posted on December 13, 2001 07:51:09 PM new
Yeah -
I try to remember fun as I am heldup in line by one customer who has decided to make out their last will & teastament, another who is doing their income tax filing for the last 2 years, and yet another who has decided it is chic to fill out the address labels after the clerk has told them how much postage on each one of 28 packages will be. I think this the other side of GOING POSTAL!!!
posted on December 14, 2001 09:51:40 PM new
Does anybody ever go to these pack and ship places like Mail Boxes Etc.? Yes, they do charge a premium for their services, but the wait is usually cut by about 1/10th, isn't it?
posted on December 15, 2001 07:50:27 PM new
Well, our post office had their hours changed. Open at 9:30 it was 9:15, and I was 4th in line, didn't wait went to the next nearest PO 7 minutes away, no wait out at 9:25. Guess where I am going next time.
No wonder they are losing money....
posted on December 16, 2001 06:08:00 AM new
We've tried Mailboxes Etc. and found they charge dearly and not worth it! After the last time, I swore I'd never go back! I'd rather wait in line, and found that mid morning and shortly after lunch isn't too bad. Happy Holidays, everyone!
posted on December 16, 2001 06:44:11 AM new
call me a postal butterfly-i do a lot of socialising and gossiping at the post office.
customers in line tell me what they do,what they plan to do soon and what they have done in the past,one retiree of enron crosstown rival said 4000 enron employees would have a very difficult time finding job in the city.one told me of a lady who just walked away from her home and live in the bermudas,anyone who wants her house just he/she wants to assume her mortgage.i received a box of hawwaiian macadamia nuts coated with chocolate from an ebay bidder,i encouraged everyone in line to eat some.
one grandfather told me of his identical twin grandchildren,i even found a lost neighbor there.
i also chatted with the postal workers (may be thats why the line is so long),what they do over weekend,how they try to lose weight,what bargains they have found-boombox for 9.99 at kmart with cd player??,personal heath problem etc etc etc/
you probably dont want to use the same post office as i do.
posted on December 16, 2001 09:36:26 AM new
Wow, I feel so lucky... I went to the PO last Friday around 11:30 a.m. and there was no one in line. The only thing I had to wait for was a postal employee to appear behind the counter. This PO is in a fairly large city, but tucked away in the corner so maybe not too many people know about it.
posted on December 16, 2001 10:04:14 AM new
Belalug3 - I used to own a pack-n-ship store (not a Mailboxes Etc.). I would recommend that you approach some of the various pack-n-ship stores in your area. Explain that you have an online business that requires you to ship X amount of packages per week. Odds are, most of them will cut you a special deal. Now that I'm a full-time eBayer, I use three pack-n-ship stores (including a Mailboxes Etc.) quite often. I couldn't do this with their regular rates because the chintzy eBay buyers would scream. However, all three have set up rates for me that are lower than I could actually buy the packing materials and ship the item myself. About the only situation where that is not true is for the very lowest weight items. Of course, even if you pay slightly more for these items, you have to consider that your hours of Post Office waiting are a cost to you - whether or not you choose to pass this cost along to your customer in your S & H charges.
posted on December 16, 2001 12:46:17 PM new
Waiting in line at the post office....I definately don't miss it!! Nowadays, I just walk into the post office, go straight to the counter right past everyone standing in line, deposit my packages on the counter, and leave!! It's so much better than standing in line behind 15+ people!! About 5 months ago I signed up with an online postage company that is sooo easy to use and so much faster than the other online companies(and the post office) because you don't have to spend extra time typing in zip codes and such on each package. I mail out about 50-100 packages a week and it has saved me so much time(not to mention the frustrations of standing in line for way too long!). Happy Holidays!!
posted on December 16, 2001 01:17:02 PM new
You must not ship international...
Well, the post office is open today (Sunday). The line was out the door and out into the lobby. There were a good 50 people ahead of me with three clerks hustling. I like to chit-chat with others if they appear interesting. Anyway, a woman in line got the idea of starting up a chorl to sing Jingle Bells. Three agreed and we belted out the song... Jingle bells, jingles bells, jingle all the way...
posted on December 16, 2001 02:47:09 PM new
Hello
Am I to late? About two years ago I fell in love with my post office worker. She is so nice, friendly etc and that is important to old fools like me. Yesterday morning I was mailing a package to England when she introduced me to her twin sister. Puts new meaning to "going Postal"
Happy Holiday
posted on December 17, 2001 07:49:03 AM new
The only time I even run to the post office these days is to pick up my mail every couple days. I started using UPS about 8 months ago and I couldn't be happier. They come to my home every day at 2:30 and I get to set the boxes in my courtyard and they driver picks them up and I never wait for anything! It is so easy and the customers get automatic insurance and tracking. If you usually insure and/or track packages you really should check into UPS. No more loading boxes in your car, walking up to teh post office numerous times with tons of packages, waiting in line, filing out all those insurance forms and tracking forms, and with UPS you can pay once a week or once a month. It is great not to have those millions of post office receipts littering my purse. I highly suggest UPS... take a load off and save yourself all those hours.
Happy Holidays!!!
There's no danger of developing eyestrain from looking at the bright side of things!
posted on December 17, 2001 08:29:52 AM new
usps is good if you are shipping books at media mail rate or small packages and envelopes.
also intl is much cheaper.
hope everyone has a little fun while waiting in line this holiday season.