[MR] Atlantia Digest, Vol 40, Issue 12

[Lady Derbhai'l ingen Lona'n]

Greetings to all,

     If I may touch some issues here since I do work for USPS.  I am a 
customer service representative with the post offices all over the United 
States.  As far as what Bruce stated that priority mail is not guarenteed is 
correct.  The only service within the USPS that is guarenteed is Express 
Mail and that is it.  All other mailing services with the post office is 
only an estimated delivery times due to 'mail volumn and weather 
situations'.  First Class mail is an estimated delivery time of 3-5 business 
days, parcel post is an estimated delivery time of 2-9 business days.  
Priority mail flat rate envelope is $4.05 postage and for a guarantee mail 
date and time is Express mail at the rate of $14.40 postage.

     I would like to note that if anyone wishes to complain about the mail 
delivery of their Acorns to contact the 1-800-275-8777 customer service 
number and voice your situation to the representatives.  They will document 
you concern then provide you a confirmation number for your complaint.  You 
should receive a phone call concerning your situation within the next 
business day from a supervisor in your area.  If you do not hear anything, 
you can call again to the 1-800-275-8777 and provide the representative with 
your confirmation number and see if anyone made a note to your complaint.  
If not then request to submit your concern again to Consumer Affairs.  I am 
sorry for the situations wtih the Acorn not arriving as we wish but as 
stated earlier there are things that we have no control over.

     Yours in Service to the Atlantian Crowns,

          Lady Derbha’il ingen Lona’in



Message: 7
Date: Thu, 04 May 2006 13:39:24 -0400
From: GM Miller <druid at skybest.com>
Subject: [MR] Post Office Experience
To: Atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Message-ID: <002b01c66fa1$af1e8ab0$cd98a841 at homeagdyp4lvr9>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Good Gentles of the List:

I am self-employed, doing a mail order/eBay business run from my home. I 
specifically use the USPS for all my shipping, which is not so large/heavy 
that the USPS will not handle.

I live in a small town in Western North Carolina. From my house there are 
THREE Post Offices within a 5 mile radius; My actual "local" office, and two 
more.

I have found that packages and/or letters sent from each of these offices, 
can be expected to have certain differences in the turn aound time from that 
office to the item's destination.

I no longer use my "local" office, because shipping even Priority Mail, I 
have watched a package shipped from them take two days longer to arrive, 
than one shipped from the next closest PO just 2 miles away. Of course they 
guarantee a 1-3 day delivery on Priority mail, but the same has held true 
with my mailings of Christmas Cards and advertisements. This past Christmas, 
I mailed out my family's Christmas cards over 3 days time Dec. 1st, 2nd, and 
3rd, from 3 different PO's. The ones mailed from my local PO made it barely 
before Christmas. The ones mailed from the next closest PO made it a week 
before Christmas. The rest were mailed just over the County line, at a PO 
about 10 miles from my house. All of those were at their recipients within 1 
week. These ALL included in my zip code mailings, and out-of-state 
mailings...

I don't care what PO you use, or where the addresses are that you're mailing 
to, you can't trust the USPS to deliver in a timely manner unless you pay 
the extra dollars to get a guaranteed shipment. ($3.85 is the flat rate fee 
that would ship an Acorn, Priority Mail, with a 1-3 day delivery guarantee) 
I have actually been told by my local Postmaster not to bother paying for 
1st class, because it won't actually make it go any quicker than standard 
Parcel Post. 3rd class is a little bit slower, becuase it's sorted after 
Parcel Post, but I think you get his point.

We cannot blame nor hold responsible our Chronichlers to fix a nation-wide 
system that is broken. The PO is a government overseen institution, but is 
really a for-profit business, with each office operating slightly 
differently. As long as it is not "controlled" the same way at every level 
and every office, there will always be problems, such as with our Acorn 
mailings.

Lord Otto, as well as his predecessor have both done a fine job, and Lord 
Otto continues to impress with new layout and designs. Vivat! to those who 
wish to serve, even when getting complained at regularly.

I think in the end we should look to on-line publication, for that is going 
to be the only way to guarantee a delivery date to each and every member.

YIS,
Lord Gavius