eBay

link32 · ‎11-09-2021

When dropping off our packages at the post office today, the local clerk informed me of a policy change with the postal system that they will no longer scan packages you give them at the service window during the holiday season and will resume on Jan 1.

Is anyone else running into this issue today?

This could potentially become a major issue with the eBay automated system for dinging us for packages that run behind this season as it is very hit or miss in the Houston area for the packages to be scanned at the local distribution center.

The lady in line in front of me was a pretty big Etsy and was really going off on them for refusing to scan her probably 50+ packages she was dropping off.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎11-09-2021

Anybody who's dropping off 50 packages ought to be using a scan form, NOT expecting clerks to scan 50 packages individually.

The SCAN form was developed in response to the clamor after USPS announced many years ago that it would not do counter scans for prepaid labels. So there's a longstanding policy that you're not entitled to that counter scan; most PO's do it as a courtesy and/or to avoid aggravating good customers who might decide to take their business to some other area PO that WILL scan for them.

itscalledapostingid · ‎11-09-2021

I would have asked "For future reference can you show me the published USPS policy that indicates this change?"

oldwestgold · ‎11-09-2021

No carrier is going to stand there scanning over 50 packages while other customers stand in line. If you want to do business with any company, you have to do it by their policies. Can you imagine Amazon bringing up a semi load and having a clerk scan 30,000 packages?

I am a retired Postmaster of 33 yrs. When we had an eBay or Amazon customer come in with even 25 + parcels, they were instructed to drop them off on a mail cart on the dock. After closing or before if a clerk got the spare time they would begin scanning them. I would even pay a rural carrier OT to scan, if available. Window clerks are scarce at any business now. You cannot expect a business to have 3 clerks on duty waiting for the 1 or 2 customers to come in all day then do nothing. Of course, each office operates differently.

It simply is the state of our world and it most likely is not going to change for quite some time. Just last night I had to go into a Spectrum store to exchange modems. I waited with only one clerk there for over 45 minutes. I was #2 behind this person. They were purchasing a cell phone which took time. Upset? You bet ya. Nothing I could do so I wasted time making faces through the front window and texting my wife sitting in the car. It passed the time and kept me from blowing a fuse. Good luck!

oldwestgold · ‎11-09-2021

One additional note as a retired PM is that MOST eBay & Amazon sellers always brought their large amount of packages in right before closing. That caused problems as each and every PO has a specified dispatch time or when the truck(s) arrive to pick up the outgoing mail. Mail trucks cannot be held up or the time lost will impact every office remaining on their route all the way to delaying the plant to process the mail. It's just the way it is.

orangehound · ‎11-09-2021

@oldwestgold wrote:
No carrier is going to stand there scanning over 50 packages while other customers stand in line.

Yep.

I've heard about these policies before, typically enacted by the local postmaster. They are specifically to try to help get the lines moving.

But, whenever I've heard of this, a postmaster has no problems with the seller bringing in a SCAN sheet ... one quick scan and done.

klhmdg · ‎11-09-2021

I had no problem at the Post Office today. Packages scanned as per usual.

I also have not seen any notice from the USPS that they will not be acceptance scanning packages.

klhmdg • Volunteer Community Mentor

a_c_green · ‎11-09-2021

@klhmdg wrote:
I had no problem at the Post Office today. Packages scanned as per usual.
I also have not seen any notice from the USPS that they will not be acceptance scanning packages.

USPS policy is that any package presented for mailing is to be scanned, regardless of whether the sender is present.

What I find particularly stupid about these local decrees on not doing a Pre-paid Mailpiece Acceptance properly is that a package acceptance is easily the fastest transaction possible at the Front Desk, as no money changes hands; it's just weigh, scan, and into the bin. I once timed my own transaction that way and it came to seventeen seconds (including observations on the weather and the pathetic state of the Bears defense).

Thus banning Acceptance scans is the best way to have the least possible effect on reducing backups. Everything else takes much more time: clueless wonders who haven't even packed their item when coming up to the desk; people who want to carefully review every single different design of postage stamp on sale before making their decision; people who have never seen a card terminal before in their lives; people who wrote their package address in longhand with crayons and got the ZIP code wrong as well... I could go on and on.

paulhua3 · ‎11-09-2021

At my (small) post office, every package gets scanned before it leaves the building. I pile the packages on the counter and leave. Every one gets an acceptance scan.

hurryagain · ‎11-09-2021

@paulhua3 wrote:
At my (small) post office, every package gets scanned before it leaves the building. I pile the packages on the counter and leave. Every one gets an acceptance scan.

I used to do this until I noticed that my packages were not being scanned. I used to leave them in a designated area (as USPS would like us to do) so that they could scan them at their convenience.

Since I noticed them not scanning my packages, I started to wait in line and I make them scan it right there & then. If they do not want to do their job at their convenience, then they can do it at mine.

lja440 · ‎11-10-2021

@link32 wrote:
When dropping off our packages at the post office today, the local clerk informed me of a policy change with the postal system that they will no longer scan packages you give them at the service window during the holiday season and will resume on Jan 1.

Is anyone else running into this issue today?

This could potentially become a major issue with the eBay automated system for dinging us for packages that run behind this season as it is very hit or miss in the Houston area for the packages to be scanned at the local distribution center.

The lady in line in front of me was a pretty big Etsy and was really going off on them for refusing to scan her probably 50+ packages she was dropping off.

I don't know that this is true but I can see it. We are very short-staffed. I have been out of the office for a couple of weeks dealing with my Mother-in-laws's estate and getting her house ready to put up for sale. I go back Friday.

They may not scan individual packages but they should still be scanning a scan form that has all the lot of packages info encoded within that barcode.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎11-10-2021

@a_c_green wrote: ... a package acceptance is easily the fastest transaction possible .... I once timed my own transaction that way and it came to seventeen seconds ....

But for that Etsy seller with 50 packages, that adds up to 14 minutes. Very few eBay sellers would have just one package to ship, especially in the holiday season.

a_c_green · ‎11-10-2021

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
@a_c_green wrote: ... a package acceptance is easily the fastest transaction possible .... I once timed my own transaction that way and it came to seventeen seconds ....
But for that Etsy seller with 50 packages, that adds up to 14 minutes. Very few eBay sellers would have just one package to ship, especially in the holiday season.

Well, it would be less than that; the actual weigh-scan-next cycle is closer to ten seconds, with a few extra seconds on the end for printing the receipt, but yes, dumping 50 prepaid packages on the counter would (should) trigger a lecture on using a SCAN sheet next time, and maybe also bringing them around to the side door, if the PO is anything like ours.

However, bringing three or four packages up to the counter for a Pre-Paid Mailpiece Acceptance (as it's called on the POS terminal splash screen) is not going to slow anyone down. That's usually the most I have in a typical visit, and I'm in and out of there in less than a minute.

Here's how you bring the lobby line to a screeching halt: Some local guy in our town runs an on-line subscription site that ships monthly activity kits to kids. Each is a good-sized, custom-printed commercial box with the subscriber's address label pre-printed on it (so we know he has a printer at home), and he wheels them in, a dozen or so at a time, in a Radio Flyer cart. None have postage.

One at a time, he hoists a box onto the counter, and they go through the whole rigmarole of weighing it, keying the address into the system, printing out a label, and sticking it on. Then he lifts another box to the counter, and the process repeats. Let's see, nine more boxes to go... Meanwhile, the rest of the line is glaring at him, and wishing there were more than two or three clerks around to help everyone else.

So, again, the pre-printed, pre-paid dropoffs are not where the delays are. Blaming folks who have already done half the work of shipping their packages and simply want a timely Acceptance scan is misguided.

Hopefully, as the Christmas season gets closer, the PO will again have people working the lines with handheld scanners (and sometimes receipt printers as well), and they can thin out the line by helping the people who come in prepared with their packages, leaving only the ones who need a ton of assistance to get their stuff in the mail.

tedsrecords · ‎11-10-2021

Report them to the FBI

hurryagain · ‎11-10-2021

@a_c_green wrote:
@nobody*s_perfect wrote:
@a_c_green wrote: ... a package acceptance is easily the fastest transaction possible .... I once timed my own transaction that way and it came to seventeen seconds ....
But for that Etsy seller with 50 packages, that adds up to 14 minutes. Very few eBay sellers would have just one package to ship, especially in the holiday season.
Well, it would be less than that; the actual weigh-scan-next cycle is closer to ten seconds, with a few extra seconds on the end for printing the receipt, but yes, dumping 50 prepaid packages on the counter would (should) trigger a lecture on using a SCAN sheet next time, and maybe also bringing them around to the side door, if the PO is anything like ours.

However, bringing three or four packages up to the counter for a Pre-Paid Mailpiece Acceptance (as it's called on the POS terminal splash screen) is not going to slow anyone down. That's usually the most I have in a typical visit, and I'm in and out of there in less than a minute.

Here's how you bring the lobby line to a screeching halt: Some local guy in our town runs an on-line subscription site that ships monthly activity kits to kids. Each is a good-sized, custom-printed commercial box with the subscriber's address label pre-printed on it (so we know he has a printer at home), and he wheels them in, a dozen or so at a time, in a Radio Flyer cart. None have postage.

One at a time, he hoists a box onto the counter, and they go through the whole rigmarole of weighing it, keying the address into the system, printing out a label, and sticking it on. Then he lifts another box to the counter, and the process repeats. Let's see, nine more boxes to go... Meanwhile, the rest of the line is glaring at him, and wishing there were more than two or three clerks around to help everyone else.

So, again, the pre-printed, pre-paid dropoffs are not where the delays are. Blaming folks who have already done half the work of shipping their packages and simply want a timely Acceptance scan is misguided.

Hopefully, as the Christmas season gets closer, the PO will again have people working the lines with handheld scanners (and sometimes receipt printers as well), and they can thin out the line by helping the people who come in prepared with their packages, leaving only the ones who need a ton of assistance to get their stuff in the mail.

O-M-G...

We MUST be using the same PO. You could have described our experience with one person here.

We have a person who must sell either here or on etsy who comes into the PO and one ups your annoying person...she actually STARTS packaging her items in the boxes when she gets to the counter - not 1 or 2 boxes but more like 4 to 6 boxes...

Okie dokie kiddies...get the newspaper and start crumpling them in balls, then get the item(s) and put them in the box, make sure it's in there rightie tightie. Tape it up real good THEN start writing down the name & address on the box and repeat THAT process 3 to 5 times.

I S#%$ you not. The best part is that the PO clerk just stands there and chats with her like it is totally okay to do this! Then they want to give us who have done most of the work for them a hard time???

At least the PO clerk does NOT have to put it on the scale & weigh it, then type in that address, then print the label and put it on the package making sure that the tracking scan bar is on the package in a way that it works - next package - repeat repeat repeat repeat. And then - as if all of this wasn't enough...wait for me to fiddle around looking for my cash or card to pay for it all. It's already done for them.

@a_c_green - very well put.