posted on March 10, 2001 06:22:41 PM
I saw today on the news that the postal service will be raising fees again next January. So I called my postmaster and he said it will be as much as this year, and maybe more if they dont elimate some workers. How much more can they raise it? Soon a 2lb item will cost $5.00 to ship.
Oh I forgot they want to elimate saturday delivery as well.
[ edited by chum on Mar 10, 2001 06:26 PM ]
posted on March 10, 2001 07:40:02 PM
My post office buddy told me that a new rate hike could come as early as August.
The problem is, last January, the post office did not get most of the rate hikes it asked for. Therefore the post office continues to lose money and is forced to reduce the level of service we've become accustomed to (such as Saturday delivery).
I'd gratefully welcome a rate hike if it would enable them to hire more window clerks and reduce the long lines!
posted on March 10, 2001 08:36:50 PM
I wouldn't worry too much about elimination of Saturday delivery, there is a small roadblock called UNION contracts standing in the way. They bring up Saturday delivery to get folks that don't know any better worked up so they will embrace higher rates.
posted on March 11, 2001 08:09:26 AM
You know , I dont know if anyone has ever experienced this but the employees at my local post offices are extremely unhappy people. I go there with 6 or 7 packages and they are rolling their eyes at me and giving me attitude. Like how dare I spend my money there lol. Maybe they arent getting paid enough . I would be happy about a rate hike if somehow it could improve the customer service.
posted on March 11, 2001 09:35:15 AM
If I'm not mistaken, the US is one of the few countries in the world that has Saturday postal delivery. I could live without it if it would mean better service and lower costs.
Why don't they raise the cost of junk mail and maybe I wouldn't get such a pile of it in my box everyday?
posted on March 11, 2001 04:04:12 PM
I don't know where most of you people live, or how your post offices are, but I'm extremely pleased with mine here. I ship 2 days a week, usually 15-20 packages each day, and it never takes me more than 20 minutes each time. I know each counter person by name,and they know mine. I take the time to talk to them,while they're processing my packages, and make sure to Thank them when I leave. As far as the Postal Rates going up, there's always UPS or Fed-Ex, if you don't mind taking longer to ship items, longer for delivery, and a greater chance of breakage.
P.S. On the subject of junk mail, I take 1 companys mail (make sure to remove the part with your name on it)and put it in another company's postage paid envelope. Let them start paying to receive junk mail. If enough of us do this, maybe they'll get the idea that no-one wants it.
[ edited by Millenniumwolf on Mar 11, 2001 04:07 PM ]
posted on March 11, 2001 07:08:59 PM
millenniumwolf - I love the idea of sending the company each other's junk mail in their own "postage paid" envelopes!!! That is sooooo wicked! I love it, and I'm in!
As far as the USPS losing so much money...give me a break!!! My local postal clerk in a small community where I recently lived told me that they used to post no more than a dozen "priority mail" packages in a week at their office; But since the advent of ebay buying and selling, they now literally post hundreds of these high dollar packages per week! Every time I'm in the post office with my arms full, there are other people shipping just as many. His comment to me..."I don't know why they are raising those rates again, they're going to kill our golden goose!"
If the lines at the post office are any indication, you can't tell me fewer people are using their services. Maybe the advent of email has cut down on some personal correspondence, and e-payments and e-banking have cut down on bills being mailed, but their shipping industry has exploded!
I recently moved to a larger area, and while most of the postal clerks are very cordial, I too occasionally get that look that says, "Oh my gosh, not another guy with 20 priority boxes to ship!!" I sometimes feel as though I should wear a bullet-proof vest to the post office! And if you ask the clerk if they have any empty priority boxes in a certain size, it is as if you have asked them to dig into their own wallet and give you their family's dinner money! Why offer to provide these boxes with the service if you don't stock them or gladly give them out to be used. Isn't that the idea? To promote priority mail shipping and it's larger pricetag per item?
If the USPS isn't careful, they will not only be losing business on the first class stamped letter mail, but they will price themselves out of the shipping market as well. I never dreamed of looking for other options until this past rate hike. It won't take much more to get me serious about it!
posted on March 11, 2001 07:44:18 PM
The problem is the USPS doing things OTHER than delivering mail that cost millions. Selling gadgets related to stamps, selling phonecards, sponsoring Lance Armstrong, etc. For a company that is so in the red, they sure are good at spending unnecessary funds.
I'm wary of another rate hike - I love the "It's only a penny" take on this. The problem is for first class, that is true, but priority mail went up 30%, and international mail from 30-50% higher! That is a huge increase. I can handle a rate hike of first class to 35 cents, but I hope they don't raise everything across the board like last time. The new priority mail rates, and international rates have reduced bidding on certain items already.
Labor negotiations begin very soon. Each contract year the postal service uses a host of publicity and fiscal manipulation tactics to try to muscle the unions into accepting lower wage an benefit aggreements than they've had in the old contract. They'll be fat city in the black as soon as negotiations are completed.
posted on March 11, 2001 09:05:55 PM
Okay, I should have clarified. These projects have all been money losers for the USPS. They also for a time tried to sell stamps from other countries, and they lost a ton of money on that too. The point is that they should stick to what they are supposed to be doing, delivering the mail. They should not be a retail store.
And okay, my math was off on priority rates, it isn't 30% for priority mail, it is about 24%, still a HUGE increase.
The international rates are much larger though, Mexico went from 40 to 60 cents, Canada from 48 cents to 60 cents, and other countries from 60 cents to 80 cents for a letter. Package rates are also much higher overseas...
posted on March 12, 2001 05:17:35 AM
I'm in Michigan and until my customers in California, Texas, Florida and points far far away tell me they'll just pick up their merchandise because it's too costly to mail, I'll keep using the post office.
Let's be honest folks, (not that I like to pay more than I have to), but I'd like to know how anyone could take a 3 pound package to California from Michigan for $5.15? Gas alone would eat that up before you left the state of Michigan.
posted on March 12, 2001 07:51:06 AM
Oh I agree about $5.15 being a reasonable rate, BUT what I think as a seller doesnt matter. When my customers wont pay it, then I am out of business pure and simple. I have switched to parcel post for now, but another hike will put the final nail in the coffin.
posted on March 12, 2001 08:37:56 AM
Rising labor and fuel costs with a shrinking business market is what is driving the rates up. Automation apparently has not delivered its promise where the post office is concerned.
posted on March 12, 2001 09:50:32 AM
My gosh, using your example, I should be happy if gas reaches $20 per gallon? After all, imagine the equipment I would have to buy, or at least lease to drill all the way down to get that oil! $1.70 per gallon is a real bargain! I shouldn't complain about paying $50 per month to park either - After all, it would be a rather overwhelming job to buy a lot of land, and build a parking lot.
Your example makes as much sense as these two things I just commented on. It's a bargain compared to delivering a package across the country myself. It's very hard for a business to absorb when costs suddenly rise 20-50%
posted on March 12, 2001 10:48:26 AM
I guess I look at the hite rakes from the USPS the same as I do the alternatives to eBay - there really aren't any.
I understand your examples and the point is well taken.
But if you listen to the same people who complain about eBay and their shenanigans (boy are there plenty), why aren't MORE sellers leaving? Because there is no other VIABLE alternative at the moment.
One will probably come along, but until then the USPS and eBay is what we've got to deal with until then. In the meantime, we, as sellers have to do what we can to help the buyers to continue to bid. I don't know what that is, but for me, when I have a bidder who purchases from me on a consitent basis, I'll sometimes pay for part of shipping, to keep them coming back.
posted on March 12, 2001 12:43:49 PM
Somebody should look up the BONUSES for management. I can't quote the exact number, but it's approx. twice as much as the PO is in the red this year.How can management get bonuses when we supposedly LOST money!! The PO is no doubt top heavy. That also accounts for the poor attitudes,believe me. A poor suppervisor, or two or three can make life miserable.
posted on March 12, 2001 01:17:41 PM
There are two post offices near me and they are as different as night and day. At one you move through line quick they are nice to you and don't argue about things.
At the other the head woman makes everyone miserable and they pass it along. Lines are long - slow and when you get to the counter they want to argue about taking a heavy flat rate envelpoe -If you have something like a free piece of mail that is matter for the blind they have never heard of that and don't believe you. It is so bad this summer they would go out on their breaks and picket themselves!!
posted on March 12, 2001 02:23:52 PM
I work at the post office as a rural carrier, and one thing I have learned about rate increases in 16 years is do not believe what you hear on the news. They usually don't get it right. As to when the new increases will take effect no one at the working level knows. I asked my postmaster and she has not been told a thing, so most of what goes around is just rumor. By the way, when a rate increase goes through they do not always raise priority mail rates, once a few years ago, they actually lowered them when they raised other rates. Go figure. I just try to get the stuff in the right box everyday and smile when I have to take all those eBay packages to the door.
posted on March 12, 2001 04:52:58 PM
Flynn - I agree there aren't any real alternatives to both the USPS and Ebay. For the near to distant future, we're stuck with them. Although I think the USPS is more solid than Ebay, they are guaranteed a monopoly by law for most types of deliveries. If Ebay raised their prices too much, it is possible that another company could come in there and take over the market position (Possible, but I don't see that happening anytime soon)
I also like your approach about getting buyers to bid. I will go out of my way to save people money on shipping, on the heavier packages, I will figure out the exact shipping cost and use that. Combine shipping too. I hate it as a buyer when a seller asks unreasonable shipping, so I avoid doing that as a seller.
posted on March 12, 2001 06:14:24 PM
Reports of window clerks being reduced is another thing going on here. Inspections are up right now too, which is why the labor negotiations are applying pressure.
posted on March 12, 2001 10:58:55 PM
I've said this several times before, but once again DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR CLERK/CARRIER/WHATEVER!. They seldom have any idea what's going on, but they universally think that they do, and they all have solutions for everything postal if only someone would listen to them. You people listen, so they talk. With exceptions, of course, postal clerks in general are one of the whiniest, gossipy, and self important bunch of people I've ever run across, and for those who don't know, I'm speaking out of retirement from the Postal service after 25 years.
I got to the point with clerks and their complaints and strange solutions for everything that I'd simply hand them a PS form 991 (application for promotion) and tell them to put up or shutup. I never got one submitted back, and it didn't stop them it only sent them off to do it to someone else.
posted on March 12, 2001 11:06:57 PM
I'm not really thrilled with a rate increase, but I would be a lot more accepting of it if the service didn't suck.
I'm getting sick and tired of having to wait at least an hour every time I have to mail something. 50 people in line at a time is the norm, sometimes there are more than a hundred. And I'm talking now- not Christmas rush season.
I try the three closest P.O.s to my house and they are all alike. On a real lucky day I only wait 20 minutes, but that is only about once every two weeks.
. I would be happy about a rate hike if somehow it could improve the customer service.