At least it’s not Amazon …
I wanted to start a short opinion piece / post on the problems we have (sometimes) with our postal packages with something positive. I like the postal system, and only want it to be better, stronger, and continue to be a source of good jobs!
We realize it’s imperfect, sometimes very imperfect. Our latest issue here at Sweet Maria’s is some customer comments we have received on longer-than-normal delivery times on small orders.
We use USPS Priority Mail on select orders, which has helped us maintain our low flat rate shipping price versus the unattractive option of charging you more for shipping. We don’t want to charge more … and we’re pretty sure you don’t want us to either!
USPS Flat Rate envelopes are a unique option among all the options. UPS has nothing similar for this price point, nor does FedEx or DHL.
On average, the performance on delivery time for our USPS Flat Rate envelopes is impressive. We hear cases where they actually arrive ahead of schedule too.
But we have experienced delays (and even a negative review for Sweet Maria’s on Google) because a person didn’t get their package as soon as they expected.
In fact, we shipped that persons package the next business day from when they placed their order (ordered Saturday, shipped Monday). But it languished for 3 days at our local USPS depot before actually departing for the customer. That’s not good.
I know … everyone everywhere has some (or many) reasons to complain about their postal service and complain about USPS. And the reasons are valid, undoutedly.
Our issue is that we are delivering our USPS packages to the local hub on time, but there have been cases like the one above, where they are not getting into the system right away. They sit at the hub longer than they should. It’s rare, but it is happening on occasion.
(Yes, we have called, talked to our rep, talked to everyone and anyone who will listen. The only real answer comes from our carrier, who says they have been short staffed, but that they are filling empty positions. Thankfully the “doge” ax didn’t cut too deep in this case.)
Delays are not the norm. Overall, I believe if you ordered 5 times from us and we shipped USPS, you would have on time delivery at least 4 of the 5 times, and for the price per pound of shipping weight that would represent a good result versus any other option. No, it’s not Amazon, but then again Jeff Bezos captive low wage work force and contractor-based delivery system isn’t offering much to your (or any) community besides gig-work level of pay before they roboticize the jobs out of existence. If it’s only about you, and getting your things as fast as possible for “free shipping”, Amazon is a good option for green coffeeGreen coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted,... ...more.
For me, I want to see our postal system get more investment, offering better jobs and better service. And yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing the same happen to our power services, our basic telcom, heck, why not have a federalized internet provider option with publicly held data centers. I know you might not agree, but I think investing and rebuilding our services, like USPS, is worth the effort, even if they are imperfect. At least using using USPS means Bezos and his ilk aren’t taking a cut on every delivery. I’m sure they are in some form, like AWS service, but not on delivery.
-Thompson
One Response
I don’t ship the volume of packages that you do, but I have used USPS Priority mail to ship packages from PA to Hawai’i for the past 6 years. I can recall only 2 occasions when shipping took longer than estimated. Many times, packages made it to Hawai’i in 2 days.