NYC's USPS is notoriously unreliable, especially for those of us without the luxury of doormen. Despite living in a nice neighborhood with a vestibule that would certainly house a package just fine - and then include that the postman has keys to get to just outside my apt door - USPS packages are routinely lost, yet "delivered".

Amazon at least mitigates this loss risk by unquestionably resending the package without additional charge. This exercise has grown tiresome.

USPS always delivers my packages. When I see USPS I know I'm going to get the item on time (along with 600 outdated emails regarding the tracking, but I digress). I'm in 11201. (This does not apply with packages shipped internationally. They will claim to deliver it, ignore your redelivery requests and signature releases, and then whine at you incessantly when you go to the post office to get the package. But you do get the package at the post office, so that's nice.)

UPS also does a great job. I don't know how they break into my building, but they do. Once in a while the normal delivery person takes the day off, and you get the door tag. Fill out the form online and the package appears tomorrow. Not perfect but reasonable.

FedEx is awful. FedEx means I'm not going to get the package unless I happen to be at home and they happen to actually ring my doorbell.

DHL is also awful (the delivery mechanism of choice from amazon.co.jp to the US). I order a $10 magazine and they won't just leave the package at the door. In fact, they call me to see if I'm at home, say things like "oh, you didn't answer before, I'm not on the way there anymore so I can't deliver it" and other such bullshit.

Finally there are the taskrabbit-like shipping services, A-1, Lasership, etc. If you see one of those you aren't going to get your package. Just re-order it and hope you don't lose the lottery again. They can't even successfully deliver to commercial addresses with dedicated courier receiving and fully-staffed mail rooms.

> Amazon at least mitigates this loss risk by unquestionably resending the package without additional charge. This exercise has grown tiresome.

It's interesting that Amazon finds this to be cheaper than shipping it properly to begin with. Although it makes sense if packages sent through USPS are low-value and not just small.

They can get refunded from usps insurance, I believe.

In apartments in other U.S. cities I've had the opposite experience. USPS has been reliable, because the USPS mailbox array for the past two buildings I've lived in has included both the usual small boxes for everyone's mail, plus a few large boxes used to deliver packages. USPS sticks my package in one of the empty boxes, and slips the key into my mailbox. No problem at all for unattended delivery, at least for small- and mid-sized packages (obviously they can't deliver a TV there). But UPS and FedEx don't have any system like that installed, so they either leave you a "sorry we missed you" note, or just leave the package sitting somewhere unsecured.

Twice in the last few months I've had a package change status to "delivered" -- while I was home, and suspiciously just a few minutes before 5pm. One of them was never delivered. The other one showed up 2 or 3 days later...

I'm losing faith in those 2-day guarantees, and the number of items available for Prime has been slowly dwindling. That, and their minimum spend for certain items went from $25 to $35. Starting to wonder whether renewing my Prime membership is actually a good idea.

Interesting! Getting a package from USPS in Australia is much better than getting one from UPS.

USPS -> Australia Post means that I can get the parcel sent directly to my parcel locker [1] and get an SMS when the parcel arrives. I don't need to be present.

UPS -> ??? means I'm guessing whether it'll be a local courier who has the contract or whether it'll be one of the many Toll [2] subsidiaries. No couriers are accepted into parcel lockers (unless you get a Toll parcel dropped off at a news agent).

Entirely depends on how good your local post office are. Here in the UK, delivering to my parents out in the country Royal Mail is great. Delivering to my flat in the city, I'd rather have UPS.

Those acronyms mean different things in the US. USPS = United States Postal Service, the official one. UPS = United Parcel Service, a different company

I think the parent meant USPS shipments always gets delivered by Australia Post (that's how USPS usually does deliveries in other countries: they use that country's official service), whereas UPS gets their packages delivered by an assortment of local carriers.

Yep, sorry if I was unclear. FedEx has local offices around Australia, USPS is handled by Australia Post, UPS is handled by whoever has the contract at the moment.

My solution to this problem (and yes I've noticed the same) is to generally pay the price to change to one-day shipping which never (so far at least) goes USPS. Of course we are in one of the areas with Prime Now service, and I am willing to consider that this may be to make me think "Do I pay a driver a $5 tip if the item(s) are available or pay $5/item for one day delivery".

For items you can't afford to lose it might be worth checking if there's an Amazon Locker near your home or office. They're very easy and you don't have to deal with USPS.

I live in a dense part of NYC with no shortage of retail. If I am going to go to a separate building and deal with getting and carrying back the package I am just going to go to the store that sells the thing I want and buy it. The whole allure of Amazon is that I don't have to.

In Los Angeles the UPS vs USPS experience is exactly the opposite, although UPS has been improving (several years since I have received a destroyed package).