Is anyone having problem with USPS new package weight scanning system?

[heather10yellow]

I shipped a package a t-shirt to be exact. Then I received an email that the weight was incorrect and I was then charged over $8 when I had already paid $5 to shipped and the item only sold for $1, si basically I paid to get rid of a t-shirt.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I called post office to complain they will get back to me in two weeks. they said theer system takes a picture of package and scans it coming down a conveyor belt to calculate size weight.

I am not holding my breath on getting a refund. I even bought a new postal scale in case mine was o longer accurate.

[berserkerplanet]

You were post billed by the USPS Automated Package Verification (APV) system - rightly or wrongly.

You didn't provide any specifics ($5 and over $8 are not exact numbers that allow any analysis), but it sounds like you paid for and shipped First Class package and were upcharged for Priority Mail, which means either USPS thinks you package weighed over 15.99 oz or you used Priority Mail packaging materials for a First Class shipment. (possibly you shipped Media Mail and it was not content that qualifies for Media Mail - it is unclear if APV can do that or does that)

Provide exact information (amount actually paid originally, package size and type, USPS Service type, from and to zipcodes, and how much you were billed after the fact.) Then we can try to suss out what may have happened and determine if you are likely to get a refund. (It sounds like you formally appealed via phone).

[heather10yellow]

postal service rejected my dispute, and as the package is in the hands of the buyer there is nothing I can do. The origonal cost of shipping was $3.50 then the postal service charged me 5.97, so I paid 9.47 on a item weighing less than a pound. in a yellow 11 x 7 envelope.   I purchased a new scale and if anything is close to being over a pound I am just using priority mail from now on. 

[partial*eclipse]

Thanks for providing the details.  $9.47 is the postage cost to ship 2 pounds to Zone 6, so clearly USPS decided that your package weighed over a pound. But the original postage was for just 10 ounces; it's just not plausible that you made a weighing error that big.

Some posters have theorized that in this new system, packages especially envelopes can get stuck together and go through 2 pieces at a time, so the weight of your item is misread.

An occasional misreading like that is no reason for you  to deliberately overpay for future First Class packages.  There seems to be no fine or penalty tied to occasional charges, so it's a risk I'd be willing to take.