Doc_J
Well-known member
Bought a custom uke from a US luthier on 12/12 from the other side of the country. The luthier had ‘Standard Shipping’ with delivery in 3-7 days. Cool, I figured to have it in a week. Would you believe it was sent USPS Parcel Post? Crap! The uke has spent the last 11 days in purgatory at the USPS.
Even though today is 12/23, the USPS “tracking” system still shows the ‘expected delivery date’ as Wed 12/20. My local post master stated that package should never have been sent via Parcel Post so close to Christmas “if you wanted it to arrive before Christmas,” despite what the USPS Christmas mailing guidelines say and what the USPS shipping computer system estimates for delivery.
My post master suggested using Parcel Post only when ‘you do not care when a package will arrive’ and guesses my package is stuck at a Bulk Mail Center and could take several days to be sorted, queued, and trucked to the next BMC before going to my PO. The postmaster also said miracles happen and it could possibly be delivered by tomorrow, but doubted it. I appreciated the post master's honesty, but I am disappointed with the USPS. Seems like they might anticipate Christmas mail volume increases after 235 years of operation. The USPS should not give bogus delivery estimates to shippers who don't recognize it as crap.
So remember, sending a package via USPS Parcel Post says to your customer, “I don’t care when you get this.”
Even though today is 12/23, the USPS “tracking” system still shows the ‘expected delivery date’ as Wed 12/20. My local post master stated that package should never have been sent via Parcel Post so close to Christmas “if you wanted it to arrive before Christmas,” despite what the USPS Christmas mailing guidelines say and what the USPS shipping computer system estimates for delivery.
My post master suggested using Parcel Post only when ‘you do not care when a package will arrive’ and guesses my package is stuck at a Bulk Mail Center and could take several days to be sorted, queued, and trucked to the next BMC before going to my PO. The postmaster also said miracles happen and it could possibly be delivered by tomorrow, but doubted it. I appreciated the post master's honesty, but I am disappointed with the USPS. Seems like they might anticipate Christmas mail volume increases after 235 years of operation. The USPS should not give bogus delivery estimates to shippers who don't recognize it as crap.
So remember, sending a package via USPS Parcel Post says to your customer, “I don’t care when you get this.”