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shuggy
03-06-2010, 09:28 PM
so interesting thing today. i guess this should be chris (at least i think it's her that sent it...) ranting instead of me, but it makes me mad too. so i got a swap back today. i had put a .98 cent stamp on the return envelope. whoever mailed it, had to pay and additional .07 cents. according to usps.com, it should have only been .81 cents total. so what's with charging and additional .24 cents? i also recieved a swap from cindi today. same size envelope, only hers is more bulky and thick in places (which i thought you had to pay more for...). and the postage on it? two .44 centers. :realmad:

maxiesmom
03-06-2010, 09:42 PM
There was some ranting about this subject on the Gingerwood board today as well. I think there have just too many weird size rules anymore and their own people don't know what the heck to do about stuff. Why can't we just slap a stamp on it and call it done??

Patty
03-06-2010, 10:25 PM
There is a post office within walking distance from my house. However, I don't go there any more b/c they're never sure about the postage---they keep asking each other. Now I drive about 8 miles to another PO where only one woman works. She and I have become freinds and she like to see everything I stamp. She has been there for years and knows what she's doing. (I gave her some stamps and she is getting her gd's to stamp). I think its well worth the trip over there.

dancing queen
03-06-2010, 10:37 PM
That's what we all need, a p.o. with a friendly woman who cares. The one I go to has two guys and if you took the same package on two different days, they'd each charge a different amount! So... rant on!

Desert Stamper
03-06-2010, 10:42 PM
Typical bureaucracy stuff! One time recently I mailed a card to Canada and they made me fill out that little customs form. Next time I went with one all filled out and ready, and they told me I didn't need it. I miss the good old days, when I could just weigh it, stick the stamp on and have confidence it was correct and would reach it's destination. Sigh....now I have an anxiety attack every time I mail a swap!!

cindi
03-06-2010, 10:55 PM
I hear ya..why can't it be the same all the time. then we would all know what to do, and how to do it. I'm sorry if mine messed you up.
:worried:

shuggy
03-06-2010, 11:35 PM
I hear ya..why can't it be the same all the time. then we would all know what to do, and how to do it. I'm sorry if mine messed you up.
:worried:

oh no. it didn't. it just proved to me that i'm just going to weigh them, stamp them and drop them in the box. no more counter for me unless it's out of country!

cindi
03-06-2010, 11:45 PM
oh no. it didn't. it just proved to me that i'm just going to weigh them, stamp them and drop them in the box. no more counter for me unless it's out of country!


that's what I do, plus I send in extra postage in case I'm off.
:)

dancing queen
03-07-2010, 12:19 AM
just curious... do you guys actually own postage scales? And how much does one cost?

teabear
03-07-2010, 01:10 AM
The problem isn't the weight, betty, it's that they have additional rules about the size and thickness and rigidity of the package. All those things cost extra, but are very subjective. One post office will charge and another doesn't. It's very frustrating.

ngreek
03-07-2010, 01:38 AM
You also have what the sending post office deems as ok. The the PO that receieves the item can have problems with it and charge also for the additional postage.

mydogstinks2
03-07-2010, 07:29 AM
so here is what happened....

I was so pissed off that day at the post office! I HATE the lady who waited on me and I have called MANY times to complain about her!!

There are 2 ladies who work the counter, Chris is the nice one and then there is *itcharella, as I call her.

First they will no longer take any of my swap envelopes out of my mail box if I just try to send them back like that. They say to many times I have mailed things out without enough postage. Ok what ever!!

So now every time I have to mail back swaps I have to go in. EVERY time Chris is working no problems on anything. Every time *itcharella is working she pulls out all kinds of things to measure each and every envelope. She is a huge pain in my behind!! I try to never mail anything back when she is working but I was in a hurry that day.

So you know she will get her own one day cause karma is a *itch too!!

maxiesmom
03-07-2010, 09:39 AM
Chris, can't you just drop them in the big blue box and be done with it? I remember our old April, inkyhands used to say she would almost fill up the boxes in her little town with all her swaps. I think she used to have some of the same issues. How is it that people who repeatedly have negative customer complaints like this can keep their jobs?

mydogstinks2
03-07-2010, 10:54 AM
Chris, can't you just drop them in the big blue box and be done with it? I remember our old April, inkyhands used to say she would almost fill up the boxes in her little town with all her swaps. I think she used to have some of the same issues. How is it that people who repeatedly have negative customer complaints like this can keep their jobs?

I tried to do that but then I got so stressed out someone was not going to get their swap back! LOL :twitcy:

I think I'm going to do that from now on. If they are just going to someone in the US I'm dropping them in the blue box. I will take to over seas ones inside but only when Chris is working there. I'm sure I will still stress over it but I'll just deal! LOL

HeatherJ
03-07-2010, 11:31 AM
I always get a little nervous when the gals in my little PO outlet in the drug store (who are drug store employees, not Canada Post) when they say "that shouldn't need any extra postage" after I say it may be a little thick. I always say, I really need a "sure" not "think", as I don't want it to come back. I would rather pay the extra 30 cents or whatever it is, to save the extra week on a return, since I probably should have mailed it sooner anyway!!

maxiesmom
03-07-2010, 11:38 AM
I tried to do that but then I got so stressed out someone was not going to get their swap back! LOL :twitcy:

I think I'm going to do that from now on. If they are just going to someone in the US I'm dropping them in the blue box. I will take to over seas ones inside but only when Chris is working there. I'm sure I will still stress over it but I'll just deal! LOL

Do you have a Meijer near you? They have a postal counter at the service desk. Why do some people have to be so miserable and make everyone around them miserable also?

1of2shoes
03-07-2010, 12:48 PM
My PO charges me 20 cents extra if the envie is "bumpy". So if I put a brad or tie a ribbon bow or anything, I pay extra 20 cents! I was told awhile back that if it fit through their measuring thingy (a piece of plastic with an oval cutout in the thickness of envelopes allowed) that it was ok as long as I paid the 2nd ounce of postage. Now I pay both! Sooooo frustrating!!

GSMom385
03-07-2010, 03:09 PM
That is why I weigh everything at home. I don't have a postal scale as they were big time too expensive, I purchased a kitchen scale that is digital and has the oz measurement on it. It works great $10 at Target in case you are wondering but I have had it for almost 4 years now so I can't make any promises they still have them. I drop them in the mail bag at my office in the mail room. Never had a problem with anything coming back, but I alway measure it at package prices unless it is just a card envy. Most of my swaps I put in bubble mailers so I use the package price and it seems to work, I haven't had any come back. I know I might be paying a few cents more but I figure it is better than the headache of the PO. I only go there to purchase postage ( which they always give me a fit about because I buy the dollar sheet of stamps and they always ask me why.... and my standard response is I don't have to tell you why, are you going to sell them to me or not), if we had one of those automatic postage machines like they do in DM, then I wouldn't even talk to them for that, but unfortunately small town we don't have one. Ours is the same story as the rest of if the ladies are working I have no problems, but if it is the guys they pull out the tape measures and squeeze the envies which totally pisses me off. The ladies will make me do customs to other countries and the guys never do. So go figure.

ngreek
03-07-2010, 03:37 PM
One thing I have found also is... like Cindy I always ship as packages. I also have bought a small back of packaging peanuts. They do not waeigh a whole lot and I can out them in the envelope and then it meets the thickness requirements. Or I will make sure to ship all atc's in a tight plasctic bag and have all the embellishments lined up in the same place. With doing that it makes it so it is thicker. All the rules say is that it has to be a certain thickness in 1 part of the envelope.

Patty
03-07-2010, 05:03 PM
OMG, after reading all this, if anyone has had any problems with what I've sent, postage due, etc. PLEASE let me know. I always try to enclose extra but you never know. Please be honest.

loobylou
03-07-2010, 06:49 PM
it's pretty much the same here. I have one PO employee who asks me to fill in a customs form if a card has a bump in it (overseas mail), and one who always pushes my envelope thru the slot to see if it fits. most of the time I just wiegh at home with my digital kitchen scales then put an airmail sticker and correct postage on it and put it in the red box (equivalent to your blue box).

Mrs. Fence
03-07-2010, 09:57 PM
I too have found that different Post Offices will charge different rates for the same stuff. I like to go to our local hardware store. They have a sub station there. Funny thing is, the guys "get" my swapping stuff, but the girls don't! One day a girl was in there and I was sending a swap to England. She totally couldn't wrap her brain around what I wanted. She kept asking me why? Finally one of the guys went over and told her to quit asking me why I was doing it and just do it! LOL