U.S. Postal Service Express Mail carries a guarantee: your package will arrive by noon the next day after it’s accepted at the post office, depending on what time you hand it over to a clerk in person. Okay. The problem, as Consumerist readers have learned, comes in when your package arrives late and you actually try to cash in this guarantee. [More]
Express Mail
U.S. Postal Service Promises Express Mail Money-Back Guarantee, Won’t Give It To Me
By 2.22.13
The U.S. Postal service guarantees delivery on Express Mail packages, but what does that guarantee really mean? Danny sent an Express Mail package that he claims was well within the rules: he ordered the postage through PayPal, but handed it to a clerk at the post office before the deadline. The problem is that since he bought the postage online, his local post office is resisting giving the refund. [More]
The Sad Truth Is That You Can’t Return Postal Kiosk Stamps
By 2.6.13
You can’t take back stamps. This seems like it would be an obvious thing, but it actually isn’t. Dave was sending an Express Mail package across the country, and used a flat-rate envelope. He bought a regular Express Mail stamp at a post office kiosk, the Automated Postal Center. This combination meant that the envelope, which had needed to be in Seattle the next day, ended up returned to him like he hadn’t put postage on it at all. [More]
Postal Employees Ordered To Stop Offering First-Class Mail
By 9.21.08
Postal employees have been ordered to upsell pricey express or priority mail services to anyone sending anything more than a letter, according to an anonymous tipster. The directive comes straight from Washington to help combat the Post Office’s $1.1 billion operating deficit. To avoid the upsell, specifically ask if there is a cheaper way to ship your package. The anonymous tipster’s letter, inside…
USPS Says Guaranteed Overnight Isn't Guaranteed. What?
By 6.15.08
Dorothy found out that the USPS’s guaranteed overnight delivery doesn’t apply if you use their Express Mail boxes, because “Letters get stuck up in the top of the box all the time. Sometimes, it takes days or even a week before we find them.” Hey post office, maybe you should try to check the top of the box every day. Problem solved!
