used a tube stronger than 99% of the tubes anyone else does, and that they simply never want to pay any insurance claims, even though they love taking the insurance money.

So the Post Office crushed a super-strong tube, lied about the customer signing for it, delayed my rightful claim for months, and then denied it and told me to use double tubes!

I am thinking a FAR better suggestion is that we switch ALL our business (15,000 to 25,000 tubes and packages a year) to UPS and Fed Ex!

If anyone from the Post Office reads this (which I strongly doubt), I have given up on your company. I just wanted you to know WHY I have.

If anyone else reading this wonders WHY the Post Office is going broke, the above surely is instructive as to why. And please feel free to share this with anyone and everyone who ever mails or receives any packages or tubes through the USPS. 🙁

kovacs01:
Bruce,

When I was shipping from Japan, I used to use PVC pipe.  It was easier to get than cardboard tubes and much more likely to hold up to the rigors of making it overseas (to include being waterproof). I am not sure what lengths of PVC cost vs buying tubes in bulk, but you might find it very close, if not cheaper.  That said, its a little more work in that it has to be cut to length.  It might be something to think about, especially for high dollar items.

okiehawker:
Dang, you have to really want to crush a tube to crush an emovieposter tube.  Holy moly! I wonder how many jobs you are supporting at the West Plains post office Bruce? It's got to be a few, right?  Seems like a poster insurance mail claim from you makes a lot of sense for USPS to pay just based on the amount of local jobs you support. Okie

crowzilla:

--- Quote from: okiehawker on July 25, 2021, 01:42:46 AM ---Dang, you have to really want to crush a tube to crush an emovieposter tube.  Holy moly! I wonder how many jobs you are supporting at the West Plains post office Bruce? It's got to be a few, right?  Seems like a poster insurance mail claim from you makes a lot of sense for USPS to pay just based on the amount of local jobs you support. Okie

--- End quote ---

20,000 packages a year is only 80 a day (and I'm actually surprised Bruce does this few,  a testament to how many repeat customers they have and how successful their pay and hold service is), which means at most there is one part time employee to help out at the USPS.
But, they should pay the claim based on the volume of packages sent, vs the number of claims filed, and the threat of losing that business.

I hope you are doing an appeal Bruce, and it sounds like it would be a fun court case to show how strong the tubes are and the physics it would take to crush one.

ddilts399:
I am officially done with INTL sales (other than the folks that know how to get ahold of me and understand the risk :) ).  Turned back off on all sales portals, tried allowing again in May and 50% of stuff shipped since then still have not been delivered where I used USPS. UPS, 10 day max was seen.  Might try again in the fall, but with the ridiculous 45.00 shipping rate to use UPS for everything.

I will say domestically delivery times are somewhat improved from where they were in the winter and spring.  Just depends on the sort facility you hit now. Some still cant keep up and others are back to business as usual. 

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