Postage increase vent

F

Fitnessfreak366

Cathlete
I can't believe postage is going up to $.39 on Jan. 8th and then 6% across the board for everything else. I guess this baffles me because the Post Office claims their sales have gone down due to the internet. Ok, what about Ebay and Amazon? Those two companies alone have to be giving the post office some damn good business. I know for a while there when I was selling stuff, I was shipping things out every day. I just don't get it. If its not one thing going up in price its another. How the heck are we suppose to live?

Sorry, needed to vent...
 
debbie,

i know other then cathe.com, every place i order uses the post office(half.com,ebay,deepdiscount,amazon,barnes and nobles i believe still does as well). my sister even went through the post office over UPS or FedEx b/c they could get our gifts here quicker and cheaper then the latter two had to offer. i guess in a way some of its b/c of internet but i don't think to such a big extent.

of course writing a letter and mailing it is a dying art that i only keep alive b/c my grandmother will be damned if she ever gets that evil thing they call internet LOL.

kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
Debbie, I know what you mean. I had just bought 100 stamps before the announcement of the price increase and had to give them to my DH to use at work--it would take me 6 or 8 months to go through that many stamps. I started using the electronic bill pay feature offered by my bank a couple of years ago which has drastically reduced the number of postage stamps I use.

I don't know about anyone else, but the postal service in my area is horrible. I'm constantly getting other people's mail, and god only knows if I'm getting my own.

Michele
 
Can't say that I am impressed with the USPS at this point in time. I too get other's mail regularly, we have a different postal person every day it seems AND the lines at the local branch are usually out the door. I bring a book when I have to go. I also was forced to boycott sending Xmas cards with them this year, as it irks me that their advertising mentions every other holiday (Kwaanza, Chanukah and Eid) by name, but they refer to Xmas stamps as "holiday stamps." Gag.

Sparrow


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
I also was forced to boycott sending Xmas cards with
>them this year, as it irks me that their advertising mentions
>every other holiday (Kwaanza, Chanukah and Eid) by name, but
>they refer to Xmas stamps as "holiday stamps." Gag.
>
>Sparrow
>
>
>Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of
>arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but
>rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn
>out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage


I came very close to ditching the whole Christmas card tradition this year. I've decided to wait until that last of my relatives have passed. Morbid, I know, but at the current rate of deaths per year, it won't be much longer! I ALWAYS buy the Madonna and Child stamp;).

Michele
 
as it irks me that their advertising mentions
>every other holiday (Kwaanza, Chanukah and Eid) by name, but
>they refer to Xmas stamps as "holiday stamps." Gag.
>
>Sparrow

i know its seems like a double standard. i don't follow any religion so to speak(i study kabbalah and gnosticism) but merry christmas and happy hanukah don't offend me in the slightest. i don't NEED to be heard or reconize for whatever path i follow, and i certainly do not mind if somebody likes to chat the bible to me. it always turns out to be a great subject. and i believe in god just my own idea of worship.

its not just in the whole stamp matter,its everywhere. can't even put a tree unless you call it a holiday tree. its not the christmas aisle its the holiday center. whatever. i remember as a child seeing all sorts of decorations from all faiths and they all meant something and they were all beautiful.

everybody wants there slice of the pie but they want to cut others out of it. if they don't want to offend ppl how to they feel others are by not even being able to say merry christmas anymore

sorry didn't mean to hijack but some liberties are just going to far.


kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
Disclaimer the following is a reply from a non-management postal employee.

First class mail up two cents in 3 years, how much did petroleum products go up? All those trucks and planes must run must on water? The price of heating oil for our distribution plant doubled in one year.

As far as other postal services going up. By law every class of mail must pay for itself. We can't take a surplus from one class of mail and prop up another. Furthermore, your tax dollars do not go to the USPS, we've been off budget since the 70's. We make it or break it on stamps.

The internet has cut into the USPS, our volume is growing at 3%, it used to always be double digits.

If you have bad service, long lines, misdeliveries etc, the place for complaints is at you local po and not just verbal... fill out the complaint cards, if they blow you off then go to USPS.com and file a complaint through the web site.

How much did FedEx, DHL and UPS raise their rates? They do it every year. They do a great job but we move more letters/packages in one day than they move all year. We never go out on strike. Remember UPS, was it three years ago? Postal workers had cancel vacations, work mandatory overtime picking up their slack. I'm sorry we're not perfect but we've been getting better and more customer sensitive.

Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a solemn Eid and a bountiful Kwanzaa! (and I apologize if I left any other holiday out)

Dave
 
Hi Dave!

Wow! A postal insider. Cool :) I actually have no issue with the price hike; everything has gone up since petroleum has. My home gas bill alone is up over 40 percent!

Your points are valid. I actually like all my postal people, they are all friendly and out there slogging away through the snow and rain and cold. I do think management may have some issues. I have filed complaints before - once because a postal worker left a box out in the pouring rain! The contents were ruined! I went to the local branch, waited 45 minutes for a supervisor who was constantly paged but never showed, and then was told he would phone me. That was a few years ago and I am still waiting...

Ah well, I think complaining about the USPS is like complaining about taxes or attornies or the media. It's something people do :) I meant no offense in my comments!

Sparrow


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
well i wasn't really COMPLAINING b/c you know what sh*t happens. like i mentioned before, writing a letter and sending it is a lost art. i for one support the post office b/c i can't trust my gas company and cable company with my card number. everything is check in the mail or paid directly at the office if i am nearby. besides we love our mailman,he is fun to joke with.

i know for a fact FEDEX is a rip off. for two day delievery for two small packages they told my sister $50 but at the post office for two day priority mail for the same two packages were $16 and that was with insurance and confirmation.j

but can we do something about the "holiday tree" stamps LOL

kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
Dave, honestly, the service in my town is horrible. I wouldn't care a hoot about increases if I felt like I was getting great service.

Here's an example of what I've had to deal with. I kept getting the little cards in my mailbox that indicate an attempt to deliver a package. I remember thinking how peculiar this was because I was home on many of the days that these cards were left. Then one day I just happened to be looking out the window when the mail truck pulled up to my box. The carrier was stopped there for a good 2 or 3 minutes so I decided to go out and see if there was a problem. By the time I reached my mailbox they were way down the street. When I looked inside, there was one of those cards! I was home and they made NO attempt to deliver my package--she spent 2 or 3 minutes writing out the card!!! I got in the car and followed after the truck, much to the shock of my carrier. I reported her to the supervisor and that has not happened again.

Then there is the constant mail-that-belongs-to-everybody-but-me-in-my-mailbox syndrome. I have reported this several times but to no avail. So have my neighbors. I mean, I get someone else's mail at leat once a week, often 2 or 3 times a week. It's really very frustrating. To be fair, I never had problems until I moved to my current address, so I'm sure it's a local issue.

Michele

Michele
 
Me too, if I received excellent service I wouldn't have even posted this thread. Our mail carrier seems to hate us and I have no idea why as I don't even know the woman. Today I received 3 pieces of mail that isn't ours, yesterday I didn't get the local newspaper which is always delivered on Monday's (I work there so I know when they go out), yet my mother-in-law who lives three doors down got hers and our neighbor across the street from us got theirs, she jams the mail in the very back of mailbox which REALLY irriates me to no end so I started doing this with things I'm sending out. You'd think she'd get the message. When we have boxes too big to fit in our mail box, she sits in our driveway and beeps the horn a million times until one of us goes outside to get our package, yet when she has boxes for any of our neighbors she walks them to the door and personally delivers them.

Whenever I go to the post office, the line is out the door and there is only one person working the desk, yet I know in this particular post office, there are always two desk people working at the same time. Its so ridiculous.

I could go on and on but I know its pointless.
 
It as gotten crazy, no doubt.
I sent a parcel to my sister the other day and it wasn't very big.It was going to colst $35 for normal postage and it was going to take 12 days to get there.I thought whats the point of that? Christmas would be over! So I coughed up the extra money to send it express post, cost $74 and she will have it in 4 days.
Lori:)
 
I also work for the postal service as a carrier.I agree with everything Dave said.Everything has gone up and it takes gas to move every piece of mail it has been 3 years since the last one.ups rates are also going up in Jan.We are still going to be cheaper to ship by than ups or fedex.
I spend $480.00 a month in gas compared to $200.00 3 years ago.
As far as customer service issues you can fill out online or with a card at your local branch.But mistakes ARE going to happen no one is perfect.Most carriers make every effort to insure proper delivery we don't like to get -itched at .I service 500 customers for 80 miles round trip I make mistakes daily-but I am going to with the ratio of mail I recieve.But the cusomers also make mistakes I just don't feel the need to point everyone of there mistakes out to them.Most of my customers are wonderfull some I wish I could ditch.
Delays in mail also happen thru no fault of the carrier-it is missent so the carrier doesn't have it to give it to you.Debbie do you have a dog?I know I won't get out of my car in what I feel is a unsafe delivery I make them come to me.If it is a little dog I will get out -a big one that comes at me barking forget about it I am not getting out. They arm us with pepper spray just incase but I really don't want to resort to that.

A lil tid bit Monday was our heaviest day of the year enough mail to go around the world 6 times.
 
>I also work for the postal service as a carrier.I agree with
>everything Dave said.Everything has gone up and it takes gas
>to move every piece of mail it has been 3 years since the last
>one.ups rates are also going up in Jan.We are still going to
>be cheaper to ship by than ups or fedex.
>I spend $480.00 a month in gas compared to $200.00 3 years
>ago.
>As far as customer service issues you can fill out online or
>with a card at your local branch.But mistakes ARE going to
>happen no one is perfect.Most carriers make every effort to
>insure proper delivery we don't like to get -itched at .I
>service 500 customers for 80 miles round trip I make mistakes
>daily-but I am going to with the ratio of mail I recieve.But
>the cusomers also make mistakes I just don't feel the need to
>point everyone of there mistakes out to them.Most of my
>customers are wonderfull some I wish I could ditch.
>
> A lil tid bit Monday was our heaviest day of the year enough
>mail to go around the world 6 times.
>

Sheila, out of curiosity, what mistakes do customers make?

Sparrow

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
Leave mail with no stamps-not addressing their mail coming in or out properly-not shoveling there box's when it snows.
 
I'd like to know this too, what mistakes do we make? I usually put an envelope in the box and raise the flag. I always make sure the proper stamps are attached. If I have something too big, I take it to the P.O. and wait forever in line to mail it. Also, can I ask what the protocol for mail carriers is to deliver large packages that don't fit in the box? Do you usually sit in the driveway and beep the horn wildly or are you suppose to go to the door and knock? Just wondering.

Also, I understand Monday may have been the busiest day, however, why were we the only ones not to get the paper? I didn't get one Christmas card either and today I got tons. Thanks!
 
Debbie reread my above edited post for answer to some questions.The proper protocal is to get out and attempt to deliver it unless there is a unsafe cond. which then we would beep the horn.I will leave a package in a specified area on a card that is filled out when your address is given to you unless you check not to(to release us from liability of stolen packages).You may have a bad carrier who doesn't care about the quality of work they give.There are some of those with every job.
yes monday was our busiest day according to the news to me the Monday before that was far heavier.
 
I just wanted to add that I think one of the frustrations people have with the USPS is common to a number of organizations these days; there's simply no satisfaction when one asks for help with a problem. What I mean is, I can file a complaint, but I have zero faith that anything will change or be addressed. In fact, that has been the case the couple of times in my life when I have made a complaint to the USPS. Nothing changed. I feel like my complaint was tossed into a giant "complaints" file and never looked at again. As I said above, this sort of disregard for customers isn't exclusive to the post office. It happens alot nowadays, sadly. Customers want to know that they are heard, instead of being treated like royal PITA.

I'm sure customers make mistakes too. The difference is the USPS has the option of not delivering my poorly addressed, wrongly postaged mail, in order to force me to adhere to their rules. What options do *I* have, seeing as my "file a complaint" route hasn't worked? Refuse to use post office? They are the only game in town, basically.

Sparrow


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
Not all of the "mail in the wrong box" is the carrier's mistake. The PO has been on a "hell's bells" rush to automate and run mail through sorting machines. I'm a computer tech who maintains those machines, at best they are 99% accurate, 40,000 letters per minute that's 400 mailpieces that can't be read or are missorted. The carriers are told not to "finger" the mail as it slows delivery down.

Yes our customers make mistakes. They mail things in envelopes that should be in packages, they misaddress mail. They mail things that don't belong in the mail... anthrax anybody? I want to meet the jerk that thought up the idea of wooden postcards.

I and alot of other postal employees take complaints seriously, otherwise I would have blown by this thread. You can write to your congressman too.
Dave
 
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