The PO really P's me off

[Bill in Oregon]

Sooo, one of the gracious members here bought the Cimarron Model 1894 in .38-55 that I had listed in the classifieds back in early June. On June 7, I mailed it to his FFL in Tennessee from my post office here in Alamogordo, priority insured. The PO said the expected delivery date was Friday, June 11. That Friday came and went, and the tracking information said, "In transit, arriving late." Every time I checked the tracking, the same message appeared. The following Friday, June 18, I opened a case involving this package. The postmaster in Paris, TN, sent this reply on June 19:

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Postal Service®. This is in response to your recent inquiry regarding delayed mail. The package has not been processed in the Memphis distribution center yet which should be where the next scan is. I have reached out the Memphis Package Inquiry team to flag the package to make sure when it is processed that it will be sorted correctly. After it comes through Memphis is should arrive in here and we will deliver it the same day it reaches your local Post Office. This has been an ongoing issue due to delayed processing at the distribution centers because of employee availability. I do not believe the package is lost however if you would like to file a insurance claim you can do so at usps.com under the help tab and the file a claim.
As a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Postal ServiceTM Priority Mail® products and First-ClassTM packages may temporarily experience delivery delays due to limited transportation availability and employee availability.
Please be assured, the Postal Service’s goal is to move packages as expeditiously as possible, and we are committed to ensuring timely processing and delivery of essential packages. The Postal Service continually reviews its network capacity to provide the American public reliable, efficient, and fast delivery service.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this matter has caused.

It is now June 24, and the tracking number turns up the same message, "In transit, arriving late."
I am not sure how to proceed, although something like this happened with a Christmas package that I mailed to my brother in Fort Collins early last December. The tracking showed it bouncing back and forth between the Denver and another distribution center. I got the same excuse from the USPS, that COVID had reduced manpower at the distribution center to the point taht packages were piling up but would be delivered. My brother got his package about three weeks late.
I am hoping there is a happy ending to this tale, but believe all parties' patience is wearing thin.
I have to wonder if there are really that many postal employees who are criminals engaging in theft, or whether it has to do with incompetence and extremely poor planning surrounding staffing issues.
I need to get some air and cool off ...
The insurance claim process is a real test of character, I can assure you.

[Pitchy]

Feel for ya Bill and know the feeling, i`ve ordered several things that were shipped over a week ago and get the same tracking response.
One item has said it arrived at the PO. in the town it was coming from for over a week, now today it says out for delivery.
The virus has messed up about everything which i`m sure was the plan, there`s a restaurant in my town that can`t get anyone to work, wonder why when they`er getting paid not too.
Hang in there bro it will probably show up soon, i hope.

[.45colt]

Several years ago I bought several bags of lead shot from a member here. the box was delivered on my porch looking like it had been dropped from an airplane , all taped up. it just happened to be exactly 25lb light. . I did the whole lost in the mail thing that went nowhere and after six months got a message from the post office that they had no success finding the package..
The member here had long before made it right with Me...... I hope I'm proven wrong but it wont surprise Me if that rifle isn't long gone. . Good Luck.

[harry]

Bill I’ve had the same thing happen, one package was 5 weeks late.
I don’t use USPS anymore, long guns and ammo go by fedex, I buy a cheap plastic gun case and wrap it with cardboard and the ammo goes in a plastic ammo can and it’s wrapped in cardboard.

[.45colt]

A few weeks ago I ordered a rear sight blank from our own Steve's from Steve's Gunz . I wasn't too worried about it and was going to call Him today. then it came in the mail.....................it was shipped priority mail 2-day on June 22. the box is crushed and the end sure looks like it was pried open to Me . I am amazed the part was even in the box......

[jeepnik]

Heck I had one package that said it was delivered. When I talked to the post office and told them my cameras showed no delivery was made they back pedaled and would look into it. Showed up two days later.

When I went down to let them know, they don’t answer the phone) I ask if why it took two days for the employee to bring it back from home. They denied it but couldn’t explain the fact it had been repackaged (different box) and the label taped on that was still attached to a square of the original box.

I sent photos of the packaging to the postal inspector. I was told it might take a few weeks to hear back. That was 13 months ago. Nothing yet, but I live in hope.

At this point between criminals working there and complacency of the postal inspector the USPS is a lost cause. Who knows if they shut it down and cleared out all of the buildings they might find a few pieces of mail.

[jeepnik]

One thing to remember, they don’t guarantee delivery in the time frame you pay for. And they will not refund the price over regular shipping when it’s late.

[GunnyMack]

I posted here in classifieds to sell some unneeded MEC loaders. I sold 1 to a board member, packed it up, paid dearly for shipping, was given a 7-10 day delivery date, two & a half or 3 weeks before it got there. Tracking showed it sat in Denver most of the time. Although its not just the usps, UOS lost an AR upper on me. I went round &round with them. Im sure someone slipped it into his pants leg on his way home. The seller replaced it and at my request a different shipper, 2 days and it arrived.
Face it, they all have their problems...

[Larkbill]

And yet I sold an outboard motor to a chap in the Netherlands and it made it from St. Louis to a suburb of Amsderdam in 2 1/2 days on DHL. It weighed 65 lbs and only cost him $206 shipping.

[CowboyTutt]

I have also had 2 packages completely lost using USPS the last few years during Christmas time. I got my money back from the shipper and not USPS. Even the insurance offered by UPS (UPS, not USPS) is really a joke, but perhaps better than absolutely nothing as it comes from a 3rd party. FedEx is the gold standard and if I was actually shipping a fire arm or anything custom made would be all I would use right now. America is sinking into the abyss quite rapidly.

-Tutt

[Bill in Oregon]

Well, all is well that ends well, wrote a famous English playwright.
Fully one month to the day after I mailed the 1894 Cimarron in .38-55 to my buyer's FFL in Paris, TN, priority insured, the USPS finally coughed it up yesterday and delivered it. My buyer, a member here, picked it up today, box apparently trashed but the rifle intact.
I hope the fact that I opened two separate missing mail cases on this package had a little to do with it, but I think I am done with our idiot postal service where important packages are concerned. At least it wasn't stolen and that is the best I can say about it.

[2ndovc]

Glad it got there! UPS isn't any better, they've broken two of my rifles and wouldn't pay for the damages even though they were insured.

jb

[marlinman93]

My worst case scenario was when I sold an old Marlin banner to a fella in Pa., and shipped it priority insured. A month later he contacted me asking where it was! Since I hadn't heard anything in that month I assumed he got it, and just didn't notify me. So I went to my local USPS station and asked what they could find out. The clerk happily punched in a search and printed it out. It showed they'd tried to deliver it twice, but nobody home. Notice left at the home.
I passed the info on to the buyer, who said he never got any notices. So I filed a claim, and sent him his money back. A week later I got a check from USPS, and was surprised how quickly they paid off!
Fast forward about 18 months, and my mailman hands me a package that is the banner I sent! It's marked "unable to deliver" and nothing else. No idea where it had been for 18 months, but it made it back here! I contacted the buyer, and asked if he still wanted it? He did, but asked me to send it to his work place instead. 5 days later he got it.

[Bill in Oregon]

Vall 18 MONTHS later?!! That's a topper.

[.45colt]

I am both surprised and Happy that Your rifle found it's way home. It shouldn't have to be this way.

[1894cfan]

For the first time ever, I'm getting that from UPS! Delayed in transit! This for a package from Midwayusa!

[Bill in Oregon]

I dunno about you boys, but I'm just not buying this Covid excuse.

[GunnyMack]

Recently I sent a box full of 20g hulls to a member here, the box went priority mail, arrived in record time. The 1st class mailed payment still has yet to arrive. Makes you scratch your head in bewilderment.

[Marvin S]

Seems to be the norm for the USPS. I’m supposed to have a very expensive Muzzleloading pistol coming from Indiana to NE Kansas and all it says is in transit and delayed. The sender mailed a shipping over payment the same day and it got here over a week ago. What a joke.

[jeepnik]

Seems to be the norm for the USPS. I’m supposed to have a very expensive Muzzleloading pistol coming from Indiana to NE Kansas and all it says is in transit and delayed. The sender mailed a shipping over payment the same day and it got here over a week ago. What a joke.

One of the employees is deciding whether or not to keep it.

[Marvin S]

Could be

[earlmck]

Until recently I had only had one bad experience with the USPS and that was a check I sent to jdad who lives just across the mountain from me. Check didn't arrive in a week or 10 days so I cancelled it and sent another. As you'd guess, both checks showed up at his place within a day of each other.

Then last month I eBayed three old chainsaws which I shipped USPS. One went to VA, one to SC, and one to MO, all with a 7-day estimated delivery date. The VA and SC saws both arrived a day early. The MO saw arrived 8 days late in a mangled box that had been taped up to hold it together enough to continue on. The saw was undamaged (good thing Stihls are tough!) but the bar was missing. I have sent the fellow money to buy a new replacement bar and put in my claim with the PO. We'll see how PO'd I become in the process!

UPS has been 100% for me; FedEx is the only outfit that delivered a very broken rifle and they payed the claim within a reasonable amount of time.