Rate Your Postal Service

[KukriKhan]

From 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Unacceptable), or Gah!

Please state:

1) What country you are in
2) Whether your postal service is gov't-run, or privately-run, or somewhere in-between
3) What it would cost you to mail a single A4 sheet to the big city nearest you
4) Any other comments, observations, opinions, etc.

I appreciate any and all responses. I'm literally taking a survey (from several online sources; so I won't be claiming the survey is 'scientific'), to present to my postal union, on ways to increase service & customer satisfaction, while reducing costs. Having numbers from other countries will be helpful for comparison purposes.

[naut]

1) Australia
2) Australia Post is a government run monopoly
3) It costs $0.55 to send a letter anywhere in Australia
4) The posties deliver mail on mopeds, awesome. :2thumbsup:

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

United Kingdom (England - I don't think so, but the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish service may be different)

Service was once government run, but now is mainly private. Regardless of this, however, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform owns 50,004 ordinary shares in the company plus 1 special share, and the Treasury Solicitor holds 1 ordinary share according to Wikipedia. In summery, the government has a fair bit of influence in how things are done, but not total control.

I'll say two when it comes to rating - on very rare occasions things can take an awfully long time considering the stamp they are given.

£0.36 for a 1st Class (usually twenty-four to forty-eight hours) stamp.
£0.27 for a 2nd Class (up to about seventy-two hours) stamp.

There's also numerous other options (http://sg.royalmail.com/portal/rm/PriceFinderResults?pageId=pc_sltc_rm_results&keyname=rmPriceFinderResults&catId=23500532) that there isn't any real point listing.

~:)

[lars573]

Rating 3

1. Canada.
2. Canada post is a crown corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_corporations_of_Canada).
3. Mailing a standard envlope (which I believe an A4 sheet would fit into) is 54 cents to any place in the country.
4. Our posties use their cars and no uniforms for rural/sub-urban box drops. And shipping a package for a private citizen is expensive, but always includes tracking.

[Ser Clegane]

Rating: 1

1) Germany

2) The main player (especially for e.g., letters to private households) is the former government owned "Deutsche Post" (which is now listed at the stock exchange, but the government still holds a major stake through a state-owned bank). There are several private player becoming increasingly active though.

3) If the envelope is also A4 it costs 1.45 EUR (if you fold it to a smaller format, it would be 0.55 EUR)

4) IMHO the postal service is generally rather quick and reliable. A nice additional service that has been added a couple of years ago are the so-called "Packstationen" (= packing stations) a kind of post office box where you can have parcels sent to. You do not have your own dedicated box but can simply put one of the stations of your choice in the address field and any parcel will be delivered there (and you will receive an e-mail notification if you opened a free account).
Very convenient when there is usually nobody at home during normal delivery times (and you have one of these stations close to home or close to your working place) - no more having to pick up your parcels at a post office.

[Fragony]

Fantastic really.

edit, that is denglish,

Postal service is great, I have zero complaint.

[Don Corleone]

Rating: 2

1) Country: United States

2) Post is government run, with private (publicly held) alternatives.

3) I don't know! Mrs. Corleone buys the stamps. I'll guess and say $0.45.

4) For all the grousing about the U.S. Postal service, I actually think they do a great job. My only traditional complaint has already been addressed (frequently changing postal rates obsoleting stamps has been met with the 'forever stamp'). When one looks at the logistics of something like Mother's Day, forget Christmas, it's my belief that the Postal Service is underappreciated.

[Ronin]

Rating: 2

1) Portugal
2) Government Run
3) Normal rate (in a small envelope) 0,32 euros - Urgent Mail - 0,47 euros
4) Mail stations also handle a number of other services, you can pay utility bills, small bank-like transactions...etc.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Rating: 1

1) Germany

2) The main player (especially for e.g., letters to private households) is the former government owned "Deutsche Post" (which is now listed at the stock exchange, but the government still holds a major stake through a state-owned bank). There are several private player becoming increasingly active though.

3) If the envelope is also A4 it costs 1.45 EUR (if you fold it to a smaller format, it would be 0.55 EUR)

4) IMHO the postal service is generally rather quick and reliable. A nice additional service that has been added a couple of years ago are the so-called "Packstationen" (= packing stations) a kind of post office box where you can have parcels sent to. You do not have your own dedicated box but can simply put one of the stations of your choice in the address field and any parcel will be delivered there (and you will receive an e-mail notification if you opened a free account).
Very convenient when there is usually nobody at home during normal delivery times (and you have one of these stations close to home or close to your working place) - no more having to pick up your parcels at a post office.


My only addition to this is the expense (EDIT: And times) of packages being shipped outside of Europe, but I suppose that is the same for every postal system.

[Banquo's Ghost]

An Post (the Irish postal service) is generally dismal. It's a commercial company regulated by the State to maintain a universal service. The service is degrading gently - in urban areas it's still reasonable, many of our rural areas tend to find it intermittent at best.

If you fold your A4 you can post it for €0.55 - send it flat and it miraculously becomes a large letter and doubles your fee - €0.95.

If you want a link for your research, this might help (http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/About+An+Post/).

On the plus side, our postie is a lovely fellow. Aged about 308, he's so old they can't bring themselves to fire him (or alternatively, they've forgotten about his existence, a theory supported by the lack of post he has to deliver). He's so old, he still believes in public service. Sad, really.

[Husar]

Similar to what Ser Clegane said except I rated it at two because some bigger packages take a bit longer, still pretty good but not exactly excellent, but maybe I'm being a bit too hard on them. ~D

[HoreTore]

From 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Unacceptable), or Gah!

Please state:

1) What country you are in
2) Whether your postal service is gov't-run, or privately-run, or somewhere in-between
3) What it would cost you to mail a single A4 sheet to the big city nearest you
4) Any other comments, observations, opinions, etc.

I appreciate any and all responses. I'm literally taking a survey (from several online sources; so I won't be claiming the survey is 'scientific'), to present to my postal union, on ways to increase service & customer satisfaction, while reducing costs. Having numbers from other countries will be helpful for comparison purposes.

I voted excellent. I've never had any cause to complain, though I do suppose I'm not the most demanding customer in the world.

1. Norway
2. Government-run, owned and paid. There are some other delivery companies of course, but that's mostly for packages, I don't think anyone else delivers letters.
3. No idea. They've removed the value-number from the stamps(instead the stamp shows a class of mail, so a class a bought today will still be enough 20 years on when the price is tripled), and I really haven't paid much attention to it, since I don't send much mail. But I'd think it's a couple of crowns or something. Oh, but I do know that the cost is linked only with the weight of the letter, it's the same price wherever you send it(in the country).
4. Looking at the electricity privatization disaster, where the price tripled and, we, Norway, the country founded on renewable energy by the bucketload, experienced shortages(because they sold it all off to Germany) for the first time, I certainly hope the postal service stays government-run for all eternity.

[CountArach]

I put better than you would expect, but not perfect. I have had stuff turn up late before, but most of it arrives on time.
1) Australia
2) Government
3) 55 cents or $4.40 for guaranteed next business day.

[Strike For The South]

From 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Unacceptable), or Gah!

Please state:

1) What country you are in
2) Whether your postal service is gov't-run, or privately-run, or somewhere in-between
3) What it would cost you to mail a single A4 sheet to the big city nearest you
4) Any other comments, observations, opinions, etc.


1. USA
2. USPS Government owned and operated.
3. When I sent my speeding ticket it was pennies not much at all
4. I love my postman and give him food. If he ever were to leave IDK what I''d do. Sometimes it's a postgirl she is nice as well. I don't give her as much food though .

[Tribesman]

Ireland .
The postal service is crap , but its Ireland so what do you expect .
On the plus side though "going postal" means either turning up in the wrong place or late or both , it doesn't mean going crazy with a gun .

[Caius]

2 I'd say.

Country: :argentina:
2) Its gov't run, so I would not trust it. Although there are some private enterprises.
3) I don't know, I didn't send a letter in years.
4) Some people says that Correo Argentino is le crap, that they steal you and the service is, like I said before, le crap. I usually get the bills in time, there are few cases of late arrivals of bills (they expire the 10th day and you get it the 8th, 9th or 15th day). As I've heard, there are 27 postmen to cover 250.000 inhabitants. Maybe that delay things, but I'm not really sure.

[Nelson]

I voted excellent for the USPS. Letter carriers by and large are overworked and more pleasant than we have a right to expect. Yet service is great. I have also found that package handling compares favorably to FedEx and UPS.

[Lorenzo_H]

UK. With such a small amount of land to cover, and such an advanced system, I felt compelled to vote 1. Never had any problems really.

[Andres]

1) Belgium, land of beer, chocolate and fries :2thumbsup:
2) somewhere in-between
3) when you fold it and put it in a small enveloppe: 0,59 € (urgent mail) - 0,53 € (normal)
4) posties are generally very friendly, alas ever since some idiot at the top deemed it necessary to start messing with their routes for more "efficiency", they now come late and more mistakes are being made (letter in the wrong mailbox), most probably due to an unreasonable workload. But all in all, Belgian postal services work very good and I'm a satisfied customer.

[Sigurd]

2. Government-run, owned and paid. There are some other delivery companies of course, but that's mostly for packages, I don't think anyone else delivers letters.


Just to clarify.
Posten Norge AS is a state owned limited company. It's on the stock marked, but the state owns all the stock. The Government has limited say on what goes on and it is basically run as a private company where making money is the big focus.
It wasn't like this back before 1996 when I worked there after my military career. Back then the postal workers could earn money based on how much they did during the work hours (If you could do two routes, you got double pay), and the state run company had plenty of really good workers.
But then it changed. The company was deregulated in 96 and became Posten Norge AB, a step into the deregulation that it will have to complete before 2013. The focus became efficiency, earning money and make the business comparable with the big ones in Europe.
Needless to say, the best of the workers found other things to do.

[Guildenstern]

Rating: 3

1) Italy
2) "Poste Italiane" is the government-owned postal service of Italy.
3) If you fold your A4 to get a smaller format, it costs €0.60. If you send your letter flat using an A4 envelope, the price becomes €1.40.
4) Complaints are common about the Italian postal service, but I think things are getting better in some way, if measured strictly against the previous service levels, which have always been dire. However, besides providing core postal services, Poste Italiane Group offers integrated products, as well as communication and financial services all over Italy. The group offers a wide range of postal products, from express mail services to a broad selection of financial products (in particular life insurance and investment solutions).

[Seamus Fermanagh]

More feedback requested -- the backroom brawlers already had their shots.

[Ramses II CP]

1. US.
2. USPS is government run.
3. Haven't a clue, I wouldn't trust the USPS with so much as an empty envelope.
4. I live fairly near a large city (Atlanta). The private services, UPS and FedEx, consistently deliver packages to and from within two days of them shipping even if you choose the cheapest option. The USPS takes a minimum of one week, and the last package I sent took 9 days (After I paid extra for 'guaranteed' delivery). The package shipped to me immediately before that one never arrived, and there was no accounting for what might have happened to it. The package immediately before that one took 3 weeks and 2 days to arrive, again there was no explanation or accountability.

That's packages, which may be beside the point, but the USPS also delivers dramatic quantities of junk mail to me with no method for opting out. Why can't I prevent anything without my name on it from being delivered to me? 'Occupant' = garbage.

Every few weeks a neighbor gets our mail too, and not always the same one.

Frankly I would prefer it if there were no USPS at this point; I'd pay the extra $ to have my Harper's delivered by UPS if necessary. :laugh4:

:egypt:

[TevashSzat]

1) US
2) USPS, government run
3) I think its about 42 cents or so but I'm not sure
4) Nothing much else to say

[pevergreen]

1) Australia
2) Australia Post is a government run monopoly
3) It costs $0.55 to send a letter anywhere in Australia
4) The posties deliver mail on mopeds, awesome. Also as CA said theres the option to send it express, as well as some insured type thingo.

[KukriKhan]

1. US.
2. USPS is government run.
3. Haven't a clue, I wouldn't trust the USPS with so much as an empty envelope.
4. I live fairly near a large city (Atlanta). The private services, UPS and FedEx, consistently deliver packages to and from within two days of them shipping even if you choose the cheapest option. The USPS takes a minimum of one week, and the last package I sent took 9 days (After I paid extra for 'guaranteed' delivery). The package shipped to me immediately before that one never arrived, and there was no accounting for what might have happened to it. The package immediately before that one took 3 weeks and 2 days to arrive, again there was no explanation or accountability.

That's packages, which may be beside the point, but the USPS also delivers dramatic quantities of junk mail to me with no method for opting out. Why can't I prevent anything without my name on it from being delivered to me? 'Occupant' = garbage.

Every few weeks a neighbor gets our mail too, and not always the same one.

Frankly I would prefer it if there were no USPS at this point; I'd pay the extra $ to have my Harper's delivered by UPS if necessary. :laugh4:

:egypt:

To get your address off National mailing list databases, go here: https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action

Those guys (Direct Mailing Assoc) maintain a "do not mail" list.

That should reduce your "occupant" mail by about 50%. For the rest, it's a tedious process, but worthwhile: as each piece arrives, look for a .com address and send the below boilerplate by email. If no .com address, note the snailmail address, and spend the 42 cents postage to send a hardcopy of the boilerplate 'opt-out' to the organization.


Hello ______

I do not want to receive anymore material from your company/organization in the US Mail. Under the provisions of Title 39, US Code, and the laws of the State of ____________ please remove my mailing address from any and all mail list databases you maintain, and send me no more mail.

Regards,

Name
Address
City, State & zip

This works with about 80% effectiveness. So you may get a bit more 'junk-mail', because other sources (city planning offices, county tax offices, etc) also sell their address mailing-list databases to mass-mailers.

Sadly, because the mailer paid the actual cash to put his junk in the mailstream (just the same as you spent 42 cents to mail Mom a Mother's Day card), the service is obliged to perform delivery service.

Not trying to defend the service in your area. It sounds horrendous, and I'd be disgruntled too, if it were me. Atlanta District has been a "problem area" for over 5 years now, or so I read in the trade/union journals. Sorry your parcel experience was so dismal.

Thanks for the feedback.

[PBI]

Our postal service (Royal Mail) is normally pretty good, but unfortunately their reputation with me was destroyed by one incident three years ago when they lost the Valentine's Day card I sent my girlfriend.

Since she has yet to forgive me, I have yet to forgive them.

[Mediolanicus]

4.

1) Belgium
2) De Post is government run monopoly, but there are plans of making it private.
3) €0.53 (which is incredibly expensive when I compare to Australia for example, certainly when you count by kilometer travelled)
4) It takes 3 hours to travel from the most Northern point of Belgium to the most Southern (same goes for West to East), my letters take 3 days to arrive... At least they don't lose them, that's something.

[Thermal]

1.UK
2. not sure, government probably
3. Not sure again :laugh4: but quite expensive i believe
4: very inefficient, many things take many weeks to reach there destination from our house

[Tony Furze]

1.Pakistan.

2.Government.

3. A tiny amount, possibly 50 paise.

4. The international handling is surprisingly fast with parcels. It can take as little as 5 days to UK.

[CountArach]

Haha, this thread has really been kicked around the forum hasn't it? Backroom -> Frontroom -> Entrance Hall.

[KukriKhan]

Heh. I'm trying to get a full 50 ratings, so I can include it in a study I'm doing. The Moderators cooperated and bounced it around the "general" forums, so fresh eyes could see it.

Many thanks to all who've contributed so far. :bow:

[Monk]

2

1) United states
2) USPS: Government operated.
3) Not much. Probably as others have said, maybe what would equate to pocket change (the jingly kind! :yes:)
4) Recently ordered a ton of stuff from Amazon for school, laptop, flash drives, ect. The USPS shipped parcel actually got here before some of the privately shipped stuff. I was really surprised, and a little annoyed cuz i paid extra for the private shippers but they got beat by the good old USPS :laugh4:

[CountArach]

Heh. I'm trying to get a full 50 ratings, so I can include it in a study I'm doing. The Moderators cooperated and bounced it around the "general" forums, so fresh eyes could see it.

Many thanks to all who've contributed so far. :bow:
Whither to with the thread next? The EB forums?

[Marten]

Is it still up to date?

I have to add something for Germany: Swabia Post

1. Germany (but only in the state "Baden-Württemberg")

2. Private

3. 0,90 EUR

4. Only availible in the state i am living - means also delivery only here. It' s cheaper than "Deutsche Post". Always fast and delivery in the really early hours of the day (6.00 to 8.00 am). No parcel delivery - only letters up to A3. Funny is: All government agencies in this state are using it, although it is private and we do have the government driven postal service in Germany. :laugh4:

Spare, spare Häusle baue ...

[Diana Abnoba]

From 1 (Excellent) to 5 (Unacceptable), or Gah!

Please state:

1) What country you are in
2) Whether your postal service is gov't-run, or privately-run, or somewhere in-between
3) What it would cost you to mail a single A4 sheet to the big city nearest you
4) Any other comments, observations, opinions, etc.

I appreciate any and all responses. I'm literally taking a survey (from several online sources; so I won't be claiming the survey is 'scientific'), to present to my postal union, on ways to increase service & customer satisfaction, while reducing costs. Having numbers from other countries will be helpful for comparison purposes.

1. USA
2. government run
3. 43 cents I think not sure
4. no real problems with the postal service here in florida.

:thumbsup:

[Askthepizzaguy]

I hardly ever use the mail. Buying stamps, getting paper cuts... envelopes, driving to the post office. Blah. I usually use email for everything, the phone, and I pay bills online. Whenever I use snail mail at this point, I actually feel kind of dirty and primitive.

:laugh2:

So, I would rate my postal service as "tolerable, but inefficient"