[ARCHIVED THREAD] - USPS Why does it still exist? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/16/2014 9:58:55 AM EDT
So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days). 
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? |
| Because the US Post Office got Congress to make it illegal for other people to deliver "regular mail" when Lysander Spooner (a northern abolitionist who supported the right of the South to secede) was putting the USPO/S out of business, having driven the price of stamps _down_ to 3 cents each. (The last time the price of sending a letter _ever_ went down.) |
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day This too. Fedex loves overnighting stuff from LA to Chicago. From Bug Tussel, Arkansas to Fort Nowhere, Montana, not so much. |
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So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days).
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? They don't use tax money.. 
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day Do you suspect there is just no way to make enough money on letters alone? Packages I can see being a money maker (UPS does very well) but letters maybe not? |
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This too. Fedex loves overnighting stuff from LA to Chicago. From Bug Tussel, Arkansas to Fort Nowhere, Montana, not so much. Quoted:
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day This too. Fedex loves overnighting stuff from LA to Chicago. From Bug Tussel, Arkansas to Fort Nowhere, Montana, not so much. This, and it's not like UPS or Fedex never loose a package. Or when they deliver late you don't get the money back for the faster shipping. |
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They don't use tax money.. Quoted:
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So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days).
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? They don't use tax money.. I thought they were billions in the hole? I assume we pay for that or am I wrong? |
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Do you suspect there is just no way to make enough money on letters alone? Packages I can see being a money maker (UPS does very well) but letters maybe not? Quoted:
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day Do you suspect there is just no way to make enough money on letters alone? Packages I can see being a money maker (UPS does very well) but letters maybe not? Yeah, I think letters are a money loser. Packages do well when you move your own freight. USPS does not own airplanes, so they farm that work out to Fedex for millions of dollars. |
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Quoted: It's in the Constitution. It could die tomorrow, and that would square with the Constitution just fine.
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In my opinion, it's not even that the USPS is poorly run. It's that Congress steadfastly refuses to allow them to make any meaningful reforms. And another thing - the USPS should not have a monopoly on first class mail. Congress could easily fix that shit too, but it won't.
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 Are you seriously coming here to "cry and bitch" about my "cry and bitch" GD post? How ironic....
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Oh look something else for GD to cry and bitch about. Are you seriously coming here to "cry and bitch" about my "cry and bitch" GD post? How ironic....
So you're crying and bitching about my crying and bitching about you're crying and bitching? Know how I know that you know what I know about what you know. 
Here's Katy Perrys feet to make it all better 
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In my opinion, it's not even that the USPS is poorly run. It's that Congress steadfastly refuses to allow them to make any meaningful reforms. And another thing - the USPS should not have a monopoly on first class mail. Congress could easily fix that shit too, but it won't. Good point. Fixing it would be fine with me too. |
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So you're crying and bitching about my crying and bitching about you're crying and bitching? Know how I know that you know what I know about what you know.
Here's Katy Perrys feet to make it all better <a href="http://imgur.com/yWFOcgq" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/yWFOcgq.jpg</a> Quoted:
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Oh look something else for GD to cry and bitch about. Are you seriously coming here to "cry and bitch" about my "cry and bitch" GD post? How ironic....
So you're crying and bitching about my crying and bitching about you're crying and bitching? Know how I know that you know what I know about what you know.
Here's Katy Perrys feet to make it all better <a href="http://imgur.com/yWFOcgq" target="_blank">http://i.imgur.com/yWFOcgq.jpg</a> The word irony was wasted on you. I can see that now. And yuck. |
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day Exactly. Quite frankly I trust the USPS to get my packages to me and others I sell things to in-tact more reliably than UPS/FedEx given my history with all three of them. |
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So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days).
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? Technically you got exactly what you paid for. Read the fine print and it says that those ship times are an estimate NOT a guarantee. If you want a guarantee you must use Express Mail which shockingly costs more. I had an issue exactly once with this and it turned out the moron seller was lucky it even arrived at all. See here for my experience. They went above and beyond in my case to get me the box. |
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This too. Fedex loves overnighting stuff from LA to Chicago. From Bug Tussel, Arkansas to Fort Nowhere, Montana, not so much. Quoted:
Quoted:
Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day This too. Fedex loves overnighting stuff from LA to Chicago. From Bug Tussel, Arkansas to Fort Nowhere, Montana, not so much. Bugtussle is in Kentucky, not Arkansas. |
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I thought they were billions in the hole? I assume we pay for that or am I wrong? Quoted:
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So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days).
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? They don't use tax money.. I thought they were billions in the hole? I assume we pay for that or am I wrong? http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/17/news/usps-debt-limit/ http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2013/jul/24/american-postal-workers-union/postal-service-claim-not-fully-target/ |
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Because no private company wants to be tasked with delivering the lowest priced parcels on the planet to every house, every day This. And they not only have to deliver to, but check every address in case the address has something to send. 1st class mail is not a money maker. |
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To establish one, not maintain it with federal dollars in perpetuity...or even regulate it so heavily that it's all but impossible for it to turn a profit on it's own. It could die tomorrow, and that would square with the Constitution just fine. Quoted:
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It's in the Constitution. It could die tomorrow, and that would square with the Constitution just fine. And the 2nd Amendment applies only to the Nation Guard and hunting. See what I did there? They also don't use tax dollars, the money they "owe" is to a prepaid retirement fund mandated by the .gov that no other company in America has to do. Basically IMO they are being squeezed dry to fund out bankrupt government. Just like all their profits since birth that went into the general fund and disappeared. |
| The reason no one wants to take over the Mail service is that its all or nothing. Fedex or UPS can't come in and say "We want it, but only in densely populated areas that have lots of office buildings, apartments, and businesses". They could turn a profit in areas like that. Most of those places aren't individual mailboxes in front of each building, so it takes a lot less time to do. And the odds of them already having a package to deliver in a place like that is pretty high, so they aren't even going out of the way to do it. The money losers are small towns and rural areas where they may only have 2 or 3 deliveries at individual addresses. |
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Quoted: And the 2nd Amendment applies only to the Nation Guard and hunting. See what I did there? They also don't use tax dollars, the money they "owe" is to a prepaid retirement fund mandated by the .gov that no other company in America has to do. Basically IMO they are being squeezed dry to fund out bankrupt government. Just like all their profits since birth that went into the general fund and disappeared. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: It's in the Constitution. It could die tomorrow, and that would square with the Constitution just fine. And the 2nd Amendment applies only to the Nation Guard and hunting. See what I did there? They also don't use tax dollars, the money they "owe" is to a prepaid retirement fund mandated by the .gov that no other company in America has to do. Basically IMO they are being squeezed dry to fund out bankrupt government. Just like all their profits since birth that went into the general fund and disappeared. |
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Do you think Fed Ex or UPS will happily drive out to your place, pick up a bill payment and then deliver it anywhere in the U.S. for $ .40????? And do it 6 days a week??
Fed Ex and UPS screw up deliveries as well as the USPS. UPS and lost more of my shit than the other two combined. |
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Technically you got exactly what you paid for. Read the fine print and it says that those ship times are an estimate NOT a guarantee. If you want a guarantee you must use Express Mail which shockingly costs more. I had an issue exactly once with this and it turned out the moron seller was lucky it even arrived at all. See here for my experience. They went above and beyond in my case to get me the box. Quoted:
Quoted:
So annoyed. Ordered a few items that were shipped "Priority Mail 2-Day" last Monday. Tracking shows an expected delivery date of last Wednesday. Well here we are on Friday and no package. I understand shit happens. I understand that waiting another few days or even a week is not going to be the end of the world. What bothers me is the fact that if the USPS were a real business they would have gone out of business long ago. ETA: Oh and the fact I paid them $$ and didn't get what I paid for (my package in 2 days).
When are we going to dump the USPS all together and just go with a private company that isn't a waist waste of tax payer money? Technically you got exactly what you paid for. Read the fine print and it says that those ship times are an estimate NOT a guarantee. If you want a guarantee you must use Express Mail which shockingly costs more. I had an issue exactly once with this and it turned out the moron seller was lucky it even arrived at all. See here for my experience. They went above and beyond in my case to get me the box. Yeah. I thought I had a refund coming until I read that on the website. I suppose they would be even more in the hole if it weren't for fine print. |
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The post office does a good job of moving the mail; I always get priority packages must faster than fedex or ups.
Where they fall short is in their customer service; long lines with one window open with fat clerks that have shitty attitudes. And their unions protect the shitty workers. The USPS no longer hires careeer workers; all are on 1 year contracts and I can only see their service getting worse. |
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It's about "jobs."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/20/us-post-office-job-cuts-black-middle-class_n_2514917.html eta: whenever anyone talks about closing down overpriced post offices, some congressman balks at the idea of "fewer American flags flying over America." |
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Honestly? No. Quoted:
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It's in the Constitution. It could die tomorrow, and that would square with the Constitution just fine. And the 2nd Amendment applies only to the Nation Guard and hunting. See what I did there? They also don't use tax dollars, the money they "owe" is to a prepaid retirement fund mandated by the .gov that no other company in America has to do. Basically IMO they are being squeezed dry to fund out bankrupt government. Just like all their profits since birth that went into the general fund and disappeared. Interpretation of the constitution to fit a narrative is bad. The gov is tasked with mail Don't fuck with the peoples guns Everyone should leave it at that and stop assuming what the fathers meant or didn't mean. Besides it is designed as a service to the people. As long as they break even it is all good. Many rural deliveries they actually lose money on everyday. Fully privatize it and that service is gone, say hello to $2 letters and $15 flat rate boxes. |
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Do you think Fed Ex or UPS will happily drive out to your place, pick up a bill payment and then deliver it anywhere in the U.S. for $ .40????? And do it 6 days a week?? Fed Ex and UPS screw up deliveries as well as the USPS. UPS and lost more of my shit than the other two combined. No. I suspect customers would have to drop of the mail at a UPS (or whatever they want to call it) office. I have actually not put a single letter in my mailbox to be mailed in at least 8yrs. I just go to the post office and drop it in the box. If I lived out in BFE (wish I did) that story might be different I suppose. |
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No. I suspect customers would have to drop of the mail at a UPS (or whatever they want to call it) office. I have actually not put a single letter in my mailbox to be mailed in at least 8yrs. I just go to the post office and drop it in the box. If I lived out in BFE (wish I did) that story might be different I suppose. Quoted:
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Do you think Fed Ex or UPS will happily drive out to your place, pick up a bill payment and then deliver it anywhere in the U.S. for $ .40????? And do it 6 days a week?? Fed Ex and UPS screw up deliveries as well as the USPS. UPS and lost more of my shit than the other two combined. No. I suspect customers would have to drop of the mail at a UPS (or whatever they want to call it) office. I have actually not put a single letter in my mailbox to be mailed in at least 8yrs. I just go to the post office and drop it in the box. If I lived out in BFE (wish I did) that story might be different I suppose. I'm not in BFE, I still drop a letter in a box a couple times a week and they come get it. I just looked up the population in my zip code that our single Post Office serves, it handles mail for about 35,000 people and a couple thousand businesses. That works out to around 15,000 thousand houses and offices. The clusterfuck of all those people trying to access one facility to drop off would be epic. |