Help!!

[trita6]

So I just shipped a medium flat rate priority USPS box from illinios to cali. I paid the postage fee and slapped that label on the package. The item is a pair of jeans and the box weighs less than 2 pounds.  The buyer got a notice that he needs to pay $25 even though the item he bought was free shipping.  If you want me to explain some more just ask but what do I do?

[lmselling]

I would love to think the post office would give you a pass this time since you made an honest mistake, but I know that's not being realistic. I think most of us have made some costly errors and chalk it up to a learning experience. I'm glad you got to the bottom of it though.

[coffeebean832]

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@trita6 wrote:

The priority mailbox has 2 sides. 1 side is regular and the other side is express. I tweaked and wasnt paying attention and accidently folded it so it was express. 

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I suggest bringing the rest of your Dual-Use boxes to the PO lest you make the same mistake again. Replace them with regular non-dual-use Priority boxes and/or envelopes. If you do ship Express sometimes then pick up regular non-dual-use Express boxes- it will make it a lot harder to make the mistake of folding a Dual-Use box the wrong way.

[richard1rst]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
 I could tie a helium balloon to the pkg while weighing it,

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No No No

You don't tie the helium balloon TO the package.

You put the helium balloon INSIDE the package. That way they will never catch the weight discrepancy.

I've always thought that if someone could come up with bubblewrap filled with helium they would make a fortune.

Shark tank - are you listening?

[berserkerplanet]

Didn't think of that 🙂

But put enough He in there to do anything and you end up getting kiled on dimensional weight instead

Don't think the He bubble wrap idea would fly though. I believe there's still a worldwide helium shortage, as a very small molecule is tough to keep contained, it's relatively expensive, and buoyant lift would be negligible.

I did a rough calc a few years ago to demonstrate that a FedEx size claim was impossible for the weight they claimed even if the corrugated box was filled with He, and that the He wouldn't help much even at that large 12 cu-ft volume (bit under 1 oz per cu-ft lift max)

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping-Returns/Fedex-Overcharge-not-Credited-What-to-Do/m-p/27449064...

Now maybe Hydrogen filled bubblewrap would be better. Oh wait. Lakehurst, NJ. 1937. Something... Yeah. Maybe not.

[richard1rst]

Cute reference to the Hindenburg. But it was filled with hydrogen, not helium.

[berserkerplanet]

>>Now maybe Hydrogen filled bubblewrap would be better. Oh wait. Lakehurst, NJ. 1937. Something... Yeah. Maybe not.

[beardedbovine]

@trita6 

Did you purchase the postage label online, at a blue self-service kiosk at the post office, or at the retail counter?

@berserkerplanet 

All the USPS language I can find mentions PC Postage or SSK, it doesn't lump them together by saying something like PC Postage including SSK. It's unclear to me whether SSK packages would be managed by the APV system at this point.

[mr_lincoln]

@trita6   Did you ask the Buyer to send you a picture of the Postal Notice he received?  I did not read many replies so not sure if you resolved this or not.