Making “Sorry We Missed You” a Thing of the Past

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UPS and FedEx frequently attempt residential deliveries when customers are not home. After a series of failed delivery attempts, these companies return the packages to their local distribution centers, forcing customers to travel to these remote locations to collect their packages.

What if the Postal Service offered residential customers a service allowing them to use their local Post Office™ as an alternate delivery address? A delivery company would do its delivery scan at the Post Office and send an e-mail or text message to a customer telling him or her that a package is available. The customer could either pick up the package or have the Postal Service deliver it to his or her home on a specified day.

Would you use a service that allowed you to have your parcels delivered to your local Post Office to pick up at your convenience?

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The Postal Service could charge the customer a per-package or periodic (monthly or yearly) fee, or the delivery company could offer this service free of charge. In the latter case, the Postal Service could charge the delivery company, and the customer ordering a product to be shipped via UPS or FedEx could specify whether he or she wants the product delivered to a designated Post Office after the first, second, or third home delivery attempt.

Post Offices would need space to store packages until customers pick up their packages or the Postal Service delivers them, so some Post Offices might be incapable of offering this service. Since this new service would most likely be considered a postal product, legal constraints should be limited. However, questions about access to postal facilities and security need to be addressed when exploring this opportunity.

This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center (RARC).

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Permalink | Comments (18) | Jul 19, 2010

 

 

18 Responses to “Making “Sorry We Missed You” a Thing of the Past”

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  1. 18
    omo Says:
    July 29th, 2010 at 9:42 am

    Terrible idea. I wouldn’t trust the USPS with something important enough to have been sent via FedEx/UPS.

  2. 17
    jphillips Says:
    July 27th, 2010 at 11:14 am

    - short retail hours is a problem – for USPS packages too! Possibly units that have later hours or someone there after retail close could scan and give packages to customers who would NOT pay – non-USPS shippers would (a la Parcel Select).
    - internet option to move a package close to someone’s work location would also be nice, but needs to be handled at dutch door NOT retail counter at busy times. Again-shippers pay, not customers.

  3. 16
    Parrot Toys Says:
    July 25th, 2010 at 8:38 am

    As an online seller, I think this is a good idea.

  4. 15
    crystal oscillator Says:
    July 23rd, 2010 at 6:10 am

    sorry that you missed me.

  5. 14
    L S W Says:
    July 20th, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    I would not be able to use my LOCAL post office. It is never open when I am in my own neighborhood, except 1/2 day Saturday. Maybe if the package could be sent to ANY post office. I could then pick it up during lunch at the PO near my workplace. Oh, wait a minute, no I can’t… They started closing at lunch time, too.

  6. 13
    pete Says:
    July 20th, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    stupid idea for the following reasons:
    1. We have terrible hours
    2. Long lines when we are open
    3. windows clerks can’t find the parcels half of the time.
    4.How are you going to handle the oversize.
    5. How are the carriers going to handle the “re-delivery”

  7. 12
    Charlotte Says:
    July 20th, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    Yes, if given the opportunity to have a FedEx or USPS parcel delivered to my local post office I would. I would also stop mailing my parcels via USPS. What consumer would not take advantage of the better tracking currently offered by FedEx and UPS if the consumer could pick up a missed parcel a few miles from home instead of 20 or 50 miles? The Postal Service currently offers alternate mailing addresses; they are called post office boxes.

  8. 11
    Bob Says:
    July 20th, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    I loathe to go to my post office – and I have worked there! 3 stoplights from my house. Has never had enough staffing, parking lot is so poorly designed, you have to wait through at least 2 light changes to get out. I can’t imagine anyone else would want to do this, but wait, there is a charge to “receive” this service??? Wow!

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