Quartzsite - receiving packages.

[2oldman]

If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes I would not have believed it.

I've been receiving many UPS package deliveries via Quiet Times store in Quartzsite. Everything was going fine until one of the packages ended up in the US postal system (which I have no control of). The USPS website said my package was delivered but, I saw a big orange message "Package returned to sender because of insufficient address." WHATTT???

Thinking, no, that's just crazy, I stopped in at the post office to check. Sure enough, the lady said "We send them back the same day." Her tone of voice indicated this happens all the time. So...what was the problem? A missing box number. Quiet Times also has a Box number in addition to the street address, which I now find out you must use for this very problem. And if you put "PO box" on it, UPS won't carry it, and apparently if you leave off the box number, the post office will return it.. (to Vermont). which is exactly what happened.

Just a couple thoughts:

a) If the address is insufficient, why doesn't the USPS know that when the package first enters the system?
b) What is it going to cost them to "teach me a lesson"?
c) Quiet Times has been here for years. The PO employees don't know their box number by now? This is not a big city.
d) Rules are rules, but are the counter employees not allowed to use any common sense whatsover?

I would have responded politely if she had just said "Here's your package, but please remember to use the box number next time, ok?"

It's no surprise the USPS is hemorrhaging money. I hope they go out of business.

[amandasgramma]

Soren....I agree with your last comments. The PO also says they only forward for a certain amount of time. So can they explain why I STILL get mail in my former name....not only did I remarry over ten years ago, but we went full time one year ago.....

So both claims have been proven wrong. LOL

[soren]

2oldman wrote:

soren wrote:
we have a physical address that USPS does not deliver to, and a PO BOX that UPS will not deliver to.

But UPS will deliver to your house?

My case was not a last-mile, it went USPS the whole way.

Yep, we are in a pretty common situation in this area. We live in a resort community on private roads, so no curbside mailboxes. The community decided to not give into USPS demands to drop $100K+ to build and maintain a mail box kiosk with potentially 2000+ boxes for the residents, on a public road, so we get free PO boxes in the actual post office. Now with the UPS last mile game we have a real entertaining system going. Big stuff ends up on the front porch, smaller stuff gets dumped at the post office. Fed-ex ground still comes straight to the house.

The issue of being denied a PO box without a deed, or other documents, has nothing to do with an individual post office, or the competence of an employee. It's more Patriot Act BS. We opened our box while our kids were off in universities, and starting new lives. We went through all the documentation to prove that we were legitimate. One kid was 400 miles away, and couldn't personally appear with ID. The office told us that they are technically required to return all mail with our box number on it, that is addressed to any family member who is not registered as an approved user of the box. In reality, when they are trying to stuff 10K pieces in boxes, before 10 AM every morning, anything with your box # on it, ends up in the box. Just more of the post 9-11 game we play, kind of like strip searching 90 year old grandmas at airports, while refusing to properly profile likely threats.

[dons2346]

I get my stuff in Blythe, forget Q

[Naio]

Yeah, photoshop is your friend :).

I'd also try, 'Is there somebody else I could talk to about this?'

[More_To_See]

almcc wrote:
I've had lots of problems with the USPS when trying to receive stuff I ordered. I tried to set up a post office box in Borrego Springs and they require a copy of your house deed!

I strongly suspect the average post office employee is totally unqualified to inspect a document and determined whether it's a good legal deed or not. (And I suppose a whole bunch of the rest of us too.)

[almcc]

I've had lots of problems with the USPS when trying to receive stuff I ordered. I tried to set up a post office box in Borrego Springs and they require a copy of your house deed! Who carries a deed in their RV? With Amazon and others using couriers that deliver the package to a postal location then have USPS deliver it (and you can't seem to demand courier delivery to the final location) it's a real pain.

[2oldman]

soren wrote:
we have a physical address that USPS does not deliver to, and a PO BOX that UPS will not deliver to.

But UPS will deliver to your house?

My case was not a last-mile, it went USPS the whole way.

[soren]

Yep, all part of the UPS last mile scheme, where they take most of their small, standard rate stuff and drop it off at the local post office, instead of delivering it.
In our case it can really get odd, since we have a physical address that USPS does not deliver to, and a PO BOX that UPS will not deliver to. The issue is that many shippers will not allow you to even enter a PO BOX, in addition to a street address, since they claim that they do not ship to PO BOXES, even though the shipment is in fact being delivered to a PO BOX.

Fortunately for us, unlike the OP's experience, our local post office is great, and will do whatever it takes to get you a package, as long as they can figure out who it's belongs to. They also explained that the best way around that issue, if a shipper refuses to put a box # on the shipping label, is to use the full zip + 4 since it includes the box number. Our PO BOX # is 678, so our zip + 4 is 12345-0678. That way you included the po box number in the address and the shipper isn't flagging the address for being a box #.

[WyoTraveler]

Everybody thought the postoffice was bad being run by the government. Now it is worse run privately.

[amandasgramma]

Old Biscuit....we had the same issues in our former home. UPS and Fedx now have contracts with USPS that if they can't deliver to your home, they'll take to PO. Seriously, one day I followed the FedX guy out of my neighborhood to the post office. The next day the tracker said my box was delivered to the PO. I KNOW he passed my house and went 5 miles out of his way to the PO. GRRRRRRR

[amandasgramma]

2oldman wrote:

amandasgramma wrote:
Good luck on your package.....maybe a letter to the post master General....this bit with sending UPS or FEDX packages to the post office is unacceptable in my book

I don't know where the package will end up.. maybe Amazon will let me know! And I suppose I would have to send a 'letter' to the PG.. you think he gets email?? 🙂

In this day and age it's just beyond my comprehension how this happens. And the counter lady seemed quite proud of her ability to follow the rules.

it will go back to the sender...not Amazon. Your history in Amazon will give you that info. As for the PG...doubt he/she has email....they want to hide from us!

[Old-Biscuit]

It's UPS fault for handing package off to USPS

IF you had shipped it USPs Priority you would have had it yesterday

[2oldman]

amandasgramma wrote:
Good luck on your package.....maybe a letter to the post master General....this bit with sending UPS or FEDX packages to the post office is unacceptable in my book

I don't know where the package will end up.. maybe Amazon will let me know! And I suppose I would have to send a 'letter' to the PG.. you think he gets email?? 🙂

In this day and age it's just beyond my comprehension how this happens. And the counter lady seemed quite proud of her ability to follow the rules.

[amandasgramma]

I AGREE!!!!!!! Last year we decided to have a package of our mail (one package) sent to us in Parker. We had had so many problems with Q's post office in the past. The package was sent on Dec. 15. Unfortunately, our friend didn't keep the tracking slip. We checked in Parker 2 x a week and for over a month we didn't get it. Finally said to send the NEXT package to Q, General Delivery. Well it was to be there on Thursday, we went in Monday and it wasn't there. Went in Tuesday and it wasn't there. I slammed my fist on the counter and asked "What the H*** is going on" and explained about the Parker pkg. She got a look on her face, went to the back room in a DIFFERENT area and there was my package. The package was addressed General Delivery in PARKER but had been sitting for over a month in QUARTZSITE!!!!!! We are now with BCM Mail and Shipping in Q.....same post office but maybe better service.

Good luck on your package.....maybe a letter to the post master General....this bit with sending UPS or FEDX packages to the post office is unacceptable in my book