Post Office support

I'm not generally a big supporter of the post office, but when someone does something right, I think they should get credit. In the last few years, I've bought a bunch of stuff on the internet, & a large portion of it was delivered by the post office. Nothing was ever been lost & only one package I remember was damaged. The contents were fine. I can't say this about UPS. And as long as you're shipping something light, like a couple of flashlights, it won't cost but about $4.

My last experience was a light I bought from Mr B. in Hawaii. It was a 2D Mag conversion. He shipped it priority mail on Sat the 25th. Sun is an off day, & Mon was a holiday. The package got to Houston around 6AM Thur morning. So that's Hawaii to Texas, less than 3 working days, confirmed receipt, & the shipper provided the shipping box......for $4.35. Now I really think that's a bargin. TX

Sometimes the post office does great, sometimes it is abysmal.

I ship a lot of stuff regularly from the 4 little web shops I run, and I use the USPS almost exclusively for two reasons: The "free" boxes you can get with Priority mail, and the relative convenience- (UPS is just a hassle).

Sometimes I can get something from here to the opposite corner of the county in the "advertised" 2-3 days for Priority. Sometines it takes two weeks for Priority or first class mail to go just a couple of hundred miles. Average delivery time for my shipments is six days.

I think a lot of this is due to the Anthrax scares of last winter and the anti-terrorist security precautions. But I have a feeling that a lot of it is just a DGS attitude on the part of some postal employees too...

I've paid over $250 in "late fees" on credit cards, utilities etc. this year, because I didn't receive the bill until a few days after payment was actually due. .. I finally had to sign up for automatic debit payments to avoid more of the late charges.

My attitude about the Post Office has improved quite a bit since I moved out of Phoenix, AZ back to the little Mountain Resort town in New Mexico where I grew up.... I averaged 45 minutes a day waiting in line at the PO in Phoenix - (Christmas mailing season averaged over an hour wait)-

Now, three minutes seems a long wait!

Well, in exactly a month there will be an approximate 10% increase in postal rates to look forward to....