Anybody else having problems with Stamps.com since update and new postal rates?

[nationalpawnshop]

We use Stamps.com because we sell online through other venues in addition to eBay.

This past Monday, after updating the application in line with new postal rates, we shipped out two guitars. On the page where we input the shipping details it came up with a total shipping cost (including insurance) of less than $50 for each shipped via USPS Parcel Select. Later in the day, when we checked the History to obtain the tracking numbers, we found that the cost for each was listed at over three times the original amount.

I've submitted three support and customer service inquiries and have received no replies. I don't know if this is the result of some glitch in their revised application but I'm actually wondering if some law is being violated. Imagine buying $20 worth of groceries at Walmart and then finding that you've been billed $60...

[berserkerplanet]

I'd suspect a glitch in the application.

Parcel Select parameters changed 1/27/19 when prices went up, the balloon rate went away, but dimensional weight won't kick in until 6/23/19, which means they had to make rate table and logic changes.

Guitars sound like they might exceed 108" Length+Girth which makes them oversized (as they always would have been), and subject to rating at oversize PS rates. Maybe app billed them at actual weight initially, then looked at the dims and re-billed at real oversize cost. Or confused the old balloon rate that no longer exists with oversized rate.

Without actual dims, weight, and the 2 exact amounts charged (initial and final) can't tell anymore.

[nationalpawnshop]

In the Stamps.com application for Parcel Select there is only the fields for weight, not size.

[berserkerplanet]

(I don't use Stamps.com - looked into it years but found nothing I needed that justified opening another account)


>>there is only the fields for weight, not size

Well that is a serious problem then. A Parcel Select pkg over 108" in Length+Girth is going to ship at $74.73 - $196.61 oversize rates, and starting June 23 dimensional rating will also apply (also requires dimensions). There is no way to correctly create a Parcel Select label without dimensions due to those service parameters.
https://www.stamps.com/usps/parcel-select/

I doubt Stamps.com is going to eat those differences.

If you did ship an oversize PS pkg with a label paying for only non-oversize weight, USPS APV scanning program would likely catch it at the sort center, and bill you for the underpayment via Stamps.com later.

Are you using some sort of mobile app (that fails as hard as the eBay mobile app) when it comes to functionality?

What you are describing is a major fail for a postage provider, and since it's 4 days since the 1/27/19 USPS Postage Rate and service update (which I assume triggered this alleged bug), there should be howls about it all over the internet - which I don't see.


Addendum: I found this Stamps.com document that is clearly outdated, but provides some info.
https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2378/~/parcel-select

Is there an option to choose "Oversized Package" as your mailpiece type, and if it is, did you?

This is why I asked for the dimensions and other info about the pkg. Just guessing about the oversized thing at this point. (Even if it is, that doesn't explain why/how Stamps changed the label cost after the fact, but might be possible to puzzle out what might be going on with some hard data)

[nationalpawnshop]

We've been selling and shipping guitars, amongst other things, for years. We've never, ever, had to pay more than $80 (Priority!) to ship one anywhere in the USA. I know rates have gone up and conditions may have changed but that doesn't explain why a 14 lb package sent from Arkansas to California would cost $172.32 via Parcel Select after initially displaying a total cost of $49.11...

[berserkerplanet]

No it doesn't, but scrutinizing the numbers may explain what happened internally there, if not exactly why.

AR to CA is a zone 7 shipment. 14lb Parcel Select to zone 7 should be $39.49, and if oversize would be $163.47

Neither of the amounts you quoted are listed Parcel Select prices, or any USPS prices for any service for that matter. (Which they should be). They are close to the numbers I mentioned above, but don't match.

Are the numbers you mentioned for straight postage only, or do they include added insurance, signature conf, or any other fees?

[nationalpawnshop]

Not listed as Oversize but insurance and signature confirmation were included. The initial total of $49.11 is broken down as $40.26 for Parcel Select with $2.60 Signature and $6.25 insurance.

[nobody*s_perfect]

OK, now your numbers from the above post make sense. Subtracting Sig and insurance yields the Oversize postage cost for Zone 7.  So the question boils down to whether your package has a length-plus-girth over 108 inches.  Here's the USPS diagram on how to measure a guitar:

[nationalpawnshop]

Like I said, we've been shipping guitars for years and never paid more than $80, for Priority, to anywhere in the country and the post office has never come back at us, or the recipient, for postage due. Am I supposed to believe that the new postal rates would effectively double the rate?

[sam9876]

Yes.

[berserkerplanet]

The fact that you have shipped for years without postage due doesn't mean you were doing it right. Answer my questions about the pkg size and we can put that issue to bed one way or the other.

$40.26 is the rate for a 15lb pkg, not a 14lb pkg. $172.32-$6.25-$2.60 = $163.47 and is the oversize price to zone 7.


>> Am I supposed to believe that the new postal rates would effectively double the rate?

No. As I said, Stamps had to change both their rate tables and the code to accommodate the new USPS rate and service changes and may have broken something.

What are the "not oversized pkg"" dimensions?

[gpgcaver]

All type of shipping are going to Dimensional. Its been a process for years starting with UPS.

Even LTL freight is going by dimensional information to determine freight classes.

Basically, USPS finally figured out they were not getting enough $ per square inch on their transportation.

[berserkerplanet]

>>All type of shipping are going to Dimensional.

Dimensional weight will not apply to USPS Parcel Select until June 2019 and is not relevant to this issue.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@nationalpawnshop wrote:

Like I said, we've been shipping guitars for years and never paid more than $80, for Priority  ...

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If you've been shipping via Priority, then your package must have had a length-plus-girth of 108 or less, since that's not only the threshold for the Parcel Select "Oversize" rate, it's also the upper limit for Priority Mail. If your package came in at more than 108 inches, it couldn't be shipped via Priority Mail at all.  None of those policies have changed.

What dimensions did you enter for this package?