[btb103]

Lately, I am having the entirely worst experiences with USPS. Our **** is always arriving late, being left out in the rain on our front porch (I live in an apartment in Chicago), and getting lost. The birthday card my mom sent me a few months ago (with a check in it) was lost. Over a period of the last 1.5 months - until last week - I was dealing with USPS losing a package of some headphones I ordered from Japan. Finally they admitted there mistake and the seller was kind enough to send a new pair.

With this in mind, consider my new and even graver problem. I come to you, Head-Fi, because I sense this is a rather delicate situation and I need to know how to proceed. Last week I ordered a $275 MP3 player from Amazon. It was shipped quickly on the 18th, in the Amazon style. I expected it to come sometime this week. Well, according to the tracking number the package was DELIVERED on Saturday, the 21st. Where was I Saturday? At work. Where was my roommate? Working at the same job with me. And our third roommate? Out doing errands or something. So ... why and how could they have delivered the package? My landlord, who lives on the floor below us, sometimes gets packages for us and brings them to us. Not in the two days since it was delivered has he come to me - this will be one of the first things I do is to check with him. I doubt he has it though because another package came that he left in our vestibule next to our door.

Now imagine this Amazon box sitting out on the front porch (hell maybe on the sidewalk outside the front gate) in the middle of a warm, sunny afternoon in urban Chicago - very close to a few neighborhoods known for high criminal activity. I'm sure the package was stolen and this, as I mentioned, leaves me in a tight spot. I know USPS won't do **** for me - they were completely unwilling to offer me any help on the headphones issue and I had to have the seller deal with them through the whole matter, I guess this is their policy. As great a store as Amazon is, and even with all the business I've done with them, I don't know how they could believe me when I tell them that my package was left out by a stupid postal worker and stolen. The only thing I can think of is getting USPS to figure out which employee delivered it and figure out for sure if he did leave it on the steps/porch. Somehow, though, I doubt they'll comply.

What the hell do I do?

Note: I wrote this for a non-audio forum, so FYI the headphones were SJ5's from AudioCubes (who gave me a $10 gift certificate as well as shipping a second pair!) and the MP3 player is a 60GB Z V:M

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

First thing I would do is contact Amazon and see if the box was insured, then I would file a claim.

Also if your having issues with mail delivery, call your post office and ask to speak to the Postmaster and explain the issues that you are having. If that doesn't resolve the problems you can contact the Postmaster General.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0mfortably_numb /img/forum/go_quote.gif First thing I would do is contact Amazon and see if the box was insured, then I would file a claim. Also if your having issues with mail delivery, call your post office and ask to speak to the Postmaster and explain the issues that you are having. If that doesn't resolve the problems you can contact the Postmaster General.

X2, until this guy/gal is confronted he will continue to mess up. Good luck.

 

[btb103]

Just filed a claim with USPS through the national HQ (1800USPS) and they told me that my local post office would contact me within 24 hours.

I am now speaking to Amazon customer service (on hold) and they are putting in a request to ship a replacement for my missing item.

My situation is looking brighter already. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[KenW]

Speaking as a business owner let me add that I'd recommend a polite/personal conversation with your carrier before you go to his boss. If you keep it very friendly and approach it correctly, you can make a friend who'll really take good care of you. I've done this with my USPS, UPS and FedEx folks with great success. They've even given me their cell numbers in case I have a special package that I want to get when my office isn't open. I take good, good care of those folks. Each gets a Honeybaked ham for Christmas and cards, too. Might seem like overkill, but in my situation, it's saved my bacon both with personal business and well...business business. The old saying is you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar is true. Exhaust every option before you dress him/her down to their boss. They're not likely to change your carrier and having a running feud with them is not a good thing. Sometimes it works and others require you to muddy the waters. JMO.

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by btb103 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just filed a claim with USPS through the national HQ (1800USPS) and they told me that my local post office would contact me within 24 hours. I am now speaking to Amazon customer service (on hold) and they are putting in a request to ship a replacement for my missing item. My situation is looking brighter already. Thanks for the advice guys.

Glade to hear Amazon is shipping you another one

 

[Inzane]

Thats weird my usps guy usually leaves a note when no one is at home to receive the package.

To avoid this in the future use a another faster shipping service that will require a signature.

 

[scompton]

I heard a piece on NPR the other day that said Chicago in general has the worst postal delivery of any major metro area. They've just appointed a new postmaster to deal with the situation. Hopefully, you'll be getting better service soon.

 

[ken36]

KenW is correct. Build a relationship. In business it is called Goodwill. Priceless!

 

[btb103]

The thing is - there is no one single carrier that delivers to our home. We actually did start building report with one gentleman who seemed to be delivering our mail regularly - my roommate knows his name and they chatted from time to time. I don't see him very often anymore and I've seen several different carriers bringing mail to our home. Sometimes they leave a note to pick it up at the post office but other times they just leave the package on the steps/porch.

Considering this and the fact that we won't be living here much longer (our lease is up in September) I don't see any possibility of developing a relationship with any of our mail carriers. I would like to try and request that ALL packages that don't fit in our mailbox be left at the post office, I imagine this is possible.

And yes, I read an article in the Chicago Tribune (maybe the Sun Times?) a few weeks ago talking about how Chicago mail is indeed the worst in the country. Good to hear that they've got someone new in charge, I hope things turn around.

 

[stevenjchang]

ya, somebody's tampering with my blockbuster, What