posted on July 25, 2001 08:44:24 PM
OK, so I tried endicia and I love it, and I have used all of my stamps.com credits except for maybe $0.03, and I go to cancel. Then their stuff says that I have to cancel my USPS meter license in order to can stamps.com.
Whoa!! I don wanna do that! I plan to keep on using that meter license for endicia.com. EMail to stamps.com support (which amazingly, was answered!! and in less than 24 hours!!) said the same thing, the only way to cancel stamps.com was to cancel the meter license.
Have any of you endicia converts successfully extricated yourself from stamps.com without any loss of license, or other pain? Or am I just being overly worried?
posted on July 25, 2001 09:12:12 PM
I cancelled my Stamps.com account just last week (after signing up with Endicia also) and I didn't see anything like that at all. I just clicked on "account", "close account" and it told me how I will be billed another month's fee, and how I can't open up that account again, etc. Nothing about cancelling my meter license as far as I can remember. Anyways, I think when you sign up with Endicia you get a separate meter license from them. I wouldn't worry about it.
posted on July 26, 2001 04:29:02 AM
Hi wbbell & EG.
After reading this thread, you both just reminded me that I still needed to cancel my stamps.com account, since I switched to Endicia last week. I held onto Stamps.com for a few more days so that Endicia could prove itself. Man, DID they prove themselves!
Anyway wbbell, I just saw the same screen you saw when you tried to cancel, and the software just asked why I'm cancelling, mentioned something about a meter, and then just asked where I will now purchase my future postage. So now I have officially closed my stamps.com account, that is, unless they keep billing me and say that I didn't cancel. Ah, that's a whole other stamps.com problem that I'll handle if it happens.
At any rate, I just signed into my Endicia account moments after cancelling stamps.com, and the postage meters for both companies apparently have nothing in common. Endicia
still works perfectly, so you have nothing to be concerned about by cancelling stamps.com.
Thanks for reading,
Jack
PS: Should we all just play it safe & cancel in writing also? If so, does anyone recall what their mailing address is, since the closed account won't show it to me on my software.
[ edited by blackjack21 on Jul 26, 2001 04:31 AM ]
posted on July 26, 2001 05:07:20 AM
Each Postage service that you sign up for issues you a new "Meter License". You will no longer need the stamps.com license if you cancel that account. Endica will issue you a new meter license.
posted on July 26, 2001 12:17:05 PMMeter Licensing
Basically, the information in this thread is correct -- switching from one postage provider to another doesn't jeopardize your USPS "meter license" in any way.
For those interested, here are the gory details.
The USPS maintains all meter license information on their mainframe in Eagan, MN. Each postage vendor (Pitney, Neopost, Endicia, Stamps) has a dedicated data line to this site.
When a person signs up with a postage vendor, all the name/address information involved in the signup process is transmitted to USPS/Eagan. Based on the first/last name and physical address, the USPS mainframe attempts to see if this person already holds a meter license with ANY of the existing vendors. If so, the USPS does not create a new meter license -- it uses the existing one. And it also updates that license record to reflect that the end user has "metering devices" from vendor A and vendor B. (It's very common for big companies to have equipment/accounts with multiple postage vendors.)
Now, if the user chooses to cancel services from Vendor B, Vendor B sends a "meter closeout" transaction to USPS/Eagan. Based on the USPS license number, the USPS mainframe updates the records to show that the equipment from Vendor B is not longer being used. But this does not negate the meter license, as the USPS mainframe sees that the user still has equipment form Vendor A.
In reality, the last name/first name/address matching logic used by the USPS is fairly crude. So if a person signs up with two postage vendors and doesn't use pretty much the exact same information on both signups, the USPS ends up issuing two meter licenses. It's something the USPS wants to improve upon, but it isn't high on their priority list.
You will notice that Endicia and most other postage vendors never report to you what your "meter license number" is. That's because it's pretty useless to the end user.
HTH
[ edited by HarryWhitehouse on Jul 26, 2001 04:50 PM ]
posted on July 26, 2001 12:33:33 PM
Hi:
When I signed up with stamps.com I transfered lic. from estamps. You should be able to transfer to endicia.
While I'm here, I haven't even looked a endicia but what is so great about it to make it worth the change? Is it cheaper,easier,what?
posted on July 26, 2001 12:46:12 PM
I would suggest that you call the company that issued the credit card you're using with this service and ask them to cancel the card # you were using and issue you a new card #. This will prevent you from having this service continue to bill you for months after you had wanted to close your account.
A recommended course of action any time you cancel a service (and especially when they're giving you a difficult time).
posted on July 26, 2001 12:51:43 PMdadofstickboy: I was a Stamps.com customer for over 2 years. The 2nd day I had Endicia I closed my Stamps.com account.
What makes them worth the switch?
Excellent customer service Cheaper fees ($9.95/MO) Free Delivery Confirmation
....just to name a few!
[ edited by ExecutiveGirl on Jul 26, 2001 01:18 PM ]
posted on July 26, 2001 01:14:14 PM
question. I can print 50$ worth of postage a month for $9.95?? Did I read it correctly that regardless of the amount I print, it is only $9.95? What's the catch?
posted on July 26, 2001 01:20:05 PMllama_lady: yes, I believe that is correct. I print over $1,000 in postage every month and I only pay $9.95 a month.
Ohh.. didn't realize you thought that included your postage. Yes, postage is extra
[ edited by ExecutiveGirl on Jul 26, 2001 01:21 PM ]
posted on July 26, 2001 07:49:29 PM
Thanks to all for the responses. As it turns out, I did end up getting a different license number from endicia. So stamps.com can cancel the prior one with no effect on me.
