Should I spend more and not use USPS

[Rick Herrick]

Hey [member=7266]jeffinsgf[/member] Jeff.  Wonder if I need to spend more on shipping to make sure USPS doesn't handle anything important.  [big grin] [big grin]

Was watching out the window when delivered so I hustled out to catch up with the carrier.  I asked him why he left the door down.  He said because it didn't fit.  I said, doesn't that make you think you should bring it to the door.  He said no.  I asked what if it didn't fit at all, what would you do. He said he would bring it to the door.  I told him that you leave it as is and it could rain or some knucklehead drives by and thinks he needs it more than me and takes it.  I don't understand this world more and more every day.

Typical, he just didn't give a rat's backside.

 

[Sparktrician]

Hey [member=7266]jeffinsgf[/member] Jeff.  Wonder if I need to spend more on shipping to make sure USPS doesn't handle anything important.  [big grin] [big grin]

Was watching out the window when delivered so I hustled out to catch up with the carrier.  I asked him why he left the door down.  He said because it didn't fit.  I said, doesn't that make you think you should bring it to the door.  He said no.  I asked what if it didn't fit at all, what would you do. He said he would bring it to the door.  I told him that you leave it as is and it could rain or some knucklehead drives by and thinks he needs it more than me and takes it.  I don't understand this world more and more every day.

Typical, he just didn't give a rat's backside.

And people wonder why USPS is hemorrhaging money so badly...  [mad] 

 

[rmhinden]

I have had bad and good deliveries by USPS, UPS, Fedex, and Amazon.    I don't think one is better than the other.  As far as I can tell, it just depends on the individual who is doing the delivery.

Bob

 

[Packard]

In the 1980s, when LP records were still available, they sold special flat corrugated cartons for shipping the records.  They were about 13” square, had printed on them “do not bend or fold” and they used heavy corrugated.  Perfect for LP records.

The company I worked for at the time produced wire handles for 5 gallon shipping containers.  Those handles fit perfectly within the record album packaging. 

Whenever a potential customer requested a sample, we would pack them in that carton and mail it off. 

We learned early on to ask if there would be someone there to receive it, or if it would have to be left in a mailbox or passed through a mail slot. 

If there was someone there to receive it, we used the album mailer.  If it went in a mailbox are through a mail slot, we put it in a larger carton and shipped it by UPS (which never used mail boxes or mail slots).

Invariably, if it went to a mailbox or slot, the letter carrier would fold (what he had to believe was a record album) in half to fit.  The wire handles could not survive the bending and I suspect that the albums could not either.

Similar to these:

 

[ChuckM]

It's always the person who delivers the service (whatever it's) that matters.

It was pure luck that this 12" steel flex rule (along with a 6" one) that didn't get totaled in the way it was packaged (in a plastic envelope) and couriered by Amazon:

[attachimg=1]

I was able to fix the slight bend, otherwise it'd a return.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
Typical, he just didn't give a rat's backside.

Neither did this fellow:

 

[Packard]

It's always the person who delivers the service (whatever it's) that matters.

It was pure luck that this 12" steel flex rule (along with a 6" one) that didn't get totaled in the way it was packaged (in a plastic envelope) and couriered by Amazon:

[attachimg=1]

I was able to fix the slight bend, otherwise it'd a return.

I bought the Mr. Pen set (6”, 8”, 12” & 14”) stainless steel, metric on one side and Imperial on the other.  Accurate and easy to read.  Graduations start from the edge (end) of the ruler (a good thing).  8.00 per set.

The only fault I found with these is the the edges were a bit too sharp.  I made one light pass with a ceramic knife sharpener and that knocked the edge off and solved that problem.  It is still sharp enough to use to rip a piece of paper, but not so sharp that it will slice through fabric.

 

[ChuckM]

The Mr. Pen set came up on my search earlier on (https://www.amazon.ca/Mr-Machinist-Metric-Millimeter-Stainless/dp/B086TWLKC1/ref=asc_df_B086TWLKC1/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459389307346&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6639621224501109106&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001335&hvtargid=pla-944567573418&psc=1), but they don't have the 1/100ths.

 

[Cheese]

In the 1980s 2023, when LP records were are still available, they sold special flat corrugated cartons for shipping the records.  They were about 13” square, had printed on them “do not bend or fold” and they used heavy corrugated.  Perfect for LP records.

Headline: "Vinyl records outsell CDs for the first time since 1987"
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/10/1162568704/vinyl-outsells-cds-first-time-since-1987-records

 

[reijos]

Headline: "Vinyl records outsell CDs for the first time since 1987"
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/10/1162568704/vinyl-outsells-cds-first-time-since-1987-records

Interesting accessory headline: Only half of vinyl record buyers have a record player
https://consequence.net/2023/04/half-vinyl-buyers-record-player-study/

 

[woodbutcherbower]

All delivery companies here in the UK (including Royal Mail) take photographs on your doorstep of the package as it's delivered - to provide proof of delivery, and also to prove good, undamaged condition. Such a simple idea - but it works, 100%. If no-one's home, they put it back on the van and leave a card through your mailbox with a bunch of redelivery options. All companies will also deliver to a neighbor or a 'safe place' if you specify this.

 

[ChuckM]

Most courier deliveries are done the same way here with photos taken. Some kind souls even ring the door bell, too, before they leave, keeping the chance of stolen parcels happening down. I always use the automatic delivery update feature if available.

Postal deliveries that can't fit into the community mail boxes are delivered to the door or to a local postal office for pick-up. Both require a signature.

All these delivery measures tell us the kind of world we live in. In the 70s, I could still leave my door keys under the door mat for my college buddies to get entry. Oh, many of my neighbors didn't lock their old cars on the street either.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Snip.
Typical, he just didn't give a rat's backside.

Neither did this fellow:

That guy should be hit in the face....and if he cries, hit him again.

I get everything delivered to me at work because my porch is not safe. It is wide open/exposed and too close to the street.
Funny thing is, I get deliveries quite often at home, but they are not mine. They are for the neighbor lady 2 doors to the west. My address ends with 66 and hers with 76. All of them do it FedEx, UPS, and Amazon. The USPS guy actually gets it right, but he is walking, and does it every day.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip..  I asked what if it didn't fit at all, what would you do. He said he would bring it to the door.  Snip.

Can one make the mail box bigger, or is the size regulated?

 

[rmhinden]

Found this:

What are the USPS Mailbox Requirements

and

Fit More in Your Extra-Large Mailbox

Bob

 

[rvieceli]

This graph is interesting though. Physical media is only 11% of revenue while streaming services make up over 84% of music revenue

Ron

[attachimg=1]

 

[rjboch]

Not sure how much we can bash USPS. Just like most things in life, customer service is dependent upon the person and service has been undercut due to cost cutting and efforts to build efficiencies with deliveries. In some cases, there are good people striving to serve the best they can and others who are just trying to get home and do the bare minimum (this happens in every field). USPS has also been underfunded and beat up by private competition for decades. Further, business has been drying up with less and less paper mail being sent (killing revenue) and other legacy/operational costs (e.g., pensions, gasoline, etc.). Add to this the average $18/hr pay and it’s no surprise that we get mediocre service.  I also feel that we all, at some level, drive these changes through our own consumer habits, desire for speed, and complaining when we actually have to pay real costs for our goods and services. As they say garbage in, garbage out.

 

[ChuckM]

Found this:

What are the USPS Mailbox Requirements

and

Fit More in Your Extra-Large Mailbox

Bob

"Building Your Own Curbside Mailbox

All custom built mailboxes should meet the same standards and guidance as approved mailboxes. Custom built mailboxes should have a flag on the outside and must have strength, durability same as comparable to approved mailboxes. Be Aware, when building your own mailbox and post. There are hundreds of motorists killed in collisions with manual built curbside mailboxes. Reason being some posts are mounted in concrete or constructed of indestructible materials."

No wonder why in the New Yankee Workshop episode on the mail box, Norm didn't pour concrete to mount the mail box post.

I wonder if someone got killed due to a post supported in concrete, would the owner be liable?

 

[Michael Kellough]

Found this:

What are the USPS Mailbox Requirements

and

Fit More in Your Extra-Large Mailbox

Bob

"Building Your Own Curbside Mailbox

All custom built mailboxes should meet the same standards and guidance as approved mailboxes. Custom built mailboxes should have a flag on the outside and must have strength, durability same as comparable to approved mailboxes. Be Aware, when building your own mailbox and post. There are hundreds of motorists killed in collisions with manual built curbside mailboxes. Reason being some posts are mounted in concrete or constructed of indestructible materials."

No wonder why in the New Yankee Workshop episode on the mail box, Norm didn't pour concrete to mount the mail box post.

I wonder if someone got killed due to a post supported in concrete, would the owner be liable?

On a trip to China about 20 years ago we heard about a law case where a Frenchman who had rented a car broke down on the side of the road. He pulled completely off the road but a Chinese driver who wasn’t paying attention crashed into the Frenchman’s car anyway. The Chinese man sued for damages and won. The court said if the Frenchman had been in France where he belonged his car would not have been an obstacle.

Here you expected to stay in your lane.

 

[luvmytoolz]

On a trip to China about 20 years ago we heard about a law case where a Frenchman who had rented a car broke down on the side of the road. He pulled completely off the road but a Chinese driver who wasn’t paying attention crashed into the Frenchman’s car anyway. The Chinese man sued for damages and won. The court said if the Frenchman had been in France where he belonged his car would not have been an obstacle.

Here you expected to stay in your lane.

Given what the roads and traffic were like back then that just sounds awfully like a tourist tax?