MS wrote:

Back when I was selling brake brackets, I had a Priority Mail package being shipped from a Tx address to a Tx address that went via Hawaii

I've had similar experiences with USPS.  Recently a small priority mail box I sent to an address in Austin, TX went to Fargo ND, then disappeared for 2 weeks (the only status available said "in transit to the next facility") before it was finally delivered.  Other stuff I've sent with them has been lost, damaged or delivered to the wrong address.  Usually they're OK but not always.  UPS has been good for me, although they also do handoffs to USPS.

Last edited by John Ha (5/24/2025 5:51 AM)

TKOPerformance wrote:

I mailed 5 bills to Delmarva Power, which is a Delaware based company from the post office in Newark.  They were going to Wilmington, which is all of 9 miles away.  4 out of 5 arrived in 3 days (still absurd, but most everything now goes to Philly before coming back to DE).  The 5th one took 2 weeks to get to Delmarva.  They tried to charge me a late fee.  I called in and they said "we can't control the mail", to which I responded "fair enough, but neither can I, so unless you can prove that the bill which took 2 weeks to arrive was postmarked later than the other 4 I'm not paying the late fee, because one would expect that when bills are mailed 10 days in advance of the due date, and only must travel 9 miles, that they would reasonably arrive early".  Grumble, grumble, "use online bill pay", grumble, grumble, "I'll credit your account for the late fee". 

I really try to only get stuff sent UPS now.  FedEx has played too many games in the past with deliveries.  UPS shows up when they say they are going to. 

My local utility only supports credit card transactions using their online payment.  They charge a fee for a credit card payment.  My BankOfAmerica checking account has online bill pay without fees.  This is like sending a check.  Also, they support scheduling the payment.  I use the BOA bill pay feature to schedule my utility payments without fees or risk of loss in the mail.  Probably your bank also offers online bill pay.  I've been paying this way for years now.  Works great.
 

I've had a ton of issues with Fed Ex.  I try to avoid them and pay the extra for UPS.  A few years back I had sent a T5Z to Glenn in TX to take a look at for me.   It was lost at a distribution center in TX.  It never made it.  I did insure it for $2000 and after a few months of screwing around with customer service they sent me a check for $2000.   I end up using a junk yard 2000 V6 T5.  It had 60K on it.  I thought if that ever goes then look into a new one. 

I have a FedEx account and use them on a regular basis and haven't had any issues with them.