In the past, I have had confidence in the United States Postal service because their Express Mail and Priority Mail services seemed reliable and were much cheaper that competing services like FedEx or UPS. However, I've had problems recently with timely delivery of 3 different Express Mail packages.
The last 3 times that I have sent Express Mail letters, they didn't arrive overnight. They arrived in 2-5 days instead.in some cases, the carriers did not pay attention to instructions such as no weekend delivery or signature waiver.in all 3 cases, I either handed the items to a postal carrier or delivered them to an Express Mail box before the last pickup.
Here is the Express Mail "guarantee" from the USPS web site:
"Express Mail items need to be mailed by scheduled acceptance time. Postage fully refunded upon application if delivery is not made or attempted by the specified time period, depending on the destination. Some restrictions apply, please check with your Post Office for details."
The main post office in my area (El Cajon, California) apparently has a 4:00 P.M. Deadline to receive Express Mail shipments so they can process the items for a 6:00 P.M. Flight from the San Diego airport. Items received after 4:00 P.M. Might be process as if they were received for mail the next day.
The problem is that they do not make information clear on their web site or at the colletion locations. If I put something in a USPS mail box before a last pickup, I would expect it to be handled the way the other carriers work. But handing something to the postal carrier or putting in the mail box likely means that it the package will NOT make it to the main office for their 4:00 P.M. Deadline.
I haven't applied for a refund, but I will do so soon and see what happens.
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