US Postal Service SNAFU

[Dutch]

Yes, I have my gripes with the USPS as noted with my first attempt. However, I have no complaints with my mail carrier.  He has been voted the Best Carrier for several years, not by customers, but by his peers. He is terrific.  However, this attempt seems to be SNAFU'd with the USCS.  When do arriving international packages move from USCS custody to USPS custody?

[f5guy]

Hi everyone,

     First of all, Dutch, sorry to hear about the issues that you've been having. I had the same thing happen with a pair of 48th Tamiya F-14A kits that I ordered from Japan. Interestingly enough, they came from the same ebay seller who shipped them seprately. The first one arrived fine, but the second one was sent back because of a supposed bad address. Go figure!

     Here's a little insight for everyone. My wife is a window clerk for the USPS, and has been for 30 years. I know most of her co-workers, the Postmaster, and even a few regional managers. In the 10 years since we've been together I've observed 3 distinct types of people working for the USPS:

 

1) Dedicated, hard working career types who take their jobs seriously, and really make an effort.

2) Lazy, largely useless people who are only there because the government owes them a job, and they need a paycheck.

3) Totally dysfunctional people who couldn't hold a job outside of the Federal Government. Think Sam Brinton. Numbers 2 & 3 are often interchangeable. 

 

     With all of that being said..... the USPS is, in my opinion, still the best, and cheapest shipping option here in the US. Have you priced UPS, Fed Ex, or DHL lately? Ouch!

 

For what it's worth, Fred K.

Edited April 2 by f5guy

[Helmsman]

16 hours ago, Dutch said:

No news on the old package from Russia.  So I decided to order two new Uprise decal sets via an eBay seller in Serbia back in early Feb.  Sale went through,  paid with PayPal, received a Customs tracking number. Item was mailed on 5 Feb. USPS tracking website says that tracking is unavailable from Serbia. After receiving the same red letter text every day for the past eight weeks, I decided to check Serbian post office tracking tonight.  It shows the package delivered to US Customs at JFK on 11 Feb. 

Ebay only gives me the option to contact the seller to request a new item or issue a refund.  Seller has three days to respond before eBay will take action. 

 

 

Russian post has no record of this package after May 7 2022. So I guess USPS probably "lost" it.
https://www.pochta.ru/tracking?barcode=RB309217569RU

 

I have my own "funny" postal story. Some 3-4 years ago I've sent a small package to my friend in Russia. It made its way to Saratov where local post office messed it up and finally rerurned it to sender. The package appeared in the USPS tracking in NYC on its way back and came all the way to Shreveport - the final point before being delivered to me. From there it went to Miami and even cleared export customs apparemtly on the second attempt to be sent to Russia. Then it suddenly made a U-turn and came back to me after about 6 months of travelling the world.

[Dutch]

So the envelope showed up today.  It was wrinkled and torn, but the contents were undamaged, thanks to Alex's excellent packing technique.  However, USPS still shows the following:

I left very positive feedback for Alex Aftermarket on eBay, blaming the delivery delay on USCS & USPS.  It wasn't his fault.  All's well that ends well!

Kind regards,

Dutch

[f5guy]

18 hours ago, Dutch said:

So the envelope showed up today.  It was wrinkled and torn, but the contents were undamaged, thanks to Alex's excellent packing technique.  However, USPS still shows the following:

I left very positive feedback for Alex Aftermarket on eBay, blaming the delivery delay on USCS & USPS.  It wasn't his fault.  All's well that ends well!

Kind regards,

Dutch

 

Good news Dutch! Fred.