The floor of the Worst Company In America BattleDome is stained with the blood of the vanquished. But only one company can earn the privilege of placing the WCIA Golden Poo in its trophy case, so the violence must continue. [More]
Worst Company In America Round One: UPS Vs. USPS
By March 16, 2012
We hope these two parcel-punting pugilists know how to deliver the punches, because they both seem to have a problem delivering your packages. [More]
Here It Is, Your Lineup For Worst Company In America 2012!
By March 12, 2012
Welcome to Consumerist’s 7th Annual Worst Company In America tournament, where the businesses you nominated face off for a title that none of them will publicly admit to wanting — but which all of them try their hardest to earn. So it’s time to fill in the brackets and start another office pool. That is, unless you work at one of the 32 companies competing in the tournament. [More]
Package Vanishes Into Thin Air Inside The Post Office
By March 2, 2012
Anthony’s faith in the U.S. Postal service was clearly misplaced. He dropped off a package with a prepaid label at a local post office, with the misguided belief that it would enter the shipping system, and that the delivery confirmation barcode on the label would show the package’s path through the mails. That’s not what happened. What happened was that the prepaid label, with no package attached, was returned to Anthony’s house. Where’s the package? No one knows. But it’s not the post office’s problem, since there’s no proof that he even mailed it in the first place. [More]
35,000 Pink Slips Are In The Mail For USPS Employees
By February 24, 2012
As we wrote back in September, the U.S. Postal Service was looking at closing more than half of its mail processing centers around the nation, which was predicted would translate into around 35,000 lost jobs. Last night, the USPS finally announced that while some of those centers have survived the executioner’s blade, the number of layoffs will remain about the same. [More]
Post Office's Plan To Save Itself Involves Cutting Jobs, Ending Saturday Delivery & Raising Stamp Prices
By February 17, 2012
The U.S. Postal Service is in danger of losing billions of dollars in the next few years, so in an attempt to check that money leakage, they’ve proposed some drastic measures, including cutting more than 150,000 jobs. [More]
Wells Fargo Thinks USPS Is Fastest Way To Tell Me About Bounced Check
By January 24, 2012
When you think of the fastest, most-efficient way for a business to contact a customer about a problem, you obviously think of an antiquated, bloated, nearly insolvent government-operated organization that is synonymous with sloth. Oh wait — you don’t? Well, Wells Fargo apparently does. [More]
Postal Employee Caught With 10 Years Of Stolen Bulk Mail Wants To Keep Job
By January 24, 2012
For 10 years, a Postal Service employee in Texas has been stockpiling massive amounts of bulk mail in her office and home. And even though she’s now under investigation by postal inspectors, the USPS worker says she wants to keep her job. [More]
Postal Service Shows It Can Toss Fragile Packages Over The Fence Just As Well As FedEx
By January 19, 2012
The U.S. Postal Service is always trying to convince people that it’s just as good as FedEx or UPS. But for all the aspects of those businesses the Postal Service should emulate, there’s one it shouldn’t: Tossing expensive packages over customers’ fences. [More]
Postal Carrier Told He Can No Longer Wear Santa Suit On The Job
By December 21, 2011
For more than a decade, a postal carrier in Bellevue, WA, has spread Christmas cheer along his mail route by donning a Santa Claus costume over his uniform for a few days leading up to Dec. 25. But after someone complained to the USPS about his Kris Kringle getup, the Santa costume will have to remain in his closet this year. [More]
USPS Delivers Christmas Gift 371 Days Late
By December 21, 2011
A woman in Florida recently received a Christmas gift from her daughter in Arkansas, but she isn’t waiting until Dec. 25 to open it. Why? Because the Postal Service was supposed to have delivered in time for last Christmas. [More]
Couple Takes Advantage Of UPS Laziness, Steals Over 100 Packages From Doorsteps
By December 21, 2011
We’ve certainly written enough pieces over the years about how some UPS, FedEx and USPS carriers would rather fling your package somewhere in the vicinity of your house rather than knock and wait to see if you’re home. Now the police in Somerville, MA, say a couple took advantage of drivers’ willingness to leave packages out in the open by swooping in to steal the deliveries right off folks’ doorsteps. [More]
Postal Service Will Delay Mass Closures
By December 14, 2011
The outlook is grim for the U.S. Postal Service, with plans to close thousands of post offices and cutting processing centers, but the inevitable is being postponed for now. [More]
U.S. Postal Service's Big Budget Cuts Will Slow First-Class Delivery
By December 5, 2011
That nice feeling you get when a card you mailed your friend arrives the very next day? It’s going to be a thing of the past, as huge cuts by the U.S. Postal Service will ensure that no stamped letters will arrive so fast, as well as a general slowdown in first-class mail delivery. [More]
Postal Service Offers Amnesty For Return Of That Mail Bin You're Using For Anything But Mail
By November 16, 2011
You know those hard, white plastic bins that the mail carrier occasionally leaves at your office (and which people then take to use for their own purposes)? You’re supposed to be giving those back to your carrier the next day. So after decades of hemorrhaging money over un-returned bins, the USPS is offering amnesty through Nov. 26. [More]
You'll Soon Have To Pay More For Those Stamps You Don't Use
By October 18, 2011
Because none of you are using the U.S. Postal Service — unless you are deliberately mailing a check you hope gets lost or delayed — that means it’s time for the struggling USPS to raise rates on first-class stamps… by one penny. [More]
The Styrofoam Cube In This Letter Serves A Bureaucratic Purpose
By October 18, 2011
When Chris opened a letter from the Indiana Election Division, he was curious why in the world there would be a small Styrofoam cube inside the envelope. Luckily for everyone involved, there was an explanation. [More]
US Postal Service Adds To Your Mom's College Care Package
By October 13, 2011
Robert received a Priority Mail package at college from his mother. The box contained a variety of canned foods: Vienna sausages, sardines, beans, liverwurst, spam, and corn. Which is awfully nice of Robert’s mother, except that the box she sent him only contained fifteen cans of Goya brand beans. Where did all of this other stuff come from? [More]
