USPS Throws Packages During Holiday 2015
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Two days ago, the USPS made the news headlines when it came to public attention that some of its branches were filming customer license plates and using facial recognition to record those customers faces using hidden cameras at their parking lot exits.
Today, the USPS is back in the news for throwing packages being shipped by online sellers to their customers.
It is true, and I would be the first to tell any online seller who asked, that any package they ship needs to be able to withstand the 5-foot drop test, but as I watch the video (below), it reminds me of the countless arguments on Facebook groups with sellers who use recycled shipping materials, ship in boxes not made for shipping, or even worse, those sellers who ship without any packaging materials in plain envelopes. Maybe those sellers deserve to experience losses for poorly shipped merchandise, but for every seller or collaborating USPS employee who fumbles somewhere in the process between a purchase being made to receipt of the package by the customer, the overall fall out directly affects the sales of all sellers on the marketplace that the sale occurred. This is true whether the package is damaged, lost, or stolen.
In the customer service business, the saying goes, it takes 100 perspective customers to get one paying customer. That means every time the USPS drops the ball on behalf of an online seller, it will take us 100 or more prospective customers to make a sale. That's a lot of extra time required on social media and money going into marketing to try to get that customer to shop from our business.
Depending on the marketplace, an online seller is held financially responsible for the product until it is safely in the hands of the customer. That means if the package is damaged during shipping, we assume all of the associated costs in future losses when that customer shops somewhere else next time, costs associated with the lengthy process of filing a claim with the USPS for damages, costs of having to refund our customers for their losses, and eating the costs of the product we sold that was damaged.
We place our trust that the USPS will professionally deliver our merchandise safely, and we pay the USPS to provide those services. As it is, the USPS continues to raise its prices, with another price increase due in 2016.
The blatant disregard for the customers merchandise as seen in the video below is utterly disgusting. Once we place our merchandise into USPS hands, they become our representative; an extension of our business. When they fail, we fail.
Our losses are even greater when we ship a product in a manner other than US Priority Mail or US Express mail which are covered by the USPS $50.00 insurance. But what if the merchandise this customer ordered had a value greater than the maximum $50.00 insurance that these shipping methods cover? What if the seller didn't pay "extra" for additional insurance? Well then the losses by the will negligence of the US Post Office would not reimburse the seller for those losses, This is also the case with all USPS shipping options that do not have builtin insurance.
If the USPS can not provide consistent quality service, then maybe it needs to get out of the way for a company like FedEx or even UPS to offer a competitive alternative.
If you agree, I encourage you to send a Tweet on Twitter to @USPS or @USPShelp and tell them this is unacceptable! Let the USPS know that you as an online seller are greatly disappointed by this demonstration of careless behavior. You can also use the Tweet Tag #USPSunacceptable