Across the country, postal workers mark packages still sitting in the post office as 'delivered'

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/10/15/usps-false-scans-packages/

Postal workers are falsifying data, records show. Workers say it’s to boost on-time delivery statistics.
Across the country, postal workers mark packages still sitting in the post office as ‘delivered’
By Julie Zauzmer and Jacob Bogage
Oct. 15, 2020 at 5:00 a.m. CDT

U.S. Postal Service employees and supervisors have routinely falsified data on package deliveries, likely so they are not penalized for tardiness, according to postal workers and internal data obtained by The Washington Post. And the practice appears to have intensified as Americans ordered more items online during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Washington Post examination of Postal Service data and interviews with nearly a dozen current and former employees showed that workers scanned millions of packages with incorrect delivery-designation codes — claiming that a customer’s driveway was blocked or that the recipient was not home, for example, when in fact the package never left the post office.

The problematic scans are among several practices that have drawn attention recently, as the Postal Service grapples with cost-cutting measures introduced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and prepares for an unprecedented flood of mail-in ballots for the November election. DeJoy’s policies, some of which have been halted by federal judges, have been cited by independent experts and Democrats in Congress as causing widespread delays in first-class deliveries.

The Post reported in August that customers nationwide were being erroneously notified that their packages had been held at the post office at their own request. Newly obtained data, and interviews with two former postal executives and nine current postal workers, shows that the false codes are far more varied and extensive, and suggest that they are meant to boost the agency’s performance metrics.

Postal workers said in interviews that they have been pressured by their bosses to perform false scans increasingly over the past six months so that late packages appear to have been delivered — or are delayed because of issues at the delivery address — to ensure they don’t count against the agency’s delivery statistics.

[intrepidity]

1. I can personally attest to this

Happens quite frequently to me

[bucolic_frolic]

2. When bureaucrats impose rules workers respond in rational ways

organizational psych 101.

DeJoy must have flunked that one.

[democrattotheend]

3. This happened the weekend of my wedding

My husband's wedding ring and a special bow tie I ordered for him were marked as delivered two days before the wedding but didn't actually get delivered until two days after. Luckily the ring was a replacement for one that was just a little too tight, so he wore the slightly too tight one the day of, but I had to race all over the mall the day before the wedding trying to find a self-tie bow-tie, which was surprisingly difficult, because most stores seem to only sell the pre-tied ones my husband hates. This was two years ago, BTW.

[wishstar]

4. The last paragraph may explain weird USPS tracking info of my last online order that was delayed

My order from Bed Bath and Beyond took longer than it should have taken and USPS tracking stated that there was a problem with my address and that package had been returned to sender (Bed Bath and Beyond) but I have a PO Box to which the package was correctly addressed.

This seemed weird so I stopped by PO even though tracking indicated it wasn't delivered. To my pleasant surprise the package actually was there at my correct PO Box address so I knew someone had erroneously scanned incorrect data a couple of days earlier. I had chalked it up to a odd snafu, but interesting that it could have been deliberate to make it look like package was returned to sender a couple of days before it was delivered to me.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

5. none of these computerized systems are worth a bucket of warm spit if

the ppl that use them are not honest and hard working.
it is way to easy for them to be abused.
i got into issues w both usps and ups over unmasked ppl.
i complained up the chain in both orgs, and ended up not getting packages.

in both cases, ppl were able to f w me through their manipulation of the systems.
the letter carrier was able to just put a hold on my mail for 3 wks. and i am missing stamps i paid for almost 2 wks ago.

the ups driver was able to do the same after i called him a maskhole.
then supervisor that i complained to has been routing my packages to drop offs instead of my house, w no notice. if i couldnt track them on the web, i would have no idea what happened.

this is what happens when you replace too many humans w machines.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. It's been happening here in Chicago for a while.

At first we thought packages were stolen. Then they show up two days later.

But amazon has been worse lately. First they say it’s “arriving but arriving late.” Then I get a notice saying there was a problem with the package and it was undeliverable. That’s happened 3 or 4 times in the last couple months.

So before right wingers try and blame the postal union, remember, private enterprise is just as bad. Maybe worse.

At least with the post office it shows up. Amazon made me re-order a bunch of items and I’m still chasing refunds while they wait for returns of items that THEY canceled.