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WannFly

WannFly

Final Approach
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Messages
6,553
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KLZU
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Display name:
Priyo
I was yelling at blackstone labs for not sending me the oil analysis report for a sample I sent on Oct 12, then it was brought to my attention that the sample got delivered on Nov 29

Oct 12 - Nov 29 from GA to IN - I could have walked and hand delivered several times over.

November 29, 2021, 10:34 am
Delivered, Front Desk/Reception/Mail Room
FORT WAYNE, IN 46806
Your item was delivered to the front desk, reception area, or mail room at 10:34 am on November 29, 2021 in FORT WAYNE, IN 46806.

===================================================================
November 29, 2021, 8:16 am
Out for Delivery
FORT WAYNE, IN 46806

===================================================================
November 29, 2021, 8:05 am
Arrived at Post Office
FORT WAYNE, IN 46806

===================================================================
November 26, 2021, 10:42 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
FORT WAYNE, IN 46809
===================================================================
November 26, 2021, 10:26 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
===================================================================
November 26, 2021, 6:38 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
FORT WAYNE IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER
===================================================================
November 26, 2021, 3:25 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
===================================================================
November 25, 2021, 10:36 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
INDIANAPOLIS IN DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEX
===================================================================
November 24, 2021, 9:19 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility
DETROIT MI NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
===================================================================
November 24, 2021, 5:44 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
DETROIT MI NETWORK DISTRIBUTION CENTER
===================================================================
November 24, 2021, 12:15 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
DETROIT MI DISTRIBUTION CENTER
===================================================================
October 15, 2021
In Transit to Next Facility
===================================================================
October 12, 2021, 4:28 pm
Departed Post Office
DACULA, GA 30019
===================================================================
October 12, 2021, 12:45 pm
Acceptance
DACULA, GA 30019
 
Similar thing happened to me. Similar timing. Though I didn't save the tracking #. I chocked it up to "oh well USPS lost it I guess" but just like you... 6 weeks later I got a report... WTF?
 
I'm a huge nerd, so I listen to their podcast. They've mentioned how bad usps is getting and have suggested using ups if your sample is time sensitive like a pre-buy. They also said they're doing some testing on mailer pouches that seem to have fewer problems. Apparently the black bottles get stuck in the corner.

I haven't had any trouble, but I only live like 100 miles from there.
 
Is Blackstone the only place doing these labs? I know a particular portion of the BMW enthusiast community that owns a certain 4th generation M3 with a V8 that is known to sometimes eat rod bearings also swears by them. Just funny they pop up here too :) I have nothing else to add, or anything of use overall.
 
Around here we frequently get “tried to deliver it but you weren’t home, item is at the post office, you need to come pick it up” - for stuff that doesn’t require a signature, and anyway I was home. We have learned not to go pick it up, it won’t be there. It will be delivered the next day or day after.

And, some stuff just gets “lost” for a week or four or six weeks, then eventually arrives. Or the neighbor might get it.
 
35 AoA said:
Is Blackstone the only place doing these labs? I know a particular portion of the BMW enthusiast community that owns a certain 4th generation M3 with a V8 that is known to sometimes eat rod bearings also swears by them. Just funny they pop up here too :) I have nothing else to add, or anything of use overall.
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There's dozens of companies that do it, but Blackstone is the most popular for car enthusiasts and Aircraft. I sample my trucks & tractors, but use another lab that is paid for by the company that I buy my oil from. They often lose samples, and their commentary is essentially worthless. If I was paying for it myself I'd switch. I do coolant sampling through a third company because they other two don't offer it, and it's the same story. Blackstone's service, human analysis, and comparisons to other samples in their system is what makes them so popular, despite being almost 2x the price of other labs.
 
I mean if you install a postmaster general hell bent on making the entire system collapse for ulterior motives, yeah it’s not going to perform well.

In the past 6 months my company has had huge issues with all shipping, not just USPS. FedEx is particularly bad. We shipped a very expensive and large piece of equipment with FedEx freight and it arrived on site looking like someone had dropped it off a skid steer and subsequently ran over it. COVID has exposed how fragile we have made our global supply chain and transportation systems in seeking ever increasing profit margins and efficiency.
 
WannFly said:
Thanks for sharing. I had no idea about this mess.

They could have sent this info over via email to all who have paid for bulk samples.
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True. I get their newsletter via email every month and I’m glad I read October’s. They also let folks know early on that they were increasing prices and to stock up on prepaid samples before the price increase via the newsletter.
 
baboss said:
True. I get their newsletter via email every month and I’m glad I read October’s. They also let folks know early on that they were increasing prices and to stock up on prepaid samples before the price increase via the newsletter.
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I should probably pay attention to those lol
 
It's getting worse. I have several packages currently being held by USPS, UPS, and FedEx that have barely budged since being tendered to them in the last week or two. Estimated delivery date has changed to we will let you know.
 
In the past three weeks…

We shipped a package FedEx ground from Charlotte to Atlanta, about a 3 hour drive. Three weeks later, no sign of it. FedEx says they have no delivery date, and have stopped answering my calls and emails about it. I’ve filed a claim, which they are ignoring.

We shipped a replacement via USPS Express Mail overnight, signature required, insured. They apparently delivered it to the wrong address, but no one knows where because apparently the carrier didn’t bother to actually get a signature after not bothering to deliver it to the right address.

On Friday of last week I shipped a box UPS 2nd day air to our new office, where I was flying the next day. They claim “the recipient has moved”. I was in the office all day, every day last week. No delivery was attempted, and they never called me. I got OTHER packages via FedEx and UPS several times during the week. UPS assured me yesterday at 3 that it was out fro delivery. Today the tracking info shows that it was delivered yesterday at noon, three hours before I talked to them… to the UPS office HERE where I shipped it from.

So they all suck. Apparently the only way to get something delivered reliably is to use your own car and bloody well drive it there.
 
DaleB said:
So they all suck. Apparently the only way to get something delivered reliably is to use your own car and bloody well drive it there.
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I've mentioned before that the local fbo is a major Learjet service center. They have a "parts plane". A Lear 45 that goes and gets parts. It flies pretty much daily. Unfortunately I have more of a ups budget....
 
Wow. We've had some minor problems with UPS and Fedex where we live, but nothing major, and no problems with USPS, other than an inattentive deliverer who occasionally gives us some of our closest neighbors' mail. The latter is a minor pain, since our closest neighbor lives 50 yards down the road, but a 50-yard walk in the woods is good for the soul. Yet another reason I'm glad to live in rural America.
 
I ordered some stuff from a company in Nevada once. The shipper and I got quite amused as the package made it to around Kentucky and then showed up in Hawaii and then worked its way across the US again until it got to me finally.
 
flyingron said:
I ordered some stuff from a company in Nevada once. The shipper and I got quite amused as the package made it to around Kentucky and then showed up in Hawaii and then worked its way across the US again until it got to me finally.
Click to expand...

That’s just awesome routing lol
 
I guess I’ve been lucky. I have had very little issues with any shipper whether it be UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Just a couple of packages that took a little longer than stated but nothing near what is being reported on here. Well, USPS does bring me a lot of junk mail and these things called bills. But that is about the extent of my issues with them.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I guess I’ve been lucky. I have had very little issues with any shipper whether it be UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Just a couple of packages that took a little longer than stated but nothing near what is being reported on here. Well, USPS does bring me a lot of junk mail and these things called bills. But that is about the extent of my issues with them.
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They seem to deliver all bills on time without delay
 
It’s not difficult to connect the dots of when usps started downhill… leadership of an organization does make a difference…
 
We're building a new house and I recently learned that the post office refuses to serve a new end-of-driveway mailbox. "To serve me better", the USPS delivers the mail to a little hut down the street that houses a giant mass of mailboxes - sort of like what you might see at an apartment complex. Apparently, that new "convenience" kicked in a few years back for new construction just about everywhere, but I had no idea until I asked our builder why nobody in the subdivision had a mailbox at the end of their driveway. It'll be a good 5 minute walk to go get the Sporty's catalogue and the crinkled sheets of expired fast food coupons addressed to "postal customer".

I'd guess it probably foreshadows the end of end-of-driveway delivery for everyone else in suburbia at some point in the future. Not enough people use the service and it loses money as a result so, to compensate, the service is made less convenient. Makes perfect sense. o_O
 
86Aviator said:
We're building a new house and I recently learned that the post office refuses to serve a new end-of-driveway mailbox. "To serve me better", the USPS delivers the mail to a little hut down the street that houses a giant mass of mailboxes - sort of like what you might see at an apartment complex. Apparently, that new "convenience" kicked in a few years back for new construction just about everywhere, but I had no idea until I asked our builder why nobody in the subdivision had a mailbox at the end of their driveway. It'll be a good 5 minute walk to go get the Sporty's catalogue and the crinkled sheets of expired fast food coupons addressed to "postal customer".

I'd guess it probably foreshadows the end of end-of-driveway delivery for everyone else in suburbia at some point in the future. Not enough people use the service and it loses money as a result so, to compensate, the service is made less convenient. Makes perfect sense. o_O
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sign up for this : https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action
you will receive images of whats being delivered and pick when there is something interesting ... like people asking money from you.

up north we had a similar community mailbox, good 5 min walk, which was no problem in summer, but was not much fun when it was -30 and the sidewalk is covered with black ice. I only went to the mailbox when it was absolutely needed. out here, the mailbox is at the end of my driveway, i still dont collect their junk everyday lol
 
DaleB said:
So they all suck. Apparently the only way to get something delivered reliably is to use your own car and bloody well drive it there.
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This actually worked out well for me.

Me: I'm going to have to pack this stuff in my suitcase and take it with me when I go out there in a couple days.
COO: Well, make sure you fly business class so your bags get priority.
Me: Aww, do I have to?

Having now established a precedent... I think my future business travel will suck less. :) I mean, really, I'd fly myself, but I've got to get this stuff in to Manhattan, so no.
 
86Aviator said:
I'd guess it probably foreshadows the end of end-of-driveway delivery for everyone else in suburbia at some point in the future. Not enough people use the service and it loses money as a result so, to compensate, the service is made less convenient. Makes perfect sense. o_O
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Do you live inside or outside the city limits.??

I Live 1.3 miles out of the city limits and USPS does not deliver outside the city limits. My mom lives 85 feet outside the city limits and still no mail delivery.

Then again, I used to live at milepost 1313 (and that was my mailing address) on the Al-Can highway in Alaska and the USPS found me there... :lol:
 
Overall our actual delivery people are pretty good for all three services (FedEx, UPS, USPS) - usually friendly and say hello or wave when we're out in the yard as they pass. (Well... Except for the time when the FedEx driver punted my trolling motor onto the side of the road where the Sheriff Deputy found it and brought it to our house...)

My issues have been upstream. I've had packages do the round-the-country-tour like someone else mentioned with FedEx (SLC - KC - CHI - ATL - podunk southern GA - RDU - ATL - northern ATL - southern ATL - home). I've also witnessed what I am SURE is someone bunking the system when the package says "Arrived at facility" one day, then about 23:30 later, it says "Departed facility" and 30 seconds later says "Arrived at facility." My bet is that the site is measured on how many trailers they get through the facility in a day and/or dwell time on the yard to which they simply have someone walk around and check the trailer out and check it back in again right before the 24 hour cutoff. I get it.. I worked in WH Operations Mgmt and now work in WH/Supply Chain Systems, so I understand it when you get overwhelmed and need to prevent some noise, but doing it for 7 days straight!? C'mon maaaaaaan!
 
Zeldman said:
Do you live inside or outside the city limits.??
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Inside the city limits of a large Atlanta suburb. That's another funny thing; the city I live in is one of the top 10 largest in Georgia, but the post-office refuses to recognize my city since it only incorporated a decade or so ago (it was an unincorporated area of our county before then). The "official" city recognized for my address by the post office is a smaller one the next county over. So long as the zip code is right, you still get your mail. In the mail hut. Down the street.
 
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Requested some sample kits with my last sample. They included these:
IMG_20211212_115920914.jpg
 
It's a ten mile drive to the post office from the farm. Because we live in an area with no RFD , we get a free mail box in town. Some times it's a week and on a Sunday before mail gets collected here.
Right now the Small town is having problems with Fed EX deliveries . They just can't seem to find an address.
UPS no problem , but Fed EX delivery is disaster in this small town.
Notices at both the Post office bulletin board and the grocery store bulletin board looking for parcels showing been delivered .
 
My mother used to mail the grandchildren a christmas check rather than shop (turned 92 last year and is otherwise active, drives etc). Received the one she sent to our family end of April (it was addressed Nov. 30th):eek::confused:
 
Southpaw said:
It's a ten mile drive to the post office from the farm. Because we live in an area with no RFD , we get a free mail box in town. Some times it's a week and on a Sunday before mail gets collected here.
Right now the Small town is having problems with Fed EX deliveries . They just can't seem to find an address.
UPS no problem , but Fed EX delivery is disaster in this small town.
Notices at both the Post office bulletin board and the grocery store bulletin board looking for parcels showing been delivered .
Click to expand...

Check the ditches. There was a news story around here a few weeks ago that a FedEx driver simply dumped a couple hundred packages in a ravine near Birmingham.
 
I'm having a similar problem right now. Ordered an oil cooler and some fittings 10 days ago. For some reason, they shipped them separately - came from the same company, same building, but the cooler was shipped UPS and the fittings were USPS. I got the cooler in about 2 days, and I am hoping to finally get the fittings today. Very annoying as this is stuff I need to get the bus back together.
 
I'm waiting on a part that USPS Tracking shows departed Charleston, SC on Nov 17, with scheduled delivery in CO for Nov 22 ... no updates since Nov 17 ... and no response for tracking help from the shipper ...
 
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