post office ...now what!

[hibiscusmile]

Well they have raised their prices! I told someone to send 10.50 for a medium flat rate box, and when I printed the label it went up to 10.85! I can't win! boo hoo, now the latest news! Printing express labels on the paypal site, or orders from ebay, the postal service and ebay and paypal decided to automatically "waive signature"! there is no way using the label site there to have someone sign for their packages. you either have to go to postoffice or the postoffice site to get signatures. what a pain in my butt! or !

there is a certified label but it cost more, these people are trying to make grannyMa work harder! now instead of the info being there you have to go to another site and put it all in yourself, wouldn't mind if it was only a few packages a week, but for me, its gonna be another part time JOB! :no:

 

[patrickfraser]

Higher prices and less service? Welcome to the USPS. It's always something, isn't it? heads.

 

[meaganelise9]

That stinks. They've made a lot of changes and have had to lay off a lot of people and close some post offices.

 

[Bryce08]

Higher prices and less service? Welcome to the USPS. It's always something, isn't it? heads.

yeah welcome to a "government" job LoL

yeah they are in process of closing, still going to be interesting to see who picks up the contract!

 

[Precarious]

Yeah, we can bail out banks that fail due to greed and corruption, but don't subsidize the post office that actually does something for us! Bunch of poop! Small businesses would all fail without the post office. Incidentally the post office gets no taxpayer money.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Interesting!

 

[meaganelise9]

True. That seems completely backwards. People badmouth anything slightly socialist, but where would we be without the postal service? I always feel bad for those guys when I go in to mail something and they're talking about how nervous they are about losing their jobs, desperately trying to talk people into getting PO boxes...

 

[hibiscusmile]

I know, I hope they dont have to close or sell out, It really is a thankless job, glad I don't do it. Greenoasis posted about shipping too, got to say, I havent seen a 35.00 fee yet and I ship 30 express a week, good thing for that, and I have started using fedex on Christmas week, I really felt more secure with them, even with the unheated trucks, no problems happened either, they were more expensive though. Most packages that weigh up to 2 lbs wont go much over 25.00

 

[gripen]

What was the average price for shipping mantids with FedEx? Say a 1 pound box? I think I want to switch to them.

 

[GreenOasis]

Rebecca, it is annoying to have to enter addresses on the USPS site, but the nice thing is that you only have to enter them once per person and they stay in your "address book" for the next time. Great if you have a lot of repeat customers. I always use the USPS site for my labels. Never tried using the Paypal system.

When I looked into shipping mantids via FedEx before, it was going to cost something like $18 to ship a small box with one or two mantids (lightweight), and the PO only charges/charged $6-7 for the same box, same weight. (And, I could get FREE boxes from USPS.) Of course, now that rates have gone up with USPS, it might not be that much of a savings to use them.

I probably will not switch over entirely to FedEx or UPS, but it seems to be more worthwhile to explore providing that option now. Their service is also so much better. At least they will WALK packages up to my door & RING the doorbell...goofy postal carriers STILL can't seem to figure out how to work a doorbell! (At least the old "carrier" I used to have has retired, though, so no more sitting in their truck, BLASTING the horn for me to come out & FETCH my packages!) (And no, I DON'T have dogs, btw!)

I will play devil's advocate for just a moment and say that, I think if their service was better, the USPS would not be going under!

 

[Chivalry]

Yeah, we can bail out banks that fail due to greed and corruption, but don't subsidize the post office that actually does something for us! Bunch of poop! Small businesses would all fail without the post office. Incidentally the post office gets no taxpayer money.

Yep.

Hubs would bend your ear for hours on this. The postmaster general is a moron and wants to decrease service which will only drive customers away. Congress is addressing this now... Hope they have more brains as this household's primary income is USPS.

Still, we take the Mail for granted and for the most part we pay a lot less for postage than most other countries.

 

[Mvalenz]

Just received two FF cultures that weigh 2.2 lbs; way more than some mantids via FedEx. Cost was a little more than $11.00. It was mailed on Feb. 6th and arrived on Feb. 7th.It was mailed from Michigan and I am in Illinois. When it was delivered the FedEx guy just rang the bell and knocked on the door and left the package there. I wouldn't mind waiting by the door for the FedEx guy to ding-dong-ditch me. I usually do that anyway when waiting for mantids. Why can't we use FedEx for shipping?

 

[hibiscusmile]

sometimes it works, used them christmas week, even though I get a discount, it still cost more. People including myself do not want to pay any more than we have too.

Plus their trucks are not heated so it is risky on a mantis.