More USPS antics!

[marlinman93]

Bought some Ballard parts off an Ebay seller. A full stock set for Union Hill scheutzen rifle, and from the same seller on a separate sale a breech block and lever with set triggers. For some oddball reason the seller sent the stock set in a box 3x too big via UPS. It got here in 3 days from New Hampshire. Then he sent the breech block and parts via USPS, and things went sideways. Here's the latest after two trips across the USA, and currently halfway here again today!

NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER

November 27, 2025, 12:15 pm

In Transit to Next Facility

November 26, 2025

Arrived at USPS Facility

PORTLAND, OR 97215

November 24, 2025, 1:10 pm

In Transit to Next Facility

November 24, 2025, 10:44 am

In Transit to Next Facility

November 24, 2025, 2:01 am

Departed USPS Facility

AURORA, CO 80018

November 23, 2025, 5:11 pm

Arrived at USPS Facility

AURORA, CO 80018

November 23, 2025, 11:24 am

In Transit to Next Facility

November 23, 2025, 10:09 am

In Transit to Next Facility

November 22, 2025, 12:26 pm

Departed USPS Regional Facility

MIDDLESEX-ESSEX MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER

November 21, 2025, 11:42 pm

Arrived at USPS Regional Facility

MIDDLESEX-ESSEX MA DISTRIBUTION CENTER

November 21, 2025, 7:08 pm

In Transit to Next Facility

November 21, 2025, 6:38 pm

Departed USPS Regional Facility

NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER

November 21, 2025, 6:00 pm

Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility

NASHUA NH DISTRIBUTION CENTER

November 21, 2025, 4:13 pm

Departed Post Office

COLEBROOK, NH 03576

November 20, 2025, 4:51 pm

USPS in possession of item

COLEBROOK, NH 03576

November 20, 2025, 4:20 pm

Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item

COLEBROOK, NH 03576

November 20, 2025, 6:09 am

Latest check shows it's in Aurora, Co. again, and where it goes, or if it gets here again and heads back to NH is a mystery! USPS can't find their rear with both hands in their back pockets!

[nwcatman]

boy, thats putting it mildly

[GunnyMack]

It's high time the USPS was privatized, weed out all the slack jaws and start fresh.
My neighbor snow birds, 2 weeks before he left he put in a change of address, going on two months and there is still mail in his box everyday. I've sent him to Priority Mail boxes stuffed and a 3rd to go soon.
When he got there he had to go to the local PO and prove he was who he said he was.

[765x53]

Funny you should mention. I purchased a gun on Gun Broker. I sent a check via Priority Mail on Nov. 10. It arrived in Philadelphia on the 15th, where it languished until delivered on Dec. 1.

[Bill in Oregon]

Our dear USPS is very, very ill. I want it to recover and heal.

[765x53]

USPS, one of constitutionally mandated responsibilities of congress.

[Ysabel Kid]

USPS, one of constitutionally mandated responsibilities of congress.

Which probably explains why the USPS is so far gone...

[marlinman93]

Update!
I got a call from my local postmaster after I filed a complaint. He tried to explain how this craziness happens, and it was a weak explanation. After quizzing him about past similar issues and only getting them fixed by filing a complaint, he said that "USPS is working on fixing this, but it's going to take time". I asked him just how much time since it was a 11 months ago I went through the same baloney! He told me he would personally keep an eye on the travels, and flag the package when it arrived at our distribution center to make sure it got to his station for delivery. If he can do that, then there's something wrong with automated sorting that needs fixing.
I get daily updates all the time for any letters or packages that are headed to me, but this package has never been included in those updates. Yet I can check tracking numbers and it shows up then. This morning's update didn't show it again, but checked the tracking number and it shows "out for delivery", so maybe it's going to finally arrive today. I wont hold my breath until I actually se it!

[Walt]

Good luck, Vall! I hope you receive it without further delay.

[marlinman93]

The Ballard DST breech block, and loop lever arrived yesterday as promised by the postmaster!
Of course the breech block wasn't as advertised, but an easy fix. Triggers didn't set, hammer wouldn't stay cocked, and adjusting screw for the set triggers was snapped off flush. All issues caused by the adjusting screw.
Pulled the trigger plate off and totally disassembled the triggers and springs to get to the backside of the screw. Squirted some Kroil on it and grabbed the threads with a needlenose pliers and unscrewed it easily. Reassembled and it works great. Just need to get a new adjusting screw so I can set the triggers to trip in ounces. Even without the screw it trips at about a pound, so could live with that weight forever.

[GunnyMack]

At least they finally arrived Val!

[marlinman93]

At least they finally arrived Vall!

Yeah, that's really the important part. Sure doesn't give me much confidence about USPS and make me want to ship with them.

[Pat C]

I had anouther bad experience with USPS on shotgun I bought came out of Nebraska heading east. Went by my location and started heading north through two different postal distribution centers.

Opened a case and told them the contents contained a firearm .They jumped right on it and sent it to the Inspector General Office. I told the lady I believed the contents were probably stolen and box purposely sent in wrong direction. She agreed something was fishy. Said it was scanned 10 times at same location and never moved. Each time they had photographs of the item on computer.

Needless to say the shotgun was turned around and delivered .
I bet I received half dozen or more calls from them checking status of the item and whether it was in the box.

And it was , box was perfect shape , address perfect .Just mistake after mistake by employees leading to its delay.
Small packages I can see falling into wrong bin and getting routed to anouther city .But when it gets there it should be rerouted correctly not continuing to be mis routed.

They need a better system for sure .

[marlinman93]

I have a friend who sold a nice old single shot rifle last year and he wanted it to go smoothly, so he took it to his local gun shop all boxed and ready to just ship. The box was picked up 5 minutes after he left, but no tracking number ever showed up! The buyer was going nuts the next day, so my friend called the shop and they checked also and said the tracking number wouldn't come up! They called the local postal station and the postman said he didn't recall picking up any packages from the gun dealer.
Fortunately the shop had security cameras and my friend went to get a copy that showed the carrier time stamped carrying out his package! The carrier was contacted and shown the video, and magically the box was soon found and made it into the system and to the buyer. Now to me there's no doubt the carrier stole it, and then when confronted with evidence miraculously found the missing rifle! But he's still working for USPS and delivering to the same route. No explanation was ever given about where the rifle package was found.

[nwcatman]

3 (?) yrs ago i had some silver bars ($500 worth) shipped to the local PO, which is about the size of a closet, claimed they couldn't find the box. tracking showed it was delivered. 3 days in a row i heard "we've looked everywhere for it". this from a part time fill in employee. 4th day i told her that i was gonna open a case with the postmaster general. was a bluff. she said well let me check one more time. was magic! she found it on the bottom shelf of the pkgs waiting to be picked up. said it was so small she musta overlooked it. she no longer works there. i didn't dime her but somebody must of. the girl there now is super effecient but makes up her own rules. she knows i reload a lot and told me if i ever get a pkg marked "hazardous" it will be sent to the main office and a hazmat team will be called. we don't have a mail box at the residence as they're only allowed on the OTHER side of the road. so i have the fed ex and ups drop it at the locked gate and hope no one steals it when i order components.

[marlinman93]

3 (?) yrs ago i had some silver bars ($500 worth) shipped to the local PO, which is about the size of a closet, claimed they couldn't find the box. tracking showed it was delivered. 3 days in a row i heard "we've looked everywhere for it". this from a part time fill in employee. 4th day i told her that i was gonna open a case with the postmaster general. was a bluff. she said well let me check one more time. was magic! she found it on the bottom shelf of the pkgs waiting to be picked up. said it was so small she musta overlooked it. she no longer works there. i didn't dime her but somebody must of. the girl there now is super efficient but makes up her own rules. she knows i reload a lot and told me if i ever get a pkg marked "hazardous" it will be sent to the main office and a hazmat team will be called. we don't have a mail box at the residence as they're only allowed on the OTHER side of the road. so i have the fed ex and ups drop it at the locked gate and hope no one steals it when i order components.

A lot of postal employees make up their own rules! I've had clerks tell me that USPS doesn't ship ANY firearms. I've talked with a person at the main distribution center whose as irritated as us gun owners when he gets a call asking about this and he gave me the postal code to print out and show workers, yet they still refused to accept a firearm shipment. I even asked for a supervisor and showed her the regulations, and she said I was reading the rules wrong!
After several calls to the same guy he finally asked me to go to a different station and not tell them what I was shipping and it went fine. I've never told them since and it always gets shipped. Might not always get there, or get there quickly though.

[nwcatman]

3 (?) yrs ago i had some silver bars ($500 worth) shipped to the local PO, which is about the size of a closet, claimed they couldn't find the box. tracking showed it was delivered. 3 days in a row i heard "we've looked everywhere for it". this from a part time fill in employee. 4th day i told her that i was gonna open a case with the postmaster general. was a bluff. she said well let me check one more time. was magic! she found it on the bottom shelf of the pkgs waiting to be picked up. said it was so small she musta overlooked it. she no longer works there. i didn't dime her but somebody must of. the girl there now is super efficient but makes up her own rules. she knows i reload a lot and told me if i ever get a pkg marked "hazardous" it will be sent to the main office and a hazmat team will be called. we don't have a mail box at the residence as they're only allowed on the OTHER side of the road. so i have the fed ex and ups drop it at the locked gate and hope no one steals it when i order components.

A lot of postal employees make up their own rules! I've had clerks tell me that USPS doesn't ship ANY firearms. I've talked with a person at the main distribution center whose as irritated as us gun owners when he gets a call asking about this and he gave me the postal code to print out and show workers, yet they still refused to accept a firearm shipment. I even asked for a supervisor and showed her the regulations, and she said I was reading the rules wrong!
After several calls to the same guy he finally asked me to go to a different station and not tell them what I was shipping and it went fine. I've never told them since and it always gets shipped. Might not always get there, or get there quickly though.

few years ago i was in austin tx and wanted to ship a bbl action to a smith for repairs. PO there refused to accept it. same story in beeville tx. i called ATF they said the PO was wrong but they couldn't override them. i printed out the regs showing it was legal and they said they didn't give a *%$# and to leave. i told the local female dictator at the PO here that there was legislation pending to let people conceal carry in the PO and she said yea try it here and see what happens.

[Slickrem]

At least they finally arrived Vall!

Yeah, that's really the important part. Sure doesn't give me much confidence about USPS and make me want to ship with them.

The only thing that l’m confident about, so far, is my paycheck at the usps facility l am employed at. And the mix up on thier end is one thing but if the seller doesn’t do his part there’s complications.

If packages are not sent in a decent sized boxed container (regardless of the contents inside, and l was puzzled when l got small stuff in a big box, but now understand why) or if a bubble wrap that is flat enough to be scanned properly on the APPS conveyor system, it gets pulled to be hand scanned, and those bins that your package they land in are huge. Or if packages that fall off the line land under the conveyors sit there till the next day and sometimes, depending on if someone who cares where it supposed to go, gets picked up and put in the right postal zip code Gaylord.

So going back to hand sorting/scanning, depending on if they can scan it to move it along( and l heard weeks or months, most of the time days) or how fast they work, talking on thier phones, talking among themselves, taking longer breaks, etc ….

So there’s the jist of it. And it happens in multiple facilities even with the same package, yes !

[marlinman93]

At least they finally arrived Vall!

Yeah, that's really the important part. Sure doesn't give me much confidence about USPS and make me want to ship with them.

The only thing that l’m confident about, so far, is my paycheck at the usps facility l am employed at. And the mix up on thier end is one thing but if the seller doesn’t do his part there’s complications.

If packages are not sent in a decent sized boxed container (regardless of the contents inside, and l was puzzled when l got small stuff in a big box, but now understand why) or if a bubble wrap that is flat enough to be scanned properly on the APPS conveyor system, it gets pulled to be hand scanned, and those bins that your package they land in are huge. Or if packages that fall off the line land under the conveyors sit there till the next day and sometimes, depending on if someone who cares where it supposed to go, gets picked up and put in the right postal zip code Gaylord.

So going back to hand sorting/scanning, depending on if they can scan it to move it along( and l heard weeks or months, most of the time days) or how fast they work, talking on thier phones, talking among themselves, taking longer breaks, etc ….

So there’s the jist of it. And it happens in multiple facilities even with the same package, yes !

Doesn't explain this issue of "looping" where packages just continue to travel back and forth across the USA from one distribution center to the other, and never stops until I file a complaint.

[Slickrem]

At least they finally arrived Vall!

Yeah, that's really the important part. Sure doesn't give me much confidence about USPS and make me want to ship with them.

The only thing that l’m confident about, so far, is my paycheck at the usps facility l am employed at. And the mix up on thier end is one thing but if the seller doesn’t do his part there’s complications.

If packages are not sent in a decent sized boxed container (regardless of the contents inside, and l was puzzled when l got small stuff in a big box, but now understand why) or if a bubble wrap that is flat enough to be scanned properly on the APPS conveyor system, it gets pulled to be hand scanned, and those bins that your package they land in are huge. Or if packages that fall off the line land under the conveyors sit there till the next day and sometimes, depending on if someone who cares where it supposed to go, gets picked up and put in the right postal zip code Gaylord.

So going back to hand sorting/scanning, depending on if they can scan it to move it along( and l heard weeks or months, most of the time days) or how fast they work, talking on thier phones, talking among themselves, taking longer breaks, etc ….

So there’s the jist of it. And it happens in multiple facilities even with the same package, yes !

Doesn't explain this issue of "looping" where packages just continue to travel back and forth across the USA from one distribution center to the other, and never stops until I file a complaint.

Guess you missed the part where I said the ones that fall off the conveyor and don't get put in the right zip code gaylord. It goes where it goes, back to a P&DC to be rerouted, but get's screwed up at the PD&C to go back.. there is one thing I didn't mention, They sleep in their cars, and get high, and drink.

[4t5]

As long as the government is involved , it will continue the same way ,
In the private sector you either fix it , or competition will eat you alive.

[Slickrem]

As long as the government is involved , it will continue the same way ,
In the private sector you either fix it , or competition will eat you alive.

FedEx and UPS really isn’t any better.. in the 30 years l only lost 2 package. Once in a while l might wait an extra day or two for delivery.

[marlinman93]

Yeah, that's really the important part. Sure doesn't give me much confidence about USPS and make me want to ship with them.

The only thing that l’m confident about, so far, is my paycheck at the usps facility l am employed at. And the mix up on thier end is one thing but if the seller doesn’t do his part there’s complications.

If packages are not sent in a decent sized boxed container (regardless of the contents inside, and l was puzzled when l got small stuff in a big box, but now understand why) or if a bubble wrap that is flat enough to be scanned properly on the APPS conveyor system, it gets pulled to be hand scanned, and those bins that your package they land in are huge. Or if packages that fall off the line land under the conveyors sit there till the next day and sometimes, depending on if someone who cares where it supposed to go, gets picked up and put in the right postal zip code Gaylord.

So going back to hand sorting/scanning, depending on if they can scan it to move it along( and l heard weeks or months, most of the time days) or how fast they work, talking on thier phones, talking among themselves, taking longer breaks, etc ….

So there’s the jist of it. And it happens in multiple facilities even with the same package, yes !

Doesn't explain this issue of "looping" where packages just continue to travel back and forth across the USA from one distribution center to the other, and never stops until I file a complaint.

Guess you missed the part where I said the ones that fall off the conveyor and don't get put in the right zip code gaylord. It goes where it goes, back to a P&DC to be rerouted, but get's screwed up at the PD&C to go back.. there is one thing I didn't mention, They sleep in their cars, and get high, and drink.

That might explain one trip back, but how do they explain my package that did 5 trips back and forth from Ohio to Oregon?

[marlinman93]

As long as the government is involved , it will continue the same way ,
In the private sector you either fix it , or competition will eat you alive.

Bingo! We have a winner!
When you aren't required to be good at what you do then where's the incentive to do well? Yes USPS has competition, but nobody is telling anyone there they better fix things or they'll be out of business!