Thread: Rant: The USPS and International Shipping

I figured now would be a good time to write a rant about the USPS. Now I'm not trying to offend anyone here who works for them, but the company itself sucks. First of all- monopoly. Nothing else left to be said there really. Besides that they raise prices every 6 months it feels like. I can never send a package now without it costing $8 or more it seems. Priority flat rate boxes can be a good deal, but they are trying to phase out most other forms of mailing that would be a cheaper option.

The thing that really gets me though is their ridiculous policies and pricing. For instance... Today I went to mail a package that weighed 12 ounces. It was going to an international country- not important which one, but it isn't a sketchy country... SO I had been weighing my options for a few days. The initial problem was that the prices listed online at usps.com NEVER quite matched up with what you get at the PO in person. There was always some catch or hitch that would change things. Besides, the usps website is ANYTHING but easy to find the information you want to find. There are still things that I cannot find on the website, but anyway... my first thought (because USPS has trained me so well) is a Priority flat rate box. Now immediately I knew that might not work because I needed to insure the package for $1200 and you can't insure Priority FLAT RATE boxes internationally. WTF?? So at that point I think about sending it either priority flat rate REGISTERED, or first class REGISTERED. Now here's the thing about that which I recently found-

Registered mail travels safely (supposedly) since it is kept separate and usually in locked areas. Now the problems start internationally. Any country outside the US can treat these packages (and any for that matter) however they want. So once that precious registered package touches down in a foreign country, all bets are off. One worker at the PO said she had heard that Portugal for instance just piles it all together and hopes for the best. This would all be fine IF you could get any money back if lost or damaged... YOU BASICALLY CAN'T! WTF??? Sending mail registered for ANY amount (in my case $1200) doesn't mean jack. Registered mail has a MAXIMUM indemnity limit (international at least) of about $45! So I lose my $1200 package and I get back $45. No go. Besides, first class registered for $1200 was around $30. WTF?

So I go to my next options- Priority (non-flat rate) and Express. Both would be insured rather than registered since for some reason you can't register these... Anyway. Both would now ship by weight and country code, etc. Priority came out to about $40 with the $1200 insurance and Express came to... $38. WTF?? It was cheaper to send the package Express with insurance than it was for priority. This company is so screwed up in their pricing and policy it isn't even funny. So finally I decided to just do the Express mail but it doesn't end there!

The thing about insurance on foreign packages that I never knew until recently is that no matter what amount you insure it for, there will STILL be a maximum indemnity limit on INSURED packages as well! WTF? Now I understand once it is in another country it becomes their package, not the USPS's but it still makes no sense! I insured my package for $1200 but the MAXIMUM I could get back is only between $700-800! WHY on earth should I pay for $1200 worth of insurance then?? If I insured it for less, the maximum indemnity limit goes down, that's why. They might as well just SAY that they are about to rape me instead of getting sneaky about it. They don't just TELL you this stuff up front either, you've got to really dig.

Now after all was said and done I'm still happy my package is guaranteed to get there by Monday and I at least will get SOME cash back if damaged, but MAN that company sucks. Shipping with them within the US is great as long as you insure it, but international- they really screw you.

I don't know all the nuances of the system, but, in my experience UPS is actually worse. They charge more for regular shipments, I don't know about insurance and all those intricacies, but I've never gotten a package from UPS shipped to me, or shipped from me, that didn't cost more than USPS, and reach its destination with a battered box and potentially damaged contents..

However, that insurance indemnity is really not cool... I'm glad my packages are only worth 45-100.

Condolences
Jeremy

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

I don't know all the nuances of the system, but, in my experience UPS is actually worse. They charge more for regular shipments, I don't know about insurance and all those intricacies, but I've never gotten a package from UPS shipped to me, or shipped from me, that didn't cost more than USPS, and reach its destination with a battered box and potentially damaged contents..

However, that insurance indemnity is really not cool... I'm glad my packages are only worth 45-100.

Condolences
Jeremy

Never had UPS package delivered in bad condition.
As far as USPS, I agree they are weird.
Recently I had to send a bunch of documents to Europe, and I wanted the fastest service possible which was FedEx express 3 business days guaranteed, it cost me $100 bucks. I sent the package on Friday, it was supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, but instead it arrived on Thursday.
I called to ask for partial refund, the guys on the other side of the line were very surprised there is a 3 day guarantee worldwide service, it was supposed to be 7 day. Anyway at least I got my money back fully much to my surprise.

LOL actually it is worse than that,,,

Even just CONUS you can only receive the amount you can PROVE that the item was worth...

So good luck trying to prove the value of a 200 year old restored razor that the owner bought on e-bay for $12

But that is all of them not just USPS...

Postal insurance may be purchased separately for international packages. I don't recall the website, and I'll have to wait until I'm home. Bob Keyes told me about it as he sends lots overseas. I'll post it later.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

I figured now would be a good time to write a rant about the
[fill in the shipping company]
....snip....

Good summary.

Shipping is an important but oft overlooked pile of issues.
We in the US are spoiled by the value we place in
the "post".

Shipping via a customs agent can help as well as
working with a shipper that specializes in international
shipping. USP, FedX, DHL, USPS each has strengths
and as you outlined it is difficult to dig out the
details.

This is not totally related, but I feel the anger at USPS, too. I always said I've never had trouble with them, and it was true...until now. It's been over a week and a half and a package that should have arrived days ago, still hasn't. Worse yet, the sender contacted them and they said they had no record of any package with that tracking info. Even worse yet, it contained a very nice kamisori and a limited edition western style Japanese straight razor...

My route carrier is a wonderful person... he's got my cell-number and calls me to make sure I'll be home to sign for anything requiring signatures. He even is willing to stop by by on his way in from his route... I like him quite a bit. (My UPS driver also calls ahead... the Fedex gal isn't so friendly) My USPS and UPS carriers both get good tips come the holiday seasons.

My local branch is a horrible place to go. I've never waited less than 45 minutes for counter service. Usual wait is 1hr. I'm sure you've all heard that when the post office had complaints about super slow service at branches that they removed the clocks from the customer area rather than improve service?... Yah, they did that at my branch. There is a circular tan mark on the baby-blue wall where the clock was removed a few years back.
They have a self-service computerized kiosk... it seems to function about 20% of the time.

As a result of the local branch... I send almost everything via UPS and EMS. I'll gladly pay the extra 2 bucks for an hour of saved time. My local UPS store has never had more than 2 people in line and the wait has never been over 5 minutes.

I don't wish my route carrier to be unemployed, but I'm all for abolishing the USPS and letting UPS/Fedex/DHL/etal pick up the pieces in private carrier services. IMHO we spend far too much on generally poor service... I'm sure some branches are wonderful, but I haven't had the pleasure yet.

Well, they are not a monopoly as there are a number of alternative methods for shipping package, documents etc. If you are so unhappy, why not use someone else?

I agree that USPS is a little quirky, but recognize that they are dealing with foreign countries, some of which are notoriously poor with mail. My guess is that the insurance reduction is much like any insurance with a deductible ... if you have a 1200 loss on a house theft, you get back 1200 less your deductible. In the future, you might consider increasing your insured value such that what you got back would cover the entire loss. It would cost a little more, but you would be fully covered. I was actually thinking that the express deal sounded good ... 12 oz. international with insurance and next day delivery for $38 is a pretty good deal ... they should've just suggested that right away, and maybe you would've been happy. Anyway ... not trying to rain on your parade, but I too, prefer the USPS, although I might prefer another carrier for international, as at least most of them, I BELIEVE, would handle their own delivery in the destination country ... unlike USPS that has to hand their package off to a foreign postal service. Sorry about your frustrating experience ... I'm not very tolerant when stuff is not intuitive or logical for "the customer" (namely ME).