I ordered a hat from LSUsports.net during their pretty awesome sale last week for half off. I'm not in any big hurry to get it, so it's not a huge deal that it takes a while to get here.

But that's not the point. It shipped on Wednesday of last week with an origin scan of Jacksonville, FL. First estimated delivery date was today. I got home from work today to find no package on my doorstep, so I decided to check the tracking number. New estimated delivery date is Thursday. That's 8 days to travel 565 miles, or a little over 70 miles per day.

Now I inderstand the convenience of shipping, and I know you get what you pay for. But I could literally ride my bike to Jacksonville from Hammond in less time carrying a 1 pound box. That's a bit absurd. Not to mention that the only options they gave me for shipping was standard, 2 day, and overnight.

Now I used to ship packages daily at my college job, and UPS ground usually gets to FL in 3 days from Louisiana. For a 1 lb box, somewhere around $8 for shipping. Smartpost fee was $5.75. I've noticed Amazon has quit using it for the last few packages I've ordered from them.

How in the world does the U.S. postal service stay financially viable even with unlimited access to tax money? And how much kickback is fedex getting to put their name on this crappy service?

End rant, soap box over.

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Posted by fightin tigers

Downtown Prairieville

Member since Mar 2008

73681 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 8:13 pm to elprez00

Woot! Uses smartpost...that should give you some idea of why it is used.

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Posted by djangochained

Gardere

Member since Jul 2013

19054 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 8:16 pm to elprez00

It's a hat and you didn't pay for expedited shipping boy

Pussification of America

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Posted by efrad

Member since Nov 2007

18645 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 8:29 pm to elprez00

I don't get the hate for USPS. I don't ever use FedEx Smartpost so I don't know how well that works, but I ship and receive packages all the time with USPS and never have a problem with them. They're always on time for me.

Sure, you might occasionally get a delay on a package or something, but people act like the majority of the packages are delayed and screwed up and that's just not true.

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Posted by Tigercat

Tacoma, WA

Member since Feb 2004

4518 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 9:06 pm to elprez00

Smartpost is the worst way to ship something among the major options in this country. It's system finds the most cost effective way to get from A to B using FEDEX and USPS infrastructure, and it ends up being a slow mess every time. I too have had little problems with USPS lately, but Smartpost is almost always horrible.

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Posted by Srbtiger06

Member since Apr 2006

28262 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 9:15 pm to Tigercat

quote:
it ends up being a slow mess every time

Yeah. They could shave a day off by cutting out USPS. It seems like it always goes to the nearest FedEx facility one day, the nearest USPS facility the next, and then if you're lucky...the destination the last day. Meanwhile UPS can take something from fricking Egypt to my house in the same time period.

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Posted by weadjust

Member since Aug 2012

15107 posts

Posted on 6/22/15 at 9:25 pm to efrad

quote:
USPS and never have a problem with them. They're always on time for me.

Since Amazon Prime started sending some of my packages with USPS they have failed to meet the 2 day delivery guarantee at a 50% rate. I send an email to Amazon every time they fail and my Amazon Prime is extended for 30 days free. So basically I get Amazon Prime free thanks to USPS.

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