Back on March 30, pleased with the H&R project, I decided to buy another  H&R Topper action. Including postage for letter to send USPS Money Order, and Money Order cost, the whole came to $76. MO was sent via Priority Mail. Priority Mail is GUARANTEED to be delivered within 5 days, or you get your money back.

Three weeks later, I contact the seller of the action and ask if he's sent it yet. His response is "I haven't received the MO." After sending him pictures of the receipt for the MO AND the receipt for the Priority Mail ($6.75), he assures me he hasn't received the MO.

I start "looking".

The first place I look is online tracking. No info on the MO, but the Priority Mail envelope (with tracking number) was last logged into the USPS system on April 2, 3 days after it was sent. The tracking says, "In transit".

Next, I talk with my friend at the local PO. He tells me 1) Can't 'trace' the MO for 60 days after it was issued. 2) If I cancel it, it will cost ME $5.75 to get a new one reissued in the same amount. 3) I should get in touch with Anchorage "head office" to start "finding" the Priority Mail envelope because they can access more "resources".

I called them. Last week. They "looked" and found EXACTLY the same thing I found, which was NOTHING. They said they would look into it, and call me back THAT DAY. Today, 12 DAYS LATER, I called them back. Same story.

I pointed out to them that THEY lost the envelope with the MO in it, and there is no argument there. Right? "Yes".

So let me get this straight:
1) YOU lose the letter that I had to pay $6.75 for postage,
2) In the letter was the UPSP MO for which I paid the face value of $60, PLUS $1.50 for purchase,
3) The USPS has NOT delivered the letter in the GUARANTEED 5 days, and
4) YOU want ME to PAY YOU ANOTHER $5.75 to get another MO!?!?

Lots of people LOVE to HATE the USPS. I am not one of them. I simply LOVE them because we, here in Alaska, get RAPED by UPS and FedEx. I can't even write UPS or FedEx names without getting angry. I DESPISE both of those companies. However, this fiasco with this MO is 'beyond the pale'.

Paul

Appears to be a global initiative.

What jOe said  again. If it's connected to the government, it is a farce. NOTHING the government is involved in works right. Muffin sent her sister in Homestead. Fla. a package by priority mail. It didn't arrive in a reasonable amount of time. The tracking process was started. It was in Atlanta, Georgia. The package still hadn't arrived in a reasonable time from there. Another tracking process showed it back up in Memphis, Tenn. The package finally arrived 6 weeks from the date it was shipped.  DUHHHHH. ......Paul H

I have so many true horror stories about the USPS I could write a book! I try to use FEDEX for lower 48 and avoid the USPS whenever feasible. It's become hard on us folks living in rural areas. Most post offices have been consolidated and hours of operation slashed without any reasonable thought process. They cut the Linneus post office hours of operation to open at 0800, closed at 1200. They never changed out the outside antique post office box to accommodate packages larger than a small box and get this.....Linneus is a county seat! The closest place to get a passport is 28 miles away and only open 2 hours a day for passport services. All our international packages go through the Chicago ICS which is well documented to be the "Black Hole" of the postal system. Now my blood pressure is up so I have to stop.

Well, to repeat myself, I DON'T "hate" the USPS. To us here in Alaska, they are our 'salvation' from the predators that FedEx and UPS are. If it were in my power, FedEx and UPS would cease to exist. Words fail to describe how much I loathe them.

The USPS is a government bureaucracy, plain and simple. As such, it is fraught with all the nightmares of government inefficiency and moronic behavior. Nevertheless, for all their stupidity, they are NOT out to gut me. They are not out to extort money from me. They - as a rule - don't "lie" to me as a matter of practice. Read the CONTRACTS of UPS and FedEx. They "guarantee" safe delivery of everything EXCEPT 1) China (as in dinnerware), and 2) FIREARMS. If you send a firearms by UPS or FedEx and "something" happens to it, YOU ARE SOL. PERIOD. READ THE CONTRACT!

Everyone gets their panties in a bunch over D ick's Sporting goods and "looks the other way" when it comes to UPS and FedEx's firearms POLICY - MEMORIALIZED IN CONTRACT.

So, it's fine by me to rail against the USPS for typical government stupidity and inefficiency. (Do you REALLY want an EFFICIENT government? Think about that.) But, for all their stupidity, they are not slimy, good-for-nothing liars, and extortionists. And that's EXACTLY what UPS and FedEx are.

That's "the other side of the coin".

Paul