Has anybody else compared their scale weights to those at the post office?

[newarkauto]

After hearing about the USPS new APV program I more formally compared the weights of my packages to those measured on the scale at the post offices that I use.  A 3 ounce package on my office scale weighed 2.5 ounces on 2 scales in 1 post office and 4.5 ounces at a different office.   A 10 pound package on my shipping scale weighed 8.5 pounds at one office and 13.4 pounds at another.  How can they charge us back if their scales are not properly calibrated.

[apache.falls]

ask clerk to reset scale

[beautybylynn]

most P.O. have their scales calibrated daily (or their supposed to) Make sure YOUR scale is exactly (You can buy calibration weights or weigh something you know what it weighs) and report any differences to the postmaster.  All Of the p.o. is used usually let the differences of a few ounces one way or the other go But some are more "forgiving"then others

[southern*sweet*tea]

No.  I haven't been inside a Post Office in years and years.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

When you pay for postage at the PO, the APV program does not apply. It's only for online prepaid labels.

That said, of course you want to challenge the weight if it's off by as much as you describe! I do not print online labels, but I certainly know how much postage a given package will require. If the clerk tells me a higher amount, I insist on a re-weigh, preferably on a different scale. Several times, the problem has been the clerk's hand resting on the package or debris impinging on the scale. For example, in cramped quarters, the credit card reader and its cord may wedge against the scale or the clerk may have to steady a large box.

A difference of more than 1/2 ounce is not acceptable!

~~C~~

[berserkerplanet]

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A difference of more than 1/2 ounce is not acceptable!

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A difference of 0.01 ounces is unacceptable.

 I thought I remembered that was the criterion that USPS used, and then found corroboration in the following posted by Nate in one of the APV threads:

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/ship-smart/ebay-shipping-partners/avoid-extra-postage-costs....

"Round up the weight up. USPS rounds up to the nearest ounce or pound depending on the shipping service you select*. For instance, a 2.01oz item will be rated as 3oz, and a 2lb 1oz item will be rated at 3lbs."

If USPS is going to call my 16.01 ounce First Class package a 2 pound Priority Mail package, then their scales had **bleep** well better be accurate to 0.01 ounces!

I assume that the second example above (2lb 1 oz goes as 3 lb) is only an example and not a guideline, as my understanding is that the 0.01 oz number is across the board for up to 70#. Which is ludicrous - no real world scale is going to maintain 0.01oz accuracy at pound weights. If I'm wrong about that correction is welcomed.

My scale has 0.05 ounce resolution, and I use calibration weights, but I cut it really close quite often. (to the point where 1/2 oz of absorbed moisture in a dry  First Class corrugated box is a problem.)

I presume that clerks (and the sorting centers) have been giving us the benefit of the doubt up to a few tenths of an ounce up until now, but if the new automated systems are going to nitpick 0.01 oz overages there will be trouble - high speed automated systems can't maintain that sort of accuracy in actual practice over time.

USPS needs to be targeting the shippers putting FRE postage on 5 pound packages, and those paying for 3oz FCP when shippng 5oz FCP pkgs with this system, and not scooping up 0.01 ounce overages which can easily be false positives. Hopefully they have the aggressiveness of the flagging system dialed down to reasonable, real world levels to acccount the errors in their measurement systems.

A response that a shipper should mentally add up to a half ounce to every pkg weight (ie: call a 12.75 ounce pkg a 14 ounce package) is not it.

We shall see. I am fastidious about my package weights even though I skate close to the edge a lot. I engage in flap cutting, custom box fabrication, using lighter weight packing slip paper stock, sticking a lifesaver or nothing in instead of a starlight mint when it's close, etc), and have never in 20 years shipped an overweight pkg that I know of or have been notified about. If my methods continue to work then great. If not, there will be war.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

I was using 1/2 ounce as a generic number -- the OP was citing differences of 2 oz. to 2 lbs. Agreed, careful packaging is the key when a weight limit is so close.  My nemesis is 3 lbs.  Most of the time, I allow a margin of 4 to 6 oz. but  I've been known to clip box flaps or remove a  layer of bubble wrap!  The closest I've ever come to being at the PO with a package with absolutely no room for error was an exactly 3 lbs. international order.  The official measurement was was 2 lbs. 15.9 oz.  Whew! ~~C~~

[berserkerplanet]

I figured that was what you meant, but thought I'd rigorize it a bit.

I did note OP's numbers - his PO's need to be smacked on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and get their scales calibrated or replaced.

Allowing a 4-6oz margin is unacceptable. It's akin to paying protection money to mobsters to not have your store burned down. I realize it's just self-protection, but overpaying shipping because USPS won't/can't uphold their end of the bargain with reasonably accurate equipment and procedures is a slippery slope. If they are going to impose an 0.01 ounce criterion for overage, their systems need to maintain that same standard. Goose. Gander.

I'm really curious what the ACTUAL criteria (weight overage allowance and dimensional overage allowance to allow for equipment variation) are in practice.

[berserkerplanet]

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  The closest I've ever come to being at the PO with a package with absolutely no room for error was an exactly 3 lbs. international order.  The official measurement was was 2 lbs. 15.9 oz.  Whew! ~~C~~

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This highlights another issue I have with the APV system: When is the weight of a package the weight of the package?

My understanding is that retail postage that is handled by a human at the counter is exempt from scrutiny by the machines, but what of the case where I print an online label for a 3 pound Priority mail package that actually weighs 2# 15.8oz, take it to the post office counter and have it weighed and accepted as 2# 15.8oz (a true 3 pound shipment), and then it hits the regional sorting center where out of calibration automated equiment flags it as 3# 1oz and underpaid?

Can that happen, or is there something in the software flow that prevents the automated system from flagging an already scanned pkg with correct postage?

As I asked elsewhere, what prevents the final leg postal carrier from checking it with an inaccurate scale at receiving end and delivering it postage due?

Are flagged packages pulled from the mail stream and/or have additional labels attached indicating that postage is adjusted to be correct (additional postage paid/will be billed to sender) to prevent further flagging down the line by humans?

Apparantly the appeals process is there to handle these fringe cases, but depending on how aggressively they have the system dialed up, how much slop there is in the equipment around the country, what safeguards (multiple flaggings disallowed, no human initiated postage due if flaggged, etc), and how well the appeals process actually works, this could be a nightmare for shippers. Only way to win is not to play (or just ship everything in a MFRB 🙂

There is almost zero information available that I can find, and a lot of questions about the actual details of how the system will operate.

Then again, maybe it's dialed down to catch only the egregious underpays, and will be business as usual for the honest shippers (fingers crossed).

[Anonymous]

When are they going to start weighing these packages? I have yet to receive a refund.

[electrola_man]

When I started bringing in lots of packages, I would get compliments on how good of a job I did at weighing them, as they re-weighed them and scanned them.  Now they know I'm honest and do a good job, and just quickly scan them without weighing them and hand me a receipt.  What I would find is that my $20 thrift store scale was within an ounce or so of what the PO scale said, so I was just careful to round up to the next ounce if I was at the high end of an ounce....9.8 ounces before label went on would be declared by me as 11 ounces.