It's frustrating when you go to the trouble to have your envelopes weighed frontwards and backwards by the PO and then find out that it is being sent back for postage due. The reason why I went to the PO in the first place was to find out the proper postage; otherwise, I could have stuck it in the mailbox. And furthermore, it's frustrating that the trader thinks you neglected to do this and to see that they are no longer doing SASE. When I get the bubble envelope back, I will go to the Post Office to the very lady that weighed my envelope and demand my money back. This is frustrating. Time is valuable also.
Please know that I completely understand the traders postion and would probably feel the same as they do.
Ange
Frustrated with PO
And furthermore, if I can find out which PO sent this back they will hear from me also.
You can file your complaint directly to the Postal Service using the number: 1-800-275-8777.
You need to write out your complaint with all the details you can offer along with names, even if it's only first name - because it's a rare circumstance that any of these employees will provide a last name - and dates and times of any "incidents" and mail this to:
The United States Postal Service Office of the Consumer Advocate-
475 L'Enfant Plaza S.W., Room 10433
Washington, D.C. 20260
phone number 1-202-268-2284.
You should contact USPS Postal Inspectors at postalinspectors@uspis.gov and file a complaint, as well. If this doesn't get your problem solved, call your state attorney's office and ask for a complaint form, fill it out and send it back for them to investigate. You might be able to do this online.
If you kept your receipt (I always do since I had an incident once) it will show date, time, PO branch, name of clerk, weight of item, and of course, cost to ship item. Bring it and the returned item back to any PO and they will either resolve problem or give you instuctions on what you need to do. Since it's their mistake your involvement should be minimal.
My guess is they weighed your envelope before afixing postage (obviously) then with the afixed postage, maybe they added a strip of tape, label, whatever... in turn this brought the weight of the envelope to the next price level. Typically, they let these type of pakages through, but maybe, just your luck, the sorter was having a "bad" day.
I just got back from the post office mailing off some plants .. here is what I found. No matter how you send it, unless it is express, you will NOT get a refund no matter how long it took to get there. In other words, "Priority Mail" is just a suggestion.
Also, each individual post office does not determine if stuff is postage due, it's the distribution hub that determines it.
I asked that all 4 scales at my post office (it was a slow morning) weigh the same packages I was sending and all 4 scales came back the exact same weight.
So it appears the distribution hubs are the culprits.
Hmmm. Well, this wouldn't work if postage was due when it got to you. But, if more postage was needed to send it, you could inform the recipient that you would not send it until they sent more postage.
I recieved the return envelope today marked 34 cents postage due. I went back to the PO to the same clerk. She reweighed it and it weighed the same. At first she thought maybe her scale was off and then she said that she thought they were considering it to be a parcel. She said she was not trained that way and went and got 34 cents out of her purse which surprised me.
At least your parcel arrived. I have had problems with things getting lost and damaged to/from my post office. I even had problems with a delivery of prescriptions and got the postal police involved. (The box was opened and prescriptions were missing.) What a headache!
When I send SASE I try to send extra stamps for the return. I figure that if someone finds they don't need the extra stamps they have two choices.
#1 They can return the unneeded postage to me
#2 They can keep it in case they need it for someone else.
Either choice is OK with me. Or if I do send less than needed and they find out at the post office, they can let me know, or if they can pay the extra postage and let me know and I will send back the extra postage.
Marti,
That's a good idea to send extra for them to use for someone else, if the person traded would look at it that way. I would rather send extra than have something sent back to me. It makes you feel terrible about it.
In my case, the postal clerk took the envelop and stamped it herself. Stuff happens, you know.
I think your tradee will understand, angedawn47. You are not at fault and you did everything possible to understand the problem and fix it.