The Post Office Has Failed Me

[Starscream]

I recently ordered a certain book about a certain party of stick figures from a certain website. As far as I can tell the website did its job just fine, but the post office seems to have gotten very confused as to what delivering something actually entails.

The package was being shipped to me from Houston Texas to Fort Walton Beach Florida, and I tracked its progress online. Here is the path it has taken.

1) Processed through Sort Facility, HOUSTON, TX: Okay.
2) Processed through Sort Facility, PENSACOLA, FL: Sounds good.
3) Arrival at Post Office, FORT WALTON BEACH, FL: Yay, almost here!
4) Out for Delivery, FORT WALTON BEACH, FL: One more day!
5) Processed through Sort Facility, PENSACOLA, FL: Eh? What?
6) Processed through Sort Facility, HOUSTON, TX: No! Stop it!

It has gone in a circle! It came all the way from Texas to being practically on my doorstep, and then turned around and went back! And no one knows why. I called and asked, there's no record of them being unable to find my address, or the package being damaged or anything. When I explained the path it has taken, the universal reaction was "Huh?"

They promised to look into it, and now I have no idea when I'm actually going to get the thing. And needless to say my mood has gone: -->--> in the process.

That's it, I'm inventing a teleporter. The few Brundleflies I'm sure to create are a small price to pay for not having to deal with this frustration.

[Pyrian]

It happens.

[Raiki]

Yes! Finally! I have been waiting So. Long. for someone to invent a teleporter. I had a sneaking suspicion that USPSRage would have something to do with it too. Damn, I should have joined that pool at work.

Well anyway, I hope you get your book, and if you're looking for a buyer once you perfect that teleporter, look me up. Try not to include Jeff Goldblum in the packaging though, I would be quite upset.

~R~

[raitalin]

The main redeeming quality of USPS is that they are cheap. All other negative qualities stem from this fact.

If you want quality, I used to work for a certain big Brown company that always appreciates new business, just expect to pay $8 minimum to ship anything

[Maximum Zersk]

Reminds me of when my friend ordered Guitar Hero 5 off of Amazon. For two weeks, it stayed as unknown. He started making jokes wondering about what they did with it, thinking that they opened it up and started playing it.

But yeah, weird stuff happens when your dealing with postal businesses and such.

[Froogleyboy]

My mom is a postal worker, so I can vouch for the post office. They aren't doing it intentinally, something must have happened. You'll get your book, don't worry

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Yes, I wouldn't be so quick to write it off as post office error. If for some reason, the company shipping the book made an error in the address, or whatnot, it would probably end up being a return to sender situation.

[golentan]

I'd bet it was an error in the shipping information. Probably an incorrect zip code, or something similar. They haven't failed you, they'll get it to you eventually. They probably don't know what's weird because the people you talked to are operating on the same incomplete information you are, in the absence of the actual shipping label. The post office does make the occasional goof, but they're one of the most efficient organizations I know of.

The other one is actually the DMV. Don't laugh, I'm serious. People complain about the long lines, but they also complain about inefficiency in the government, and the DMV is pretty much the perfect solution to the latter. The long lines are there because the efficiency is about 0.96 (on a scale of 0-1) measured by

Rate of New Arrivals/Rate of Customers Served

As that ratio approaches one, lines approach infinity because any slight uneven spacing in new arrivals causes a line to form. For comparison, human beings tend to have a nervous breakdown if they maintain a queuing theory efficiency over about 0.93-0.94 for sustained periods, so I'm mighty impressed by the DMV.

Remember folks, if you want shorter lines demand more inefficiency in government. And cut the post office some slack, think how many letters you got last year no problem.

[Starscream]

I don't think it was the website. They sent a confirmation email, and the address is correct there. They even added the extra four digits after my zipcode, so it isn't simply copy-pasted from what I entered.

[Nomrom]

I spent two years living in the Dominican Republic, and my parents in Texas tried to send me a package for Christmas one year through the postal service. Despite the fact the box was addressed to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, it was instead sent to a little island in the West Indies called Dominica, where it sat for six months, before it was sent back to my parents. Needless to say, i got nothing for Christmas that year.

[pendell]

While sympathizing completely with Starscream, I'm still going to have
to give props to the post office for this thing: For more than 20 years they have been carrying my critical documents -- power bills, paychecks, tax returns -- and as far as I can tell they've never lost one of them. Not once in 20 years.

I mean, yeah, they screw up from time to time. They DID screw up in this case, and I would be just as angry as Starscream if it happened to me. But if I'm going to yell at them for doing wrong, I also have to give them credit for when they've done me right. And they have done me right -- astonishingly right -- for more than 20 years.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[KuReshtin]

Just had one of those weirdly incorrect cases for work.
A customer in Norway called in and wondered what had happened to the part we had ordered for him.
I checked the tracking info and found the following on the UPS website (start reading the table from the bottom):

Spoiler

Show

{table]Location|Date|Local Time|Description
DHARAN, SA |24/03/2010 |12:11 |TRANSFER NOTIFICATION FROM SITE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY
CHALON SUR SAONE, FR |22/03/2010 |14:23 |TRANSFER NOTIFICATION FROM SITE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY
DHARAN, SA |18/03/2010 |10:00 |UPS WILL CONTACT THE SENDER AND/OR RECEIVER REGARDING THE STATUS OR DISPOSITION OF THIS PACKAGE
|18/03/2010 |6:14 |IMPORT SCAN
RIYADH, SA |17/03/2010 |15:59 |PROCESSED AT UPS FACILITY / FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY
DHARAN, SA |17/03/2010 |6:10 |ARRIVAL SCAN
| 17/03/2010| 2:54| RELEASED BY CLEARING AGENCY. NOW IN-TRANSIT FOR DELIVERY
BAHRAIN, BH | 16/03/2010| 20:10 |DEPARTURE SCAN
DUBAI, AE| 16/03/2010| 13:21| ARRIVAL SCAN
| 16/03/2010| 13:20| ARRIVAL SCAN
KOELN (COLOGNE), DE| 16/03/2010| 4:10| DEPARTURE SCAN
|16/03/2010 |0:59 |ARRIVAL SCAN
EINDHOVEN, BEST, NL| 15/03/2010| 22:45| DEPARTURE SCAN
|15/03/2010| 22:18| ORIGIN SCAN
NL|15/03/2010 |13:19 | BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
[/table]

[Yora]

WTF?!

[Telonius]

I recently ordered a certain book about a certain party of stick figures from a certain website. As far as I can tell the website did its job just fine, but the post office seems to have gotten very confused as to what delivering something actually entails.

The package was being shipped to me from Houston Texas to Fort Walton Beach Florida, and I tracked its progress online. Here is the path it has taken.

1) Processed through Sort Facility, HOUSTON, TX: Okay.
2) Processed through Sort Facility, PENSACOLA, FL: Sounds good.
3) Arrival at Post Office, FORT WALTON BEACH, FL: Yay, almost here!
4) Out for Delivery, FORT WALTON BEACH, FL: One more day!
5) Processed through Sort Facility, PENSACOLA, FL: Eh? What?
6) Processed through Sort Facility, HOUSTON, TX: No! Stop it!

It has gone in a circle! It came all the way from Texas to being practically on my doorstep, and then turned around and went back! And no one knows why. I called and asked, there's no record of them being unable to find my address, or the package being damaged or anything. When I explained the path it has taken, the universal reaction was "Huh?"

They promised to look into it, and now I have no idea when I'm actually going to get the thing. And needless to say my mood has gone: -->--> in the process.

That's it, I'm inventing a teleporter. The few Brundleflies I'm sure to create are a small price to pay for not having to deal with this frustration.

Obviously it was in with a shipment of boomerangs.

[Katana_Geldar]

Not all boomerangs come back, you know.

[KuReshtin]

Not all boomerangs come back, you know.

What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?

A stick!

[deuxhero]

Obviously it was in with a shipment of boomerangs.

OK, I admit it, I loled.