In an effort to stop effectively pouring money straight into the gas tank, the United States Postal Service has taken the first step toward retiring its fleet of decades old, gas-guzzling trucks. The agency spent more than $539.7 million on fuel in its last fiscal year, partly because some of the trucks are just so darn old. [More]
packages
Package With $4,000 Worth Of Electronics No Match For USPS Carrier’s Chucking Abilities
By 1.23.15
The other day we asked readers if they’d pay money to choose which carrier delivers their Amazon packages, and found that about 63% of you would be willing to pay some amount for that right. And it’s no wonder people want a choice, when the United States Postal Service has carriers chucking packages filled with delicate, expensive electronics inside onto porches like it’s a box filled with feathers. [More]
Couple Tired Of Holiday Package Thefts Fills Box With Excrement, Sets Up Camera
By 12.11.14
A warning to those among you who might be tempted to swipe a package from the piles covering doorsteps right now, at the height of the holiday shopping season: You might not open it to find anything you’ll like, and that includes a box filled with poop. [More]
UPS Launching Service Where You Can Pickup Packages At The Dry Cleaners
By 10.8.14
One day in the not-so-distant future, you may come home expecting a package on the doorstep only to find that you have to make a special trip to the dry cleaners to actually retrieve your goods. That’s the idea behind the United Parcel Service’s latest attempt to cut down on delivery stops and apparently protect your packages from those with sticky fingers. [More]
Kmart Assumes I’m Home All Day, Waiting For My Mason Jars
By 1.29.13
Companies that ship things just can’t win. If a package gets stolen from a customer’s porch: somehow that’s their fault. Kmart has apparently taken precautions against that, blocking UPS from letting UPS drivers bring packages to a depot or leave it with no signature. Bringing it to a Kmart store: not an option. She doesn’t want to stay home all day and wait for a box of jars, her neighbors aren’t home during the day, and the situation has become ridiculous. [More]
My Toys ‘R’ Us Package Is Simultaneously Shipped And Out Of Stock
By 12.26.12
Angela ordered a toy from Toys ‘R’ Us last week. She understood the risk inherent in ordering just a few days before Christmas, but didn’t expect the non-shipping wackiness that would ensue. The company issued out a shipping label and had a UPS number ready to go, but the item never left the warehouse. They claimed that the item was “shipped,” but UPS never got it. That label was out in the ether, but it turned out that the item was out of stock. It was shipped, but not shipped. [More]
OnTrac Marks My Packages 'Delivered' Today, Delivers Them Tomorrow
By 8.27.12
Last week, we shared a story from a reader who got a very early wakeup call from OnTrac, on his porch with an Amazon package a few days earlier than anticipated. Ryan, meanwhile, has sort of the opposite problem. No, OnTrac isn’t pounding on his door after he went to bed. His packaged showed up in the system as “delivered” even though there was no sign of it. He actually received it the following day. Is OnTrac messing around with flux capacitors, redefining “delivered,” or is something else going on here? [More]
NewEgg Sends Package To Wrong Address, Shrugs
By 4.23.12
When Jessica placed her NewEgg order, she provided them with a shipping address. This turned out to be a waste of her time, since NewEgg just went ahead and picked an address to send the package to out of her PayPal account. Not the one associated with her credit card, or her primary address on the account. Certainly not the address where she actually lives. Their customer service representative’s solution? Wish really, really hard that the person who ultimately received the package would return it so she can get a refund. She hung up and called back until she got someone competent. [More]
UPS And My Dog Turn Cupcake Boxes Into Expensive Chew Toy
By 3.29.12 — Updated: 5.30.17
Crystal’s delivery from a third-party Amazon vendor was already more than a week late, and she lives in Hawaii. When UPS finally showed up with the box, the driver simply pitched it over the five-foot fence and into her yard. The good news is that there was nothing breakable in the box, so the act of hurling the package didn’t damage her purchase. The bad news is that her dog was chilling in the yard at the time, and thought that the box of boxes was for him. To chew. [More]
My USPS Package Took A California Vacation, Didn't Invite Me Along
By 9.22.11
Using the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail, Justin mailed a gift from his home in New York City to a friend in Georgia. Package tracking meant that he was able to follow the gift’s journey and make sure it arrived safely. He was baffled, though, when the tracking information stated that it first traveled out to California for no reason, then made its way back to Georgia, eleven days later than anticipated. Where it was then delivered to the wrong person. In a different town. No one knows where the package actually ended up. [More]
UPS Appears To Have Stomped On This Package, Then Left It In The Rain
By 6.24.11
You can’t blame Ju for being disappointed in the condition of the package that UPS left for him. They didn’t just abandon it on his doorstep on a rainy day. They also appear to have drop-kicked it and had a few elephants stomp on it for good measure.
[More]
Why I Will Never Ship With UPS Again
By 6.3.11
Reader Tyler shares the list of reasons he will never use UPS again on purpose. A shot-putted package, $1,000 of computer parts left outside the wrong house with no signature, customer service shenanigans and finally, a smooshed box. That’s it! He’s had it! Brown is no longer welcome in Tyler Town. [More]
This UPS Center's Package Pickup Could Not Be Much Less Pleasant Or Efficient
By 1.7.11
Chantell thought that it would be simpler and more efficient to pick up a UPS package declared “undeliverable” at the shipper’s local facility near her home–a large city somewhere in the southern half of the country. Her experience at the local distribution center could be described as many things, but “simple” and “efficient” are not even close. [More]
My Online Order Didn't Get To Me, But GameStop, UPS Say It Was Delivered
By 12.31.10
Bruce ordered an Xbox 360 bundle from GameStop, but says the package never arrived. UPS says it left the package at his door and told Bruce to complain to GameStop, which isn’t responding. [More]
Amazon Prime Customers Don't Like Ensenda, Either
By 11.18.10
We’ve previously shared letters from readers who aren’t thrilled with OnTrac, a regional shipping company that Amazon uses for some shipments for Amazon Prime, their all-you-can-buy unlimited free delivery option. Now we’re hearing rumblings of problems with another smaller delivery company, Ensenda. [More]
USPS Thinks Everyone Lives With Dan
By 5.3.10
Dan can’t get his postal carrier to understand the concept of people moving away–if you’ve ever lived in Dan’s apartment, you’ve always lived in his apartment. [More]
UPS Sent My Package Back To Sender Without Telling Me
By 4.15.10
Samuel says UPS gave him no notice before returning a package meant for him back to the sender. Through the tracking number he discovered he missed the requisite three failed attempts at delivery, but says he was never notified. [More]
UPS Tells Me My Package Took 'The Scenic Route'
By 12.29.09
CMT ordered a Newegg package that took what a UPS CSR told him was a “scenic route” from California to Tennessee, seemingly circling his city before eventually meandering in. He writes: [More]
