Posted on 11/27/2013 11:15:49 AM PST by Trafalgar123
The bride was gorgeous; the groom was old and arthritic, and everyone agreed they were an odd match. When Amazon married the United States Postal Service for its new Sunday package delivery service, who got the better deal?
Most people probably would pick USPS, the quasi-government agency operating with all the fiscal sanity of Obamacare. Prevented by Congress from implementing cost-cutting measures, USPS has lost a staggering $45 billion since 2007, and already has defaulted three times on its obligations. Its business model is kaput; first-class mail volume decreased by 30 percent over seven years, and the future looks even more bleak.
Now, just when USPS was begging Congress to allow stoppage of Saturday mail deliveries, along comes Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, with a spiffy Sunday package-delivery deal. After November’s rollout in New York and Los Angeles, Amazon plans to expand its Sunday USPS delivery to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix. That’s a whole lot of packages.
Despite the sudden cash infusion into USPS, I bet Amazon will get the better deal. In an age of aggressive, frequently partisan government coercion, Amazon Chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos perhaps just bought himself some valuable protection from government prosecution.
(Excerpt) Read more at leebsmarketforecast.com ...
That and buying the WaPo to ensure continuing friendly softball coverage. Bezos is smarter than the average bear.
Based on my experience with USPS, it should be “Sunday, or whenever we get around to it, if you’re fortunate that we deliver it at all” delivery. “Sunday Delivery” is, however, a little easier to say.
I foresee a lot of future unhappy Amazon customers...
Easy. Buy your way into the White House. Build political groups, and eventually put your puppet up to get elected.
Hmmm. . . sounds familiar, doesn’t it. . .
My business mails 100’s of packages daily. 2/3rd USPS, the rest mostly FedEx. The packages sent USPS are delivered much faster than packages sent FedEx (or UPS). Even parcels sent to far away zones USPS get delivered in an average of 2.5 days. Items sent to far away zones FedEx or UPS take 5 days (for FedEx) and 6 days (for UPS). The packages delivered in 2-3 days USPS are sent either 1st class Parcel or Priority Mail (never the slow Parcel Post) and cost less to send than the slower FedEx or UPS.
I had just the opposite experience. I once worked in Amazon's customer service and occasionally had to deal with undelivered orders. Invariably the problem was USPS. In addition if we contacted USPS looking for information we would get nowhere. Just the opposite was true of UPS. Always cooperative, always knowledgeable, always easy to contact.
ping
I wish I had your experience.
I don’t ship anymore, but USPS lost enough packages that I wouldn’t use them if I had the chance.
Now I receive pretty often, and USPS loses at least one package a year. If I have the choice, I always specify UPS or Fedex. They’ve never lost one of my packages.
For me, the speed of delivery is less important than knowing when to expect the package. I’d rather have a firm 2 days or 3 days then a 1-5 days.
I do have more reliable USPS service when I have my packages delivered to my office rather than my home...
I will say that USPS’s tracking has improved significantly recently.
Have shipped about 8000 packages per month this year. 75% USPS, the rest FedEx. Only get a few lost per month and the annual percentage of lost ones is about equal comparing USPS to FedEx.
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