hwahwa
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posted on June 17, 2007 12:17:44 PM
When we use Paypal to calculate and print the postage in stealth mode,does the post office check to make sure we have enough postage?
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Lets all stop whining !
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pmelcher
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posted on June 17, 2007 12:34:19 PM
If it is in stealth mode how would they know how much you paid for? As you can tell I have never printed postage from PayPal.
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birgittaw
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posted on June 17, 2007 12:40:48 PM
The label tells the PO what kind of postage, and how much it weighs, of if flat rate and how much (ie a flat rate envelope label won't work for flat rate box -- if they check). Don't know if it tells oversize or not since I haven't used that option on USPS.
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toolhound
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posted on June 17, 2007 12:45:33 PM
A friend of mine was just telling me he got caught on 4 packages that were 1/2 ounce or less over the 2 pound rate for priority. The think that was really bad was they did not mail them out and sent him a letter telling him to come to the Post Office to add the corect postage. It took 3 days for him to get this letter.
When he went in to add the postage they told him if it happens again he will not be able to drop packages without standing in line so they can be checked.
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hwahwa
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posted on June 17, 2007 01:05:06 PM
see,4 packages,USPS suspects he is cheating!
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Lets all stop whining !
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davebraun
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posted on June 17, 2007 03:00:57 PM
They spot check only until you are caught, then you are flagged according to my local friendly window clerk.
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twig125silver
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posted on June 17, 2007 06:43:19 PM
I always add an ounce for the difference between my scale and the Post Office's.
I may add two if it isn't going to cost anymore.
Our local Post Office knows I do this, but still probably check from time to time. One of the girls told me about someone that typed in 1 lb. for all of their packages for a long time before they checked any of them...some were over 5 lbs!
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pixiamom
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posted on June 17, 2007 06:54:50 PM
I skate on the edge - Neglus PO charges 17 cents extra for "rigid"(I call them semi-rigid" envelopes. I go to a Po neighborhood franchise which isn't quite the sharpest knife on the bench but does allow margin-lime items the benefit of the doubt.
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rhpepsi
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posted on June 17, 2007 08:26:14 PM
they are now measuring priority boxes used "inside out". Don't try to recycle the small video boxes. I had a few that I recieved and they were ideal size to reship items out in. So I turned them inside out...wrapped them with BROWN PAPER and the buyer was charged an extra $2.45...the box had 6 1/2 and 2 1/2 PRIORITY box written on it from PO. They never opened it to see exactly what kind of box it was...just went by their sizes. Unfortunately...it is usually the RECEIVING post office that does this....your local one doesn't want you to take your business elsewhere, so they don't say anything.
[ edited by rhpepsi on Jun 17, 2007 08:27 PM ]
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LtRay
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posted on June 17, 2007 10:05:00 PM
I received a package this week that had postage due. It had been shipped by the seller parcel post with a PayPal label, stealth postage.
Since I had paid $15.00 shipping for a package that only cost 9.00 to ship, I was pretty po'd to have to pay additional postage at pickup. She had paid for a 4lb 2 oz package. Actual package weight was 5lb 7oz.
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hwahwa
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posted on June 17, 2007 10:33:12 PM
rhpepsi,
If the recycled priority box is turned inside out and wrapped with brown paper,how do they know it is a priority box?does anyone besides USPS make boxes of that size??
-when you order boxes online,you have to agree not to use their supply other than what it is meant for,eg, priority boxes are meant for priority shipping .
priority tape is meant for priority shipping,not for wrapping your item.
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Lets all stop whining !
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hwahwa
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posted on June 17, 2007 10:41:01 PM
The Post office is sitting on a wealth of information about us,how much we ship,how much postage we buy,how many claims we file and like someone said,if we try to shortchange them on weight.
They are the next FBI!
Some of them will even take down the URL of our website and browse ,one even placed an ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One even cite me my customer service policy!
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Lets all stop whining !
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rhpepsi
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posted on June 18, 2007 05:36:16 AM
hwahwa....I use a ton of priority boxes for PRIORITY shipping. But I have always received boxes, either from returns or items I bought. I usually try to reuse whatever I can. The buyer sent me photos showing that the PO wrote 6 1/4 & 2 1/4 on the wrapper...NO priority tape was used...box was UNOPENED. Like I said...really don't think that it was "my" PO...they really don't want to have me ship out of another PO. Which is easy enough to do, get a PO BOX at the next closest one and when I order online postage...it ALL goes to the new PO. As for small boxes for 1st class or media...several places in the area to pick them up, so there is no need for me to abuse the priority boxes, I will just throw the old ones out now, if the PO has the time to measure and police sizes. Hmmm...that would be a great way to make some money...MAKE the exact same size box...then SUE their butts when they start charging the extra postage.
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hwahwa
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posted on June 18, 2007 09:02:16 AM
They probably know from the feel it is their box.
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Lets all stop whining !
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MAH645
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posted on June 18, 2007 10:24:22 AM
The Post Office does not want you to reuse a Priority Box to ship something, they consider it fraud if you do.
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ST0NEC0LD613
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posted on June 18, 2007 01:08:58 PM
does the post office check to make sure we have enough postage?
Yes. If you hang out at the P.O. long enough, you will notice that one of the clerks will close their window, go in the back and roll out a cart of online postage packages. Then they will place each of them on the scale to check the postage, then scan them in to activate the barcode into the system as a received package. They also will set aside any packages that do not have the proper postage, I am assuming to send them pack to the sender.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 18, 2007 01:49:07 PM
Oh, nonsense.
My online postage-franked packages go directly in the big bin that gets taken to the regional sorting center just after 5 pm each day. They are not weighed there, either.
The bite comes, if it comes, at the receiving station. Seems like at least once a month a remote postal employee is eager to demonstrate his or her ignorance of the rates and regulations. When I get the angry "Why did I have to pay extra postage on this?" email, I tell them to take it up with the local station. I can't be responsible for lack of education.
fLufF
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toasted36
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posted on June 18, 2007 01:58:04 PM
I've only mailed 3 packages since the change and they have measured all 3 packages here in S.C. .
Todays package was a real stinker . I used Paypal to print it and you have to type in the size .
It was 55 X 8 X 4 = 79 inches...under the 82 inch mark. Paypal price was 13.45 and it was insured for 112.51 total shipping cost. Total cost 15.90
Post office said Priority was 25.05 because of the size + 2.45 = 27.50. I'm pissed that Paypal shipping did not catch this . It was only a dime more to send it express because they don't measure express packages . Sheesh ! I sent it express and came home and canceled the Paypal label.
I thought Paypal was suppose to be up to date on shipping sizes and prices. I ate the 11.70 on shipping because there is no way I'd ask the buyer after the shipping was stated up front. I still made good money on the Bear Bow but dang that kind of stuff can add up fast . Has anyone else been burned by Paypal?
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 18, 2007 02:15:22 PM
Unfortunately, the aforementioned lack of education (particularly among older, entrenched posties in smaller stations) has pretty much killed my dream of doing eBay while on the road.
It's annoying, too, because there are so many places now that have free 802.11b hotspots (ok, WiFi to you guys) that the connection problem has been mostly solved. It's still too expensive to do it from a cruise ship, but that's about it.
I drove from coast to coast in 2000, having scheduled a gob of listings before I left, and shipped along the way as things were paid for. At that time the problem was resistance to using PayPal. How times have changed.
fLufF
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TheFamilyBiz
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posted on June 18, 2007 03:14:19 PM
Toasted - You've been attacked by the Dimensional Weight Demon (DWD) that was spawned by the US Postal Service on May 14. Actually, it was in play with probably all shippers many years before this - but it's new to the USPS.
And - as Fluffy points out - not all of the "posties" are up to speed yet as evidenced by an interaction I had about 30 minutes ago in our little hamlet.
I had a large calendar to mail and used a Priority Mail shirt box - flattened and all taped up. Well, I asked one of the friendliest at the PO if there were any "other" regulations that would come into play for it, since it probably measured 16x14 (just a guess) - but I had heard here about issues with "rigid" flat items vs. "semi-rigid" items, etc.
"I know it's not over a cubic foot, but are there any other new regulations that would come into play?" was my question to her.
"Oh, because you haven't bent it around, it's going to be over a cubic foot. I can tell that from here," she said.
Now, I hadn't heard the sucking sound that must have occured when her brain was removed and rice pudding put in its place. It must have occured before I arrived today.
I looked at the ONLY one in the place I trust to be up on the regs and smiled. She had heard what I asked and assured me there wasn't anything that would impact it. She also made me aware of something I bet not everyone has heard or realized yet:
The dimensional weight fee increase does not occur until the package is traveling to Zones 5-8 from your mailing location. So, anything close to you and there's no increase - still have to stick to the 108-inch rule though (L+G<108" .
The other new thing I just learned this week when planning to sell smaller items and offer First Class rates... And it's a change that occured on May 14 as well...
First Class postage appears to have been limited to 13 ounces now - down from 16 ounces. Is that right? Can anyone who uses First Class regularly confirm this?
Anyway - an interesting afternoon at the Post Office - as is often the case. I always wondered what the career path was for the youngsters who take your order at fast food drive thru windows. They become clerks at the Post Office! Ugh!
Wayne
Never explain -- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.
~ Elbert Hubbard
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 18, 2007 03:23:48 PM
It was always 13 ounces for First Class. Anything over that went Priority Mail.
Wayne, did you ask that clerk to turn sideways so you could see if she disappeared? Apparently she only lives her life in two dimensions, so...
fLufF
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hwahwa
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posted on June 18, 2007 03:33:35 PM
Anything over 13 oz does not have to go priority,it can go parcel post.
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Lets all stop whining !
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deur1
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posted on June 18, 2007 07:48:45 PM
My PO is very efficient (I am glad!) I think the rules should go for all.
They routinely bust the inside -out priority box users that do not use the boxes for Priority Mail.
Every PO in the county now know who they are and they are rejected.
An acquaintance of mine use to do that and is mad as a hornet. She gets busted everytime she tries it!
I think it is fair!
As for weighing,YES, they do but not every box ,everyday.
How could anyone mail a 5 pound item and put 1 pound on it--- that is just plainly answered -DISHONEST!
JMHO
[ edited by deur1 on Jun 19, 2007 03:10 AM ]
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deur1
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posted on June 18, 2007 07:51:50 PM
They spot check only until you are caught, then you are flagged according to my local friendly window clerk.
Davebraun -- that is exactly how it is.
You nailed it.
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ST0NEC0LD613
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posted on June 19, 2007 10:42:21 AM
Oh, nonsense.
Fluffy, you are showing your ignorance with that statement. Please feel free to go to the PO and observe.
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birgittaw
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posted on June 19, 2007 11:14:19 AM
Main post office: Dumps packages into bin, which goes to larger city -- no scans entered anywhere before delivery (check some of your tracking numbers to see)
Satellite post office: Scanned upon receipt, not weighed, dumped into bags, no scans anywhere before delivery
Carrier pickup: No scans on pickup, no scans on delivery to main PO, dumped on dock into bin, no other scans
Occasionally, a scan will be entered upon receipt at destination post office.
Just like you and I can probably tell by now if a package weighs 1 lb. or 3, so can the clerks if so inclined. A fraction of an ounce seems odd for flagging though unless there was a reason for it.
I'm in SC too.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on June 19, 2007 12:11:43 PM
Please feel free to go to the PO and observe.
I do and have. I am a trusted shipper, so I get to go in back behind the clerks' windows.
You have yet to learn that the customs of your tribe are not laws of nature.
fLufF
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LtRay
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posted on June 19, 2007 12:37:04 PM
"You have yet to learn that the customs of your tribe are not laws of nature." 
I want the t-shirt!
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