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it's not that hard...


Nerosmyfavorite68

Will the intrepid folks at the post office be able to deliver a simple, small package, which is signed for?  

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  1. 1. Will the intrepid folks at the post office be able to deliver a simple, small package, which is signed for?

    • Yes
      5
    • Nah, it's too hard.
      5


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Yay, postal joys!

I should have had my Zuquieh package last Thursday, but naturally they had to have a signature card. Ok, shouldn't be a problem.  I signed for it to have them deliver it Saturday.   I heard nothing Saturday and go back out to the mailbox and the slip's still in there, saying too big for mailbox.  Any normal human being would have left it at the door. I'm at home! I guess I should be grateful that they didn't mash the too large package in the mailbox. But if I don't get it, what's the use?

I redid the slip a little, and put a polite, detailed note, which would take a lot of effort on their part...not.  Lift lid up.  Put parcel in. I came home tonight, knowing that it would be too hard for them to deliver it, and sure enough, the slip is still in there.  I slammed the note back in there, put the arm up, and left a more snide note, although halfway polite. If it doesn't show up on Friday, I'm contacting the Postmaster General.

I have a special place for packages and it's in no way out of their way. They might have to go, oh, one step to the right.

I'm never ordering from Zurquieh again, through no fault of their own.  The parcel was sent incredibly quickly (and Dubai post sent it faster than most domestic packages) and the coins themselves were relative bargains.  The signature card is now too hard for the post office to handle, evidently. (I didn't ask for a signature, by the way). 

I absolutely refuse to go tot he post office and pick it up.  I shouldn't have to.  If they don't deliver it, that puppy's going back to Dubai. Perhaps we can then figure out a way to mail it that won't require a signature.

My past few postmen were very good; really dedicated people.  Things began to slip in 2022 when the last of those left.

The problem, I think, is that they're dumping 10,000 routes onto the postmen.  The previous (good) postman probably saw the writing on the wall and went to a better role or retired.  The package probably arrived when the worst of the lot was delivering and they probably put it somewhere out of place at the post office.

I don't know if it would help the quality of delivery and make it easier on them,but here's an idea; deliver 4 times a week.  As long as Saturday's one of the days, that's fine with me. Heck, I'd be happy with three days. ONE day a week would be fine with me,but that would probably be too much at once. 90% of my mail is unwanted, anyway. The bearded guy whom I see the most disavowed that he left the slip.  I also see a woman and perhaps one other person, so I guess I'm one of the unlucky ones whose route was split up.

Coin packages through the post office usually aren't a problem.  I don't know why this one is.

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The whole situation is bizarre; why should the signed slip still be in the mailbox?  The arm was up, and evidently they came, as it was down now. Despite the grumpiness of my post, I'm not at all unpleasant to my mail carriers.  Heck, I don't even talk to them because they always deliver when I'm not at home, save for Saturday. I had a good relation with my previous carriers.  That shouldn't be the issue.

I have to be at work earlier tomorrow because of useless Thanksgiving, so I couldn't go to the post office even if I wanted to.  The only way I'm going there is if I can't contact the Postmaster General any other way.

If they find it too hard to deliver, that puppy's going back to Dubai and a grievance will be lodged with any and all relevant postal authorities.

 

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Sorry to hear of your difficulties! I hope things are able to be sorted out satisfactorily. Would be a shame for your order to come so close only to go back to Dubai. 😞 

Recently my brother-in-law was scheduled to deliver a topic on archaeology and asked if he could use some of my coins and artifacts as a small display. Of course I agreed! At the time I had about a half-dozen artifacts ranging from ancient Egypt to Roman Judaea, but I thought it would be nice to have something older yet. So I placed an order for a Chalcolithic-period clay cup from Jericho (3330 - 2300 B.C.). It was shipping from Israel, so I bought it about a month ahead of time to be on the safe side.

Well of course, what with waiting on export approval from the IAA and shipping delays, I could see on tracking that the package was going to arrive only in the nick of time - either the day before the topic or the day of. Oh well, that would still work. Except, I suddenly noticed that it had been delivered to the wrong post office! This was mid-afternoon and the deadline was that evening. Thankfully the post office was still open. I called them and they confirmed that they had my package and were planning to send it back on the next truck, which would have been far too late.

In the end I had them hold on to it while I took off and drove over an hour to pick it up myself. It was a pain but the main point of buying it was to be able to have it that evening so there wasn't much choice. I'm glad I did just go get it, and the talk that evening went very well - a rare opportunity for me to talk about our hobby with other people!

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Yes, it is frustrating.   It is ridiculous that budget cuts have forced an immense workload on the mail carriers. However, I don't order many packages and asking them to do their job and deliver it isn't too much to ask.  Heck, it doesn't even have to be in the package box (we know how hard it is to take one step to the right and lift the lid); I'll take it by the door at this point.

It's hard enough for me to get to the post office under normal circumstances, and unpleasant enough even in off-times.  Imagine how bad it is at Christmas rush, waiting behind a long line of coughing people with 875 packages each, a mental picture which evokes George Carlin's 2001 album, Complaints and Grievances.

I wonder if I can talk to the branch manager on the phone?

The problem; my order contained, among a few other things, a lot of 4 inexpensive Chrosroes II Drachmae.  That probably caused the package to be Fed-ex envelope sized.

It's not Zurquieh's fault.  I don't know if they can request a no-signature on that kind of mail, but the cost of shipping was amazingly low (5 or 6 dollars) and Dubai post was amazingly fast.  From order to door (well, at least first signature slip) both orders averaged a week and a day, astonishingly fast for regular mail.

Were it 2021, I wouldn't be having this problem.  My regular, reliable mailman would be here and this wouldn't have happened in the first place.  What appears to be happening is that budget cuts have forced carriers to adopt mammoth workloads, which is why I no longer ask the small customization (which still wasn't that taxing) that I did of the good carriers.

 

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The latest update from my six-month-old Bertolami saga with DHL is that DHL did find the package, but the delivery back to the ACR offices failed because the DHL delivery driver apparently could not figure out that the ACR offices are actually on the second floor of the building. It was registered as no delivery due to a "bad address". In addition, the shipment has still not been cleared by German Customs. Over the past three decades I have received dozens of shipments from Germany with absolutely no problem, but this one is cursed.

Fabrizio at ACR is diligently working with DHL to resolve the issues.

Edited by Edessa
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Gosh, I'm hoping the DHL saga is fixed. I'm sure my coins were much less expensive than yours - the Zurquieh package was maybe 90 bucks?

I sure hate to do this, but I guess it's postmaster general time.  Ugh, I dread going to the post office even more than the BMV.

DHL is quite pricey, but I've had 90% positive results with them.

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I'm heavily debating whether it's worth going.  This was before covid, but my post office consists of a bunch of people packed together in line, each with 829 packages each, and most hacking up a lung - and two clerks. Imagine how bad it will be during the Christmas rush.

I'll try phoning the manager or postmaster general first.  The information is simple.

Too bad, the package contains an inexpensive but neat Valentinian II, a collection hole-filler.

 

Edited by Nerosmyfavorite68
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There's possibly good news; the pickup slip and note have disappeared, replaced by mail.

A neighbor told me that we now have three mail carriers.  Perhaps the best of the bunch stepped up?

I don't ask a whole lot of them.  I hardly ever order non-coin packages and I even retired from record collecting; no more bulky, heavy boxes.

That would be quite a relief if I don't have to get the postmaster involved.

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