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[Kobun Heat]

So I'm waiting on Radiata Stories. I had it shipped Express Mail on Wednesday. Thursday I was out and so I got one of those "We Missed You And We'll Redeliver Your Shit Tomorrow!" slips. So far so good.

So I'm sitting around the house all day yesterday waiting for this shit. Sitting, sitting, sitting. I go down at 3:30, no mail yet. I play some more Oddworld. Well in range of my extremely loud doorbell. I go downstairs at 4:30 to see what is taking them so long. ANOTHER FUCKING GOD DAMNED "WE MISSED YOU" SLIP! What the holy hell?

So I go down to the post office, where they tell me that the package isn't there -- it's at a different location and I'll have to wait until tomorrow for it. I tell them that this is absurd as there was no possible way I could have missed the doorbell, so they didn't ring it and how on Earth was I supposed to get this? She gave me a number to call.

So I called the number and explained the situation and they said they could attempt redelivery the next day. I wasn't happy -- if it had been UPS or FedEx they'd have brought it by that night -- but said okay.

So I get up today to find that the mail had already arrived while I was asleep, and there was a DIFFERENT "We Missed Your Sorry Ass" slip, for a DIFFERENT package. No sign of Radiata. I figured that they didn't attempt redelivery so I went back upstairs to go take a shower in preparation for the post office. Little did I know that while I was in the shower, a SECOND MAIL CARRIER -- have you ever heard of getting mail twice in one day? -- came by, rang the doorbell (which, loud as it is, you can't hear in the shower), left a slip and took off.

So I called the number AGAIN and asked them what the hell that was, and could they please just contact the carrier and have them come back to my house. And of course, they can't fucking contact the carrier when they're out on their route. (Again, had it been an actual non-piece of shit company yadda yadda yadda.) Only after much complaining did I get them to agree to call me when the carrier got back to their hub (which apparently I have to take the bus to get to or some bullshit) with the package so I can go and pick it up.

Wouldn't be a big deal except I only have to write a preview of Radiata for MONDAY, which is when they were going to "try" again. I would like to close by saying that it would not be awful if all the USPS employees in the world were to, in a daring and coordinated scheme, be set on fire. Then thrown off a cliff, and set on fire again just to be sure. Then stabbed. Thank you.

 

[belgurdo]

You're gonna get fired because of USPS

There's only one thing you can do

 

[Zep]

On the we missed you slip there wasnt an option that said," X here if you want us to leave the box next time we come"? im pretty sure thats on the slip...if not, you need a new doorbell..

 

[Macam]

I've had this happen to me before numerous times; it usually entails me driving halfway across town in rush hour to pick up the package in some obscure pick up location between a corn field a series of dilapidated buildings of some ancient civilization.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Yeah, I COULD have just left the slip saying "leave it in front of the door" but I didn't know it was coming. I thought they'd already come by without it, which is the only reason I was in the shower in the first place -- so I could go to the post office, where I had every reason to believe it was.

 

[Drexon]

Once when I got a rare SNES game I left the postman a note telling him not to try and showe the package down the ½ inch slot and just knock. Do something simular, only telling him/her to press the god damn door bell an extensive amount of times.

 

[Funky Papa]

The US postal service rules, one month ago I ordered a packet with $600 in special merchandise for our business and we're still waiting. The best thing about this mess is that the tracking number doesn't work so I don't know where the hell are the goods, according to the manufacturer the last terror alert fuxored their international shipments big time and some of their customers are still receiving their packets.

Moral of the history: Fuck the USPS.

 

[The Faceless Master]

if it's important, you probably don't want to use the USPS

 

[Funky Papa]

We weren't aware of their shitiness, it was our first time working with them :-/

 

[Lhadatt]

Never use USPS for anything of value. Fedex is preferred, since their carriers are usually at least somewhat intelligent. UPS is acceptable, they do screw up quite a bit - but nowhere near as much as USPS.

 

[Tarazet]

I've found that doing things online helps a lot. I mean like buying postage online to print out (using their "official" addresses with 9-digit ZIP codes), or using their carrier pickup service... they also have a Pickup on Demand service, but I would only recommend that if the timeframe (i.e., get it there later that day) is crucial enough to merit the $12.50 price tag.

If you're on the receiving end, I think it's within your rights to make sure that as much of this is done as possible on their end...

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Had a similar problem with FedEx with my new case/CPU/etc. for my rig. I have no fa-reaking clue why they just can't leave it at the post office instead of chauffeuring it back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Epilogue: after hauling my ass down to the giant postal office that holds all the packages and such (two bus rides away, though not especially far) I got Radiata Stories. Lessons learned: after they skip me the first time, leave a note even if I think I'm going to be home; use UPS/FedEx when at all possible; yelling on the phone does sometimes get results, kind of.

Oh, and in an astonishing display of competence they did bring my other package (a replacement DVD-ROM drive for my laptop) around when delivering the mail later in the day.

 

[Litigation Manuel]

Weird Al?