Originally posted by: nvmyz71
Originally posted by: vtqanh
Originally posted by: nvmyz71
I think FedEx Ground is still hotter. You're insured up to $100 and you get a tracking number.
if you ship stuff coast to coast then 7.70 Priority is cheaper and faster
That may be true, but speaking from personal experience, there's nothing worse than shipping something and finding out that it got lost and now they don't know where it's at or can't help you because it wasn't insured and it didn't have a tracking number.
Hence, the point I was trying to make when I made my original statement.
I'll never send anything other than a letter through USPS.
Dispite peoples horror stories, I have yet to ever lose or recieve something damaged from USPS. Nor do I know of anybody personally who has, or any of the people I barter with online or in fleabay. I should also add I am in Alaska, so all problems with USPS should be amplified up here. Well, USPS's tracking system is screwy, but their system works.
I regularly get damaged packages from FedEx and UPS both. I can assure you (at least with UPS being my father is their contractor here) that the packages arrive damaged. His delivery driver has never once damaged a package. The FedEx agent is simalar, only it is a friends friend who has the contract. All their damaged products arrive here for delivery damaged.
Which leads me to one conclusion. FedEx and UPS packages need to be insured because they man handle their packages so friggin much. The saddest things I regularly see is people buy a new HP or Dell... just to get disappointed from the damage it recieved during shipping. I have yet to see or hear first hand of a USPS damged product. Hell, they treat their packages so good I dont even opt for insurance coverage wether it is a $50 to $1000 product value because they handle things so good.
Now where I do see fraud with USPS as the carrier is not on USPS's part, but the person recieving the package. If DC/SC or any of the other 'tracking' methods that USPS uses is not paid for by the shipper because the reciever neglected to pay it. The reciever can call the shipper and says they never got the package even though they did... how will the shipper prove otherwise? Pretty hard.
If it was recieved damaged... who's fault was it? In therory it can easily be USPS... but you'll have a very hard time convincing me of that. So far I have no personal experience, but it is my educated guess that the lack of proper internal packaging from the shipper is how goods get damaged... and the shipper did not take the time to insure it (insurance is another one of their flawed 'tracking' systems)
Point being, people should learn USPS before they put it down. And if it is being put down for the reasons I said above, you better look at your own techniques or find out why FedEx and UPS claims vastly surpass that of USPS.
Not saying USPS does have it's short comings though. No overnight shipping (or 2 day), high insurance rates (if done properly, insurance is not really needed anyway.) If you miss pick-up the first go around... well look forward to the ever dreaded postal wait line. No accounts, ie no having them pick up packages all month long and have them send you a bill, you pay as you ship.
So it just depends, do you like the fact that FedEx includes insurance in their shipping? It does sound lucrative, but it is their for their own protection. They added cost to their shipping because of their crude handling of packages. Only a small percentage of people will file claims, so their built in insurance makes them money that you pay for. Nope, if they handled their packages correctly, insurance would be a add on.
Enough of my rambling though. This USPS flat rate packaging is a very hot deal for me It'll save me hundreds of dollars a year (thousands if I use FedEx/UPS )