Last Tuesday morning i sent out either 8 or 9 boxes priority mail. This is the second time this has happened to me in two weeks.
Two boxes left here last Tuesday morning for Red Level, Alabama. I tracked every package to see what was going to happen. These two boxes left on the 9th and sat in Houston until the 11th...............then one arrived in Montgomery, Alabama on the 14th and one arrived in Huntsville on the 15th. She got one package today and other is still sitting in Montgomery, Alabama with dead cuttings of Kohlerias and Chiritas ................
I will send all packages out next week priority and then I am through with the USPS priority......why waste the money. I sent out fertilizer last Tuesday also but I sent it regular mail and everyone got it on Friday with the past Monday being Columbus Day...............
Could you all share how much trouble you are having with the poastal priority service??????
Thanks
Priority Mail stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gail,
I got an E-Mail from Thompson and Morgan yesterday that they were mailing my heat mat via Fedex that morning. Do you know I got home today and the box was on my porch!
I think Fedex costs about the same (if I remember right or was that UPS) but one of them is very comparable to Priority and BOTH of them are working their butts off to do a better job than Priority Mail and I have to say that SO FAR anything that has been sent to me Fedex or UPS arrives in no time flat and in GREAT shape!
Just my experience so far :)
I feel for you Gail!, the postal service can certainly have some poor service for the way the prices keep going up!
I do a lot of shipping and I have found that Priority does not go any faster than first class! But they get you because if your package weighs more than 13 ounces you can't send first class, it has to go priority or your bumped down to parcel post! But with what your experiencing even parcel post would be faster!!
Hope your luck changes next week!! ;0)
~Brenda
edited to say I think you can make a deal with Fed Ex for mailing so many packages a week or a month at a certain rate and they can give some good deals. But I don't know how much you have to send to get the deal?? Maybe somebody else here does......
This message was edited Oct 16, 2007 4:43 PM
Oh............and I forgot I sent Susan51 some chirita leaves the same day...............she got them yesterday....................that would be 6 days...............tired of paying for something i don't get.
UPS is good depending on where you live........if I am receiving supplies, etc that won't die, I always used UPS.................but remember UPS unless packed for the weather inside the box can easily die in the unheated and uncooled UPS trucks. They don't assume any responsibility for living things..............UPS is who baked my plants from LYndon Lyons by leaving them on the truck all day long and the temps were 106 that day..........even though I ask LL to replace the chimeras (more costly) I ate 8 episcias..........they never even made it and i tried to save them...............
That's right Gail, I remember when that happened to you! I felt so bad for you and I was still a "lurker" back then *lol*
So is Fedex any better?
I just went back through my e-mail and my mat WAS shipped Fedex yesterday morning and on my porch this afternoon. I have NO IDEA how they did that but sure am grateful :)
Well Gail if it makes you feel any better..you aren't alone... it seems it always takes longer when I send to the East or SouthEast vs anywhere else in the country...thats using usps priority..can't figure why that is.. I have found that most of the time..not all..LOL..if i mail priority on Saturday it sometimes will make it out East on Monday already...but if I mail priority to same destination on a Wednesday it will never be delivered before the middle of the next week.....same postage longer time enroute.Postal Gal told me the best days to mail are Saturday or Monday...something about transit times are faster...who knows?? All I know is usps needs to make improvements badly!!
thanks for the tip, Nancy...............I had no idea that Saturday was a good day..............may try that after next week..................but the strange thing is priority means nothing anyway........On the same day i sent out packages I also sent out fertilizer that weighed enough to make me not send it priority...........so I sent it parcel post for 3.00 each and everyone got theirs exactly 3 days later................beats priority..............
Oh, I just remember another one.........I sent Lin two boxes of plants.........she got one and the other did have a mistake(my mistake) I put her right street address and zip..........but put the wrong abbreviation...................two 1/2 weeks later it came back to me with dead plants........Lin begged me to try and revive them but I didn't want any bugs with the healthy plants.........
So far I've had good luck with priority mail, but maybe that's because I'm shipping from the East Coast?
And I completely agree with Cedarnest, I've found Saturday to be the best day to ship priority mail. I've learned that the packages do not sit at the postal center, but are moving over the entire weekend. A large pct that I ship on Saturday get delivered Monday or Tuesday.
I shipped my box yesterday for the fall swap, I hope I'm not going to have the same trouble you did.
It must be very frustrating, especially since you take the time to get the plants ready, pack them well and deliver them to the post office.
I want to learn to do the click and ship............I ordered scales from the website.....up to 10 lbs.........i have the scales.....................need to get the post office to get it right...............but I don't know yet how to click and ship.................then just take them to the post office and leave them on a Saturday morning.
I know that Snowrose and maybe Brenda ship and click..............maybe it looks "more professional" that way...............and no errors or mistakes.............
Maureen...........yes, it is frustrating...........I lose the amount of the postage and all the cuttings that take months to come back to trim again.............
well I have not been having very good luck with priority mail either...I mailed out a round robin to Texas on the 9th and the confirmation said she just got it today..... a full week later.......Also sent one last month within driving distance from me and it took over a week for her to get it...never had this problem before and it seems to be getting worse......
I hope people will chime in and be willing to be honest about their experiences...........the postal lady is a friend of mine and would like to know what people say..............it isn't her fault.........
gessie, yep we've had problems with priority recently. we paid extra for delivery confirmation and then kept checking online with no reports. we called the po and they said it must not have been scanned in---but that that was okay because they don't actually have to scan it until it GETS there--- Don't they get you by the fine print? Doesn't it say, "estimated 2-3 days"??? I bet it does.
and we've heard then and in a time past a favorite phrase is, "it's not our JOB" to do x, y, z. soooooo...BLAH on that.
We have found UPS to be slow to at times.
I totally agree with Kim----that Fedex WOW they are always super fast when we've ordered through them. Perhaps they aren't as swamped with business?
Fedex has always been my favorite..........but they are soooooooo expensive...........maybe Fedex ground is the answer..............just regular ground and you have it in 2 to 3 days for sure..............UPS is a problem because their trucks don't have airconditioning or heating.....
Wow I am soo glad you started this thread Gail. After reading all the negatives on usps I too think something is really wrong...they seem to be getting more and more expensive and letting their service slide by the wayside..I think I will check out fedex too..
Maybe a stupid qustion but how do you find a place to mail fedex?????
Hi there.
Priority Mail sure does stink.When its coming to my house.LOL.LOL.
Oh those poor cutting!
I have had good luck mailing on Saturdays also.
somebody else might answer better...............I believe you have to call Fedex to pick up your package or find one of those mail depots...........they are even in small towns........you pay a little more...........but they will pack (not plants) and send out USPS, UPS , FedEX and several others like Lone Star, etc.................
Hi All;
Priorty mail takes 3 to 4 days for me to get, sometimes even 5 days. i have brought boxes to the post office hopeing they could tell me why & they don't even know.I have been totally disgusted with them for some time. & that tracking number they generally does no good at all.i'm ready to try elsewhere.
mrsbonnie
I talked with my post office about the slow deliveries by priority and they feel it's due to the airplane services under contracts who aren't postal owned or employed. Who knows what happens with the packages sitting in a hanger waiting to be loaded.
That is a big bummer....................that is exactly what is happening................the post office had told me that the reason prices had gone up was because of the cost of fuel with the airlines...............I didn't even know they just threw them on commerical and other planes.................
I not for certain, but I think fedex owns their planes.
The post office will tell you that delivery confirmation is not a tracking number. I ship all the time and rarely do I have any information before delivery. The only way I've guaranteed a shipping scan is if I take them to the post office, and stand there until they are scanned.
I send seeds 12 days ago first class, they have not arrived yet. Who knows where they are?
what I think I am going to try is to click and ship..............I also bought a scale up to 10 lbs from the usps site. Then, the postal lady told me all I had to do was drive up and drop them off. (i am in a small town)
I have noticed that people who use click and ship get their packages delivered a lot faster.
On that USPS site, you can order a pick-up from your house too. My next wishlist includes a postage scale. I've used the click-N-Ship to make a $4.60 label for brug cuttings. That worked wonderfully. I had wanted to buy a $4.60 stamp but the lady at the post office told me there wasn't such a thing. Well, I was floored. It was a slap in my face when she insisted I didn't know what I was talking about. I have now saved a $4.60 stamp that was on one of my package to show her on my next war mission to the post office.
I don't know how to click and ship..........but I do have the scales..............Cordeledawg.........maybe you can tell me where to go on the site to learn how to click and ship............how do you pay for it? with a credit card each time?? or pay pal????????
By the way, you won't remember but when I first posted on Dave's you sent me a box of cannas..............they are a beautiful bright yellow which is so nice with the ones I have behind them that have both yellow and red in each bloom.............thanks so much..........
I remember well! Your Desert Rose bloomed her little head off for me all summer. I brought her in since the weather is changing. She has buds and will be blooming again soon. How could I ever forget you, my DG friend?
I order all my priority and other supplies from the USPS web site for no charge. There are free supplies and also some that you can buy. The click and ship is so easy to do especially if I could figure it out. LOL When I used it, it was for an SASBE that I needed $4.60 for. It worked like a charm.
Here's the link, checkout all the supplies that can come right to your door at no charge.
http://www.usps.com/
Deborah
Ohm I forgot your other question: I think I paid with a credit card.
Thanks.........I will get it all figured out..............
The USPS website doesn't always work with Mac software, you may have to try something other than Safari if that is what you use. I buy postage thru Paypal, it always works.
I have a pay pal account.........i don't have a Mac..........
I do my click and ship right from usps website too with my credit card and I really like it.It works really slick.You will Love it Gail....It even gives ya delivery confirmation free...can't beat that..lol.. I have noticed that when I use click and ship it definitely gets delivered faster than when I fill it all out by hand and pay for it at the post office.Never could figure out why that is....Found out our dinky town doesn't have a ups or fedex shipping place so I would have to drive 30 miles one way to send thru them..think I will stick to click and ship for now....
The post master in our little town is the nicest lady in the world...........she assured me I wouldn't have to wait in line if I used click and ship............just haul them to her and put them on the counter.................I will try that way for a while............
I may be back for help on Monday afternoon when I am trying to do the click and ship thing!!!!!!!
Gail, I have been using Priority Mail for years with great success. I discovered that, if your box is marked "Live Plants" and "Perishable" and "Fragile," your box is delivered faster. I've sent boxes from Arizona to Maine, Virginia, Florida that were received in two days. There are, of course, rural areas, that routinely get their mail later than your metro areas.
To sign up for "Click and Ship," just go to the USPS website and register your name and a credit card number I use my debit card which is accepted as a credit card. But I ship through the Paypal shipping option and use my Paypal funds for the postage. I purchased my own scale at Staples at the advice of my friends at the Post Office. With USPS you can also order all your boxes and labels that come in different sizes that you'll never see at the post office and they are free. Just follow the prompts when using "Click and Ship," make sure your Pop Up Blocker is deactivated.
I take my boxes to the Post Office because the Carriers vehicles do not have A/C. I wrap appropriately for the plant I am shipping so, if the plant is DOA, it is because it sat in the sun at the receiving end.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about setting it up and using it - anyone.
I've compared prices with FedEx and UPS and find that USPS is far cheaper, feel free to correct my information if it is outdated.
Sandy...............thanks so much.............I did order all my boxes, labels, scales, tape, etc.............now the only thing I have left to learn is click and ship.............I may contact you if I have trouble.................