Fishy postal rule

[simba6]

To avoid any more late shipments on my dash board, I asked for my package to be scanned when I handed it to the lady at the post office.  I was told they are not allowed to scan it until it's leaving the post office.  That does not seem right but I don't want to cause any animus with them.

[12345jamesstamps]

Not at my post office. You can get a scan...but...

If you want a scan....you have to wait in line like everyone else...and some try to go to the front of the line.

[ebooksdiva]

My packages are always taken to the PO the clerk scans my packages I get a scan receipt. 

[orangehound]

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@simba6 wrote:

To avoid any more late shipments on my dash board, I asked for my package to be scanned when I handed it to the lady at the post office.  I was told they are not allowed to scan it until it's leaving the post office.  That does not seem right but I don't want to cause any animus with them.

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I don't think there is any USPS guidance on this, for it seems that different post offices use different procedures.

I choose to take all our packages to a small branch where I've gotten to know the 2-3 people who work there.  They know we need acceptance scans and they are happy to do it ... even if they are busy, they'll set the packages aside and scan them in when the lines die down.

[ltldpr]

I've never been told that. They have asked before if I just need to "drop them off", but I always, always, always say, "I just need a scan and a receipt, please." I've also said, "I need a receipt to prove that I brought it to the post office for my boss." They don't need to know that I'm actually referring to my eBay buyer lol.

How far away are you from another post office? If it's not too far, I'd try that one.

I can't imagine being a postal clerk and pretending like scanning a pre-paid package is somehow out of my scope of duties. Fixing the roof would be out of scope - not providing a paying customer proof of chain of custody of US mail.

[postcardcountry]

Perhaps the clerk has gotten confused.

There is a "rule" that says only the first 5 have to be scanned when presented at the counter.  (Yes, I have had 3 different POs confirm this)

I have had, in the past, the PO clerks request I come after a specific time if I have a lot of packages - that was because of staff shortage and lunch requirements.

I did have one PO request I use the scan sheet.  Until I explained (with a pained expression) that the folks down the line weren't doing their scans.   That was long before the mess we have now.

[yuzuha]

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@postcardcountry wrote:

Perhaps the clerk has gotten confused.

There is a "rule" that says only the first 5 have to be scanned when presented at the counter.  (Yes, I have had 3 different POs confirm this)

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This is correct. My local PO has been enforcing this rule for a few years now and it makes perfect sense because it's a busy PO in the middle of a major city AND it has two separate kiosks where you can scan things in yourself. They will scan things you bring to the counter if you have 5 or fewer, but any more than that and they'll send you over to one of the kiosks to keep the line moving.

[1786davycrockett]

@simba6 

This sounds like yet another cost-cutting  "Delivering for America" con-job, reinterpreted at a local level. 

In order to meet USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's new "delivery" thresholds, local USPS branches across the USA are attempting to save time by eliminating some normal USPS functions -- in your case, scanning your package at the time of mailing, and putting it off until much later in the day -- or maybe never.

Your local post office may be deliberately skipping the initial scan entirely, hoping that it will be rectified when the package arrives at the next USPS Distribution Center.  Admittedly, the local post office has cut corners (in compliance with DeJoy's clamping down on work schedules); but it's just another area of "time-saving" which gives USPS an even worse reputation.

Similar reports of other methods of cost-cutting and elimination of services have been reported around the USA since last year; and DeJoy was recently brought up before a Congressional investigation for recent huge lapses in USPS service, particularly in Atlanta, Houston & Memphis.  Even my dinky little USPS branch in Minnesota was investigated this past year by a Congressional examiner -- so it's happening all over.

Meanwhile -- local post offices have been ordered by DeJoy to pause normal USPS mailings, in order to spend more time completing Amazon deliveries!

"Delivering for America" it ain't.

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

Honestly, in my experience, if you regularly make their lives easy, they'll bend over backwards for you. I can't tell you how many times this has rang true ...

Use a kiosk if/when available.

I know many will argue with me, but I think receipts are 100% pointless. IMO you don't need a receipt, you need a scan. That's all. Scan shows the record electronically, receipt shows record physically. If you go to the counter and ask for a receipt, the process takes about 5x longer than scans w/o receipt. Receipt = press a button on their screen, scan package, weigh package (wait a few secs), press button on screen, repeat process ... Using the little handheld scanners works extremely quickly and if you hold the packages up for them in proper orientation, they can scan faster, it's easier, and everyone is happy.

If you use a SCAN form, then they scan one time instead of every single package. They will love you if you use a SCAN form. It makes their lives easier. 

I use SCAN forms and I basically NEVER wait in line. If the person working the counter is busy, usually another worker walks by often enough, spots me and has me jump the line. One quick scan, hand the batch over and I'm outta there! I've even had the person working the counter have me jump ahead in between customers just to get me outta there quicker. Last week the gal stopped in the middle of helping a troubled customer to help me, because the customer had too much drama going on and needed wayyyyyyy too much help.

If you're good to them, they'll be good to you. Stop and pay attention to the characters they get in there on a daily basis and all the craziness they deal with .... an organized shipper who has their $H!T together is a pleasant sight of reprieve for them.


ETA: SCAN form scan not only satisfies timely shipment metric, but in my experience also serves as acceptance for USPS included insurance claims. I've been able to make insurance claims on the $100 included insurance when all I received was a SCAN form scan or a kiosk scan, and no further scans... I doubt it's a hard fast rule and maybe a judgement call or courtesy by insurance claims team, because that would be ripe with fraud, but worked for me

[slyders_finds]

Just scan the label at the self service kiosk if you have one at your post office. 

[orangehound]

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@slyders_finds wrote:

Just scan the label at the self service kiosk if you have one at your post office. 

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@slyders_finds 

In talking with the postmaster at my local branch, she said that this is not an acceptance scan if there is one of those manual bins that you just open and drop in the package ... this is because someone could scan at the kiosk, never put the package in the bin, and then make an insurance claim that the USPS lost the package.

(She said that at their branch, they will do an acceptance scan of all packages in the dropped bin at the end of the day, but that this is not guaranteed).

Now ... does eBay accept a kiosk scan as an acceptance scan?  I don't know, and wondering if others might have experience with how eBay treated a kiosk scan that didn't later get an acceptance scan.

[jbbowers12012]

Hi,  here in N.J. we wait our turn on line at the counter & ask for a receipt for our packages.  The clerk will scan our items which generates a receipt for us.  Quite easy & never had an issue....................Good Luck! (J.B.)

[1786davycrockett]

@orangehound 

"In talking with the postmaster at my local branch, she said that this is not an acceptance scan if there is one of those manual bins that you just open and drop in the package ... this is because someone could scan at the kiosk, never put the package in the bin, and then make an insurance claim that the USPS lost the package."

While USPS may exclude the initial kiosk scan as an "Acceptance" scan for USPS insurance purposes, it is accepted by eBay for the purpose of the "eBay transaction defect report," which records that initial scan as delivered to the post office -- there is a SEPARATE eBay notation for the USPS "Acceptance" scan.

The kiosk scan is safe, as long as the seller is not attempting to flim-flam USPS for insurance, and so long as the delivery chute leads inside the secure post office walls, and is simply not an open bin accessible to the general public.

[slyders_finds]

My statement pertained to 

"I asked for my package to be scanned when I handed it to the lady at the post office. I was told they are not allowed to scan it until it's leaving the post office."

They are absolutely allowed to scan it, but is not the official acceptance. But it shows good faith that it was dropped off within stated handling time. And 9.9 times out of 10 my packages are scanned within 24 hours of the initial kiosk scan so it satifies Ebay.  

[tobaccocardyahoo]

I no longer worry about scans for any service which is tracked in the traditional manner.

They will get scanned at one or more locations within the appropriate delivery time. Not the case for ESE but waiting at the counter does not get you a scan either.

I rarely go to the PO. We have a locked pickup slot in our lobby and everything which needs scanning gets scanned at the first shipping hub with an origin scan from our town and the hub scan. The timestamps make it clear that there is not enough transit time between origin and hub for both scans to be at the stated location.

Our PO is a USPS training center, and many of the new employees are still doing their job as they were taught and not improvising new policies.

When we were shipping from a rural location we would bring everything to the PO but that is no longer necessary. The contract carriers on the rural routes were prone to improvisation, just like the contact drivers on FEDEX Ground and Amazon Logistics.

The system works well for me. Unlike for some other sellers, when we have a substitute on our route, it works better.