I wrote them a sternly worded letter. They replied with some form letter thanking me for helping them to improve their services and assuring me that they look forward to my future custom. :p But they didn't follow up on the bill, no.

The problem is not that they are incompetent, at least not here (I've at least not had any real problems with that), but the fact that they only work standard work hours, which means that they try to deliver the packages when most people are at work (and with no prior warning about when they will arrive). I would much rather just go and pick up my package at some standardized place for such things than have to be home at certain hours. I do understand why someone living in some slightly remote location would prefer to have things delivered, rather than to take a long(ish) trip to get his/her package, but for us who live in or near major urbanized areas, I can't really see the point of delivering packages to the door.

That would be too simple, it really would.

That's how it's done by most companies over here. When dealing with businesses, it is far more common for them to deliver things directly to them, but most common people just go and pick up their package at the nearest major store (that has an agreement with the Swedish postal service, and/or one of its competitors).

Technically you can pick packages up at UPS, for instance, but nobody in the US does that unless it's vitally urgent that they get it the next day and they have to sign for it. The locations are generally wherever the service loads the trucks, for obvious reasons.

Going to the post office, would require a special agreement and the USPS has no reason to permit the competitors to use their facilities. Especially when shippers usually require the item to be delivered to a specific address rather than a PO box or similar.

Both Fedex and UPS are reliable where I live. I'd rather get my deliveries from Fedex though, because the store is between me and work. A remarkable feat considering I work 1.5miles away from home. UPS is in another city, close to the airport, and not in a particularly good neighborhood.
And the plus is, usually Fedex delivers around lunch time, when I am at home.,. UPS, Delivers between 230-330, So, I usually take off work for a couple hours so I don't have to make that horrible drive. Sometimes they leave it over the fence in my backyard, but I don't like taking the chance.
Fedex Home, not the same thing as Fedex. They are an evil company, that must wait nearby to see when I leave, so they can attempt a delivery. The bad thing is, they won't leave the package at home or my Worldwide Fedex Location. Instead I have to drive even farther away than the UPS, and I think they close at 6PM, so another early departure from work.
Post Office delivers around lunch as well, so that is nice but usually not an option.

You usually have to wait until after 6PM with Fedex. Which isn't a problem. UPS wouldn't even let me do that. You have to call the 800 number and get the package held for pickup.
Happened a delivery on a Friday. You have to make the call by 6PM to go pickup your package on Saturday. Being at work, how was I supposed to know if the guy made a delivery or not. They deliver sometimes past 7Pm. Anyways, I had to wait until Monday. I hate UPS now.
Unfortunately, Fedex is more expensive and is not used by a lot of companies...Amazon being the major vendor that doesn't. Unless you get their one day service.

More and more post offices are closing here, and instead the postal service is making deals with local supermarkets so people can pick up their packages there.

Mostly here when people order stuff that's small enough to carry, they order it delivered to their work address, at least if they work in an office. That way the package is guaranteed to be delivered on a weekday during business hours.

That makes some sense, but OTOH, I can't imagine paying for shipping and then having to go pick it up. Unless the drop was really close, the cost for the bus or gas could easily double the cost of shipping.

I think it might be different in countries with a different population distribution than the US.

I remember my sister was living in Netherlands and tried to post me a birthday present. It got stuck stuck in customs for a month......in Nigeria.....

A company named YODEL would never have a chance to be taken seriously in Germany. Maybe in Bavaria they get some hardcore fans, but they don't like being Germans in the first place, so they don't count in my book.

So, sadly I can not tell you any funny stories about YODEL.
But UPS is bad, and it translates in German as Oops! So you actually can understand why nobody wants to sent fragile goods with UPS.
We have Hermes, the great messenger god and the parcel service in Germany that everybody hates, except me, because its the only one I never had any problems with.
They have some weird contracts with laundries and other small buisnesses, so I can pick up my packages after work even if I'm not home. I still have to make a phone call for them to deliver it to their laundry partners.

Worst service is TNT, probably blows my packages up, but they never arrive when TNT is the delivery service. I deliberately choose DHL and pay gladly any surplus charge if they offer TNT as standard service.

DHL and its service has taken the acronym of "Dauer Halt Länger" which translates roughly into "It just takes longer" which again is a pretty deserving title.

Last we have some weird and secret organisations that are very small and hardly known, like GLS, DPD and others, but I didn't have much to do with them.

Is he a Jamaican accountant that works for Planet Express? I hear he is a hard worker and a pro limbo athlete.
Hah, I'll have to remember that one. I always referred to them as Ups, as in ups and downs, not by the abbreviation UPS. But yours is much better.

We lost almost all of our postal offices a long time ago. There was quite a bit of grumbling when it happened, but nowadays most people seem to think at it's an improvement, as almost everyone has a store that handles packages nearby.

You just pick up your packages when you do your grocery shopping.
And I have 4 different pickup points within convenient walking distance. If there is a manned gas station or store larger than a hole in the wall nearby, then you are bound to have a place where you can pick up your packages.
Also, Sweden is really sparsely populated, so we have much the same issue as the US. Also, I would pay extra for not having to be home at awkward times if I was given the option when shopping from US or UK stores (US ones tends to be worse in this regard, most budget shipping options from the UK will just deliver it to a pickup point) ;) Luckily free shipping is common here, and it is rare for shipping to be more than 30sek (~3€) for anything that is not really heavy.

No, you guys don't have the same issue we have here. There's still a fair number of people receiving their mail via horseback and helicopter in the US. Even within cities it can easily cost more than $5 to go retrieve a package. Not to mention taking an extra hour or more, if you're not somebody that drives. It's barely any better if you're already out picking up groceries, you still have to find a place to park which can be an incredible hassle. And the traffic, it took my Dad almost an hour to leave the city yesterday.

As far as sparse populations go, the numbers you're looking at aren't accurate. Alaska is pretty freaking huge and has a tiny population, but places like New England that are ridiculously over populated make up for it. It might appear that we're less sparsely populated, but those sorts of nationwide numbers really don't reflect just how unpopulated large parts of the US really are.

So yeah, it might work in Sweden, but I cannot imagine this working in the US, the logistics of it would be a nightmare. Not to mention the relatively small number of chains that are truly national, requiring a huge number of deals with different businesses to ensure reasonable coverage.

All in all, I just can't imagine it being worth the effort when they can drop it off on my doorstep for less than the cost of picking it up.