Listen up readers. I love snail mail. One of the best parts of my day is when I get home from work and open up the mailbox and look inside to find fabulous pieces of mail.
There’s nothing like a hand-written note! An email just isn’t the same. I love to receive notes or cards or letters in the mail. Call me old fashioned, but it makes my day.
I love catalogs. Don’t get me wrong, I like to browse stores online as well, but a catalog is so much easier to use. You can flip through it and ponder things and then go to your computer and place an order if you want.
Samples! Samples are fabulous! I sign up for every free sample I can find because it means I’ll be getting some mail and something free too! Usually samples come with coupons and I love coupons!
I also love it when packages are in the mailbox! It means that I can finally listen to that CD I ordered or wear the clothing I ordered or use the fabric I ordered, or… well, you get the picture.
Mail is fun. Email is a faster and more convenient way to communicate, but you can’t get a package through your computer – at least not yet.
The whole point of this is to let you know the following Public Service Announcement: Do Not Use www.usps.com to order stamps and supplies.
You see, the beef I do have with the US Postal Service is that the lines are usually long, the employees are usually unfriendly, and the price of a stamp increases every darn year. So, this week, I decided to order stamps from www.usps.com in order to avoid the long line and the unfriendly employee (unfortunately the price of a stamp is out of my control). So, on Monday, I placed my order. The order ships first class and usps.com is supposed to send you a tracking number when your order ships. I needed my stamps this week and I thought, well, surely if I order these today and they ship first class, I’ll receive them in a day or two – WRONG!!!!!! Today is Friday and I still have not received my stamps. In fact, I had to drive to the actual Post Office yesterday to buy a book of stamps – theoretically a book that I have already purchased, yet not received. Another thing that gripes me about this situation is that they charged me right away. That would be okay if I had actually received the stamps.
Today my order said still pending. So, I called customer service. I had to talk to 300 computers before I reached a human. Don’t companies know that while trying to navigate thru all the computer activated menus that the customer on the other end of the line is getting angrier by the minute? Trust me, this is true. But the time I finally reach a human, I am so mad, I’m ready to come thru the phone line! The human tells me the order shipped on the 15th but cannot provide me a tracking number, which the web site says it will provide. Not only that, but an item shipping within the continental United States shouldn’t take all week to arrive.
Bottom line – it’s no wonder the USPS is going bankrupt. With terrible customer service, undeliverable promises, and the increasing price of stamps, I’ll be surprised if this country isn’t down to one day a week delivery soon – and that’s just depressing. So, don’t order from www.usps.com. Just drive on down the Post Office in your town and deal with the unfriendly postal worker there… it will save you a lot of headache and hassle.
Thank you for reading and have a nice weekend!
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46 comments:
I'm sorry about your postal experience...but not really surprised! You know, some grocery stores now sell stamps at the registers. (I think Wal-Mart, maybe Target and Publix!)
Let me know when you need more, and I will get them for you.
Too all you complainers about the USPS. If only gas would follow our lead and only raise 1 to 2 cents every couple of years! You honestly think the post office is going broke because of our attitude? Let's get a forever gas card! Go to UPS and check out their prices with their gas surcharges or Fed Ex with their gas surcharges - then let me hear the complaints!
Had the same experience - so now I have a recurring note in my calendar mid-October to order Christmas stamps. Always have them by the end of November!
This is a few years after your post, but I wanted to add my frustration as it took 2 weeks in December to get my Christmas stamps! I will NEVER again buy them online from USPS. Sad, because I'd like to get some fun "Celebrate" stamps for my son's high school graduation announcements but I don't dare as I'd like to send them out this weekend, with graduation being a month away. My fault for waiting to order them but I didn't think of looking until yesterday then thought twice about it. I don't want to be sending them 2 weeks prior to the event. It's too bad. :(
Anytime you order something online the money comes out immediately, not just when it arrives. I’ve ordered stamps from USPS.com and I’ve never had a problem. It actually says allow 5-7 days for processing your order before it ships out.
I ordered stamps two weeks ago and am still waiting. It's very frustrating that our money is taken the next day, but it takes weeks to receive the stamps.
This will sound a bit crazy or paranoid, but here's my take on the reason a customer may not receive a stamp order, when ordering from usps.com : They are stolen. This has happened to me twice now in the past 5 years. So it would be about 2 orders out of about 10. It's happened ever after clicking the tracking number and there being an indication that the stamps were in fact delivered. My suspicion is that some postal worker involved in the chain of delivery simply pockets the stamp order. Think about it. Stamps are basically cash, well almost. If you order a hundred bucks or more of stamps, which have a liquidity almost as good as cash - there's value there. What's to stop a postal worker from simply adding your stamps, to their personal supply? Again, I realize this sounds paranoid, and untrustworthy of my fellow human beings, but there you have it. I have no other explanation for the phenomemon but simple thievery.
Track packages, shipments via usps tracking
I ordered stamps one time from the USPS. You think that since they already know your mailing address, they would deliver them promptly. I never, ever received them, and was still charged for them. I didn't push the issue at that time.
As far as the local USPS offices in my local area are concerned, it's "hit or miss." Sometimes you'll get friendly and cordial customer service. Sometimes you won't.
Some have also been nice to me face to face, but on the phone it's a completely different story. One time I needed one my Dept. of Labor check, and she was rude as can be to me.
She was the head postmaster too of the local post office handling my mail so I really couldn't do anything about it. Sad but true.
She then accused me of "yelling at her" behind my back I found out later. What did she expect? And I wasn't yelling either. If I did though, could you blame me? At the time, direct deposit was unavailable, and not allowed in my particular case, so I had no choice but to get it at the local post office. The govt and insurance company rep were surprisingly much nicer to me than this postmaster believe it or not.
I think she may have let her personal political and/or religious beliefs influence this too, even though I have no proof. If she did, that was wrong too.
I said "no more" after that. I use USPS for other things, but no more ordering stamps.
never order anything from usps they will not respond or send you anything.
I ordered 3 books of stamps. Money was taken out of my checking account. Please let me know the status of my stamps.
I'm in a similar situation. I ordered stamps online almost a month ago, opting to pay with Paypal, and at least it hasn't been deducted from my account yet - it says "Pending" because USPS has not fulfilled the order yet. It's kind of ridiculous. When I ordered stamps from SwissPost (living near the border, in France) they delivered them promptly within ~8 days. Bold of me to assume that the service would be equally good here, and wish I had read this blog post sooner...
They got me too ! With the coronavirus going on I thought I would just order my stamps online to avoid going in the post office .... that was 2 weeks ago today. Today is 4/29/2020 (I ordered them 4/15/2020) and my last update on the tracking stated that on 4/27/2020 they were in transit to the next facility .... WTH
Ordered stamps on 4/19/2020. It is 5/4/2020 and my account at USPS indicates my order is in “processing”. Will never again order stamps online from USPS
I'm having the same issue with stamps. I ordered on-line for the first time. Ordered the stamps on April 10, 2020. Oh they charged my credit card right away. On April 15, 2020 it showed "Departed USPS Regional Origin Facility" and I received a tracking number. It could be tracked up until April 19, 2020. After that kept showing "In Transit to Next Facility" April 19, 2020. Date never changes. It is now May 5, 2020 and still NO STAMPS. I opened up an inquiry on April 27, 2020. Answer was "As a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Postal ServiceTM Priority Mail® products and First-ClassTM packages may temporarily experience delivery delays due to limited transportation availability" It should never take a month for stamps to be delivered. Never again.
Today is May 5. I ordered $40.00 worth of stamps on April 20. On the website it just says my order is "processing". Not a good sign....
Same here for me!!!
Ordered 2 books of stamps april...they charged me on my account....now it's been 3 weeks and no stamps!
NEVER AGAIN will I trust to order again!
Same for me. I ordered $45 worth of stamps on 4/29/20. Today is 5/20/20 and I still have not received the stamps. There is no way to file a complaint either. I am going to file with my credit card if I don't get the stamps by the end of this month. No wonder the PO is going bankrupt. They should not have an online store if they don't know how to run it.
I ordered April 14 and was charged for two books of stamps. Tracking still shows hasn't been delivered . Filed a search request nine days ago with usps online. Today is 5/27 and still no stamps. I was trying to help them out. If I don't hear back this week I'm going to file a complaint with american express.
glad to read these remarks. thought it was just me! ordered stamps july 14. it's aug. 17, 2020. this is so damned frustrating. it's a post office! what the heck takes so long. they sell them and mail them at the same place. this is ridiculous. i'm disabled and can't drive so i have to depend on online ordering.
I ordered stamps through the USPS stamps catalog which I received in the mail. I used the order form that came with the catalog and mailed with it a check for over $40. This was on July 26. On August 4th my check was cashed by USPS. Today is August 25 and no stamps have been delivered. Unfortunately, since I ordered by mail, I don’t even have a tracking number. I had to go to my local post office to buy more stamps because I ran out. The postal clerk could not track the order because it wasn’t an online order. It looks like I’m out fourth bucks.
“delivered...” ha. Ordered, month later get email saying “delivered” checked mailbox and guess what....? Yup, nothing, nada, zip. Opened a claim with USPS and CC. USPS has contacted CC but not me...Im not that important🤷🏾. I have to believe it has to be a postal worker. Mom warned me about ordering stamps online. I should have listened 😭
Same here, ordered 2 books of stamps 2 weeks ago and on the website still says processing!!!
This is so sad. I love snail mail and send cards in this crazy world to cheer people up. Thanks USPS for killing my buzz.
Still waiting to send out all the cards for Christmas. Should have got New Years ones.
Ditto. Ordered 40$ worth of stamps ( a common amount I see from this blog), mostly Christmas stamps, which have been ready to mail since last weekend. I'm going out of state in a few days until the rest of the month.. I wanted to plan ahead and mail the cards before I left.. you know.. with the stamps I ordered.
I ordered them 8 days ago today. I have automatic alerts for my daily mail with the post office site. Yesterday it said the package of stamps was arriving. Mail was delivered. No stamps. Looked at the alert page again with the tracking. Tracking said " out for delivery up until 9 pm.." ( Not that shocked, my mother in CA gets her mail delivery at 7 pm!!).
So this morning I checked - no surprise, no stamps.
I went to the USPS with the tracking number. Here is where it gets good:
I left the distribution center in Kansas City on Nov 24, then it arrived at the Kansas City Distribution Center on Nov. Then it was in transit to the next facilty, which was, you guessed it- Kansas City Distribution Center. It has come and gone from that blasted center in KC 4 times and its' still there.. 8 days later.
I'm sad to say- THIS IS EXACTLY WHY people hate the post office! I mean COME ON- you are your own business and customer. I bought a product from you and all you do is deliver things so.. why the problems all the time?
I order their free boxes this summer, needed the poster boxes. After 2 MONTHS of them not arriving, I reordered. What happened? I received both, 1 day apart, about 2 weeks after the 2nd order. 2 1/2 months to ship the free boxes?
SHAME.
OMG I'm so glad to know I'm not alone (though of course unhappy to hear so many folks have had the same frustrations over the years). I've NEVER had an issue with stamps not arriving, but I ordered my holiday stamps a while ago and it still says "pending" on the website, not even with a trackign number yet. Customer service is ZERO help. It just keeps sending you through all the robot menus and either in loops or to dead ends, both via phone and via "email" (which is not an email address, it's a choose your own adventure of menus that are all Fing dead ends!). I was about ready to SCREAM but seeing this post has calmed me down. Also helpful to see someone's comment that the website says 7-10 days for processing somewhere (which I didn't notice anywhere). With the holiday and weekends I think I'm still technically in that window so fingers crossed. It's just that every other time they've arrived like 3 days later so this 2 week situation feels excruciatingly long. So much for trying to get my cards out early ahead of the holiday shipping rush. :(
I am glad to see I’m not the only one getting ripped off by usps.com. I ordered 2 books of Christmas stamps in early November and about 2 weeks later get a “shipped” notification and when I check tracking they are marked as delivered, but I never received them! I e-mailed and was referred to a phone number where I fell into an endless loop of recordings - never got an actual human. Stupid me orders the stamps again because I need them and figure I will deal with getting a refund for the first order. The same thing happened. They annotate the stamps as delivered, but they weren’t received by me. I’m so mad. I’m disabled and have ordered stamps in the past with no problem. I’m out $46 now and no stamps to show for it. I called my local post office and they have nothing to do with the online stamp order. Never again will I order online. I’ll have to ask someone to pick stamps up for me now. I’m running out of time for getting my Christmas cards mailed out. Have any of you had success getting a refund or have a good number/e-mail address for resolution on this issue?
Well, guys first off sorry that you guys haven't received the stamps, all your stories simply made me think I should have read here before I purchased. I'm having the same issues. On my side the tracking number is saying not found. Then I look at my conformation and it says "order completed", which I have no idea what that actually means. Maybe it will change to "order shipped" next? At this point I know that I will have to use regular stamps on my Christmas cards instead of the holiday stamps I ordered. I can now only hope that I do get the stamps at some point and I will probably make this the lesson learned and not order from online. I liked that I read Walmart may sell stamps .. I will look into that because that would be great. I lack patience in online ordering. Good luck I hope everyone eventually gets their stamps.
I thought I'd avoid going into the post office because of Covid by ordering online. I used the app and ordered 2 books. Over a week later and nothing. I tried to look up the order and can't. I haven't gotten any other emails except the one that said the order was confirmed. My bank was charged, but I guess I'm out of luck from what I'm seeing here. I wish they didn't have the upper hand on us with stuff like this. Heck, I don't even know who I'd complain to. Why would they have to care what I think, right? It's not like I can go somewhere else to do business. Now I'm bummed. That's over $20 I guess I'm never gonna see again...
Add another pissed off USPS online customer! Ordered on Nov 21, 2020. Today is December 7, 2020. Order shows "complete", but then below it says, "Processing." What's so awesome (sarcasm) is when you call 800-STAMP24 to query, very quickly you hear this message: "If you are calling about an existing online order of stamps, we cannot help you. However, if you want to order stamps, please go to USPS.com." HA. Talk about the reddest of red flags. We can't help you....but please, go order some. Lame. You suck, USPS!
Ordered 11 books of Christmas stamps Nov 24 ...have not received ... was charge right away - emailed USPS ... they sent me another email address to contact ..but have not heard anything
:(
Ordered two sheets of stamps Nov 23 today is 'Dec. 7 and no stamps but they quickly charged my creditcard!!! What a ripoff and something shoud be done as too much of this is happening.
Ordered two sheets of stamps Nov 23 today is 'Dec. 7 and no stamps but they quickly charged my creditcard!!! What a ripoff and something shoud be done as too much of this is happening.
Following up from my post a few days ago: I (twice) ordered stamps online and received neither order. I paid both times via PayPal. After getting nowhere trying to get assistance online or via telephone, I filed a complaint with PayPal. I figure it’s worth a try. I’d like my $46 back. PayPal sent my claims to USPS. They have like 3 weeks to respond.
Well I guess it is time to get in line. Ordered my stamps 4 books of 20 on November 18th. Credit card was charged and guess what?
You guessed right. They are floating around somewhere in Stamp Land because they have not showed up in my mail box. Filed a claim and the person that is handling it is very nice. Thanks to her I have not had to put up with the recorder runaround, she seams to be handling it pretty good. As someone mentioned I think I will contact the credit card company and see what they have to say. Other than that I want to wish you all here a Merry Christmas because you will not be getting a card from me.
Well, I just found out that I am not Alone! My Christmas cards are finished and ready to go. I ordered stamps on 11/20, my card was charged $108. Guess what, on December 9th the order still says processing. I cannot get a response to numerous inquiries regarding shipping. The site says 5-7 business days. It's now been 2 weeks.
Good Lord. The post office can't get stamps it sells out in a timely manner. No wonder they need bailouts from taxpayers every year. Outrageous. If I operated that way, I'd starve! My cards are going to be late this Christmas. Not because I didn't plan well enough in advance and order my cards, order stamps and address them -- because of the post office. Now I'm wondering how many they will mangle, deliver late -- or return to me for no good reason. 'bout done with the USPS -- and I'm old fashioned, too and love snail mail.
Followup to my Dec. 9th post. My stamps arrived!! Keep the Faith!! Apparently the USPS website did not post that they were shipped. Hope you all receive your orders. Merry Christmas!
I got a big marketing postcard from the USPS to order stamps by mail. 2-3 days it said.
I didn't want to stand in line during CoViD so I ordered my Christmas stamps on Nov.24. Finally on Dec. 3 they are tracked in Kansas City, Missouri! What???? I'm in S.E. Pennsylvania. It is now Dec. 15 and the tracking says they have left the facility in Philadelphia.
I was pro-active enough to order on Nov.24 and Dec. 15, though 20 miles away, still not here. The current postmaster general is a recent political appointee, has no experience in the postal system and only has a bachelors degree in some remote subject. In addition to save money he has removed countless sorting machines.
Merry Christmas!
I ordered Christmas stamps on 12/7/2020, it is now 12/16/2020. I have received no email, my card hasn't been charged and I don't know what happened to my order. I didn't sign in - maybe that was part of the problem. I won't be ordering from USPS.com again.
Having same issues. Will never order anything from them online again. I ordered book stamps on 12/6 & received confirmation email shipped on 12/10 & it's now 12/19 & still no stamps. I will have to hand deliver my Christmas cards. What a waste, had I known I would've just bought them at grocery store.
My order was handled rather promptly for 2 sheets of stamps. Received order in about 2 weeks with the invoice in an envelope with cardboard protection. But they did not include the stamps. Trying to contact them via online or over the phone is impossible.
Suggestion, order your Christmas stamps months and months in advance.. They seem to be popular and that was the majority ordered with those who posted problems red wing them. The past 2 months I gave been ordering online with no issues. I live in a rural area and in an familiar with my mail carrier. I order online to get the ones I want, and the local post offices do not seem to stock the new issues that come out.
I ordered on February 12, 2021 and now it’s February 28, 2021 and still waiting, even though they said it would take 5 to 7 days. They charged my credit card right away of course. I am doubtful that I will ever get them. It isn’t just a Christmas time issue it appears. I won’t order from them again!
The USPS charges shipping and handleing as well.
Wow. I ordered 9 days ago, they've been sitting in my city for 5 days now. Nobody will help. Says they skipped a scan and will update soon. Even though they were said to be coming on the 26th but then vanished.
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