posted on October 24, 2001 02:05:03 PM new
My husband does the post office runs for me, but I try to have everything ready in advance so none of the other customers will glare holes in his back while the clerk is processing the packages.
I buy stamps and put postage on all the packages that I can, and have the insurance forms filled out and ready to go. Then I sort them into two bags ... completely ready packages, and packages that need something. He just hands them the whole bag of ready packages (they don't check them or anything), then they fly through the packages that need insurance, etc.
It takes him less time, even with a large number of packages, than it does for a person who comes in with one package but is totally unprepared (and/or wants to see every stamp ever made so that they can choose their favorite -- LOL!).
On occasion, another customer has seen all the packages he has, and has asked "eBay, right?"
posted on October 24, 2001 05:34:08 PM new
At our local PO if you have your postage on your packages you can put them in a pile on the "loading dock" (really just a little porch) & ring the bell & they will come outside & get them. There is no waiting in line at all that way.
I don't do this all of the time, but will soon as I am expecting & our PO is up a steep flight of stairs & it usually takes me 3 or 4 trips from the car to get them all to the window. I couldn't possibly get a pile of packages plus a baby up there & keep my sanity.
posted on October 24, 2001 05:57:15 PM new
I endorse your comments stonewallz! Before present problems I got payment fron US buyers before UK buyers and shipping to US was quicker than UK shipping. My lots have arrived in USA before my lots reached UK buyers.
posted on October 24, 2001 06:49:16 PM new
Whoa, wait a minute...you mean I have it backwards? I'm supposed to go to my rural post office (that has no modern technology and no patience to let the scale needle stop bobbing wildly back and forth before over charging me yet again) instead of to the city post office where I have to stand in line for 20 minutes? D'OH!
Actually, I too have a very good relationship with the ladies in the much busier post office. They all say hi and goodbye no matter which one waited on me and tease me when I only have one or two packages instead of having to make two or three trips back out to the car just to get them all in the door. And I'm nowhere near the only eBayer they handle either, although I think the other ones do such a volume that they make use of the on-line features, because they just drop off their stuff at the end of the counter and run. But I enjoy conversing (and checking out all the clueless customers that get to the counter before me).
Before using this post office, I tried using the self-service PO 2/10 of a mile up the road from where I work. It worked great if there was no one else in there when I arrived. Invariably, if someone else was there, they were so clueless as to what to do, as soon as they saw I was all business and flying through what I needed to get done, they would hit me with all kinds of questions on what they needed to do with their package. Do you see a name tag on my shirt pal? I don't mind being helpful, but when it became a regular occurrence that greatly slowed me down, it actually became faster to stand in line for 20 minutes at a regular PO.
Definitely try hitting your PO at different times of the day to see when they are slowest. I have a window of 30 minutes in which I must hit the PO, but you would be surprised how much shorter the line is at 4:15 as opposed to 4:45 (15 minutes before they close).
posted on October 24, 2001 07:47:53 PM new
Our local Post Office has become a nightmare since they replaced all their equipment which doesn't work worth a damn.By the time you get get run over in the parking lot by grannie who has to get in the handicap spot and will knock you down if you get to the door before she does,get in line behind three stamp collectors who want the wicked witch stamp for Halloween,Joe Blow who don't know the zipcode so we'll play lets look it up for a hour and lets not forget the business dude on his cell phone,who moving and want to see a map of all the Post Office boxes available,while some gal has to stop and change her brat in the middle of the counter.
posted on October 25, 2001 11:54:47 AM new
Adding to Eventer's list:
Standing in line for 20 minutes while a customer gives the clerk a detailed explanation of why he doesn't care if his letter makes it in 2 days or 5 days, including what he had for breakfast, where he works, how many miles he jogs per day, and his astrological sign.
posted on October 25, 2001 12:38:37 PM new
Generally speaking, I hate it when cutomers bring in their meters. That takes WAY to long!!!!!
I was in the post office one day, behind a clueless customer, who had 4 packages. 3 were weighed and ready to mail. The 4th had to be assembled for mailing. The clerk had gone through the first 3 and gave her a total, and then gave her an estimate for the 4th. The customer essentially said, go ahead and add it on. The clerk said she couldn't until it was assembled, and asked her to pay for the three, and when she was finished with the 4th, she could just come over and pay for it, didn't have to stand in line again. The customer through a fit. She would NOT write 2 checks, and asked the clerk to tape it up. The clerk was a little ticked, and chose to stick to the rules. She can't add it on until the package is ready because the tape and stuff increases the weight, and no, They are not to package up stuff for the customers, etc etc Customer asked why they have tape then? (All this while 10 people are standing in line, boring holes into the back of this lady's head). Well the clerk finally taped up the package for her. She must have added a pound of tape onto the box. The whole time the lady was going on and on about how could they expect her to write 2 checks, and how rude the clerk was.
I found out later that the customer had called the post office on her cell phone, from the parking lot, to complain about the clerk. I told Cathy (the clerk) that I'd be more than happy to chat with her boss about the witch who couldn't afford to write 2 checks, but could make a call on her cell phone during peak hours.
When she left the post office, she looked at the people in line and rolled her eyes, trying to convey to us that the clerks there were so rude. Yeah right. She was the topic of conversation for the next 10 minutes. Cathy, Rhonda and I still occasionally joke about her.
posted on October 25, 2001 02:18:39 PM new
I live in Los Angeles and mail a lot of stuff and almost never stand in line. I buy stamps (mostly $3.50 Priority + 40 cents for DC) and apply the correct postage including DC on the package. I drop everything under 16oz. I can in the mail slot and take anything over 16 oz. and drop them off at the counter. I do not stand in line - just get the attention of a clerk and let them know these are over a pound. They do not scan the DC for the drop-off, but I don't care. They will scan when they deliver the package. There is a small risk if the package is lost and you can't prove you mailed the item. However, I've mailed over 1000 packages and have never lost one. I only stand in line for International, insured or Express Mail. And those are rare for me. After the first year of do this and since I was doing well with eBay I gave everyone at my PO a nice Xmas gift. They really appreciated the gesture and treat me really well.
I don't have to get/pay for online postage and it keeps me from having to stand in long PO lines. I have a full time job and the last thing I need is to be stand in line during my lunch hour.
posted on October 25, 2001 07:04:12 PM new
Here's the solution to most of your Post Office woes if you are geographically located in certain metropolitan areas.
There is an incredible new program initiative that you can and should take part in. It's for businesses, including internet auctioneers, in 7 major cities. Those cities are Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and Houston and their surrounding areas. Here are the benefits:
1. IT'S COMPLETELY FREE TO YOU!!!
2. An Account Rep is assigned to you. He/She can offer you various web-based or software based programs which will allow you to
a. print your own priority or express
mail labels with a FREE Delivery
Confirmation Bar Code OR
b. print the above along with postage.
There is a fee involved with "b" but it's so low you'll make money on shipping fees.
3. Belonging to this program also allows you to order all the FREE shipping supplies you need (boxes, stickers, tape, etc.) There's no minimum or maximum and all the supplies come directly to you.
In many instances, the Account Rep can set it up with the local post offices to accept you packages on the loading dock if the are already pre-labeled with postage. It makes life so much easier when you can pull around to the dock or give the bin to the clerk and leave within 5 minutes. An e-mail confirmation is sent when the packages are scanned in and when the package is delivered.
[ edited by PostalStreet on Oct 25, 2001 07:11 PM ]
[ edited by PostalStreet on Oct 31, 2001 07:49 AM ]
[ edited by PostalStreet on Nov 1, 2001 08:12 PM ]
posted on October 26, 2001 08:59:15 PM new
You guys should be in my post office on Thursday afternoon, Friday or Saturday morning sometime. What a zoo! My town is full of hispanics, many of whom do not speak english or have checking accounts. They come to the p.o. with their interpreters and children and buy money orders and enough stamps for their envelopes. They very seldom just buy one money order, it is a bunch at once. So you wait on that and all of the questions that get asked with the interpreter interpreting. I try to avoid my p.o. on those days because the place is packed to the brim and the kids are running everywhere.
posted on October 27, 2001 12:17:08 AM new
Okay, well i've been looking very seriously at ENDICIA (SP?) After my the last 2 months of marathon package hauling to the P.O.
ANyways, tried to use that nifty USPS link to get a new label w/ the free Delivery Confirmation, figured I'd shock my clerks w/ something new in the AM (they love it that I now print all my labels & add zip+4 to most... I hand printed them for the longest time (don't ask why... I have a tendency to do things the hard way for a long time...).
Anyways, my printer just completely skps over the LABEL & prints the Shipping record??? I tried printing from both AOL browser & IE browser?? What am I doing wrong??
All that & a Bag of Chips Too!!
posted on October 27, 2001 03:49:17 AM new
Postal Street:
How long is this pilot program going to last?
I'll be the first to sign up here if the start the program here! I live in a medium sized city (over 100,000).
Of course, I could make the trek to St. Louis to mail my packages (120 miles from here), since I am down there at least once or twice a month, but I don't think my customers would like waiting for the longer delivery times.
Then of course, I could always plan my auctions so they end when I am headed for St. Louis, but that would only work if bidders paid in a timely fashion!
Guess I'll have to hope the pilot program is a success and they start it here soon!
posted on October 27, 2001 10:21:49 AM new
I can't believe the people who come in with things in a shopping bag and want a wrapping service. They can't understand why for the cost of postage they can't have $3.00 of wrapping materials and 15 minutes of the clerk's time.
The women who will let their children roll and crawl all over the filthy floor amaze me.
This summer I was in a long line and the 20 something fellow behind kept bumping me hard. I finally turned around and told him "Quit pushing me it doesn't make the line move any faster." He glared at me and said "Then move up fat boy!" I reached up and grabbed the pocket of his whitee dress shirt and ripped it off. It did not detach at the bottom so it ripped a stip all the way down to his belt and hung there. I said "Go ahead give me a reason to pound the snot out of you." These young guys need to learn some manners before their mouth writes a chesck their butt can't cash.
posted on October 28, 2001 07:17:58 AM new
Yesterday, I trained my 7th postal window clerk in the use of the eDelivery Confirmation and shipping label. Apparently, postal management in our city has not seen fit to explain to their workers that they aren't supposed to charge for that eDC. I've offered to come in and conduct a training session for the staff on this issue - I'd much rather do it in a large group, than one at a time!
Also yesterday, there was a guy in front of me with two packages -- they were wrapped using duct tape(!) and several MILES of the Priority Mail tape. Does he realize how much weight that duct tape adds to packages???
AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!
Ah ... that feels better ...
--
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
posted on October 28, 2001 07:43:05 AM new
outoftheblue- interesting on the postmark. This would really disturb me. Is it official or did your po folks just make it up? I can't see how it can be universally true. But then I haven't understood so much lately, that I am not a good judge. LOL
