US Members: Your favorite shipping option?

[raydm6]

Usps

Usps

I just mailed a 2.5 lb. package from Massachusetts (USA) - a Kodak Retina Reflex III w/50mm 1.9 Schneider Xenon - to Chris Sherlock at Retina Rescue in New Zealand.

He suggested I send it USPS 1st Class Mail. Should take approx. 7-10 days.

 

[splitimageview]

It will probably take longer than that.

I sent an M4-P to NZ once, priority mail. It tracked to Chicago and then was AWOL for a couple of weeks. Called USPS, they promised to trace it and call me back in 2-3 days.

They never called back (they never do) but the next day or two tracking resumed and the camera was finally delivered.

 

[View Range]

I've used Priority Mail to Bangkok many times. Deliveries were typically less than 5 business days. If there is a delay, it is usually in the receiving country's customs. Using the right codes on the customs declaration helps.

 

[raydm6]

...If there is a delay, it is usually in the receiving country's customs. Using the right codes on the customs declaration helps. ...

Yes, Chris was very specific on what to write on the Customs Declaration Form.

 

[View Range]

It's no what to write. No matter what you write, the customs person won't know what it is. There is a long list of international numerical codes. Using the international code really helps. The code is important because the duty rate often varies according to the code.

 

[Timmyjoe]

In the early 2000's I used to service motion picture cameras for a number of different universities, which meant shipping cameras back and forth across the US. Much to my surprise I heard nightmares stories from clients about lost camera gear and UPS or FedEx fighting tooth and nail to not pay insurance claims, whereas USPS will pay the claim if they lose your camera. Ever since, I've been shipping USPS.

I did have one bad/funny USPS experience in 1992. I was living in NYC and waiting for a USPS package. It was shipped Priority and ended up being 18 days late. When I was finally able to pick it up at the Post Office, I mentioned to the clerk that it was a Priority package and was supposed to be here weeks earlier. He said, "Hey, you got it didn't you? Stop complaining."

Best,
-Tim

 

[ASA 32]

What Christopher Crawford said, I'm in total agreement on Fed Ex. For my area UPS is my favorite.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

USPS seems to make the least amount of mistakes.

 

[aizan]

if usps had boxing services for large items i'd never use ups and fedex.

 

[Calzone]

For me the best is local pick-up in NYC.

As far as carriers USPS is mixed. I am a gentrifier and my experience in Long Island City USPS has presented itself as being like a third world country, and I literally lived only one subway stop from Madhattan. Hopefully things have changed as this area has been redeveloped.

Here in East Harlem, another poor community, The USPS is not the best, and if you have to sign for a package and you have to go to the understaffed Post Office and wait in long lines that go out the door. The worst is near the first of the month because of the line for Postal Money Orders since this community is so poor people do not have credit nor checking accounts.

Back in the day, about 15-20 years ago the Post office in Williamsburg was very third world like, but not as bad as Long Island City. In LIC one basically feels like one is in another country. When I complained to the Postmaster he actually said complaining would not help, and that he did not expect the Post Office to be in business in 5 years because every year they loose money.

Have you ever lost a diamond ring that was sent via USPS registered mail? Happened to me. Was lost for about three weeks. Meanwhile I had a hysterical girlfriend.

Also had experiences in LIC where I took off of work to accept delivery, only to find the message left at my mailbox. Basically the driver did not ring the bell and just wrote the form message. I confronted the driver, who I actually felt bad for after I yelled at her.

Basically she explained that her route was so spread out, and the work load so large, that it was impossible for her to do her job. If you knew how large LIC is, it is true it is a vast area that is sparsely populated. Also the Post Office is vastly huge, but going there often there is only one clerk so the line is unbelievably long.

USPS depends where you live. If you live in a poor neighborhood expect third world service.

Cal

 

[daveleo]

............

USPS depends where you live. If you live in a poor neighborhood expect third world service.

Cal

Yes. The local office (USPS, UPS, FEDEX) and delivery man is what formulates 90% of our opinions, I think.
Our USPS guys are really good (except for the woefully understaffed counter service) with deliveries. Our UPS guys I swear are morons (at least the guys on this side of town). I have very little Fedex experience.
Two days ago, the UPS guy dropped off our packages at 8:00PM on the driveway (it's December in New England); not on the covered entrance porch, not in the enclosed breezeway - on the driveway at night an hour before icy rain was forecast. Did not ring the bell or bang on the door, in fact he never walked up to the door. At 9:30PM (I'm in my 'jamys) my phone went off "your packages were delivered". Could not find the packages (dark) until my wife looked out on the driveway.
Earlier this year UPS left a box with a lens I bought out on the open front steps in the rain. And he had to fight his way through my obstacle course of potted plants to get it there.

Well .... again, it's often the local guys who drive our opinions of the entire company.

I am an exclusively USPS Priority user.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Well, for me in NH, all are good.

Up here, it's a box at the PO for USPS, not home delivery. This is the most secure; package waits at the PO.

Very surprised at the comments on FedEx. Their Express service is still fab, I count on it. Home delivery seems to be a different matter.

And, my favorite is the mail from China and Japan to here. From China, it's only a 3-4 days and the postage seems to be very reasonable for the sender. From Japan, EMS to the US is trackable, reliable, and fast, thought not really cheap.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

USPS depends where you live. If you live in a poor neighborhood expect third world service.

Cal

I would agree the first sentence here, but quibble with the second.
I was stunned to see that anyone felt that the USPS offered decent service, double stunned to see it listed first by most people. Not disputing anyone else's experiences, but it's certainly not like that here. I reside in one of the nation's highest income counties, and USPS service here is not just third world-ish, it is hellish, so the idea that poor neighborhoods get picked on might be due to who staffs them, not bias.

In the last 25 years, at least 90% of the packages I have received which were handled by Postal service employees have been crushed. No exaggeration, and closer to 100% than 90%.
No "Priority Mail" package into here has ever reached me in less than a week, and that speed is rare. Ten days is the norm, and three weeks is fairly common. You will never wait in line less than 20 minutes, 45 minutes for the month of December.
On the other hand, and I ship over a hundred boxes a year of various weights and sizes, from 1 pound to 50+ pounds, via Fedex, and in addition to being hyper convenient locally, I have never had a single instance of the slightest problem. That is literally thousands of shipments. Plus, if I use FedEx Ground, and take it to the actual FedEx office, it is significantly cheaper than Priority Mail, gets there faster, and it has actual along the route tracking which USPS hasnt figured out yet.
So, a lot probably depends on where you are. I'd imagine those extolling USPS and disparaging FedEx would say I was just lucky, and I'd be forced to say just the opposite.
Use what works best for you where you live, but blanket recommendations are not realistic.

 

[Calzone]

I would agree the first sentence here, but quibble with the second.
I was stunned to see that anyone felt that the USPS offered decent service, double stunned to see it listed first by most people. Not disputing anyone else's experiences, but it's certainly not like that here. I reside in one of the nation's highest income counties, and USPS service here is not just third world-ish, it is hellish, so the idea that poor neighborhoods get picked on might be due to who staffs them, not bias.

In the last 25 years, at least 90% of the packages I have received which were handled by Postal service employees have been crushed. No exaggeration, and closer to 100% than 90%.
No "Priority Mail" package into here has ever reached me in less than a week, and that speed is rare. Ten days is the norm, and three weeks is fairly common. You will never wait in line less than 20 minutes, 45 minutes for the month of December.
On the other hand, and I ship over a hundred boxes a year of various weights and sizes, from 1 pound to 50+ pounds, via Fedex, and in addition to being hyper convenient locally, I have never had a single instance of the slightest problem. That is literally thousands of shipments. Plus, if I use FedEx Ground, and take it to the actual FedEx office, it is significantly cheaper than Priority Mail, gets there faster, and it has actual along the route tracking which USPS hasnt figured out yet.
So, a lot probably depends on where you are. I'd imagine those extolling USPS and disparaging FedEx would say I was just lucky, and I'd be forced to say just the opposite.
Use what works best for you where you live, but blanket recommendations are not realistic.

Larry,

I live in Manhattan. Surely this is one of the highest income counties with a very high cost of living.

It seems pretty apparent to me that the poorer neighborhoods are not staffed well or enough. The disparity of service between rich and poor neighborhoods is rather striking here in NYC.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.

Cal

 

[NeonKnight]

I like that UPS lets me reroute packages to my local UPS store for pickup. FedEx ground is horrible.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Larry,

I live in Manhattan. Surely this is one of the highest income counties with a very high cost of living.

It seems pretty apparent to me that the poorer neighborhoods are not staffed well or enough. The disparity of service between rich and poor neighborhoods is rather striking here in NYC.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties.

Cal

Cal,

Here I would imagine that the disparity has more to do with rural vs. Manhattan than anything else. Or, local staff quality probably more than anything, though over time and changes of staff nothing with the USPS has ever improved here. The most poorly run enterprise in my life long experience, of any sort. Unless you live within a ten block radius of the P.O. they won't even deliver.

After I wrote that last post, another story came to mind. This time last year, actually a few days earlier, I was standing in line at the P.O. behind a man who went to the window and told staff that he had checked online and seen that his package containing Christmas gifts had arrived. The clerk checked online, and agreed that, yes, his package was "in the back" but they had "so many" packages that the stack back there then, around Dec 3rd, would not be available to pick up until "at least" January 10th. This was not a one off. I saw it more than once last year, and have already seen the same thing happen this year. They move as slow as molasses, punch the clock, and could care less.

I didn't see it myself, but a couple of years ago someone came in the night and put up a sign over the door saying "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

 

[Dogman]

Best service for the last several years:
1. USPS
2. UPS
3. FedEx

Odd how time changes things. Twenty-five or thirty years ago, the order would have been totally reversed. FedEx was superb and the only carrier that could consistently deliver overnight. UPS was reliable but slower. USPS was the pits--losing stuff, breaking stuff and exhibiting the proverbial bad attitude toward customers. Today, the USPS service has improved tremendously, UPS has gotten better in speed and service and FedEx has declined.

The worst carrier ever, in my experience, was Railway Express Agency from the 1970s. Slower than the Pony Express using sick horses and packages arrived looking like they were run over by a freight train. My first good enlarger was "delivered" by Railway Express. They delivered it to a mystery office address almost a month late and they never notified me when it arrived. There was no home delivery and they had no local office so it was up to me to call long distance to see if the package had arrived. I then had to travel to another town to take delivery. When I finally found the seedy office where it had been delivered, the box was torn and partially crushed. Luckily Omega packaged their enlargers really well back then so nothing was damaged or lost. I really hated REA.

 

[helen.HH]

USPS... has never let me down

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

Here I would imagine that the disparity has more to do with rural vs. Manhattan than anything else. Or, local staff quality probably more than anything, though over time and changes of staff nothing with the USPS has ever improved here. The most poorly run enterprise in my life long experience, of any sort. Unless you live within a ten block radius of the P.O. they won't even deliver.

After I wrote that last post, another story came to mind. This time last year, actually a few days earlier, I was standing in line at the P.O. behind a man who went to the window and told staff that he had checked online and seen that his package containing Christmas gifts had arrived. The clerk checked online, and agreed that, yes, his package was "in the back" but they had "so many" packages that the stack back there then, around Dec 3rd, would not be available to pick up until "at least" January 10th. This was not a one off. I saw it more than once last year, and have already seen the same thing happen this year. They move as slow as molasses, punch the clock, and could care less.

I didn't see it myself, but a couple of years ago someone came in the night and put up a sign over the door saying "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

Larry,

Thanks for your insights. I thought I had bad experiences, but you definitely win. Sounds like a cronic disaster that is worse than third world.

I now feel greatfull for the lame service I now get. LOL.

Cal

 

[Huss]

As a Leica user I only use private courier, and only if they use BMW motorcycles.

(At my work USPS is by far the worst. They deliver Priority Mail a day after the agreed on delivery date, but magically have the packages marked as delivered on their online tracking. They also forge signatures of our mail room employees to claim they had been signed for on the insured packages that we get. For three months one of our employees who was on maternity leave incredibly managed to sign for packages every day in the office! They leave packages unattended in the common mail room area used by the entire building, instead of delivering them to the correct office as required)