Perils of Postal Delivery
My solution probably belongs on the politics board.
but short answer, yes. Especially parcel delivery, e.g. FedEx SmartPost or the similar arrangement with UPS. the USPS "leg" sometimes takes two weeks lately.
Our situation (with transfer of sorting function to Union) is somewhat unique, but the problem is not. I am shipping plants all over the US via USPS 'Priority' mail, and it is taking longer than ever. Yet, on Saturday I received a parcel from CA, which I did not expect to arrive till Monday or Tuesday.
We received a delivery around noon, today.... regular mail, magazines and a couple of pieces of junk mail.
Maybe this does belong in politics section ... but the problem stems from the Republican plan to economically strangle the U.S.P.S. so that it would then be privatized to the likes of U.P.S. and FedEx. This was at the time of Newt G.
Only one delivery of regular mail this past week. However, I did get a package yesterday that was promised by the 30th. It was mailed three days prior to delivery.
What with the new Postmaster General halting overtime (and probably other directives we're unaware of), vacations and the virus, this abysmal level of service may be part of our new normal. 
I've lost track of time, but about a month ago (+ or minus several weeks/months!) our carrier told me how mail deliveries had been negatively impacted by the spread of covid at the Kearny mail distribution center. I don't believe we can blame Union alone.
tomcat said:
Our situation (with transfer of sorting function to Union) is somewhat unique, but the problem is not. I am shipping plants all over the US via USPS 'Priority' mail, and it is taking longer than ever. Yet, on Saturday I received a parcel from CA, which I did not expect to arrive till Monday or Tuesday.
Not actually unique. Randolph and a few other towns were bundled into Dover, it’s a freakin nightmare over there. Some idiot in an office figured out on pen and paper that it would save money and be more efficient to bundle smaller towns into bigger ones. Once implemented it didn’t save money, and was less efficient. They’re spending more and service is suffering. So when they realized their mistake they stopped consolidating, but didn’t un-consolidate the offices they had already screwed up. At least, this is the explanation my previous supervisor gave to me.
My informed mail delivery email showed 1 bill on Friday and 1 on Saturday to be delivered - neither showed up.
i received notification from USPS tracking that an expected package was delivered to me at 11:58 am on Friday. The package appeared on my doorstep 24 hrs later.
Apparently mail is being slowed down to save on overtime, or so the USPS claims
https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/
Received mailbox full of mail today from carrier we have never seen before. Spot checking against what the post office delivery app said was delivered last week, it appears we got most of important missing stuff... including batch of important bills.
All of the mail that was scheduled for Friday and Saturday came today.
In Ocean County, Mail delivery has been erratic, as well. I just assumed junk mail, etc had been cut way back due to COVID. Some days, there has been no mail at all.
About delayed delivery of packages: I often get packages delivered to my doorstep mistakenly addressed to a similar address. Not knowing who put it there (USPS, UPS, FedEx or other) I usually resort to re-delivering them myself, sometimes a a day or so later.
I once caught the USPS man doing this and explained to him his mistake. That's one delivery person clued in.
mrmaplewood said:
About delayed delivery of packages: I often get packages delivered to my doorstep mistakenly addressed to a similar address. Not knowing who put it there (USPS, UPS, FedEx or other) I usually resort to re-delivering them myself, sometimes a a day or so later.
I once caught the USPS man doing this and explained to him his mistake. That's one delivery person clued in.
I used to live on Essex Ave in Maplewood. I would get mail, packages, and even food delivery for Essex Rd. Food delivery was easy since they need to see you face to face, I’d explain they had the wrong street and send them over.
Mail and packages I’d usually deliver myself.
The Maplewood Supervisor never called me back but I did get a week's worth of mail at about 7 pm today. Its back to the phones tomorrow to discover what is happening going forward. All of the mail was important: checks, bank statements, bills, etc. Not the sort of thing I would want delivered to a waste basket blocking my front door as the post office suggested I do.
joan_crystal said:
The Maplewood Supervisor never called me back but I did get a week's worth of mail at about 7 pm today. Its back to the phones tomorrow to discover what is happening going forward. All of the mail was important: checks, bank statements, bills, etc. Not the sort of thing I would want delivered to a waste basket blocking my front door as the post office suggested I do.
They’re not going to do anything. I can’t find out which POOM they are under, but you can try Edison, I’m pretty sure Maplewood falls under their watch
CONSUMER AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
21 KILMER RD
EDISON NJ 08899-9631
Phone: 1-800-ASK-USPS
Explain that you tried contacting the local office but that nothing was done
spontaneous said:
CONSUMER AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
21 KILMER RD
EDISON NJ 08899-9631
Phone: 1-800-ASK-USPSExplain that you tried contacting the local office but that nothing was done
Thank you so much. I did get mail yesterday, though not from the letter carrier assigned to the route. I want to try and talk with the Maplewood Supervisor one more time to see what will happen going forward. If that doesn't work, I will try the Edison Office.
I did file a service request online yesterday and I have a service request number. Will that request go to Edison or somewhere else?
spontaneous said:
mrmaplewood said:
About delayed delivery of packages: I often get packages delivered to my doorstep mistakenly addressed to a similar address. Not knowing who put it there (USPS, UPS, FedEx or other) I usually resort to re-delivering them myself, sometimes a a day or so later.
I once caught the USPS man doing this and explained to him his mistake. That's one delivery person clued in.
I used to live on Essex Ave in Maplewood. I would get mail, packages, and even food delivery for Essex Rd. Food delivery was easy since they need to see you face to face, I’d explain they had the wrong street and send them over.
Mail and packages I’d usually deliver myself.
Well, not really.
We live on either South Pierson Road, or Pierson Road South (according to conflicting signs at opposite ends of the street), and then there is Pierson Road (on the other side of Valley):
- Tuesday morning we came out to find a food delivery on our front steps. According to the maker, it was picked up by a food delivery service, so they are not responsible for delivery to correct address. After sitting out for 8-12 hours, we tossed it into the garbage.
- A couple of years ago we came home near midnight from a social event. In our foyer we found TWO pizzas, delivered by 2 different pizzarias.
And yes, I regularly drop off mis-delivered mail/UPS/FEDEX. And in one recent case, a large carton of fresh produce, which should have gone to number 5# (we live in 4#).
Included in one of Scully's packages last week, was a package of mens' beard coloring that was 'posed to go to some guy in Florida. They ain't getting it back. We are using it on our cat's whiskers. (Janis, the tortoise shell cat.)
Tomcat, I forgot about contactless delivery. We moved over two years ago so back then if someone ordered food the delivery person would always ring the bell and hand it to you personally. Now obviously that has changed
Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Included in one of Scully's packages last week, was a package of mens' beard coloring that was 'posed to go to some guy in Florida. They ain't getting it back. We are using it on our cat's whiskers. (Janis, the tortoise shell cat.)
If it was inside a correctly labeled package then that is not a delivery problem, but rather a warehouse problem. Remember last year at my eldest’s birthday party when we gave him an unopened Amazon box. When he opened it he looked very confused, instead of the Dog Man book he wanted, and we had ordered, he was staring at a blood pressure machine and a three pack of athlete’s foot powder.
Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Included in one of Scully's packages last week, was a package of mens' beard coloring that was 'posed to go to some guy in Florida. They ain't getting it back. We are using it on our cat's whiskers. (Janis, the tortoise shell cat.)
For the gullible out there HE’S JOKING our gorgeous furry ladies look just fine naturally...
spontaneous said:
CONSUMER AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
21 KILMER RD
EDISON NJ 08899-9631
Phone: 1-800-ASK-USPSExplain that you tried contacting the local office but that nothing was done
Thank you much. Unfortunately, after being on hold for 75 minutes, I reached a representative who told me I had called the wrong number. He referred me to 732-819-3260. When I called that number, it went straight to voice mail. Who knows if/when I will get a call back.
joan_crystal said:
Thank you much. Unfortunately, after being on hold for 75 minutes, I reached a representative who told me I had called the wrong number. He referred me to 732-819-3260. When I called that number, it went straight to voice mail. Who knows if/when I will get a call back.
Who knows? I know. You ain't gonna hear nothing back.
joan_crystal said:
spontaneous said:
CONSUMER AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
21 KILMER RD
EDISON NJ 08899-9631
Phone: 1-800-ASK-USPSExplain that you tried contacting the local office but that nothing was done
Thank you much. Unfortunately, after being on hold for 75 minutes, I reached a representative who told me I had called the wrong number. He referred me to 732-819-3260. When I called that number, it went straight to voice mail. Who knows if/when I will get a call back.
Wow, that is crazy. I copied and pasted the information directly from their website. The post office is truly going down the tubes
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Postal delivery in Maplewood has gone from poor to nearly non-existent. My route received mail only one day this week (Thursday). Friends I have spoken with in other parts of town have had problems with postal delivery too, though not quite as bad as my experience . Problem seems to be a shortage of letter carriers for a variety of reasons with preference being given to covering Union before dealing with the needs in Maplewood. This week, according to the Maplewood Supervisor at the Union Post Office, there were only 12 letter carriers available to cover all of Maplewood. With no overtime compensation, some of the 12 could not even complete their own route much less cover someone else's. I would like to know what others have experienced in the way of mail service lately and what if anything can be done to correct a situation which is growing steadily worse.