OT sort of--The Post Office is the 9th Circle of Hell

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Posted By: Chad

I apologize in advance for this rant. For the first time ever, I've been selling cards and I ahve to say, despite the discomfort of parting with a chunk of my collection, dealing with teh post office is a nightmare. I've gone 4 days in a row this week to ship cards and I've gotten crap from them about insurance 4 different times in contradictory ways. Today the guy told me I couldn't insure photographs because I couldn't prove how much they were worth. (I didn't want to say I was shipping cards because I'm a naturally wary person, I guess.) I had to explain to him the concept of receipts and the fact that, yes, photographs can actually be sold. For money. Seriously. You guys who sell all the time, you have my sympathies.

--Chad

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Posted By: barrysloate

I think you can insure anything as long as you are willing to pay the appropriate fee. See if you can speak with a supervisor, not that they will necessarily care.

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Posted By: Chad

After giving me all kinds of sh!t, he did it anyway. I can only guess that he, the guy at the desk personally, had a policy of not insuring photographs because he just doesn't think they're worth anything.

--Chad

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Posted By: andy becker

what barry said is true, you can insure anything. in the unlikely event that you do need to collect insurance for a lost or damaged package then you may need to prove value.
an agreement to purchase should be proof enough.

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Posted By: steve f

I've dealt with a miserable old post office clerk for a couplea years. Boy, was he a by-the-book old Yankee. I would hope that he was on his three hour coffee break whenever I walked in. He'd measure the thickness of the envelopes, if it wasn't over 3/4" he would refuse to do the Del Conf. Thankfully, that stamp nazi is finally retired.

The new gal there is like a breath of fresh air. I gave her a Wally (the green monster) beanie baby, some kind words and she goes out of her way to make shipping a breeze. I even get to use the stapler now and then!

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Posted By: Eric B

I love it when they tell me I can't do Delivery Confirmation because it's not thick enough. I just turn around, grab a blank form (any will do), fold it about 4 times, open the envelope, shove it in, then ask for some tape to reseal it. Best of all, it rarely adds an extra ounce.

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Posted By: barrysloate

I think the post office is notorious for its surliness. Maybe it is low morale, or something. Mine is an absolute disaster, and gets worse with each passing month. It's a shame people do their job so poorly and don't seem to care.

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Posted By: dd

Brutus and Judas manning the AKs

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Posted By: Chad

I use the post office at Rockefeller center it's just freaking awful. But I can't get to another one during my lunch break. I think I'll stick to that automated postal machine as much as I can. It has a better personality.

--Chad

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

POSTAL UNION............

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Posted By: Eric B

If only we had an option. Say a place we could go where the counter help is courteous and will help us mail a package of any size. Sadly I can't think of a place that exists.

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Posted By: anthony

chad, it didnt take long for me to use the "automated shipping center" they have now...it saves a ton of time and limits the amount of time you spend with an actual employee...you can do pretty much anything with packages that are smaller than a microwave, including insurance, delivery confirmation, etc...the downfalls are that you have to use a credit card or atm card (some dont like to) and that you can only purchase up to $500 in insurance. i end up using it about 85% of the time...

the other thing is that you can put in your listings something like "shipping only twice a week" or "items ship on wednesdays only"...this way the buyer cant complain that you havent sent their item yet.
(i recently bought a coffee table and the seller stated that she ships on wednesdays only and in order to be shipped that day, you had to pay by the sunday before...)

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

owning a UPS Store (where we are ALWAYS courteous), using the shipping options in ebay are REALLY easy. You just go in and print shipping label and you can use UPS or the post office and create a label. For single cards and low $$ stuff that doesn't require insurance or much of it, I use that all the time. Print the label out, slap it on the package and just drop it off at the post office. For stuff that requires any real insurance, I use UPS since it's cheaper and has free tracking where as the post office doesn't (up to $100 on the insurance per package). Try the ebay print label thing and you get delivery confirmation included for like 15 cents instead of the normal amount.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Not "Postal union"; "monopoly business". Our Fed Ex and UPS delivery folks and counter workers are really nice; they are union shops too (Teamsters, I think) but they face meaningful competition. But don't let the facts get in the way of doctrinal talking points.

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Posted By: David Vargha

What does it mean when the flag is flying at half-mast at the Post Office?























It means there's a job opening.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Hello, Since I am a Postmaster in a mid-sized office, I felt that I should respond to these legitimate concerns from Postal Customers.

1. Yes, you can insure almost anything, but make sure that it is properly packaged. Don't send a photo in an envelope or a bubble mailer. Put the photo between two pieces of cardboard, or even better, put the photo in a box, with padding. You might end up paying a little more in packaging, but it will save you from dealing with a damaged item.

2. The 3/4" thick rule for delivery confirmation has never made sense to me, since we are trying to sell delivery confirmation, yet we are excluding thin packages. We are trying to get this changed, and I hope that this will be resolved in 2007.

3. Always use Priority Mail. If you send something by Priority it does not have to be 3/4" thick for delivery confirmation. Over 96% of Priority Mail is delivered within 1-3 days. Our Priority Mail system is streamlined, with much of it flying on FedEx or UPS planes. When you try to save a few cents by using Parcel Post or Media Mail rather than Priority, you end up with packages being bottle-necked in the big parcel post centers in Chicago and Minneapolis.

4. Rude clerks. This one really gets me PO'd. There is absolutely NO reason that you should have to put up with a rude clerk. Ask the clerk for his or her full name. Don't ask for a supervisor, ask to speak with the Postmaster. When I have a customer complaint about a rude clerk, that clerk is in my office withing 30 seconds for an ass chewing, I apologize to the customer, and the clerk also has to apologize. If you do not want to take the time to talk to the Postmaster, go to USPS.com and file a complaint on-line and request a call back. We have 24 hours to respond to these complaints or we get a call from district manager. Our clerks should be courteous, and helpful. We are trying to increase our business, not drive it away.

5. Let's talk about the unions. Being in management, I do have some problems with unions, but I also realize that the unions have done many good things, and the unions are needed to protect their members from overzealous managers and employers. Yes, Fed EX and UPS are unionized, but the key thing to consider is that they are private companies, and if an employee is not performing, they can fire non productive employees. The Post Office employees have three unions, and the unions have done a great job of improving working conditions for all of us, but the unions are so strong, and they have so many rules that must be adhered to, that it is nearly impossible to fire a Postal employee, unless they are stealing or physically threatening someone.

6. Let's get back to my favorite subject, which is vintage cards. I love low grade 33 Goudeys and T206's, along with higher grade cards, harper's woodcuts, baseball articles from the 1800's, etc., and regardless of grade, I don't want to see anything damaged, especially from a shipper. Take a little extra time to package the item properly, spend a little more money to upgrade to Priority Mail, Use numbered insurance and delivery confirmation for tracking, and you won't have to worry about your PSA 10 1933 Goudey arriving as a PSA 2.

Enjoy your cards!

Rick McQuillan

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Posted By: barrysloate

Rick- I use the main post office in downtown Brooklyn, the Cadman Plaza branch. As good postal workers retire, they are replaced with surly and slow ones. Some are so rude that they chase me from their windows because I have gotten into arguments with them. And nobody seems to care. It's a very difficult task just for me to get my packages shipped.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Isn't rudeness a civic virtue there?

Ours are pretty nice at the Burbank downtown PO; they just don't speak English too well. Do you have to have bad diction to get hired at the USPS for counter work and phone answering jobs?

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Posted By: barrysloate

Hey I'm from Brooklyn, and I am the consummate gentleman...when I'm not in a surly mood.