This is the worst rating I have ever given a business and it is well-deserved. On January 4th, I decided to mail a gift to my sister who lives 140 miles from the Gardena Post Office. The gentleman at the front counter, was very personable and professional. I told him that I wanted to ship the package as quickly as possible as it was a replacement for a Christmas gift that failed to function. He stated that since the destination was in such close proximity, there would be no need to ship it Express Mail for over $20 when Priority Mail at a cost of $6.40 would arrive in the same amount of time. Priority Mail receives special handling and also includes $50 worth of insurance. I opted for Priority Mail and that's where the fun began. I checked with my sister and two days after I mailed the package, she had failed to receive it. She tracked the package and even though she had a tracking number, the USPS website stated "Status Not Available." Since the Gardena branch office is open until 7:00pm and is close to my job, I decided to stop by and explain my dilemma. The supervisor told me that he could not locate my package. I guess the packages ship out of LA and they showed the package arriving there but they could not determine the present location. They had no idea when the package would arrive. The supervisor explained that Priority Mail has no guaranteed arrival time. I agreed but I explained that his employee explained to me that my package would arrive the next day and he had actually talked me into utilizing that method of transporting my package. I was shocked that they could not locate my package as I am employed in the transportation field and having the ability to track packages is a necessity. The supervisor also explained to me that they handled hundreds of thousands of items a day, etc. I agreed, but I explained to him that his organization employs over 600,000 persons most of whom do nothing but handle mail. Today, seven days later, the USPS tracking site states the same "Status Not Available." and my sister just called to say she received the package. All I can say is the Information Technology System for the USPS is in dire need of improvement. Giving a customer a tracking number that does not allow you to track your package, calling a method of transporting your package, "Priority Mail" when it is anything but prioritized, and then having the audacity to tell a customer that you have no idea of the location of their package, to me is "felony dumb." If the destination of your mailed item is one hundred miles or less, I would suggest hiring a runner as a person can walk one hundred miles quicker than your mail can be transported by the U.S. Postal Service. read more