USPS Carrier Needs Lunch Money

HipStamp recently contacted me concerning a complaint they received from a buyer concerning $7.18 postage due on their order. I had paid $3.72 to ship 23 stamps valued at over $100 and weighing less than 2 oz. via Shipping Easy in order to obtain a tracking number which is more than twice what the buyer paid.

Apparently the carrier in Arizona needed lunch money and tried collecting it from my buyer. He refused to pay and the stamps were returned to me 7 days later. I also received a notice to pay $7.18 postage due in my PO Box. I asked why? She said it was "marked on the envelope". She asked if I had ever encountered a problem like this before and I said once on an overseas order when I was charged an additional $15 which was taken out of my ShippingEasy account. She then proceeded to investigate further and questioned the dollar amount. Said the USPS cost would have been only $5.40 to mail. She concluded someone "made a mistake" and crossed off the postage due and placed it back into the system for delivery. Hopefully it arrives this time around. I notified buyer and advised him to contact his PO if he is again asked to pay additional postage.

Has anyone else had buyers run into a similar problem or am I the only lucky one?

P.S.

The buyer just contacted me. Now he understands it was not my fault and seems to be in a better mood. He just hopes the same person who "marked it" before doesn't get their hands on it this time. Me too.

Comments

  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I don't know about lunch money, but I would observe that modern postage rates and options are so convoluted that they might as well be quantum physics. No one can carry all that stuff around in their head and be right all the time.
  • Glad to report the stamps arrived today without any additional postage due. Tracking was provided when heading west, but not when heading east. Also it was twice a fast going west. Strange, but everyone's happy now.
  • Always a good thing when the mail arrives. Logic is accidental at the USPS. I live southeast of Nashville TN, two miles from the town of Smyrna. My mailing address is Mt. Juliet, in the middle of the next county. A round trip to the Smyrna post office is 8 miles, to the Mt
    Juliet office it's almost 40 miles. If I mailed a letter across the street, it would go to Nashville to be "sorted."

  • Mail sent from PO in Bat Cave, NC to PO in Chimney Rock, NC (2.4 miles) is sent to Greenville, SC (57.2 miles) for sorting.
  • edited October 2022 0 LikesVote Down
    Mail pick up vehicles have always had a route ending up at a sorting station. They apparently pick up at Chimney Rock NC and the next pickup point is Bat Cave. The truck then continues on and ends up at Greenville. .In the '50's I watched my grandmother sort mail into sealed mailbags to be picked up - they all went to a sorting station for further distribution by destination or class of mail. Part of the civil service exam for postmasters and postmistresses was a knowledge of geography - where the states were located (48 back then).
    There are a lot of things to complain about - but the only possible complaint in this case is that many sorting stations have been discontinued over the years. - it started long ago (pre- DeJoy). And I would bet that the routing has been the same for decades.
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