itcomputes
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posted on November 20, 2000 04:00:37 PM
- today I presented a package with the green delivery confirmation and blue insurance forms all filled out. He asked me how much insurance and I said $35.00. He looked at me like I was crazy and said the blue form is only for over $50.00, and proceeded to fill out the old murky green no bar code form.
- a couple weeks ago I sent some photos to 10 friends in Japan. I put them in those cardboard photo mailers. I handed them over, and the clerk said I needed customs forms for each of them. I've sent photos the same way before with no questions. About an hour later I returned with the laboriously filled out forms and a different clerk said customs forms are NEVER needed for first class.
What are your experiences?
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abacaxi
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posted on November 20, 2000 04:05:45 PM
Mine are boringly consistent, and have the annoying habit of looking up things when they aren't sure. that leaves me with no exciting tales of woe.
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Empires
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posted on November 20, 2000 04:14:05 PM
My clerks consistently make their own rules, but, being there boss ($$$), my rule stands on top. Rule #1: Don't upset the boss.
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rancher24
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posted on November 20, 2000 04:45:23 PM
My postal guys are FANTASTIC.....They bend the rules sometimes...like the time they called a PO in Ohio when my 1st class package hadn't arrived in a week & the customer was getting nervous...Or the time the gave me the Frosty video for FREE cause I do enough business with them...Or the free postal pens...or the free postal rulers...Or when they direct me to help another customer who is having a problem, cause, as they put it "She knows more about this stuff than we do!".....It is ALWAYS a pleasure to do business with them....Now, if I could just get the reserved parking spot I asked them for, I'd have it made!!!....
~ Rancher
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dman3
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posted on November 20, 2000 05:32:18 PM
I use three different post offices even though all tell the same thing they all tell it different.
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
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avaloncourt
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posted on November 20, 2000 05:45:00 PM
Think of them like the Supreme Court. They all have different interpretations.
Ummm... rancher24... I don't think you're supposed to take the pens.
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rancher24
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posted on November 20, 2000 05:58:16 PM
avaloncourt...I signed a card stating that I wouldn't misuse Priority boxes...I NEVER said anything about lifting pens!... Actually, the pens were the give-away kind, with the local PO's info (address, phone, hours & stuff) printed on them...One of my guys was usin' one and I told how very much I would like to have one & so he gave it to me!...But I'm still waitin' on the parking space!
~ Rancher
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mzalez
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posted on November 20, 2000 06:47:58 PM
Most of the clerks I deal with are OK, but there are always a few that are on their little power trips...
I've run into conflicting rules on a regular basis, though.
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mtnmama
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posted on November 20, 2000 07:27:09 PM
Hi itcomputes
Actually the clerk was right about the insurance. The blue and white forms are for over $50, the green ugly ones are for under.
My clerks generally make up the rules as they go along.
They've been known to tell customers that priority mail gets there in 2 days or less guaranteed! ROTFL!
On the other hand, another post office I visit tells customers that they can't guarantee anything except overnight mail.
Can't win can we?
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seyms
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posted on November 20, 2000 07:29:16 PM
(Just in case they're watching) I use the Adelphia and Farmingdale, NJ POs and have never seen a more mature and capable group of postal clerks. Consistently well mannered and almost always right about everything. Way to go guys.
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eventer
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posted on November 20, 2000 07:41:07 PM
My clerks RULE! They are excellent & I appreciate them. They work w/me on rates & packaging. In return, I arrive at their counter w/all forms filled out & packages ready to go. Plus I order their priority boxes for them.
Never heard of custom's forms NEVER being required for first class. They generally aren't required for correspondence but are required for merchandise as far as I know.
Green is for less than $50, Blue is for over $50.
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frosty123
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posted on November 20, 2000 09:01:30 PM
Hi..official postal clerk here..yep, green is for under 50 and blue is 51 and above...custom forms are only required for merchandise..sometimes we make mistakes, but we try to get it right for the next customer. we greatly appreciate when ebay customers come in with their stuff ready to go..i.e. forms filled out and packages all taped up..we're human, we make mistakes. sometimes the postal rules change, and we're the last to find out.
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avaloncourt
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posted on November 20, 2000 09:57:28 PM
rancher24 - "But I'm still waitin' on the parking space!"
You didn't get yours yet? Heck, I've had mine for years. They saved it for me right between those two big blue trashcans people keep throwing used envelopes into.
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BlondeSense
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posted on November 21, 2000 02:19:37 AM
The last time I was in the post office (Smalltown, OK) it was just to pick up a package. I was third or fourth in line wondering if I could get out of there and make it to work on time. As the clerk came out of the back with the first person's stuff, he tossed my box to me! They're grrreat!
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deco100
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posted on November 21, 2000 02:29:18 AM
My postal clerks are great but once in awhile you have to watch out for a new trainee. I have had them forget to reset the scales and when trying to get the difference between priority and parcel post they have given me erroneous information resulting in losses to me on the shipping.
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macandjan
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posted on November 21, 2000 02:35:19 AM
We are a little village surrounded by a larger city. The two post offices are so different you would not think they are in the same system.
The difference is the postmaster.
The one in the village was so rude they have had newspaper articles about it.
When she publicly berated and reprimanded a clerk for allowing a customer to use the bathroom who was having a problem with a sick child it did noyt go over well.
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jwpc
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posted on November 21, 2000 05:31:10 AM
OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE - I was born and raised in Houston, and spend the next 25 years of my life in Atlanta I was use to how post offices in large cities run - 9 years ago we moved to a town of 1,600 people (took some adjustment) but speaking of post offices, mine goes totally our of their way to assist me with anything I need. AND they are this way with all customers, and it doesn't matter who is clerking - if an old person comes in with a mis-wrapped package, they just rewrap it for them! If a REGULAR customer comes in and is a little short on postage, they just put an IOU in the drawer and he comes back later to pay. If I have a Priority or Express letter come in, they call to let me know it is waiting for me.
After years in large cities I am always amazed at how different our little post office works. Just a little piece of heaven I guess.
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roxw
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posted on November 21, 2000 05:44:45 AM
My PO clerks are absolutely THE BEST! I was in a while back, during my lunch hour, and I was OFFERED a job! Too bad I already have one! Anyway, they know me by name and while I'm waiting in line to mail packages, someone will always check the back to see if I have a package and have it waiting for me when it's my turn at the window. I just LOVE THEM ALL!
_________________
roxw
I'm learning to laugh! 
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jenndiggy1
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posted on November 21, 2000 11:33:57 AM
Lets see. . . I had one tell me a customs form was required for an envelope that contained a one page letter to Slovenia (pen pal I've had since about 10th grade). Only time I've had to fill out a customs for unless I sent her a gift when mailing to her.
Another time I had a postal lady tell me that once I handed her a package to check the cost of postage I HAD to mail it, even though I said I just wanted to get the cost of mailing. She REFUSED to hand it to me, and I had to reach across the counter and grab it out of her hand because she said I wasn't allowed to have it back (although no postage was put on it.) I've checked many other things at the post office, esp. when mailing heavy packages so I don't overcharge my bidders (I only charge ACTUAL shipping.) I couldn't believe she said once it was in her hands I no longer owned it! (I reported her, too.)
I had a worker hold up a line for 15 minutes while she explained to me there was no such thing as "Special Standard Rate" although I told her that her "book rate" was done away with when the last postal rates took in effect. She made a point of scratching out "Special Standard Rate" I wrote on each package, and writing "book rate" in its place. Then to prove me wrong, she called another post office (since I didn't believe her). Then she had to mark out "Book rate" and write Special Standard again. (I LOVED IT!)
Another post office will accept only the blue insurance forms for all insured items. The rest in the area only accept the green ones for under $50.
Let's not even discuss UPS. My ex-fiance lives in New Mexico, and they always wanted to charge me overseas rates since it was a foreign country. (I had to show them on a map where it was, and finally when I showed them it was a 505 area code and a 10 digit number with no international prefix, they called a supervisor to see if I really was correct that "Mexico" was part of the United States.
All in all, they are usually pretty good, but I've never been back to where demon woman works (the one who said I wasn't allowed to have my package back when I wasn't wanting to mail that day.)
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tc61380
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posted on November 21, 2000 11:58:24 AM
hahaha jen! 
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Shoshanah
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posted on November 21, 2000 12:06:29 PM
Well...just small stuff...Went for a Money Order and asked for a handful of Priority Mail address labels. Was told to "write address on the box"...I asked "is Post Office out of labels?.."...got reply to "write address on box...I said "I don;t want to.. and that is NOT my question...Is P.O. out of labels"?. She sighed heavily, reached in drawer under her counter top and slammed 3 labels under my nose... ..{BTW: my order is on it's way..but ran out meanwhile)
And the Post Master keeps demanding increases in postal fees...
********************
Gosh Shosh!
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
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preacher4u
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posted on November 21, 2000 08:24:56 PM
I remember reading somewhere here that there are post offices that are open 24 hours.
Now that's a place I would love to live at.
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tunzter
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posted on November 21, 2000 09:18:15 PM
The Ever Popular Subjective Postal Pricing Syndrome(EPSPPS) has been a reality to me for several years. I have a P.O. box address that i dont wanna give up. I use the branch with my box to receive mail and another branch to send. I have been forced to do this because of the following:
Being told i couldnt send a record album to Italy because "They aren't accepting airmail packages from the U.S. right now"......Being quoted $30 for airmail small packet-i explained it should be $12.00 - clerk wouldnt budge - sent @ another branch and returned w/receipt -clerk hid in back room till i left.......quoted differing prices on identical packages........doors locked hours early on weekends......not ONE working ballpoint pen- if you didnt have one you had to borrow from a clerk- non working and partial pens remained attached to counters for over 1 year- was told "WE ordered new ones from Washington, but they sent the wrong kind"- after i emailed USPS, the pens mysteriously were replaced within days.....was sternly told by manager on duty when complaining about questionable quote "Hey, did it ever occur to you that he could be WRONG?"(uhhh, why yes it did..what is this...reverse psychology?)......this is no mom & pop store- its an 8 counter P.O. branch in a large metro area - there are 6-8 clerks on duty during slow hours and 1 or 2 during lunch and other rush times - the branch where i mail is near a large University, has 2 clerks and they correctly handle at least the amount of foot traffic that the lame, Murphy's Law-ish branch pretends to...
.......anyhow, these kinds of things are facts of life for me.....Too risky to scream too loud at the Union...that might make it worse...they know where My mail LIVES(or is supposed to)....its a Karma and Burning Bag`O Doggie-doo at the Doorstep thang.
2nz
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