Hybrid Postal Delivery Services: How they destroy brands

I recently ordered an upgrade to one of my workstations from a “local” vendor. They’re about 60 miles from my present location, just outside of Chicago. Most packages in the greater Chicago area being sent through the United States Postal Service take a maximum of 3 days from the time they’re sent, in my experience. This usually involves going from a local post office, to a main sorting facility, back to the destination post office, and into the hands of the postal carrier. Three days is on the high-end, as it is usually only takes two. This all depends on whether the address is handwritten or if the sender printed a barcode with all of the CASS-Certified presort information detail on the label. (Hand reading and sorting adds time to delivery.)

When I was making my purchase from the website, (I'm giving them a second chance hence the failure to mention them directly), I was presented with a couple of options: FedEx 2-day which would cost me an additional $15, FedEx Overnight Air $30 (no air involved for a local delivery), and several other highly expensive services. I trust the Postal Service very little, but rather than paying for extra non-essential services when my package could be delivered in two days using the normal postal system, I elected to use the “free” service which guaranteed 2-3 days.

When I received my receipt the vendor indicated the 2-3 day delivery and two and now three days have come and gone. My dilemma is that the people I ordered my package from, rather than using the standard United States Postal Service in a local, traceable method, decided to use one of the new hybrid services, in this case UPS SurePost 'Saver.' I HATE seeing this as the free option for local shipping because it almost definitely means that the package is going to be lost and take an extra few days. FedEx has a similar service call FedEx SmartPost… equally as bad (if not worse). When I use either of these services I end up seeing my package within 2-3 miles of the office for 2-3 days before it is finally delivered. Something about the process makes the postal service or the shipping service delay the final delivery.

After looking at the tracking detail last night and expecting my package to arrive today, I went down and met my postal carrier at the box and surprise, surprise... no package. He looks at me rather puzzled. I look at him rather puzzled and bid him a good day. He’s a nice guy, so are my local UPS drivers... it's not their faults... it's the logistics.

Upon returning to the office I go in to check the tracking detail. Apparently my package was “ROUTED TO WRONG LOCAL POST OFFICE. PACKAGE WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO CORRECT POST OFFICE FOR DELIVERY,” according to the UPS website. When I called UPS, rather eager to pick-up my package in person (because I’m tired of waiting), the person on the phone told me that my package would be delivered either today or tomorrow and that they were on top of it. When I asked if I could pick up the package, they said they weren’t sure where the package was exactly... a breakdown in the tracking detail between both services involved, in this case UPS and USPS.

So this brings to light several reasons why these services DO NOT NEED TO EXIST AT ALL. There are no savings using this model for anyone: shipper, receiver, or the shipping service(s). When a company loses a package or misdelivers a package due to the complexity of the shipping logistics it has the potential to smear all of the brands involved. That costs companies money (think Billions). In fact, here I am smearing their brands, DO NOT USE UPS SurePost or FedEx SmartPost ‘Saver’ Services for delivering packages to your customers or clients. They will find other vendors. Offer simple, yet-traceable delivery services. I may not purchase anything else from the original company for fear of not receiving it on time (or at all). I will avoid the UPS SurePost ‘Saver’ delivery service, like the plague, and try to find another vendor that will simply send my package to me, timely without added expense and patience required on my part.

If one were to go in and read the countless reviews on Amazon.com, Newegg.com, ebay.com or several other websites where reviews abound, they will notice a pattern of people who give an item a low rating simply because of a shipping delay. This not only hurts the success of the product (manufacturer's brand) that they are berating, but also the reputation of the company (seller's brand) that is selling the product. This is no doubt because the people doing the ratings have no concept of what they are doing, nevertheless it happens and is also costly.

When a package that should normally only touch two local post offices and a main sorting facility, bounces through three UPS sorting facilities, a local UPS branch, and two local United States Post Offices, and multiple mail carriers there is an increased risk of the package being mishandled, misdelivered, lost, stolen, and/or destroyed.

My recommendation if you’re UPS, USPS, FedEx, or Any Company that wants to have customers that spread good words of mouth about your products and services, then DO NOT use any of the hybrid sending services (or provide them) because unlike the normal services customers have come to love and expect, these complexities to the rather simple purchase and delivery model are a risk to all.


That's all for now.
-Chris