USPS delivery times ?

[terracore]

Has anybody else been having problems with USPS?  I've been having a lot of problems starting around March.  I haven't been getting a lot of packages so it's affecting a very high percentage of them.   I've had a couple of amazon packages "disappear" such that Amazon declared them lost and they shipped a replacement, but then I eventually received the original package weeks later.  One package took 7 weeks to arrive.  Oddly, the replacement made it to Hilo fairly quickly but was "lost" at the Hilo post office for over a month the result being I got them both at about the same time.  The USPS web site says they are seeing COVID related delays, but they say it's about 2 days.  Some of mine have been more like 2 months.

Another time I received an empty box badly mangled and re-taped. Like it was ripped in half and put back together. I was pissed because I waited in line for 20 minutes, then it took the guy 10 minutes to find it, the label was badly degraded so it literally took him 5 minutes to figure out how to scan it, all the time I'm not knowing the box was empty.  Obviously they knew it was empty when they found it ripped open.  And then they decided to use up a roll of tape trying to make it look like a box again instead of marking it as destroyed and wasting all of our time.

I ordered a specialty tool that only ships from Australia and I was expecting a long wait but after a month it cleared customs in LA.  It's been "in transit" to Hilo from LAX since June 4.  The company that shipped it wanted me to file a missing mail report which I did, and USPS promptly rejected it due to insufficient information about the package.  Here's a hint:  It's the one with my name, address, and the tracking number I provided on it.  Anyways during the resubmit form process it had an option to upload pictures of the item, which I did, and I thought it odd that they don't have that option when originally submitting the form.  They also wanted me to submit photos of the exterior of the box. Who TF takes pictures of a package they are sending?  I guess I'll start if I ever ship a high value item.  Anyways they are supposedly going to "look for" the missing mailpiece but I've gone through this process before and they have never found it.

I know this sounds more like a rant than a question, and I am venting a bit but I want to know if anybody else is having similar problems.  I don't know if the tool was insured and it was expensive and I'm debating whether to start a dispute process for the charges or if I should muster up some more patience.  I ordered it May 1 and we're midway through July.

Lastly, I shipped an item to Canada and look how many times it bounced back and forth between Hawaii and the mainland and between HNL and ITO (start at bottom and read your way up).  This was a USPS-generated printed label with a barcode.  It's not like somebody was misreading bad writing or something.  Too bad I don't get frequent flier miles on US Mail.  Pre-Covid I shipped a Priority Mail package to Kentucky and the USPS scanning info hit a dead end in the Marshall Islands (not even part of the USA, though the USPS considers it a domestic location).  Miraculously it did arrive in Kentucky a few months later.

Tracking History
[b]May 20, 2020, 11:32 am[/b]
Delivered
CANADA
Your item was delivered in CANADA at 11:32 am on May 20, 2020.

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[b]May 20, 2020, 9:58 am[/b]
Out for Delivery
CANADA

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[b]May 20, 2020, 3:36 am[/b]
Arrival at Post Office
CANADA

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[b]May 15, 2020, 3:23 pm[/b]
Arrived at Facility
CANADA

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[b]May 15, 2020, 10:53 am[/b]
Processed Through Facility
CANADA

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[b]May 15, 2020, 10:53 am[/b]
Customs Clearance
CANADA

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[b]May 10, 2020[/b]
In Transit to Next Facility

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[b]May 6, 2020, 11:09 am[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]May 6, 2020, 10:07 am[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]May 4, 2020, 10:07 am[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 30, 2020, 11:44 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 25, 2020, 7:35 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 25, 2020, 10:13 am[/b]
Arrived at USPS Facility
HILO, HI 96720 

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[b]April 25, 2020, 8:01 am[/b]
Arrived at Unit
HILO, HI 96720 

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[b]April 24, 2020, 8:26 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 24, 2020, 10:38 am[/b]
Arrived at USPS Facility
HILO, HI 96720 

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[b]April 24, 2020, 1:58 am[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 22, 2020, 9:48 pm[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
OAKLAND CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 22, 2020, 9:47 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
OAKLAND CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 21, 2020, 12:12 pm[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
SAN FRANCISCO CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 19, 2020, 2:56 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
SAN FRANCISCO CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 17, 2020, 4:22 am[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 16, 2020, 10:49 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
LOS ANGELES CA NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 4, 2020, 9:11 pm[/b]
Departed USPS Regional Facility
HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 4, 2020, 8:31 pm[/b]
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
HONOLULU HI DISTRIBUTION CENTER 

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[b]April 3, 2020, 4:41 pm[/b]
USPS picked up item
PAHOA, HI 96778 

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Yes.
Letters seem to take a few days longer than usual, as does Priority Mail.
As for Amazon, I think they’ve contracted with new shipping partners over the last few months.  I’ve had the same experience with boxes tracked to a mainland facility, then no updates provided for weeks until it shows up in Honolulu.  I even had a Priority Mail package finally arrive in Honolulu, only to take another week to get to Big Island.  That could happen in the past with Media Rate, but never with regular mail.  

Unfortunately I don’t have specific details about the change in handling at USPS, or Amazon’s partners.  But it’s definitely not your imagination.

[Gus]

Basically having the exact same problems you are. My package to Canada, though was sent priority mail for 40 bucks, so it only took 6 weeks and a simple first class letter took 4 weeks. Yet for some reason, a letter to Germany sent last week arrived in 5 days. Amazon is a lost cause. If you ask for a replacement the first one comes, and even sending it back UPS can take a month or more before they acknowledge receipt.

[kalakoa]

It fails in reverse, too: Amazon believes my items are "running late" even though I already received them weeks ago.

[ChunksterK]

Everything is taking longer, and some items spend up to a week at transfer points they used to clear in hours. The shipper who sends Siegfried the Chunkhund's medicine refills from Nebraska even sent an email warning us to shorten our order interval if we don't want to run out. Kaiser prescriptions from California take 2-3 days longer, but at least that is close to the delays the USPS website admits to. They had actually shown some improvement up until the pandemic, particularly in reference to the Informed Delivery notifications, but we have driven to Hilo to pick up items the website said were in the box or being held for delivery only to be told it wasn't so. I suppose this is to be expected considering the current situation, but it is frustrating. I'm just glad I don't depend on USPS for my livelihood.

[HI_Someday]

I've seen my USPS packages go from California to Michigan to Atlanta, back to California then on to Texas (the destination state but wrong city), then out to another part of the country. Eventually it ended up in the right Texas city. I was shipping a GoPro and the buyer was getting anxious. I called the Post Office and got the story. This link explains it, but essentially the USPS chooses cheaper over efficiency.

https://gizmodo.com/the-postal-service-s...he-5905096

[Seeb-2]

A lot of the parcel post piggy backed on commercial flights.

[Chas]

It's been a free shipping service for me lately.

I send packages to the East Coast and use 2 Day Express Priority. I realized that there is practically no way they can get it there in two days. Perhaps because of the six hour time difference. I've sent 3 or 4 packages so far and they have never gotten them there on time, so I get a refund. Good thing, because depending on the weight it would be quite expensive. But now I always send it 2-day rather than flat rate since with flat rate, you pay no matter how long it takes to get there.

The down side is, one time a package was completely destroyed when it got there, about two weeks later.

[randomq]

Yes, USPS or UPS Mail Innovations usually get to California and then disappear for a few weeks before hitting Oahu. My guess is they are taking the boat due to fewer commercial flights. Had a few items take a month+, some of which Amazon and others wrote off or re-sent.

[leilanidude]

USPS has been a disaster for Amazon shipping.

I have been experiencing the same issues as terracore. Delayed shipping, lost packages, long shipping times (even approaching weeks) on PRIME orders...