For most of my life the United States Postal System (USPS) was dependable, friendly and I looked forward to getting mail. The informal motto for the USPS is as follows: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”. The rich history of the USPS will always be with us and the USPS has continued to provide advantageous products and services such as…
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If It Fits, It Ships®
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Informed Delivery
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Forever Stamps
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Click-N-Ship
But something is array.
Informed delivery doesn’t always make my mail box in a timely fashion. A weekly newspaper is not consistent in delivery and there been occasions where two papers are delivered, of course one is a week late. Packages, let’s not go there and just say overall there package delivery is adequate and as of late better than FedEx but UPS is the King of efficient package delivery. I know my UPS driver by his first name and we chat from time-to-time, cannot say that of USPS or FedEx. All this is quite trivial but what really caught me of guard was registered mail.
I required a time sensitive document to be delivered to a specific person to there home address. I felt confident that the registered mail would be delivered. Here’s a snip-it from the USPS website in regards to registered mail…
What are the characteristics of Registered Mail and Registered Mail Restricted Delivery?
The most secure United States Postal Service® mail service (protected by safes, cages, sealed containers, locks, and keys).
After a month my registered letter had no delivery attempts and was never delivered. I went to a local Post Office to report the time sensitive registered mail as lost and requested a refund. Now registered mail isn’t that costly it was mostly principle on my part. The clerk had to pass this request to the Postmaster who was extremely rude. First he wanted to know why I choose his Post Office and said there will be no reimbursement. Once home I went online to see if there was any recourse actions I could take. There was the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General where I politely provided them with the scenario. The response was quick with many incoming calls on the matter and I got my refund.
I really don’t have issue with the USPS but their dependability, friendly service of yesteryear is no more.
Notes – Resources – Credits
Resources:
USPS Office of Inspector General
Credits:
Feature Image Jeep DJ-5 in USPS livery. Author John Lloyd. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.