A lady who lives in FL wanted to gift me some coconut shells, knowing I use them occasionally to put orchids in and then attaching the shell to a wood mount. She boxed several shells and shipped the box Flat Rate Priority. This was a two-day shipment, since I live in Mississippi. Six days later I got the battered box. The post office at some point had to wrap the box in cellophane just to hold it together! Three of the four shells were cracked.

When I saw the tracking information I saw that the box was in Portland, OR for three days. Why would the USPS ship a box from FL to OR and then back to MS? Why hold it in Portland for three days, when it was shipped as Two-Day Priority Mail? I figured that the box traveled approximately 5000 miles to get to me, and I live less than 500 miles from where it was shipped!

This is just one (recent) story of how inept our USPS is. I have lots of (just as bad and worse) stories.

AMEN! No wonder they're in a budget vortex! My grandma would've said, "Well they just went around their a** to get to their elbow."

Those coconut shells have seen more f the U.S.A. Than I have! How fortunate that travel broadens the mind.

Ah, if those shells could only talk. What a story they could tell!

Ken, It sounds like a local issue to me. I've always received Priority mail packages within 3 days from the east coast to Ca. Even a regular mail package came from Ar. to Ca. in 2 days.
Good thing your's wasn't expensive china or live plants!

Carol, I have had many boxes of live plants take 4-7 days, when they shipped 2 or 3 day Priority Mail. That's the only way I ship plants.

I am not sure about the "local issue". Do you mean local here in Starkville, local as to my buyer's town/city, or somewhere in between? Here is another example, and this happened just last/this week.

I shipped two large boxes of orchids to VA, with the shipping costing over $33, and they went out my usual Priority Mail. According to USPS tracking, they shipped out 2-day Priority Mail. After all, VA is not that far from MS. The boxes were picked up on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and went to Jackson, MS (only 125 miles from here) and left Jackson on Friday, Dec. 5. So far so good. The USPS shows delivery was scheduled for Monday, Dec. 8. Well, that's not quite 2-day shipping but its acceptable. My buyer called me Monday and said the plants did not arrive. I rechecked tracking and sure enough, Monday was supposed to be the delivery day. I asked him to immediately call his post master and have him/her do their own tracking. Guess what, the post master did not know where the boxes were? He/she said the tracking simply showed "In Transit". The buyer called me again on Tuesday - no plants. We're talking about $500 + in orchids! He said he contacted his post master and he/she still could not tell him where the boxes were. There was nothing I could do but hope and pray. What was I going to do about $500 worth of plants lost in the mail? File for insurance? Good luck! The two boxes arrived on Thursday, Dec. 11, eight days after they were picked up for shipment. I could have ridden a bicycle to Virginia in less time!

Carol, I am glad you have had such good luck with our USPS. My shipping results tell a far different story.

I've had good service until recently as well. Just recently had a Priority package take over a week from FL to UT.

Something must have changed. Priority used to be great value. Now? I'm paying a bit more and using UPS.

I don't know what to do, Elaine. I have shipped over 300 boxes out this year, so I spend a lot of money shipping as it is. To use UPS or FedEx, I would either have to take the boxes to their drop-off facility (FedEx is a 30 mile round trip and UPS ONLY 8 miles) or pay (a lot) extra from them to pick the boxes up. As you say, shipping with UPS (and FedEx) is basically more expensive than the USPS. My customers don't like to pay for shipping as it is and I am awfully hesitant to tack on more cost.

Ken, maybe that decision will be easier when you find out the bottom line on your $500 shipment. Nobody likes to pay for shipping but a bit extra to guarantee safe arrival is worth it.

Perhaps risk the small packages/lower value shipments to the Postal service and absorb the higher cost on big shipments going with UPS. If you get in the car to go to the Post Office anyway, a little farther drive doesn't seem too bad in the cost of doing business.

All my boxes are picked up at the house in the morning. That's the major advantage (other than lower cost) of use USPS.

Ken, I'm with you. I've had the same experience with tracking using USPS AND FedEx. That "In Transit" status is completely useless and I don't quite understand if that means it's sitting in a warehouse somewhere waiting for a ride or if it's actually in a moving vehicle....My box of succulent plants were "In Transit" for 3 days AFTER their expected arrival date. Where'd they go? Mars? 2 of the plants were moldy but not dead, so they can't be replaced. I'm sure they'll be dead soon or a later. Moisture plus darkness for days and days equals doom for desert plants I think.

Did the guy's $500 worth of orchids survive??

He says he thinks they will all be OK. I will contact him tomorrow and see what he thinks then. Perhaps orchids travel better (for more days) than succulents.