One reason USPS may be having trouble

[kathy507]

I got a notice yesterday in my mailbox that I have a letter but that they were not delivering it until I paid the postage due:   $0.30.  That's right, 30 cents.

Let us consider the logic here.

1.  First someone at the post office had to notice the letter was thicker than just a piece of paper and judge it needed more postage.

2.  Someone (maybe the same person) took out a paper form, filed in my name, address, etc. and checked the box that money was due, recording the 30 cents.  The form was then attached to an small envelop for me to send/give/take the 30 cents to make up the difference.  (The small envelop and the form was at their expense.)

3.  The local post office sorted the  letter and separated the notice of postage due, filed the letter in the post office,  and loaded in the mail truck to be delivered the notice of postage due and the small envelop which was delivered it to my mail box.

4.  Today I got in my car (yes, quarantine not withstanding) and drove to the nearby post office to get my letter by paying the 30 cents.

5.  I handed the 30 cents and notice/envelop to the USPS employee who then had to find the letter somewhere in the post office to give it to me.  It took a few minutes to locate the letter and hand it over.

6.  I drove back home wondering was it worth the efforts of USPS in terms of work hours just to get 30 cents? (The letter had a check, so it was worth it to me. )

To top it all off, the  letter was coming from the nearby county about 10 miles away and dated 4/4/20.   So it took until 4/21/20 to even get the notice of postage due to me. 

And there my colleagues is one reason the post office is in trouble.

[inhawaii]

Funny story and i agree with you ... but at what point is it worth it/not worth it to collect postage due?  30 cents? 32 cents? 37 cents? 40 cents? 50 cents? A dollar?

[luckythewinner]

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@kathy507 wrote:

And there my colleagues is one reason the post office is in trouble.

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Let's consider the other logic - not bothering to check postage. How much more would the USPS lose if people knew they could underpay postage and not worry about it? You are narrowly focused on your 30 cents, not the overall deterrent effect that this sort of enforcement is indented to accomplish. 

That aside ...

The post office is in trouble is because Congress passed a law in 2006 that requires them to pre-fund all their retiree benefits. According to the USPS, switching to the same pay-as-you method and paying premiums as they come due (how other government agencies are allowed to operate) would free up $5 billion a year. 

[inhawaii]

I wanted to add one more thing.  I have an understanding with my mail carrier. If i ever receive mail with postage due, she will cover it for me and i always pay her back (plus a little extra).  I few weeks ago i had one for $3 and change.  I gave her $5.  She's happy.  I'm happy.  The system works well.  

[therogue-trader]

like most things in life, there are many inefficiencies. such is the way things are.

I've had a letter (PWE) bounced back to me claiming I didn't pay first-class postage despite me not sending it via first-class and putting the stamps on the letter in front of a postal employee after asking that employee how many stamps I needed to use.  (it was an issue with some employee on the receiving end being incompetent, I have a solid rapport with the people at my local PO)

[bbravo65]

@luckythewinner...I thank you for your input...

...there are few more things to consider as...re-use uncancelled stamp  and not honesty enough in weighting and purchasing correct postage for packages => Postage Due...

[fuzzface50]

Many years ago back in the checkbook age I payed a bill but I accidently made it out for even dollars and forgot about the .02 on it.  Yep, a while later I got a bill for the .02. Had to laugh, the company paid more in postage then what I owed and plus all the other hidden expenses like using company envelope, letterhead and secretary or whoever wrote why I owed them .02.  I would have just wrote it off, adjusted the book or just took it out of the penny jar on the counter.  We just had to laugh at them for being pennywise but dollar foolish. 

anyways I can understand what was mentioned above about if the usps let it slide how often it would further  get abused on purpose even if the first time was just an oversight and times that by their customer base that just happens to try to short change them a bit can really add up to big $'s.  just the few I know that try to cheat them on postage on under weighing their items on purpose would add up if they just trusted everyone.  Those scales pay for themselves fast. 

[ed8108]

A one way street?

Interesting that I have never received a refund for sevices paid & never rendered.

Just one example that occurred within a legal matter.

USPS Registered mail, with signed return receipt, mail article never updated from out for delivery, & the return receipt was never received.

Since there was no proof of actual delivery

I applied to be refunded my payment for return receipt which was never forthcoming, despite repeated inquiry over an extended period of time, more than a year.

[kathieskorner]

I think I would focus my attention on whoever sent the letter without the correct postage....   

[jack_bucks_ghost]

"Many years ago back in the checkbook age I payed a bill but I accidently made it out for even dollars and forgot about the .02 on it.  Yep, a while later I got a bill for the .02. "

Thanks funny...I have a friend who wrote a very boring academic study that was published by one of the university presses.  No one ever buys it, but each year he gets a royalty check for $0.00.  The publishers are actually losing money on his book...lol

[picknparley]

Last year I sent a medium package from Wis to NY.  Weighed and scanned here and have the receipt.  In NY some postal employee stuck their finger on the scale and decided it was $.20 short.  They did not even give the recipient a chance to pay the small discrepancy, instead they sent it all the way back to Wisconsin to get the $.20 from me.  Even my postmaster was disgusted with that decision. 

For awhile there was a NY  PO that was rejecting nearly every parcel it got in.  Even a wet rainy day or high humidity will make cardboard boxes gain weight. 

Some USPS employees are either too postal - or too anti-postal - and should probably find another line of work.