The USPS Needs a Good Kick in the Pants

No kidding, I can hear you say aloud, reading the title.  Well, as it turns out, PayPal will NOT refund my money through its Buyers' Protection Program because the USPS failed to update the status of my package that I'd mailed on 5 May (that's LAST month) after it'd accepted it for delivery.  I suppose most people don't bother checking on outgoing packages, and most of them arrive unmolested.  However, when a package has money riding on it, you bet I'm going to certify its mailing, and the PO had better NOT LOSE TRACK OF IT.  The customer rep on the phone at PayPal said that there was nothing he, personally, could do, as the information needed is from the PO, and the PO appears to be playing f*cking games:

Thank you for contacting the United States Postal Service.

You have reached the office of the Consumer Advocate.  Our normal business hours are: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.  If you have contacted us during normal business hours, we will respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible.  However, if you have contacted us outside of normal business hours or on a Federal observed holiday, we will respond on the following business day.

As an alternative, you may contact our Customer Care Center at 1-800-ASK-USPS (800-275-8777).  The Customer Care Center hours of operation are: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. EST and Saturdays, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. EST

And this after I'd written back that I need some kind of resolution:

In order to better serve you, your recently submitted inquiry was forwarded to an office that is better suited to address your needs. It is being investigated and you can expect a reply within 2 to 4 business days

And this:

Thank you for contacting the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General Hotline. The OIG Hotline was established to provide stakeholders, US Postal Service employees, and the American public with a confidential means of reporting incidences of suspicious activity to the OIG concerning fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct within the US Postal Service.  

While we can't guarantee we can recover lost money or items, your information can help alert Investigators to problem areas and possibly prevent others from being victimized. Your concern has been received and documented in our database. If additional information is necessary, someone will contact you.

-----Original Message-----

From: Nancy Yuen [mailto:nancyuen@yahoo.com] 

Sent: Monday, June 09, 2014 9:26 PM

To: Hotline Mailbox

Subject: delivery status update

I need delivery confirmation for the following package:

9514800024804125000115

I require confirmation of delivery because I am awaiting a refund for that returned package.  Since the USPS had accepted the package from me for delivery, I will hold USPS responsible for the refund should I not receive it from the vendor, who denies having received it.

So I'm phoning the Rancho Bernardo office this morning to see what kind of answer I can get out of these federally-paid weasels.

What was the phrase Melissa Ethridge used?

"...survival is easy but satisfaction is rough..."

Indeed, rough to obtain, even in the age of almost instantaneous information retrieval and the lightning-speed of the Internet.

So the best I can get is satisfaction at helping the PO better its ways so as to prevent other victims of its horrendous treatment of certified postal packages?  I'm waiting for the Rancho Bernardo office to open in a couple hours now (actually, less than that now)...