*RANT*

[winneganfake]

Attention US Postal Service, heretoafter to be referred to as motherfucking idiot asswipes:

Re-using a priority mail box after it's initial usage is called recycling. Ergo why all "priority mail" marks upon said box were fucking covered over by large swathes of skull&crossbones tape. Returning said box to me and demanding more postage for something that was clearly NOT being sent via priority mail is, to say the least, encroaching on the very definition of asshattery. Wonder why more and more people refuse to send jack shit through your oh-so-wonderfully overpriced services? This would top the fucking scale. Especially when I'm using you to send something local, as the recipient and I never manage to end up in the same place at the same time for the most part. Also since this package should bloody well have arrived yesterday at the latest, despite not sending it via your over-rated, overpriced service.


(yes Ann, that would be your box. Gonna find a workaround, as I already had to pay for shipping once, and certainly do not want to pay full price plus extra just to get something across town twice.)

Comments

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

I bet that's why people who send me stuff via ebay turn those boxes inside-out before using. But JESUS. That is fucking moronic. And I suppose they canceled the postage you had on there?

If you have the time and inclination (ha) you might go into the post office and show them what happened. It might help.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

I've gotten refunds on postage before because of their stupidities. Worth a try.

[faerieburst.livejournal.com]

See my comment below...They won't refund for this as they are very explicit about priority and express packaging cannot be used for anything OTHER than priority and express sending. They've gotten fairly militant about in the last couple years.

~Aramada

[faerieburst.livejournal.com]

Actually, it wouldn't help. Their policy is very clear that you cannot, absolutely, period, no exceptions, use any of their free supplies (Priority or Express) for anything other than what they are marked for. If they discover you've turned one inside out, they will send it back as well, or deliver it C.O.D., and the receiver will have to pay the difference between the postage paid and the Priority/Express price.

This is specifically called out on the packaging itself, and the USPS published codes:
"6.0 Mailing Containers—Special Types of Envelopes and Packaging

6.1 Express Mail and Priority Mail Packaging

Express Mail and Priority Mail packaging provided by the USPS must be used only for Express Mail or Priority Mail, as applicable. Regardless of how the packaging is reconfigured or how markings may be obliterated, any matter mailed in USPS-provided Express Mail or Priority Mail packaging is charged the appropriate Express Mail or Priority Mail price.
http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/601.htm#wp1093736

Not being able to reuse it sucks ass.

~Aramada

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

And this is why I never ship anything USPS. Bureaucracy at its cruelest.

[mskoi.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised. They started to crack down on the recycling of priority boxes into anything other than priority boxes a few years ago. Hence the little stamp on all of them that says that use of the box for anything other than its intended purpose (sending priority mail) is a federal crime.

It's stupid, but it's policy.

I was wondering why I didn't have a package when I went by the house yesterday.

Heh.

No biggie.

[fly-boy-jon.livejournal.com]

Just to give you some revenge.

The post office will send you CASES of their priority boxes, delivered to your door, for free (one of the reasons they are pissy about the rate). I order them by the case, I do use many for priority mail, but when I don't go priority, I wrap them with something, recycled, usually newspaper or old aeronautical charts. I have never had one come back.

I figure, if they will give me the boxes for free, I can spend a little extra time in wrapping them.

Just a thought.