I think today's receipt of incoming mail is an example of how slow mail delivery is to and from Canada and the USA.
I received a letter this afternoon postmarked October 22, 2012 in the state of Washington (about 3 hrs. across the water from me if travelling by ferry).
On the back of the envelope is stamped Depot 9 Victoria 2012-11-07 which is 16 days from Washington.
Today is 2012-11-09 which means it took two days for the envelope to arrive here from Victoria (a 35 minute ferry drive and perhaps an hrs. drive into downtown Victoria).
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
After 3 or 4 days members are emailing asking when their stamps were mailed as they have not received them.
To all our members purchasing stamps through our auction, PLEASE have patience with our mail services to and from Canada & the USA. We sellers have no control over Canada Post's delivery times. Sometimes a letter will arrive in 5 days and in this case receipt was 18 days from mailing!
In most cases if a member has purchased stamps from me, I mail the envelope the day after they tell me the cheque is in the mail. If I waited until their cheque arrived they would at the present delivery times be looking at over a month before they receive their stamps. The so called 'Christmas Rush' with Canada Post hasn't even started yet!
I might add that Liz's experience is typical both ways between our two otherwise cooperative countries. I always add more time for mail between US and Canada than US and most of Europe , Asia, Oceania.
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
A Service Dog gives a person with a disability independence. Never approach, distract or pet a working dog, especially when (s)he is in harness. Never be afraid to ask questions to the handler (parent). 09 Nov 2012 08:53:56pm
re: Mail Delivery Times to and from the USA
I tell people the same thing. I get things from Germany and them from me on an average of 5 days sometimes faster. Ontario, Canada to USA and back can be up to 21 days.
Strange.
Kelly
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"Let's find a cure for Still's Disease, Breast Cancer and Canine Addison's Disease. We CAN find a cure and save lives!!"
Sometimes US Customs holds the mail for a ridiculously long time. From Ontario to the US, it would be my guess that the mail is being held by US Customs in Detroit.
I mailed one of my books to a customer in Russia. That was back in January 2012. I have found that as of November 2012, it is still sitting in US Customs in St. Louis. The US Postal Service has no control over US Customs, and can't intervene to get the mail moving. I mailed the customer another book (which was received, but it took 6 weeks to get there). However, I am out the $15.00 postage paid to ship the first one, and there is no recourse.
I've noticed that I generally get mail from friends and family in Denmark in 3-4 days, but mail from Canada (I live in Washington state-- I can SEE Canada, when I stand on the beach near my house!) often takes 7-10 days. Not sure what that really is about...
Is it any wonder that the postal service is on the "endangered list"?. Especially the USPS, after giving away all of the lucrative package service to UPS and FEDEX, both of which have much better track records than the governments?
Mike
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"It's been three years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
The USPS delivery problem is really only between US and Canada. Mail still gets delivered in 2 or 3 days anywhere in the country and in most industrialized nations, meaning an airmail letter from us to Berlin gets delivered in 4 or 5 days. Express Mail is consistent 1 to 2 days, depending on location and time of day; PM 1 to 3 days. Stuff almost never gets lost or pinched. I think USPS does a magnificent job on 1st, 2nd, ExM, and PM. The cross-border stuff to/from Canada is a different story, and I can see no logical explanation for it.
There are other quirks, like the 13 oz rule and other things that make life more difficult and can result in returns, but if one knows the rules and insists that the clerks follow them when depositing mail, i think it works consistently well.
You ARE right about having surrendered overnight and package delivery to UPS and FedEx, but that's a 20-year-old story that can't be rewritten. And, even there, there's no guarantee it would have worked, evidenced by the shake-ups we're seeing in the package industry of late (RIP DHL) and consolidation of international remailers.
I think the USPS and Deutsche Bundespost are two magnificent success stories following different trajectories. It will be interesting to see how each model plays out.
Anyway, I just want to make sure that the mail operations aspects of USPS don't get tarred when they do a great job for pennies.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
Last night I was advised by one of our members in the United Kingdom that a large sized cardboard envelope that I mailed to him arrived safely. Delivery time was approximately 48 hours from our post office to his door. This is unbelievable when it takes 3-4 days for a letter to arrive here from Vancouver !!!!!!
Im confused.... I look at the post marks on old covers before the days of air planes and highways and a letter might travel several states in a day or two, fast forward to 2012 and the same letter at 20X the cost takes 3 weeks to cross a city.
One can see mail with receiving cancels the same day as thesending cancels in 19 century US when there was twice daily delivery.
I still thimnk US mail service is both fast and reliable as well as a bargain. I knoww there are isolated problems, and anecdotal nightmares, as well as silly restrictions, but i think USPS does a fabulous job in its primary mission of delivering the mail.
david
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
The past is a foreign country, they do things different there. 23 Nov 2012 01:53:24pm
re: Mail Delivery Times to and from the USA
"amsd":
You've got to be the most optimistic member of Stamporama. The USPS has got to love its No. 1 fan and biggest booster. I am riding on your bandwagon and dropping some letters off at the Lynnwood (Washington) post office today.
John Derry
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A Service Dog gives a person with a disability independence. Never approach, distract or pet a working dog, especially when (s)he is in harness. Never be afraid to ask questions to the handler (parent). 23 Nov 2012 04:16:12pm
re: Mail Delivery Times to and from the USA
Oh David you gave me a much needed laugh on that response. So very true indeed! Lol
Kelly
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"Let's find a cure for Still's Disease, Breast Cancer and Canine Addison's Disease. We CAN find a cure and save lives!!"