r/mildlyinfuriating • u/potsofjam • Aug 28 '26

Do u dont wanna Amazon has stopped delivering to us

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My wife used order a lot from Amazon. Living in a tiny town without many shopping options it was quick and convenient, but about six months ago things started being late by weeks or simply marked lost. I rarely order from Amazon and we hadn’t discussed it, so when I order some shelves a month ago I assumed they’d be delivered on time, but they were so late I eventually cancelled and got a refund. Apparently my wife is been having this problem regularly and only receives one out of maybe ten orders. I ordered some thermal labels and photo album corners and I guess I have to find them somewhere else. It will say the item has shipped, then go to a distributor about sixty miles away then just be marked lost or delayed until we ask for refund. I didn’t realize it was every order until I mentioned to my wife that my labels hadn’t come and I keep forgetting to check the order update. I guess being a rural address they just don’t want to deliver here anymore.

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4.9k

u/Zhong_Ping Aug 28 '26

This is a strong reason why we need to insure the integrity of USPS. Do they have shipping options to use USPS?

1.9k

u/Pernicious-Peach Aug 28 '26

Yep. The private, for profit, trillion dollar enterprise chose to depriorotize these probable unprofitable rural deliveries.

924

u/heathersaur Aug 28 '26

Yup. UPS and FedEx will even use USPS to do "Last Mile" delivery for rural areas because despite you paying more for shipping, it's still not worth it to them.

289

u/dalgeek Aug 28 '26

Not just rural areas. When I lived in a suburb of Dallas most of my UPS and Fedex ground packages were delivered by USPS. Only the overnight packages were delivered directly by UPS/Fedex.

195

u/usrdef 👍 Aug 28 '26

I never have a single issue with both UPS and USPS.

Fedex is the thorn in my side. I kid you not. Every single god damn time Fedex delivers here, there's always a problem. Always.

  1. Threw 22kg package over a wall that contained an electronic board instead of placing it down in the area right in front of the driveway he has to pull into that says "Package Dropbox".
  2. Fedex NEVER honks, ever. They never knock.
  3. Sometimes they'll immediately pull up with a "We missed you" sticker and step out if they don't immediately see someone. Then you've got to chase the package down and wait til the next day.
  4. Fedex slammed their big ass truck into my concrete mounted mailbox
  5. Dropping off the wrong package

When I run tracking on a package and I see "Fedex", I just mumble to myself "Here we go again".

I even called Fedex's home office and asked them, why the hell do they always get off the truck and immediately have that "We missed you" tag, without even attempting to deliver it. And the office said

"They aren't supposed to do that. Unless your package requires a signature, they should just leave it".

So when Fedex is coming, I have to spend half the day standing outside like a fucking scarecrow.

112

u/TwistedDragon33 Aug 28 '26

I had some high value, fragile items that specifically require a signature by only me or my wife. They are fairly large but not terribly heavy.

Multiple times FedEx has delivered them, left them out on the rain, and drove off saying they were signed for. I have it on video of one time they literally tossed the package out of the truck so it landed near my garage then just drove off. Paperwork said I signed for it. When I contacted the office they said that couldn't happen because it's against their policy...

46

u/usrdef 👍 Aug 28 '26

I'd be pissed. Actually, pissed wouldn't quite express my feelings. Livid is more suitable. Especially if it's a high-value item.

I wouldn't even attempt to have a signature-only package delivered here, I'd never get it. Fedex doesn't knock, honk or anything.

46

u/TwistedDragon33 Aug 28 '26

Yeah. I saw they dropped off one package and it was predicted to rain emminently. I raced home from work and got the package inside just before a downpour.

The items in the box were worth about $7,000.

Paperwork said it was signed by my wife... Who was actively in ireland for work...

They just don't care. Sadly the materials I am ordering only use FedEx. No other option.

24

u/Captain_Vatta Aug 28 '26

As someone who used to be a driver, contact customer service if they do that again. Depending upon your state law, that's a felony and the driver should be removed. Nobody is allowed to forge a signature for a delivery.

Fedex has really gone to shit due to the whole Fedex One merger but contractors are held to a ludicrously tight standard as a result and will lose their contracts/routes if service isn't up to par.

33

u/SoapyMacNCheese Aug 28 '26

I work for a medical supplies company. FedEx would leave packages outside of PHARMACIES after closing, and claim it was signed for by an employee.

The package would be gone by morning, of course, and then we would have to fight FedEx claims department for month, only for them to deny the claim because they asked the driver and he says he delivered it inside.

We stopped paying for FedEx insurance because it was a waste of money and switched back to UPS as soon as our contract with FedEx ended.

3

u/Anima_Messorem Aug 28 '26

I mean, did your company not have even a single security camera?

14

u/SoapyMacNCheese Aug 28 '26

We were the shippers, not the receivers. This actually happened several times with multiple different pharmacies. Sometimes the pharmacist had a camera with view of the street, sometimes they didn’t, and sometimes the pharmacist was too pissed about not having their order that they refused to work with us (and once we sent the replacement of course they no longer had time to talk to us).

Regardless the delivery timestamp for these cases was always outside of the publicly listed hours for the pharmacy, and even when we had camera footage of the driver leaving it outside, they would find a way to weasel out of it like if the camera footage had the timestamp wrong because the store’s system didn’t adjust for DST or whatever.

Probably only 20% of claims actually paid out.

7

u/Western-Arachnid-442 Aug 28 '26

I just ordered a new A/C compressor kit for my car and fedex delivered. The fuggin condenser was bent terribly when it got to my house.

3

u/meanwhileaftrmdnight Aug 29 '26

My husband ordered my wedding band from the same company he got the engagement ring from so they could match. Had 0 issue with the engagement ring but the band, which also was supposed to require a signature, was “delivered” by FedEx and of course was mysteriously missing. He works from home so it’s not like they knocked and left it, the driver either stole it or couldn’t be bothered to actually deliver it and then threw it out. We had to go through this whole ordeal with FedEx and the ring company to get them to issue a replacement, which thankfully did arrive. It’s not even especially flashy or valuable so I hope it was worth it to whoever took it.

12

u/HonorableIdleTree Aug 28 '26

Everytime someone goes to a ups store to send me something, they try to add a "rural delivery fee" and so my relations have a script to read off:

I am closer to their distribution center than the neighboring city. The ups truck makes at least 10 stops a day on my road and a ups truck drives past my house at least twice every day. Multiple ups drivers live on my road, or use my road when getting to the main road. Also, if someone prints a label and pays online and just drops the package off at the ups store, no rural delivery fee.

FedEx used to do that too, but they stopped long ago. Though they definitely do leave the "we missed you!" Sticker without even knocking. I resorted to flirting with the ups guy to get him to knock - we're both straight dudes. What can I say? Bat your eyelashes, pay some compliments, laugh at the bad joke they make.

5

u/the_nexus117 Aug 28 '26

My wife and I had to have our current phones shipped to us, as our local store didn’t have the ones we wanted in stock. Both came through FedEx, though they were on different orders (her mom paid for hers, but I had to pay for mine). My wife’s came earlier, and she had to sign for it - she works from home, so it’s not that big a deal. My phone came later, and I was notified that it would also require a signature. The day it was supposed to come, I got home from work to see the package just sitting on my doorstep. I asked my wife, and they never knocked, never rang the doorbell, nothing. Well, I checked the footage from our video doorbell, and the driver signed for the phone himself, and then tossed it by the door, and walked off.

8

u/dalgeek Aug 28 '26

I've had issue with FedEx as well. I stayed home one day because I was expecting a package, sat in my living room right next to the door all day, and when I go outside to check the mail I find a "We missed you" sticker on the door. They must have tiptoed up the stairs and didn't even bother knocking. I've also had to chase down packages at distribution centers because they somehow couldn't figure out how to deliver it my apartment.

3

u/usrdef 👍 Aug 28 '26

Oh yeah, I've had to chase things down at the distribution center as well. But it's only for Fedex.

Not even over-estimating. I'd say I've called Fedex's main office to file a complaint at least the last 5 deliveries in a row. Something happens every time that defies logic.

UPS and USPS don't even have to wait on me, they know exactly where to put it, and I always get it. Fedex just can't seem to figure it out.

Which is weird, because every time I call Fedex's office, all those people sound normal. Like they've got a brain. The damn drivers are the problem.

3

u/Cantide756 Aug 28 '26

I've had to go to distribution for ups, I ordered a truck hitch, which yes was heavy, and I paid for that extra weight. Driver refused to even try with his dolly, and refused to let me take it off his truck. No refund given after a fight for a month, I didn't even want full refund, just the extra weight charge

6

u/SecretMythago Aug 28 '26

After I put my Karen pants on and complained, they gave me the number of our local hub. Now if something happens, I can contact the hub and they make the guy turn around and do his job.

4

u/FatBoyStew Aug 28 '26

Growing up, Fedex would hardly ever drive up our long gravel driveway (despite it being vast open fields on both sides to easily turn around). UPS on the other hand would hand deliver the package even during a flood while the part of the driveway with a culvert was flooded lmfao.

3

u/deansdirtywhore Aug 28 '26

Or just straight up deliver to the wrong address. Damn near every time I've had something delivered by FedEx, they left it at someone else's house.

3

u/DreamTalon Aug 29 '26

I dread seeing Fedex as the delivery company. Several horror stories like yours and their management just doesn't care.

2

u/Moxxxi8788 Aug 28 '26

Here's my poor man's popcorn for the sh!tshow of FedEx and you cracking me up with the scarecrow comment 🤣

2

u/Previous-Bison887 Aug 28 '26

FedEx delivered a simple Blu-ray to me one time during a slightly windy day. Instead of knocking on the door (our bay windows weren't covered by curtains and you could clearly see activity in the house), the driver put A BIG ROCK on the package, damaging the case. FedEx refused to help me out. I've despised them ever since.

2

u/TechieNinja18 Aug 29 '26

Lol the scarecrow comment got me 😆 100% accurate though

2

u/EngineeringRoyal6421 Aug 29 '26

I worked as a shipping manager, and FedEx thought they were entitled to give poor service because they were the first overnight delivery service. Then here comes UPS stepping up their game! I switched our preferred carrier to UPS, and they did not disappoint. Fedex sucked and they still do in the private sector. Can't even bring a package anywhere near our door while UPS bring it to the door nicely and we get either a quick knock or a doorbell ring. Amazon is just OK for deliveries here. I will say Amazon grocery delivery is doing well when I order only a few items, they are packed well in regards to frozen or refrigerated goods. We are in a smaller town but have facilities near, but not close.

1

u/Cantide756 Aug 28 '26

We've seen FedEx trucks make deliveries by throwing boxes like frisbees into our yard, slowly down but never stopping.

1

u/TimelessScar Aug 28 '26

I hate fedex with a damn passion. Im slightly rural. But ive never had issues in Alaska, or even rural TN but in slightly Rural CA, with UPS or USPS no issues but FedEx? I swear if they went belly up I would be happy (not ablut the employees jobs) but because I fucking HATE their company. If FedEx has no haters I am dead.

1

u/SteveAnneKing Aug 29 '26

We just had a laptop dropped off at the completely wrong house. Fortunately it was still in our neighborhood, but not even on our street. I took their photo and went hunting around. Found the house, very nice lady, she was confused on why they were getting a package but just brought it inside anyway. I was ready to show her ID but she just handed it to me.

I despise FedEx. I will use UPS or USPS every time I get a chance.

1

u/Bop923 Aug 29 '26

Yep, this is me but with UPS. FedEx has always been a SAINT compared to them. UPS in my area just sucks I guess. I'd be home waiting for a package all day for it to never arrive, just to go outside later and see a "Sorry we missed you" label on the door like, excuse me?? I once literally *watched* him walk up to the front door, write out the note, stick it there and leave. No knock, no doorbell, nothing. And the crazy thing is he actually *carried* the package to the front door with him like what is the point... I went out and got it from him that day and he said "Oh, I didn't think you were home." HUHHH. Maybe if you.. I don't know.. knocked? Did ANYTHING to attempt get my attention. And it's not even the same guy every time, that's the crazy thing. I've totally written off UPS, FedEx *heavily* preferred.

1

u/Indescribable_Noun Sep 01 '26

I recommend installing a motion camera or video doorbell on a fence/tree/whatever you’ve got so it’ll send you a notification when someone shows up. It’s so convenient for packages (I don’t live anywhere rural, I just don’t like all the mental space it takes up to watch the tracking info or check every hour of the delivery window). Now all I need is the day and I can wait in peace, especially good if you ever order anything that you don’t want out in the elements for long

14

u/NitroBike Aug 28 '26

Depends on when the neighborhood and routes were setup. Some suburban new builds are still considered rural because of how USPS set up the routes back in the day

2

u/Direct-Function7326 Aug 29 '26

Yeah come to think of it I live in the suburbs of Charlotte and it's the same, most of the time I order something that I get a FedEx or UPS tracking number for, it comes by regular mail

4

u/soulseeker31 Aug 28 '26

It’s why going postal is the phrase most associated with bringing joy in peoples lives.

1

u/pommomwow Aug 28 '26

Jack Danger, is that you?

3

u/soulseeker31 Aug 28 '26

It's pronounced, Dönger

1

u/retired_fromlife Aug 29 '26

Not anymore. We used to get our mail sorted locally. Our local mail, anyway. It now goes to Corpus, 90 miles away. So a mail to my next door neighbor goes 90 miles down the road and back to go next door. And costs, what, 70 something cents? And takes 2-3 days. And that’s IF it doesn’t get lost.

1

u/SoapyMacNCheese Aug 28 '26

UPS and FedEx both have cheaper rate shipping options that do that, so you can experience it anywhere. I think UPS calls theirs Ground Select. They do the most cost efficient part themselves (shipping to their hub) and then hand it to USPS to handle the rest.

2

u/jenny5clint Aug 28 '26

They do it in cities too. Like wtf. 

1

u/jtmonkey Aug 28 '26

Amazon does this in our 150k city in Southern California. I get usps, Amazon, some dude in a car. They get it here. So there’s no reason they couldn’t figure it out. OP should find out if they need a distributor. He can get a warehouse and hire some people to drive their deliveries.

0

u/AtTheEndofCliche Aug 30 '26

They can’t break even. The price of gas to go way out and back to the middle of nowhere for one person’s package. It costs anyone to do that. USPS can’t refuse. And they’re going bankrupt. At least get a PO Box

-1

u/cubhawk21 Aug 29 '26

Yup should probably vote better and politely encourage your neighbors to do the same. Sucks to suck losers

54

u/student176895 Aug 28 '26

I love the USPS but unfortunately the supreme court recently ruled that [they aren’t obligated to deliver mail, even if they are failing to do so on purpose](https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/court-holds-that-u-s-postal-service-cant-be-sued-over-intentionally-misdelivered-mail/)

25

u/DustyRacoonDad Aug 28 '26

To be clear the USPS does not want to misdeliver mail... But when an independent person does something they're not supposed to, they do get their time in court. And technically who's liable becomes a problem

30

u/Mccobsta GREEN Aug 28 '26

We sold off royal mail here and it's realy gotten terrible

Post only shows up once a week now and the cost keeps on rising

53

u/CherryGarciaisKing Aug 28 '26

USPS deserves so much better :( I can’t believe they’re virtually self funded and haven’t profited in 20 years.

95

u/code_blooded_bytch Aug 28 '26

They don’t need to be profitable! They’re a government service, not a business. They just been to be not screwed over by conservatives pushing for privatization and they’d be great(er)

35

u/octothorpentine Aug 28 '26

I agree with the other commentator ls saying they're a service, not a business, so profitability should be irrelevant 

BUT ALSO

They're "not profitable" because the GOP changed the rules so they have to account for every employee's pension way in advance. That's not how pension accounting works in literally any other scenario, and there's no reason to do it that way except to force USPS to add giant expenses to their books so you can point at that and talk about how inefficient the government is

10

u/code_blooded_bytch Aug 28 '26

Yes 100%! This is what I was getting at with conservatives screwing them over so that people think they do a horrible job. They purposefully ruin government services so people are amenable to the idea of privatization so some corporation can make profit off of what should be a public service.

27

u/Afraid-Department-35 Aug 28 '26

Government services should not be making profit, we the citizen pay for those services to stay afloat.

13

u/DustyRacoonDad Aug 28 '26

What's crazy is they don't have to be profitable. And they don't have to cost money.

Since they set the price of the service you're using they can set it to the price the expected to be and if they don't make enough, they can adjust. 

That's what's crazy. Complaining that they don't make a profit. Complaining that they make a profit. And then figuring out that you can't complain about cost and bankrupt them because they can get their own income... So you make them pay out crazy retirement schemes that they have to have all the money for up front. 

And when they pull this all out of their ass and still get it done and do the job, people get mad at them... Because they're not dead yet so they can replace them.

-6

u/Isla_Tyler_Coleman Aug 28 '26

Are they getting the job done though? Cuz in my area they complain & lie about having to deliver mail. I see the same complaints from people online outside of my area as well. It's not just misdelivered packages either, it's continually cutting services and lying about the reason for it. Even regular homes can't get letter mail delivered in my area. Packages for my apartment aren't even put on the truck, but they'll mark it as "Access code required" when they don't deliver. There's no access code.

9

u/StPaulitician Aug 28 '26

The USPS has been being sabotaged since 2016 when those in charge then (and now) would like everything privatized. Remember that when you’re happy you voted for the regime.

4

u/Zhong_Ping Aug 28 '26

Thankfully i never voted for these crooks

2

u/lyralady Aug 28 '26

Amazon often uses USPS for deliveries too.

5

u/rubberloves Aug 28 '26

The people living in the sticks who rely on these services also vote red to have them eliminated.

7

u/Zhong_Ping Aug 28 '26

It never ceases to amaze me how little rural people understand about how much they benefit from the government taking the wealth of the cities to provide services to the far ends of sparcely populated rural america.

1

u/MrB10b Aug 28 '26

If they live in the US...

-2

u/ThatsMrRandom Aug 28 '26

The irony. Amazon hands off their packages to USPS for orders like this. The odds of it being some lazy USPS worker that doesn't want to actually deliver it is exceptionally high. If not the incompetent USPS warehouse losing the packages.

18

u/Tom-Dibble Aug 28 '26

If it went to USPS, it would say so in the Amazon tracking, and USPS's "Informed Delivery" delivery tracking system would show it is expecting a package from Amazon before Amazon has handed the package off. I've had a similar (not as extreme) issue as OP, and the Amazon tracking always says it was in Amazon's network that things got "lost" (or "really we'll deliver it tomorrow; I know we said that yesterday and the day before and the week before that, but really it honestly will be there tomorrow for sure" ... then eventually I cancel and reorder the same thing and the reorder arrives on time). I've never ever seen USPS implicated in this, and have definitely never seen a package get "lost" by the USPS to our home.

That said, every USPS center is run by people, and some of them far more professionally than others. When we were shipping several packages out to our daughter in rural-ish CA, the post office there lost several packages, including marking one as "picked up" (after a failed delivery) when no one actually came and picked it up. In all those cases, the Amazon-side tracking was very clear when it had been handed off to USPS, and USPS Informed Delivery very clearly stated when it was supposed to be delivered ... the mail distribution center just didn't have its stuff together and kept mishandling packages.

2

u/ThatsMrRandom Aug 28 '26

My USPS drivers across multiple states would make my home residential delivery as "business was closed" or "gate access unavailable" (never had a gate). They hated having to waddle up my 20 foot driveway. Best I'd get is a package that barely fit in the shared mailbox where they'd smash it in. I loathe the USPS with all my being.

11

u/To-To_Man Aug 28 '26

Don't worry, we can sell you the same service but somehow even worse for twice the cost.

1

u/Isla_Tyler_Coleman Aug 28 '26

I get the access code reply for my apartment. They refuse to climb the stairs even with smaller packages. There is no access code. Don't complain about it, they don't care. Postmaster will get verbally abusive in comment sections on community pages. If you complain higher, they kick it back to him. He'll call once (even if you request correspondence by email) & then close the ticket.

The first time I didn't get something delivered I asked why it couldn't be and the postmaster straight lied to my face about a carrier injury and it being a temporary change. It's been 2 years. If she's still injured, they need to move her to the desk or have her retire (for the record, I don't believe this woman was ever injured. I have her on camera hurling packages at my door from the stairwell before this alleged injury).

1

u/Csakstar Aug 28 '26

Please let your politicians know. They don't care about us in the slightest

0

u/Slip_Baby7917 Aug 28 '26

How much do we “insure” them for? We must ensure they are insured.

5

u/Zhong_Ping Aug 28 '26

Yes yes, thank you for your contribution

-1

u/Isla_Tyler_Coleman Aug 28 '26

USPS is a joke. They stopped delivering packages to my apartment due to a carrier "injury" 2 years ago. Her "injury" changes based on who I talk to. Postmaster made it sound temporary when I first inquired about it, but 2 years later she's still doing the route and I still have to pick up my packages at the post office.

It's not just my apartment though, it's most of town that isn't getting deliveries, even regular houses. They find every excuse they can not to deliver regular mail to homes.

If you complain about it in local community pages, the postmaster will leave verbally abusive replies. One of his desk clerks tried to garner sympathy on how hard it is to deliver all those Amazon packages by posting starting pay. Yeah, it's considerably more than what first responders in our town are making ($6/h more than firefighter trainees & $5/h more than dispatchers. I don't know what EMS is making but they're usually bottom of the pay scale. And it's about equal to what police and deputies start out). It did not go over well. Cuz not only are they not doing their job, they're not doing a job that pays better than a lot of positions in town.

Oh but it gets better. That same clerk complains about how busy the post office is now. Which it wouldn't be if they would just deliver the mail.

And no, I don't consider it delivered if I have to go pick it up

-7

u/Saranhai Aug 28 '26

Hell no. USPS is the worst courier of all of them.

2

u/Reidiang Aug 28 '26

USPS doesn't deliver any packages to my apartment. I've begged Amazon to remove them as a carrier on my account.

2

u/Isla_Tyler_Coleman Aug 28 '26

Same. Then they bitch when you take a few days to pick up at the post office with it's limited hours. I work nights and have trouble getting into the post office. I don't know how daylighters are doing it when it's barely open office hours.

0

u/XCGod Aug 28 '26

There are hundreds of reasons USPS is important but OP can probably just drive to a store to pick up air freshener.

Im happy to subsidize rural delivery of medication or documents, but we probably dont need USPS to subsidize a trillion dollar corp by doing their last mile delivery of random products at less than cost.

0

u/Incola_Malum Aug 29 '26

Eh, I dunno about that one. USPS refuses to deliver my mail 98% of the time, citing it as undeliverable. The office is 2 miles down the road from my house, and I live in a decent suburban area. I've had government mail marked as such, private mail marked as such, etc.

I'm not convinced USPS is worth a shit anymore, frankly. I have significantly better luck with UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.