My theory on why postage is constantly increasing: So I made a purchase a bit back from a fellow forumite. He lives in North Carolina, myself in Southern Ohio. I live approximately an hour East of Cincinnati and two hours South of Columbus, to give an idea. This fellow provides delivery conformation and ships promptly. I track the package over the weekend several times, watching it go through a NC hub, then to Columbus. It finally leaves Columbus on Saturday, hits my local Post Office on Sunday. The tracking provided says that it's en route to my destination... Then it shows up yesterday in NEW HAMPSHIRE!!! A friendly call to my local Postmaster tells me that it accidentally got re-routed to NH. If this happens just a few times a day, times 365 days a year...no wonder they claim to be losing money on shipping, sheesh! [/rant]
By my reckoning, that puts you somewhere close to Scioto County. I don't really blame the post office for wanting to go to New Hampshire, instead.
Post Office, like 99.9% of other things out there, is still a business that has to pay employees and thus needs to turn a profit. Postage continues to go up because gas prices continue to go up, because Union fees continue to go up, because at the end of the day, the heads are trying to cut costs and increase profit. Remember that last year the post office lost something like $200 million dollars. You want to talk about something crippling the economy? The loss of the post office would be the real nail in the coffin.
Haha, so close Mr. map savvy! Not quite on the money though(went to college in Scioto County for two years though). Do you know Scioto County somehow(just curious)? But seriously, I understand the business side of things. What I don't understand is how someone could accidentally place my package at my Post Office in the bin for New Hampshire, rather than the bin for "two blocks away."
I had a roommate from South Webster, Uh-Hi-Yah, and have visited the area a few times. And going to college in Scioto county is the educational equivalent of chef training at the local Burger King.
Hah, that's why I didn't go there long! I actually live a county over, in Adams. So, why on Earth would you visit Scioto?
That and the fact that, at least in my area, they are highly unreliable. The postal deliveries are hit-or-miss where I live, and I live in the city. Either the mail carrier forgets something in the truck, or can't be bothered to leave a package and would rather leave a notice. If it's more than three pounds in weight, they'll leave a notice because they don't want to carry it the block-and-a-half from where they park to my house.
The Postal Service, as of late, has been less than reliable when it came to my packages. I had no idea where they were, no updates worth mentioning, the prices are atrocious, and the staff at the local office get confused on where your package is. (If it was meant to go to a P.O. Box, they accidentally sent it out with a carrier, and vice versa. Yes, this has happened to me.) Then they totally redeemed themselves. (Well maybe not totally, but this is friggin' impressive...) I bought some ROTF Deluxes from a friend in Clarksburg, WV. She sent them June 1st. I received them at the Meadville, PA Post Office (closest one to my location, especially with me being on the outskirts of the sticks...) June 2nd. At first you might say "Well, maybe it was close enough?" No. 206+ miles and every time I've ordered something from this person, it took 3-5 days, and I got it in ONE. I'd say the USPS stepped up their game on that one. Wouldn't you?
I wanted to feel better about myself, and single-handedly raise the average IQ of an area by 10 points.
I've never, ever had a problem with the post office (knock on wood). It's been reliable, fast shipping every time. Especially when people have nightmares of international shipping, I've never had a problem unless it was my fault (marking the value of something too high and having it taxed, for example). If you send something priority mail, the USPS will take care of you. At least it has for me.
i like the post office. the stuff i have mailed for 22, 32, and 45 cents in my time, i think i got damn good deals. Weird thing is this:i can order a TF or something from cross country, overseas or where the helll ever and can tell you almost to the hour when i will get it via USPS, UPS, or FEDEX. But the local Papa John's or Pizza Hut less than 5 clicks away has to call me 90 minutes after i place an order to ask for directions to my house. I think i will tell them to use the Postal Service- they can find me.
Yeah, I really have no complaints about the USPS. They've always been reliable for me. I just wish they'd stop piddling around with the First Class stamp price. Just bump it up to 50 or 60 cents and leave it alone for 5-10 years. I'm tired of buying 1- and 2-cent stamps.
Just buy the "First Class" stamps. Same price, but no cost listed, and they never expire. On Topic, for what it's work, I have a package that shipped from Texas to Illinois. Currently waiting in Wisconsin for 2 days now... edit: It's now been updated to be in Indiana... so I guess they wanted to try and sneak up behind me?
