USPS

[lindaj]

Do I actually trust the US Postal Service to deliver express packages this week at the time they claim? Or is that unrealistic?

FedEx is notably more expensive, though maybe also notably more reliable. UPS has never, in my experience, been particularly reliable, and they're not particularly cheap, either.

I have something that needs to arrive somewhere by Friday, for not at all the reason that everyone else needs that this week. While 2-day shipments are cheaper for all of the carriers, I'm tempted to pay the extra for 1-day, just so that they have an extra day to correct any mistakes. Is that realistically or unrealistically paranoid?

I'm all in a rush on this because someone missed his flight on Monday and had to stay an extra day...but I wouldn't have traded that for the world.

Thoughts?

Comments

[tytso.livejournal.com]

Are they reliable enough that you'd trust them to deliver a 2-day package in 2 days, this week? Or would you still ship it 1-day, just to be safe?

Normally, I'd be confident that they could do a 2-day package in 2 days. This week? And if you absolutely, positively want to make sure it gets there by the target date? I suppose there's a chance something might get screwed up --- weather problems in Boston or some thing else that grounds one of their planes, etc. Is it worth paying an extra $18 dollars ($36 vs $18 for a one pound package) just to make sure? Eh, I suppose it depends.

Dropping the package directly at their shipping office for the Northern suburbs in Medford (25 Sycamore, off Riverside Ave, close to where Ames used to be) would certainly help reduce a large number of the places where there might be potential screwups.