GunsMadeAmericaFree
Golden Member
Today I got this letter from the local postmaster:
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/3690/postald.jpg
The whole issue stems from a CPU trade I did with someone here on AnandTech. I probably average 2 or 3 packages sent out a month - usually around the 1 pound size. I figure that a decent number of you have probably either bought, sold or traded something through the mail, and since I've never run into anything like this, I thought I'd ask if any of you had experience with it. In a nutshell, I'm being asked to pay an extra $14.50 (plus postage) if I want to mail out any more packages.
I grew up on a rural route in NW Ohio. I remember being able to easily put a package in the mailbox and get it picked up with no problems or hassles.
Then I moved to the city. Things went ok there until some fool sent bombs, white powder or something through the mail, and then they always wanted you to DRIVE to the post office to mail just about anything a pound or more.
Later, when Paypal added the ability to log in and print a mailing label with delivery confirmation, I was overjoyed. Finally people couldn't bug me about the 1 pound rule any more, because there were no stamps on the package - just digital postage. It had all the origin info and everything stamped right on there with a barcode, so no need for me to walk in to a post office.
Now, I can sort of understand why they don't want the city carriers to have to pick up larger packages - they park their cars, and then walk 2 or 3 blocks picking things up and doing deliveries. They aren't equipped for picking up a lot of packages and carrying them long distance. However, the rural carriers are right in their truck. They have plenty of space, and just throw any packages in the back. They don't have to walk all over the place for blocks carrying it.
The letter claims that after buying the digital postage online, I also need to:
A) call their 800 #
or
B) get on their website and inform them that a package will be ready for pickup
or
C) pay them a $14.50 fee
This letter bothers me on SO MANY levels:
1) I grew up on 'Rural Route 2', WAY out in the boonies, and nobody ever mentioned anything like this. In fact, I can't find anything about a $14.50 fee for rural pickup anywhere when doing a search online. It is like they made it up out of thin air.
2) The letter assumes that I have a telephone or Internet access. Last time I checked, I thought that the postal service relied on sending physical packages, and not on someone having e-mail, telephone or Internet. As such, it certainly seems that there should not be an extra fee for anyone who doesn't happen to have those conveniences. Sure, I do happen to have them in this case, but there are those who do not, and they should not be penalized.
3) From what they are implying, they seem to be saying that I'm supposed to inform them a day ahead of time that a package will be put in the mailbox THE NEXT DAY for pickup. Sorry, but doing that would add a full day to the delivery of most packages that I send out. That is a ridiculous delay for packages when I'm paying extra to get them places in 2 or 3 days - adding as much as 50% to the delivery time.
4) I should not have to inform ANYONE other than the person I'm sending a package to that I'm mailing their package. Having to call someone else up and tell them seems like an invasion of privacy to me, and an unnecessary layer of red tape. A mail carrier is already sticking their hand in my mailbox with letters and ads - it doesn't seem like too much trouble to grab a package on the way out as well.
5) When I purchase the digital postage online, doesn't the USPS system already get "informed" that I have purchased the postage, that the package is being mailed, and the info on the delivery confirmation #? It would seem to me to be a very, very easy thing to do to have the system forward this info on to whatever carrier handles the route that would be picking up said package. Why should it be MY job to give them this info a second time, when they should already have it? Update your damn software!
Imagine if gas stations were run this way. 'Oh, sorry, you should have planned ahead and called us *YESTERDAY* to let us know you needed gas. Since you didn't, there will be an extra $15 surcharge to fill up your tank today, on the spur of the moment.'
I needed to blow off some steam over this, obviously. I mail things out maybe 2 or 3 times a month. I'm on dialup, and I'm definitely not going to spend an extra 15 minutes logging on and informing their system about a package every time. I'm not going to call an 800# and wait on hold or navigate a voice prompt. I'm certainly not going to pay some $14.50 fee, either.
I really think what they are asking is unnecessary, and I'm still wondering if this $14.50 fee is bogus. Have any of you ever encountered such a thing?
Thanks!
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/3690/postald.jpg
The whole issue stems from a CPU trade I did with someone here on AnandTech. I probably average 2 or 3 packages sent out a month - usually around the 1 pound size. I figure that a decent number of you have probably either bought, sold or traded something through the mail, and since I've never run into anything like this, I thought I'd ask if any of you had experience with it. In a nutshell, I'm being asked to pay an extra $14.50 (plus postage) if I want to mail out any more packages.
I grew up on a rural route in NW Ohio. I remember being able to easily put a package in the mailbox and get it picked up with no problems or hassles.
Then I moved to the city. Things went ok there until some fool sent bombs, white powder or something through the mail, and then they always wanted you to DRIVE to the post office to mail just about anything a pound or more.
Later, when Paypal added the ability to log in and print a mailing label with delivery confirmation, I was overjoyed. Finally people couldn't bug me about the 1 pound rule any more, because there were no stamps on the package - just digital postage. It had all the origin info and everything stamped right on there with a barcode, so no need for me to walk in to a post office.
Now, I can sort of understand why they don't want the city carriers to have to pick up larger packages - they park their cars, and then walk 2 or 3 blocks picking things up and doing deliveries. They aren't equipped for picking up a lot of packages and carrying them long distance. However, the rural carriers are right in their truck. They have plenty of space, and just throw any packages in the back. They don't have to walk all over the place for blocks carrying it.
The letter claims that after buying the digital postage online, I also need to:
A) call their 800 #
or
B) get on their website and inform them that a package will be ready for pickup
or
C) pay them a $14.50 fee
This letter bothers me on SO MANY levels:
1) I grew up on 'Rural Route 2', WAY out in the boonies, and nobody ever mentioned anything like this. In fact, I can't find anything about a $14.50 fee for rural pickup anywhere when doing a search online. It is like they made it up out of thin air.
2) The letter assumes that I have a telephone or Internet access. Last time I checked, I thought that the postal service relied on sending physical packages, and not on someone having e-mail, telephone or Internet. As such, it certainly seems that there should not be an extra fee for anyone who doesn't happen to have those conveniences. Sure, I do happen to have them in this case, but there are those who do not, and they should not be penalized.
3) From what they are implying, they seem to be saying that I'm supposed to inform them a day ahead of time that a package will be put in the mailbox THE NEXT DAY for pickup. Sorry, but doing that would add a full day to the delivery of most packages that I send out. That is a ridiculous delay for packages when I'm paying extra to get them places in 2 or 3 days - adding as much as 50% to the delivery time.
4) I should not have to inform ANYONE other than the person I'm sending a package to that I'm mailing their package. Having to call someone else up and tell them seems like an invasion of privacy to me, and an unnecessary layer of red tape. A mail carrier is already sticking their hand in my mailbox with letters and ads - it doesn't seem like too much trouble to grab a package on the way out as well.
5) When I purchase the digital postage online, doesn't the USPS system already get "informed" that I have purchased the postage, that the package is being mailed, and the info on the delivery confirmation #? It would seem to me to be a very, very easy thing to do to have the system forward this info on to whatever carrier handles the route that would be picking up said package. Why should it be MY job to give them this info a second time, when they should already have it? Update your damn software!
Imagine if gas stations were run this way. 'Oh, sorry, you should have planned ahead and called us *YESTERDAY* to let us know you needed gas. Since you didn't, there will be an extra $15 surcharge to fill up your tank today, on the spur of the moment.'
I needed to blow off some steam over this, obviously. I mail things out maybe 2 or 3 times a month. I'm on dialup, and I'm definitely not going to spend an extra 15 minutes logging on and informing their system about a package every time. I'm not going to call an 800# and wait on hold or navigate a voice prompt. I'm certainly not going to pay some $14.50 fee, either.
I really think what they are asking is unnecessary, and I'm still wondering if this $14.50 fee is bogus. Have any of you ever encountered such a thing?
Thanks!
