Large Scale Central

Given how many of us are involved in mail order as customers or

General Discussion
#1

Given how many of us are involved in mail order as customers or suppliers, this could be relevant.

Are post offices necessary anymore?
A Canadian strike highlights the world’s increased reliance on email and the Internet. USPS struggles, too

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/canada-post-strike-residents-ask-really-postman-191200480.html

By Anita Elash | Christian Science Monitor – Thu, Jun 23, 2011 said:
[b]Canada Post strike: Residents ask if they really need a postman[/b] Like postal services around the world, Canada Post has seen a rapid decline in first-class mail. It tried to adjust by cutting wages, prompting a strike that's lasted three weeks so far. Christian Science Monitor

When Canadian letter carriers went on strike three weeks ago they hoped to force the national postal service, Canada Post, to back down from a cost-cutting proposal to dramatically reduce wages.

Three weeks later, lawmakers are preparing to legislate them back to work, but Canadians are asking just how much a modern cyber-connected society needs the post office anyway.

“If I get my mail, I get my mail, but if I really have to do something I go on the Internet,” says Janina, a bank teller.

True, some businesses say they have had to scramble to try to fill orders and receive payments that would usually be sent by mail, and charities some say they are missing out on donations. But observers say that by going on strike, postal workers have likely sealed their own fate by proving it’s possible to function without daily mail delivery.

“Many find mail in paper form to be quaint; it no longer plays a central role in society,” an editorial in The Globe and Mail daily newspaper concluded. “The strike will only accelerate that trend by making online converts of those who have hitherto been reluctant.”

He says Canada Post should improve its parcel delivery service, especially to Canada’s vast rural areas, that post office counters should be open outside business hours and that a new post office banking service could appeal to people who still do not trust the Internet enough to do their banking online.

#2

The only reason I see the inside of a post office these days is when my wife (who just immigrated to Oklahoma from Canada) mails birthday cards to family and friends to Canada. With the strike going on up there… I’m saving postage. :slight_smile:

Other than that, I do everything online and the few products ordered online come via UPS or FedEx (who have parcel delivery down to a science).

#3
Dwayne Weyrich said:
the few products ordered online come via UPS or FedEx (who have parcel delivery down to a science).
Sadly, for us up here ordering anything from across the border, that science is daylight robbery, a.k.a. exorbitant brokerage fees and assorted other handling charges. They only deliver when everyone is out at work, which means a trek clear across the city to pick up. Post office is a lot cheaper and less hassle -- a quarter-mile walk to the local branch, or pickup on the way home. I agree that [u]within the lower 48 states[/u], the FedUps appear to cover the market well.

As for online buying and bill-paying, I merely note that the hacking of my bank account and charge cards did not come about because someone got into my snail mail. Caveat online emptor, I guess; I regard Internet security in much the same light as the Titanic in an icefield …

If I recall my history lessons correctly from the mists of time, the UK post office (and others, I imagine) was established a couple of hundred years ago because of the inefficient, irregular, expensive, etc etc private contractors of the day :wink:

#4
Chris Vernell said:
the inefficient, irregular, expensive, etc etc private contractors
Government couldn't stand them stepping on [i]its[/i] turf.
#5

I visit the post office 5 times a week for work, but have the personal mail delivered to the house. The loss of home delivery would mean nothing to us.

#6

Me, I prefer my hard copy snail mail. Until they make the internet 99.99% bulet proof, I’ll stay oldfashioned. :slight_smile:

#7

Honestly? Having been burned by folks like the cable company, the cell phone company, landlords –

I’d much rather a having hard copy delivered by snail mail before I agree to anything - so they can’t change their story or terms.

It’s so easy to for them to ‘lose’ or alter electronic ‘files’ that may show criminal or unethical conduct when the lawsuit gets filed

#8

UPS andFedEx have been not as reliable as the USPS in both sending and delivery. I really shake my head when I read things like the post office are obsolete. Sure they say that about them till its gone and the replacement service is twice as worse. Be careful what you wish for…

#9

Here in Hawaii it is best to use the post office system for mainland shipments coming or going as they have surface and air but UPS & FedEx only has air service and they are NOT cheap !! We do have rather nice weather.

TOF in Hawaii

#10

I do lots of business online. Most of the things I order come via the USPS, though of course some come by UPS or FedEx. And when I ship something, I go with whichever one is cheapest (or most appropriate, depending on circumstances). I have no real complaints with any of them.

When it comes to regular monthly bills (utilities, etc.) I will always insist on getting a hard copy through the mail, and will only pay by mail. Most of all, I will never allow anyone to draw payments automatically from my bank account.

Besides there are still other uses for “snail mail”. Email is fine for some things but not everything.

#11

Mik is on-target with his comments re: “hard copies”.
My wife is a court reporter -specialty is medical. Depositions result in paper copies. Exhibits are also hard copies. Imagine a legal system that alllowed facts to be suspended by electronic technology called an e-mail. Try answering what is digital photographic evidence in a jury trial?

#12

I agree with Ray on his opinion.
Darryl can I visit U next winter? :slight_smile:

#13

I for one don’t pay may bills with a credit card. But you will get a snail mail bill from the credit card Co.
Like Wimpy says, for a hamburger today I would gladly pay you Tuesday.
Isn’t that kinda like the CC works?

#14
David Kapp said:
I agree with Ray on his opinion. Darryl can I visit U next winter? :)
Sure enough. Plenty of room out on the deck. Or one could camp out back in one of our acres. Some do sleep down on the beach. Cold ? Never ! Not here in my neck of the woods er lava.

TOF

#15

Many moan over here but in my opinion we do get a good postal service in my part of the UK. Mail is delivered every day except Sunday. Admittedly there is quite an amount of advertising and other rubbish but it does come in useful for kindling fires. My CCard and utility bills come by post and they are settled by visiting my bank.
Incidentally I obtain my State pension from the Post Office counter - I prefer to get in weekly; that way I soon spot a possible mistake. So far there has never been one.

All my garden railroad track and rolling stock has been purchased using on-line web sites (mainly two UK dealers who have very competetive prices) as reference catalogs. I order by telephone - even Aristo and RLD in the States - much preferring to give CC details verbally than on a computer. In fact my two CC details are not even typed on my pc.

I do have a local model shop who has some large scale but he is often indecisive when asked for prices and those prices he quotes are well above what I can obtain elsewhere. I guess he has lost a lot of business from me over the last five or so years: plus I tend to publicize dealers who give good value.