My post office has lost all my respect.....

[thebeav]

The other day, one of my favorite clerks tried to pull a fast one on me......

My most common mailing is a small size envelope, (3 5/8 by 6 1/2 in.), with a thin cardboard inside and a 2x2 coin holder held to this cardboard with a small square of thin cardboard on top. This is less than an ounce and not insured. Before this postal rate increase, I was charged the first class 1 ounce rate plus a nominal (now .17 cents) surcharge for a 'non-machinable' envelope. Fine....Today this fee should be 41 cents plus 17 cents, 58 cents.

Well, the other day this clerk says because this envelope is rigid, she has to charge me as a parcel, 1.13.....I argued the non-machinable surcharge thing and she relented and charged me 58 cents. Today, one of my other favorite clerks tried the same thing. I argued the point and called over the best clerk in the joint to clarify. She tells me that they are under instruction to do this.

I looked up the domestic mailing manual on line, and under section 101.1.2, I can see that I am correct. Now I need to do my mailing from another office and I'm stuck with my PO Box at this lousy office.

Anyone having similar experiences with this rate change ?

 

Paul

[MarkFeld]

I looked up the domestic mailing manual on line, and under section 101.1.2, I can see that I am correct. Now I need to do my mailing from another office and I'm stuck with my PO Box at this lousy office

Before going to the trouble of using a different PO, why not make a copy of section 101.1.2 and (without sticking your tongue out at them) show it to the clerks at your PO?

[BillJones]

I had so much trouble using the Safe - T mailers with the post office, that I just gave up. They were constantly on my case to put stuff in boxes, which of course costs more.

 

Safe -T mailers have gone the way of the do-do bird IMO. I just stopped fighting and went to boxes.

 

As for bad post offices, I can tell you they are out there. You run into postal clerks who are by the book and sometimes the book is "their" book, not the post office book.

 

These seem to congregate in certain post offices, and I avoid those. For example when I went to boxes, I tried to mail an item at one of the person_too_unaware_of_social_graces post offices because I was in the area. The donkey behind counter complained that my box was too small to get her stickers on it. That was my last trip to that location.

 

Fortunately the post office where I have my box has friendly and helpful clerks. They get all of my business. I wish that person_too_unaware_of_social_graces post offices could be treated like private business profit centers. I imagine that if they were, their service would improve, or they would be shut down.

 

BTW *spoon* = a gray donkey like animal with long ears that says hee-haw.

[thebeav]

I looked up the domestic mailing manual on line, and under section 101.1.2, I can see that I am correct. Now I need to do my mailing from another office and I'm stuck with my PO Box at this lousy office

Before going to the trouble of using a different PO, why not make a copy of section 101.1.2 and (without sticking your tongue out at them) show it to the clerks at your PO?

 

HI Mark,

I appreciate your suggestion and I did give this some thought. If I make a copy of this page and go in there with it, no matter how smooth or glib I can appear, the fact that I came in with a copy and try to tell them their job, would be , effectively, sticking my tongue out.....Know what I mean ?

 

Paul

[MAULEMALL]

I looked up the domestic mailing manual on line, and under section 101.1.2, I can see that I am correct. Now I need to do my mailing from another office and I'm stuck with my PO Box at this lousy office

Before going to the trouble of using a different PO, why not make a copy of section 101.1.2 and (without sticking your tongue out at them) show it to the clerks at your PO?

 

HI Mark,

I appreciate your suggestion and I did give this some thought. If I make a copy of this page and go in there with it, no matter how smooth or glib I can appear, the fact that I came in with a copy and try to tell them their job, would be , effectively, sticking my tongue out.....Know what I mean ?

 

Paul

Dude....Marks right, You have to educate them...

Then if they don't want to budge I am sure that when you ask for the post master gens # they might back up and take a little notice...

[MarkFeld]

I looked up the domestic mailing manual on line, and under section 101.1.2, I can see that I am correct. Now I need to do my mailing from another office and I'm stuck with my PO Box at this lousy office

Before going to the trouble of using a different PO, why not make a copy of section 101.1.2 and (without sticking your tongue out at them) show it to the clerks at your PO?

 

HI Mark,

I appreciate your suggestion and I did give this some thought. If I make a copy of this page and go in there with it, no matter how smooth or glib I can appear, the fact that I came in with a copy and try to tell them their job, would be , effectively, sticking my tongue out.....Know what I mean ?

 

Paul

Dude....Marks right, You have to educate them...

Then if they don't want to budge I am sure that when you ask for the post master gens # they might back up and take a little notice...

I agree with that guy!

 

Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc.

[gmarguli]

Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc.

 

 

[MAULEMALL]

Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc.

 

I just spit Ice cream all over my moniter

[jesbroken]

Mark is exactly right. Show them the law, by all means. Maybe they had it explained wrong to them and its the PostMaster's fault not theirs. In my past life as GM of a Heavy Truck dealership I have had to fax copies of the Federal Law to Wyoming and Pennsylvania State Police HQ in order to allow my customer to continue uninhibited by their lack of knowledge of the law. Both times I was actually thanked by the State Police. Go figure.

PS that's the nice thing about a fax machine you can stick your tongue out without retribution.

[astrostu]

They work for you, not the other way around.

[BillJones]

They work for you, not the other way around.

 

You must of missed some of the post offices with which I've tried to do business. Such places are filled with standard issue government clerks.

 

"I don't need to do anything unless I feel like it! My way or the highway! Now have a nice day!"

[MarkFeld]

"Originally Posted By: MarkFeld

"Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc." "

 

" "Mark Feld...

 

You may choose 2

Has Never Been to a Post Office?

Is Stoned?"

 

Votes accepted starting: 08/30/07 01:57 PM

You must vote before you can view the results of this poll."

 

Greg, does it REALLY matter that I've never been to a PO? After all, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

 

 

[Bruceswar]

"Originally Posted By: MarkFeld

"Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc." "

 

" "Mark Feld...

 

You may choose 2

Has Never Been to a Post Office?

Is Stoned?"

 

Votes accepted starting: 08/30/07 01:57 PM

You must vote before you can view the results of this poll."

 

Greg, does it REALLY matter that I've never been to a PO? After all, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:signfunny:

[rbrown4]

"Originally Posted By: MarkFeld

"Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc." "

 

" "Mark Feld...

 

You may choose 2

Has Never Been to a Post Office?

Is Stoned?"

 

Votes accepted starting: 08/30/07 01:57 PM

You must vote before you can view the results of this poll."

 

Greg, does it REALLY matter that I've never been to a PO? After all, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:signfunny:

 

Gotta love it, another reason these boards are a great place to be. Thanks for the smiles. lol

 

Rey

[EZ_E]

 

Gotta love it, another reason these boards are a great place to be. Thanks for the smiles. lol

 

Rey

 

Sure, Mark is a great guy during the work week but what happens on the weekends when his Clark Kent glasses come off?

 

[Revenant]

Greg, does it REALLY matter that I've never been to a PO? After all, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

 

 

So, you're one of those "I do my best thinking in the shower" types?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rrantique]

"Originally Posted By: MarkFeld

"Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc." "

 

" "Mark Feld...

 

You may choose 2

Has Never Been to a Post Office?

Is Stoned?"

 

Votes accepted starting: 08/30/07 01:57 PM

You must vote before you can view the results of this poll."

 

Greg, does it REALLY matter that I've never been to a PO? After all, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

 

 

BaaaWhaaa

[DC Dawg]

Safe -T mailers have gone the way of the do-do bird IMO. I just stopped fighting and went to boxes.

I must have good luck. I just pack my envelopes with Safe-T mailers, weigh them on the scale I have here, and add a 17-cents stamp for every ounce, or fraction of an ounce, over 1 ounce. If it is under one ounce, I add a 17-cents stamp anyway for being too thick. It has never been return nor has anyone had to pay extra postage.

 

BTW: The scale was $20 at Costco and worth every penny. I buy the stamps from the post office or a local substation and deal with it on my own.

 

To Mark Feld...

 

Scott

[supertooth]

Paul---- Because I want to try and help, I will respond here.

 

A couple of months ago, I did a post on a new post office booklet that is now supposed to be available to the public at your post offices. It is called "A Customer's Guide to Mailing". It does 'help' to some degree.

 

Both my wife and son work for the post office----so I get virtually ALL the news of what goes on. These last changes seemed to have tiped the scales. It is sooooo bad that virtually every office is using its own interpretation of the rules. In a system based on rules---it has become totally dysfunctional----because of them.

 

Let me tell a true personal story. I have a seller from whom I have been buying a lot of coins. He had been sending them in small CD mailers that have now been deemed 'rigid'---under the new policy. He has been thru a lot trying to figure out how to send his coins out to buyers. It got soooo bad at his post office that they told him that he could no longer 'insure' coins using his previous method of mailing them. In fact, he could only send them Registered if he wanted them insured. Naturally, I had my wife check the regulations. In one section, his post office was using an interpretation of one rule----where, in another section, it clearly stated something else. The poor guy was soooo upset----until I had him send them another way----then it settled down.

 

It would seem that each and every postmaster----at each and every office---is now trying to decide how to interpret the new regulations. In the end, what was supposed to be crystal clear----has proven once again to be muddled in controversy. Each and every postmaster is fighting his own system---just to be able to leave his or her office in the evening. Their own computers do not let them into their own system to file the necessary paperwork----but then some check and balance threatens them because they are late filing the necessary reports. This goes on all during the day---wasting time on stuff that has been created by a bureaucratic bunch of numb nuts at the top of a system----who are not there in the offices trying to carry out the regulations. What works for some offices----simply does not work for others. What is necessary for some offices---simply is not necessary for others.

 

In the end, instead of simplifying the system, these changes have brought nothing but confusion. And all of America is suffering because of it. If we could lop off the head of too many top level jobs, and put some common sense people into the system----it could be fixed. But, at the moment, I fear that it is BEYOND fixing. In the interum, the clerks at the windows are subject to their boss' wishes and the wishes of his or her boss. Bob [supertooth]

[thebeav]

HI Bob,

Your post says it all.

I can't tell you, for the past 5 or 6 years, how many post offices have had different regulations. One office will insure an envelope, another says that is not allowed......etc, etc....This is, no doubt, the result of these different supervisors interpreting the regulations their own way. It's a shame.....and, unfortunately, a sham.....

In my case, I can simply put a 58 cent stamp on the envelope (like Scott does) and it will travel just fine. I've never had one come back. But for the unfortunates who are unwittingly duped by this office into paying 55 cents too much on a simple envelope, they're stuck......

You nailed it Bob. That's exactly what's happening here.....Thanks....

 

Paul

[cpm9ball]

Seriously, though, I am confident that you can show them the light in a polite and respectful manner. If you would be more comfortable, in order to help cushion the blow, you could even preface it by telling them that it's amazing how many different regulations there are, etc.

 

 

I can't respond to this because you left out one option.................... "Mark Feld doesn't go to the Post Office because all of the clerks are stoned." .......except in St. Michaels, MD. :hi:Bob!

 

Chris

[cpm9ball]

Yeah, I just paid $1.13 to send Rey his gift in a check-sized envelope, but I didn't want to waste 55c of my time arguing the matter.

 

In my opinion, the problem starts at the top of the ladder, and as you make your way higher and higher toward the top, you become further and further removed from the day-to-day routines.

 

How can you expect an architect to design an efficient, well-organized bar or restaurant when that person has never worked in one?

 

Chris

[supertooth]

Paul and Chris---- One thing that I failed to mention was what has happened to the "psyche" of the postal worker.

 

Over the years, I had many postal workers as patients. They talk to you because they are your friends. Most were what would be considered 'normal' people when they started to work for the postal system. Decent and caring folks---for the most part. But the system wears on them. After years of watching things not working correctly----with virtually NO power to change anything---they become as robots going about their work.

 

In the offices, they end up choosing the lesser of evils. They do what is easiest in order to survive. Example---the old postmaster where my wife is now in charge would order only 'flag' stamps. It was easier on his paperwork---less time to fill out his stamp ordering sheets. Didn't have to show people different stamps at the window. Now, my wife orders lots of different kinds of stamps---pretty stamps---the folks are buying them now in droves. It is a matter that the postal system has robbed the individual of the ability to care. Hence we have folks who actually act that way. They are treated like dirt---and, in turn, go into a sort of defense shell in order to survive. It is easy to see---if you but are around these folks. Scared to speak up for fear of causing a large wave that might hurt themselves in their own job. Fearful that their next promotion would be affected or raise threatened.

 

It is no wonder why the term 'going postal' was invented. Both my wife and son are lucky. He is a carrier---he cases and sorts his mail---and is gone on his route. My wife is now the temporary postmistress at our little office. She is by herself. So, has a lot of leeway to do it "For The Customer". Afterall, we have known most of them for over thirty years. They are not quite as affected as many of their fellow workers. Just a little different insight to help others to understand a little more about what is happening these days. Bob [supertooth]

[cpm9ball]

Paul and Chris---- One thing that I failed to mention was what has happened to the "psyche" of the postal worker.

 

Over the years, I had many postal workers as patients. They talk to you because they are your friends. Most were what would be considered 'normal' people when they started to work for the postal system. Decent and caring folks---for the most part. But the system wears on them. After years of watching things not working correctly----with virtually NO power to change anything---they become as robots going about their work.

 

In the offices, they end up choosing the lesser of evils. They do what is easiest in order to survive. Example---the old postmaster where my wife is now in charge would order only 'flag' stamps. It was easier on his paperwork---less time to fill out his stamp ordering sheets. Didn't have to show people different stamps at the window. Now, my wife orders lots of different kinds of stamps---pretty stamps---the folks are buying them now in droves. It is a matter that the postal system has robbed the individual of the ability to care. Hence we have folks who actually act that way. They are treated like dirt---and, in turn, go into a sort of defense shell in order to survive. It is easy to see---if you but are around these folks. Scared to speak up for fear of causing a large wave that might hurt themselves in their own job. Fearful that their next promotion would be affected or raise threatened.

 

It is no wonder why the term 'going postal' was invented. Both my wife and son are lucky. He is a carrier---he cases and sorts his mail---and is gone on his route. My wife is now the temporary postmistress at our little office. She is by herself. So, has a lot of leeway to do it "For The Customer". Afterall, we have known most of them for over thirty years. They are not quite as affected as many of their fellow workers. Just a little different insight to help others to understand a little more about what is happening these days. Bob [supertooth]

 

That is the primary reason why I chose not to become a career soldier. I knew that I wouldn't be able to change anything, and ingenuity, inventiveness and self-motivation were (Please not the past tense usage) definitely not good qualities for the rank-and-file. The routine coninued to be............ "If it moves, salute it; if it doesn't, paint it!"

 

Chris

[conqueror]

Its the people that makes the difference and with a little smile, thats how things get started. My mail man doesn't like the way things are done but he always has a smile and does the best he can. I thank him all the time for his hard work, because i would hate to have him go elsewhere.

 

John