mjdutro

This hasn't been true in my town. I just sent a purse I made and a jar candle inside of it to Georgia and it got there in two days. It was uneven and bulky. I had no problem. I am surprised.

omak

I will have to call my mother (retired postal employee in Washington state) and see what she can ferret out, since she lives by rules. I have used the flat rate envelopes to ship up to $10,000 worth of coupons to overseas commissaries with no resistance.
Just thinking here - - a flat rate envelope will bring in $5.00 + to the Post Office ... that same amount in another type of envelope, shipped by weight will probably cost less ... it would seem that they have once again found a way to put themselves in the hole. Not to mention the fact that UPS and FedEx, their biggest competitors put their packages through the Post Office at no extra cost (can't figure that one out, but then, I don't do idiot very well sometimes) ... anyway, be on the lookout for those independent shipping places who handle all three ... our local one is called: "Goin Postal" .... Mail Boxes, Etc is another one. They may be more willing to work with you.
I am thinking my mother is going to tell us to tell our Postmaster that we want the phone number and contact information for the regional ship center (higher authority) ... many times, what we hear at the desk are just private opinions of a bureaucrat (like when they told me that the flat rate packages were only good for inside the USA) .... mommy to the rescue!
Anyway, will try to remember to call her in the AM and get back to you <wave>

luckylindy333

I am interested in what you find out Omak, as I am in Western WA. We have some mailing places that have changed names several times- I think they were bought out by UPS.

luvTooQuilt

Wow. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed did we???

She does not have a 'stamp' machine, she does however have a weigh scale.. She is literate to the fact that she can run her station with out electricity should there be power outages, storms and what nots... She does not rely on a register/computer to figure out postage and fess. God given brains (and a calcultor to confirm need be). SO you will never see her stand there with her thumb up her you know what when the power goes out.. She is very familiar with policies, rules and regulations.
.. As for this PODUNK town our customer service is AWESOME .. unlike the miserable wasted time i read here on this post.. Not a ONE of my chubby, over sized, over weight , taped to death FRE packages have been denied.. So yes, I will take this podunk town hospitality to the city crap of what I have read here.. :lol:


Hows that for Podunk from this city girl!! lol..

I love our postmaster lady... Wish you all had one like her.. please note: whereas all the above is true, all the above was said with sarcasm. :thumbup:

ljfox

" Not to mention the fact that UPS and FedEx, their biggest competitors put their packages through the Post Office at no extra cost (can't figure that one out, but then, I don't do idiot very well sometimes) ..." <wave>[/quote]

Interesting, you have a comment on your posts that speaks of God yet feel free to call people idiots. Well by your definition then I do speak idiot. FedEx and UPS pay the post office to deliver packages for them. They pay us to take their packages to houses we are already stopping at every day anyways.

glenda5253

I'm in Kansas and I've had the same problem. They said they have to be no more than 3/4" thick and uniform thickness all over and still look like an envelope. The postal clerk that would not accept my package said the work came down from the top. :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

katyquilter

I mailed a few package today from our local post office. I used priority mail envelopes and asked the postal worker, what can I do to mail cheaper. He said you can use this flat rate envelope, and I said I heard we couldn't stuff them anymore, only flat. He said as long as the flap closes with one piece of tape, it will go. I guess it depends on where you are and who you deal with. I was surprised!! and he was so nice in explaining things to me while the line got longer and longer.

omak

Interesting, you have a comment on your posts that speaks of God yet feel free to call people idiots. Well by your definition then I do speak idiot. FedEx and UPS pay the post office to deliver packages for them. They pay us to take their packages to houses we are already stopping at every day anyways.[/quote]

Well, I don't know if that is idiot, but I don't understand how postal competitors can give the post office a run for their money (comparative shopping) and then pay the post office to do what the post office does - - it would seem that someone is losing money on that deal. It would seem that I am paying FedEx to ship, but I don't pay enough more to pay FedEx to pay the Post Office - - see what I mean? At least, thanks to your explanation, the post office isn't delivering it free (which is what I was thinking) and that just didn't seem right. Hmmm ... I see a conspiracy lurking in here somewhere! LOL <wave>

omak

Our little town doesn't have a computer system. <wave>

MTS

Nah, I was trying to imagine how things that I do on a regular basis would get done without one. It wasn't meant to disparage your postal worker. And I'm glad you do have electricity. ;-)

For instance, how do things get scanned in when accepted - like Delivery Conf, Sign Cong, Insured, Multi-Order Scan form (when that feature wants to work ;)) and others?
And, yes, I know some packages don't always have to be but some things shouldn't just be thrown in the kiosk (if you have one).

I ship overseas all the time - where/how does customs information get input? My PO has to input my address,the addressee, and even the contents.
Cashing a money order - don't they look up to check that it is valid before disbursing the money?


Back to the FRE discussion.
Since I've only been sporadically selling on eBay the last couple of months and have, like, 40 auctions ending this weekend, I wanted to make sure the FRE packages would be accepted.
I went in and spoke to the postmaster (of my pretty large-sized PO), and he was adamant the policy was still "if it fits, it ships," as long as it can seal on its own. He doesn't care how stuffed it is. He said it in front of 4 agents behind the counter who all heard so I'm not expecting any problems. We'll see how it goes on Monday.