USPS - APV - Heavy handed counter clerk ...

[mr_lincoln]

So I shipped a package today and while being 2nd in line I took some pics of the drop off lane and two large cloth bags filled with packages (below) ... when my turn came there was a new or temporary clerk.  I placed my package on the scale and the clerk asked if I wanted a receipt, I replied that I did ... the clerk then proceeded to place their hand on the package WHILE IT WAS ON THE SCALE and scanned it in ... the clerk was oblivious to what they did ... when they were finished I asked them to double check the weight since they had their hand on the package while it was on the scale ... , "Oh!" was their reply ... errnt!  Good catch Mr. L !!! Mine was corrected but who knows how many of those dropped off packages will be under paid for the additional weight that heavy handed clerk may cause ... hmmm?

[wastingtime101]

Packages also get weight while in transit so the initial scan may not matter.

[mr_lincoln]

---

@wastingtime101 wrote:

Packages also get weight while in transit so the initial scan may not matter.

---

That's correct, but who knows which weight scan they use for the APV system ...

[nobody*s_perfect]

Yes, the APV system is based on the machinery at sorting centers.  The big pile of packages that's weighed later might not even get weighed at the receiving PO; just scanned in like with carrier pickup.

[sweetpieces4you]

Not Matter ?? I don't use Ebay Shipping Labels !! So that Initial Scan Means Everything To Me !! Since that is when I Pay !! A heavy hand could cost me a lot of money !! So for me anyway It Matters !! 

[mr_lincoln]

---

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Yes, the APV system is based on the machinery at sorting centers.  The big pile of packages that's weighed later might not even get weighed at the receiving PO; just scanned in like with carrier pickup.

---

That is correct, every package will get at least one scan at a bulk center on the automated equipment, I've seen the equipment and know how it works.  There are times when it fails or cen get a miss read ... like if two packages stick together because of poor taping jobs ... yep, it can happen, rare but it does.  Same zone shipments will only get one automated scan.

And yes to the bulk packages maybe not getting the counter scan at the receiving post office ...

[a_c_green]

---

Mine was corrected but who knows how many of those dropped off packages will be under paid for the additional weight that heavy handed clerk may cause ... hmmm?

---

I would say None. They don't do individual weigh-ins of dropped-off packages anyway, and the APV weighing later on down the line is an automated process that (hopefully) is more accurate than a guy with his thumb on the scale at the front desk. If an unusually heavy or underpaid package got their attention, I think they'd know enough to weigh it without holding it at the same time.

[berserkerplanet]

>>Not Matter ?? I don't use Ebay Shipping Labels !! So that Initial Scan Means Everything To Me !! Since that is when
>>I Pay !! A heavy hand could cost me a lot of money !! So for me anyway It Matters !!

If you are talking about purchasing retail postage at the PO counter then it has NOTHING to do with the APV. APV does not deal with retail postage at all - it is assumed the weight and postage are correct when initially weighed and paid for (and if not, they should slide on through anyway as USPS's screwup.)

You issue would be with paying too much initially due to "thumb on the scale". Which shouldn't happen - you should know how much your packages weigh to even list the items in the first place, and in order to keep the PO honest and dispute it when the weight and postage cost are wrong before paying.

No different than calling a supermarket clerk out for keying in the much more expensive avocado price code for 8lbs of bananas ("$24 for 8lb of bananas? That's not right. It should be $4.00).

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@sweetpieces4you wrote:

Not Matter ?? I don't use Ebay Shipping Labels !! So that Initial Scan Means Everything To Me !! Since that is when I Pay !! A heavy hand could cost me a lot of money !! So for me anyway It Matters !! 

---

If you don't use online shipping labels, then you're paying extra EVERY time that you purchase postage.

For instance if you're shipping 5 pounds to Zone 5, at the PO you'd pay $13.70, but an eBay label would have cost $10.33. You're already paying $3.37 more for that label even if the clerk's thumb isn't on the scale.

[mr_lincoln]

---

@a_c_green wrote:

---

Mine was corrected but who knows how many of those dropped off packages will be under paid for the additional weight that heavy handed clerk may cause ... hmmm?

---

I would say None. They don't do individual weigh-ins of dropped-off packages anyway, and the APV weighing later on down the line is an automated process that (hopefully) is more accurate than a guy with his thumb on the scale at the front desk. If an unusually heavy or underpaid package got their attention, I think they'd know enough to weigh it without holding it at the same time.

---

Maybe "dropped off" packages they don't but every package I take is put on the scale in front of the clerk and is weighed then recorded in their system ... the temp clerk in question, whether is was clear or not, was clueless that having their hand on the package while it was being weighed was a problem ... I believe they were new ...

[jason_incognito]

Those pics look like my post office. You'd think that once in a while they could clear them.

I know, too much to ask.

[sweetpieces4you]

I rarely ship 5 lbs. of anything. And if I do it goes into a usps padded flat rate envelope or box. But there are occasions that I ship larger pieces , depends.  I ship usps 1st class mail 98% of the time !! So Ebay postage doesn't do much for me. And my customers know the real shipping costs of my items as my postage is on my packages and not hidden with Ebay labels !! I personally don't need to make any money on shipping. I make it on my products !! 

[fern*wood]

You don't have to make money on shipping to save your buyers on shipping costs. 

[hun.ga_43]

---

@sweetpieces4you wrote:

I rarely ship 5 lbs. of anything. And if I do it goes into a usps padded flat rate envelope or box. But there are occasions that I ship larger pieces , depends.  I ship usps 1st class mail 98% of the time !! So Ebay postage doesn't do much for me. And my customers know the real shipping costs of my items as my postage is on my packages and not hidden with Ebay labels !! I personally don't need to make any money on shipping. I make it on my products !! 

---

Bro, switch to decaf

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@sweetpieces4you wrote: .. I ship usps 1st class mail 98% of the time !! So Ebay postage doesn't do much for me. And my customers know the real shipping costs of my items as my postage is on my packages and not hidden with Ebay labels !! I personally don't need to make any money on shipping. ...

---

Fine, here's a First Class example:  shipping a 12-ounce package as a First Class package to Zone 1 or 2 would cost $5.19 at the PO, but an eBay label would cost $3.82, a savings of $1.37.

Using online postage, you can ship packages up to 15.999 ounces via First Class, rather than being bumped up to Priority Mail for packages over 13 ounces.

If using eBay postage you can choose whether to show the postage cost on your label.  And you can also choose to set up your shipping calculator in your listing to show either the retail price or the online (eBay label) price.  So you could save money for either yourself or your buyers, or a bit of both, rather than handing that extra $1.37 over to the PO clerk.