USPS Gives Consignia Until September to Fix Problems
The U.S. Postal Service has given UK post office Consignia until September to fix delivery problems resulting from an agreement signed between the two agencies in January.Under the deal, the USPS sends all Global Express Mail and Global Air Parcel Post packages in Europe to Frankfurt, where Consignia takes delivery. General Logistic Systems, Consignia's pan-European parcel company, then is responsible for delivering the packages throughout Europe.
The partnership lets the USPS use a single point of contact for Europe, but the postal service for months has experienced various problems, such as with on-time delivery and with duties and fees that were higher than expected. Though the USPS said most of the difficulties have been resolved, Robert E. Michelson, manager of international marketing and sales at the postal service, said problems remain with packages entering two countries, which he would not identify.
"We laid out a series of steps for [Consignia] to improve services by May and they did, and we had another series of steps for them to meet by June and they basically met those," Michelson said. "The last series of steps will take place in September."
If the problems are not resolved by September, the postal service will consider dealing directly with postal agencies in individual countries.
