US Members: Your favorite shipping option?

[daveleo]

For the moment, I'll spare you my ravings about what prompted this thread.
I was going to ask "What's the worst possible shipping option?", but decided to put a friendly, positive spin on the question.
Which is .... based on your personal actual experiences, what is your favorite shipping option?

 

[MikeMGB]

As part of my employment I run a mail room/shipping center. In my experience USPS is the most reliable, if not the quickest. UPS follows a fairly close second. Fedex is very good at missing delivery deadlines by several days, I avoid them if at all possible.

 

[coelacanth]

As part of my employment I run a mail room/shipping center. In my experience USPS is the most reliable, if not the quickest. UPS follows a fairly close second. Fedex is very good at missing delivery deadlines by several days, I avoid them if at all possible.

Pretty much my experience as well.

 

[______]

USPS, FedEx, UPS in that order.

 

[Mackinaw]

USPS.

Jim B.

 

[rajmohan-fotograf]

As part of my employment I run a mail room/shipping center. In my experience USPS is the most reliable, if not the quickest. UPS follows a fairly close second. Fedex is very good at missing delivery deadlines by several days, I avoid them if at all possible.

I've also found that USPS is better than the others, and Fedex ranks last.

 

[kxl]

1. USPS
2. UPS
3. All other services except #4
4. Fedex

 

[CMur12]

I like USPS Priority Mail.

- Murray

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I always use the postal service, they've been the most reliable and unlike UPS and FedEx, the US Postal Service has never lost or broken anything.

UPS is usually reliable though.

FedEx, however, is the worst. If I want to buy something online and the store only uses FedEx, I'll go elsewhere. The lazy *******s they have driving for them here won't even bother to knock on the door if they're in a hurry, they'll just stick one of those notices on the door, leaving me without my package and having to hope that tomorrow they'll feel like actually trying to deliver it.

One time, on the day I expected a delivery, I sat in my living room all day with the front door open, with only a screen door closed to keep bugs out. in the afternoon, I walked out to my mailbox to check the mail and I saw a FedEx notice stuck on the door frame. There's no f--king way they missed me, I was sitting in my living room all damned day reading (I was in grad school at the time). The lazy ******* just didn't feel like being bothered to do his damned job.

I did that because of the several other times when FedEx "Missed Me" when I knew I was home. The previous times, I didn't sit with the door open all day, I had other things to do around the house, but I should have heard them knock anyway. The last time was a test, and they failed. Never again, ever.

 

[pepeguitarra]

My favorite shipping company is USPS

My favorite shipping company is USPS

Best price, best service, and even Amazon and UPS use them for their deliveries on Sunday. In any case, the best insurance is a good packaging. Packages always get tossed and compressed. USPS goes a great job. However, none of them is really good at paying for damages (even if insured), they always use the excuse of poor packaging.
Agree with the worst being FedEx. I used to ship lots of guitars, and only had problems with FedEx. Never with the USPS. FedEx does not bother on ringing the bell, just places the package in the front door (good thing I live in a good neighborhood).

 

[splitimageview]

They all have pros and cons.

For light items it's hard to beat first class tracked. These items travel by priority mail, which travel on FedEx planes (betcha didn't know that.)

I've shipped items cross country, dropping off Saturday, that arrive Monday, at a cost of less than $3.

That said, if USPS loses something, their customer service is simply an outsourced call center. They are friendly and will make promises to call you back but they never do.

UPS and FedEx have top quality in-house customer service.

I have had my share of USPS and UPS deliveries where I was present all day, yet a notice was left. This is more on the individual employee than it is on the company.

FedEx ground also uses different hubs and procedures than FedEx Express. I avoid them unless the shipment isn't critical.

Experiences over 25+ years and thousands of shipments.

 

[ferider]

USPS.

Now, unfortunately, we occasionally loose some USPS mail throug theft; which doesn't happen with Fedex/UPS (door step vs. mail box, sorting place - we don't know).

And some stuff can not be shipped with USPS - but that's for another forum 🙂

So I use all three depending on what is being shipped.

Roland.

 

[rscheffler]

This is interesting to read from north of the border. I always thought FedEx had a better reputation, but I see a lot less of them driving around here, where it's primarily the post office (Canada Post) or UPS. We also have Purolator, a Canadian courier company. Up here UPS has a bad rep for gouging cross border shipments with brokerage fees (if the recipient isn't aware of the difference between Standard and Express shipments). In any case, both UPS and FedEx seem to like all sorts of add-on fees for clearing shipments, whereas Canada Post is the most straightforward. Where I live, Canada Post and Purolator will probably deliver before noon. It's one of the reasons I like B&H's ground shipping option to Canada via Purolator. I'm lucky if UPS does so before 3pm. I've liked FedEx for the ability to have them hold a package at the depot for me to pick up if I won't be home. UPS seems a greater hassle in this regard. Anyway, to keep this somewhat relevant, whenever I buy gear from individuals in the US, I strongly prefer they use USPS. I've never had a problem with any of those shipments.

My last UPS cross-border experience was with Paul C Buff (AlienBees, Einstein strobes, etc.). I sent back a couple units for repair by post, but they only ship UPS (I've pleaded with them to consider alternatives). When I received the UPS waybill number from them, I called UPS to check on the details and possibly prepay taxes on the cost of the repair. They hadn't gotten everything input at that point and couldn't take payment, but confirmed some details. When I received the shipment, the driver handed me the bill for about $350 in taxes. It should have been about $15. I was floored. UPS interpreted the repair bill for two units somehow as importation of four units. I paid it to take possession (the driver suggested refusing delivery for one day to clear things up). When I called UPS, the CSR suggested the easiest way to resolve the problem was to file a claim with the Canadian government agency responsible for imports. Having in the past waited several months for a UPS refund, I took her advice (skeptically at first) and it worked out, fortunately. Others up here have accused UPS of intentionally overcharging for the collection of taxes and duties and this experience has got me wondering...

It's funny, many in Canada like to disparage mail carriers (and teachers) because of their seemingly cushy union jobs, but I sure hope Canada Post and USPS survive and continue offering a great alternative to the private courier companies.

 

[marcr1230]

I never use USPS if I can help it because they are so slow when I drop off my package. who needs to stand in line while people moving in slow motion behind the counter.

UPS is great, Fedex - about the same for me.

 

[splitimageview]

prepare the label in advance and put the item in the drop box; avoid the lines.

Some limitations of USPS are limited hours; with FedEx I can drop off very late in the evening and it will still go out that night.

FedEx OneRate is quite economical, if the item fits their box sizes

 

[daveleo]

I never use USPS if I can help it because they are so slow when I drop off my package. who needs to stand in line while people moving in slow motion behind the counter.

UPS is great, Fedex - about the same for me.

Expanding on what splitimageview posted .......

Get USPS boxes & envelopes from the shelves at the PO. Just take them. No lines. Go to USPS website and print all your labels.
Drop your packages in mailbox at PO - again no line waiting.

 

[Godfrey]

I send and receive via USPS Priority Mail all the time. They're my number one.

I request senders to use USPS Priority or UPS when given the option. They've both provided excellent service with few problems.

I avoid FedEx whenever possible.

G

 

[splitimageview]

Also, there are supplies you can't get at the post office, like padded flat rate envelopes. They are free...takes a few days to arrive, order online.

Padded flat rate is a great way to ship small items cheaply, if packed correctly, it's extremely secure and can save $8-$10 over paying by weight.

And again, priority mail travels on Fedex planes. Many times items from Texas to San Francisco or Seattle drop off on Saturday and arrives Monday; Fedex or UPS would charge $50-70+ for such a shipment; about $6 via USPS padded flat rate envelope.

 

[farlymac]

I send stuff by USPS, 1st Class or Priority, but when it comes to long distance items shipped to me, I prefer FEDEX. Less expensive than the other two, and at least a day quicker than UPS.

PF

 

[View Range]

USPS is by far the best. I know fairly well the time the carrier will come. None of this "by the end of the day" stuff. If I miss the carrier, I just have to go to local post office the next day and pick up the package. (All the rest only have one pickup spot, in industrial areas, even in fairly large metropolitan regions.) The USPS carrier will also take my packages with the preprinted labels / postage. I don't know how many times I've gotten "delivery exception" from UPS. UPS seldom delivers to me the day they say they will deliver.