The following letter was submitted by a PostalReporter.com reader
CUSTOMERS ARE NOT GETTING WHAT THEY PAID FOR WHEN THEY SHIP THROUGH USPS TO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Recently, I learned that USPS customers as well as other delivery companies are receiving payment for shipping products to colleges and universities with the promise of 2-3 day delivery or overnight delivery, when in fact these products are not reaching the addressee on the agreed upon date of delivery.
I shipped two boxes of personal items that my daughter needed from Ohio to the University of Oklahoma last week, and I paid $29 to have them shipped priority 2-day delivery, only to find that yes, the USPS had delivered the boxes in two-days, but to a university center that accepts all mail from the USPS, sorts it by delivery area (dorm or campus apartments), without USPS intervention! Needless to say, the university center was understaffed and the packages did not arrive until five-days after they were mailed! The boxes were insured for $50 each in case of theft or loss, but this didn’t help me in getting my money refunded my $29 since the products were not received in a timely manner that I was assured of by the USPS.
Neither myself, nor my daughter ever received notification that the package was delivered to a mail center and that from there it would be delivered to another mail station located inside her housing complex. Nor was I notified by the USPS that if the packages were not delivered in time, I would have a right to some type of refund.
The USPS has been trying to cut labor costs for years now, by forcing people to use cluster boxes, and resorting to the mail being delivered to the addressee through means such as this, with no regard for the customer. Who is responsible when this mail doesn’t arrive in time, as per payment? Not the USPS, why they delivered it to the university or college on time, so it must be the universities or colleges problem right? But the college or university didn’t take the money from the customer and promise that the package would be delivered by a certain date, so how can they be blamed? They will state they are merely performing a service for the students, but the fact is: everyone has a right to have their mail delivered to their personal address without delay.
The USPS has even fired employees for delaying the mail. So who is responsible for mail being delayed throughout the country at every higher level educational institute? Who developed this plan? And who should be responsible for refunding monies paid for a service not rendered? I am sure the University of Oklahoma is not the only educational institute with this problem, and I am sure that this is happening all over the country to customers mailing products to college students, but that doesn’t make it right! This problem needs addressed and fixed immediately!
note: The USPS policy is covered in the Postal Operations Manual (POM) but reader would like feedback on the issue.
This person is completely clueless. She addressed her package to a college address — and she acknowledges the post office got it to the college mail room on the promised 2-day schedule. But when the campus post office took a while processing the order, suddenly it was the fault of USPS? Come on, that’s ridiculous. Does she also think that if she had a package delivered to her name in the care of a friend that the post office should be at fault for late delivery if the friend fails to bring her package over for another 3 days? She got exactly what she paid for and is entitled to absolutely nothing else. Next time she should use her brain and figure out that the package has to get to the college and then to the dorm in two separate steps if it’s an urgent delivery…
“the fact is: everyone has a right to have their mail delivered to their personal address without delay.”
Ehhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Where is this “fact” from? Oh, I see. Your backside? In other words an opinion.
Yale university student mail is processed by usps workers. The mail is often delayed but scanned delivered during high volume periods
1) the only guaranteed service is express mail
2) must be a freshman. this is how mail is delivered to almost every university, college and nursing home in the country.
3) the child could always rent a po box
Never betray the high-income, highly educated; parents could afford 2 send their children, away 2 colleges. It’s yet another indication of ignorant and incompetent upper USPS management. What else is new?
This customer is way off the mark. Private mail receiving agencies are responsible for the final leg of the delivery. To hold the postal service accountable for the universities malfeasance is wrong. The delivery was made in the promised time frame. I am sure mail deliveries were covered with each student.