I recently had a very pleasing experience with the U.S. Post Office. Why does that matter? Well, it’s the Post Office; it’s not exactly known for customer service.
We’re deep into the holiday season, and, this year, I’ve finished all of my shopping and mailing. See, I’m an habitual shopping and mailing procrastinator. My friends and family have put up with receiving presents late and getting them straight out of Amazon or other boxes, sans wrapping paper.
On top of that, I’ve put myself through a significant amount of last minute, next-day, expensive shipping. Ouch. Unfortunately, I learn the hard way, slowly.
This year, I was made aware of USPS scheduled pick-ups. I know a lot of people probably know about this and use it already. But it was a breath of fresh for me.
I set-up, paid for, and printed the mailing labels online. I scheduled a pick-up. I boxed everything up. I put it all on the porch when I left for work in the morning. When I came home, all the boxes were gone and I could verify their status online. It was much easier than going to the Post Office and much cheaper than FedEx or UPS.
It was almost perfect. The wrinkle came with a package UPS shipped to me. The UPS package was delivered before the mail pick-up. The mail carrier inadvertently picked up the UPS package along with everything else. At least that’s what I hoped. Otherwise, there would’ve been an even bigger SNAFU.
I was on the phone with USPS by 8:30 the next morning. After a couple of quick phone calls, I was on the phone with the person who picked up the UPS package. He was very pleasant, he recognized the issue right away, and told me it was back out for delivery. I felt back at-ease. I got home after work and the package was there at my front door.
Satisfied.
Colorado Commentary 