Community Forums

boomersooner · 05-05-2021, 02:44 PM

I got a 10 day pay off letter from my bank (Bank of the West), wrote a check and put it in 2 day priority certified mail with the USPS. Today, day 8, it went from Lehigh PA and is in transit to Philadelphia PA. Final destination is Omaha NE. I called BOW, called USAA, and weighed my options. Ended up canceling check and wiring money to BOW to ensure that my May 7th deadline for my pay off amount was met. Got off the phone with USAA this morning around 9, wire sent around 9:30.

I just tried to log in to my BOW account and said my account was invalid. Tried again. Finally put 2 and 2 together and figured maybe my balance was paid off and they disabled my account. So I call BOW and went through the menu process. Finally got to where I could hear my account balance, it was ZERO. Sheer happiness!!!

I will NEVER rely on USPS for important mail again. Although USPS charged me $14, I paid to cancel the check, and paid for the wire transfer, to hear a balance of $0 made that money all worth it.

Now to wait for the title!!!

Fast E · 05-05-2021, 03:22 PM

Do not use UPS either if they hand it off to USPS. Delays upon delays...

ttavasc · 05-05-2021, 03:34 PM

Congrats on the zero balance! It sure is a great feeling. Ours was paid off just before end of last year - and the mortgage co. made it clear that to avoid any delays in processing use a wire transfer. They indicated all other methods would likely end up in some amount of residual due to delay in arrival to them. Sounds like a bit of hassle and extra cost to you but well worth it in the end...

UTTransplant · 05-05-2021, 03:58 PM

When we paid off our house, we were required to get the payoff amount then send a check through overnight FedEx for a single envelope. Cost was over $25 IIRC. The post office is great for sending a post card to your grandkids or getting a small package from an online seller. But if they wanted to guarantee a service like Fed Ex, the cost would be as much.

Dutch Star Don · 05-05-2021, 04:05 PM

Sent my passport, registered mail back east for renewal. It took 26 days to get there.

It only took 14 for the passport to process and be back in my hands.

MoCoTom · 05-05-2021, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UTTransplant

When we paid off our house, we were required to get the payoff amount then send a check through overnight FedEx for a single envelope. Cost was over $25 IIRC. The post office is great for sending a post card to your grandkids or getting a small package from an online seller. But if they wanted to guarantee a service like Fed Ex, the cost would be as much.

Ebay purchase and the seller sent the small package via USPS. It went from Oklahoma to Puerto Rico then to Pennsylvania. Only took 23 days for it to arrive

USPS apparently has different shipping lanes than most carriers
Tom

NorthernDriv · 05-05-2021, 05:04 PM

I don't think it matters if you use USPS or UPS or another company, they ALL have the same common denominator that causes things to disappear or to get lost.............People. Ya pays your money and takes your chances!

atreis · 05-05-2021, 05:56 PM

FedEx overnight if it REALLY needs to get there on time. That's pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Otherwise, I've had issues with all of them, and as a percentage, fewer with USPS. Just a couple weeks ago a UPS package went missing completely. It was supposed to be going to Maumee Ohio from Atlanta. It left Atlanta, but never arrived at Maumee. After two weeks the seller sent another, which arrived fine. Good thing it wasn't urgent though!

HR2004 · 05-05-2021, 06:39 PM

When we go away for the winter we sign up for USPS premium mail forwarding service.. about $400 for 4 months.. So they mail our stuff to tucson every wednesday and this last winter we got it tuesday or wednesday of the next week.. 6 to 7 days priority mail.. Now when I order something from Amazon I get it the next day or 2 days later, delivered by USPS.. makes a lot of sense.. NOT.

boomersooner · 05-05-2021, 06:50 PM

I ordered an HP computer on Monday and it was delivered this morning (Wednesday) by FedEx. The USPS just cannot compete on service with the private delivery services.

baraff · 05-05-2021, 07:10 PM

It's really sad what has happened to a once great American institution.

My wife sent a check to pay for some very expensive prescription eye drops for her upcoming surgery. The pharmacy said they never received the check and her surgery was days away. We ended up giving a CC number (which I never give to anyone over the phone) and cancelling the check. They still haven't found it a month later.

momdoc · 05-05-2021, 07:28 PM

We gave up on the USPS last year when a priority mail (very important papers for us) took 9 days to get to a town in the sate we were in but NEVER made to us. Then eventually after 25 days were able to return it to the sender.

Fio · 05-05-2021, 07:44 PM

USPS is a shining example of government competence and quality! I overnighted via USPS a large package a few years ago to another office that probably receives 100 packages per day. 6 months later (for real!) It was returned undelivered to me. I tracked the package as it went on a tour of the U.S. After seeing what was going on via tracking, I sent a duplicate package overnight via UPS. It was delivered in 8 hours.

BobGed · 05-05-2021, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Sent my passport, registered mail back east for renewal. It took 26 days to get there.

It only took 14 for the passport to process and be back in my hands.

I sent my passport renewal via USPS on 4/7/21 and it was delivered on 4/12/21. However the Department of State didn't send me acknowledgement of receipt until 5/4/21.

I didn't ask or pay for expedited processing, but it would be nice if they process it within a couple of weeks.