Because I worked for the United States Postal Service off and on in the past, I am allowed to gripe about them. I am.
I had two small items to mail to a friend. Upon arriving at the post office, I tried to decide how to send them. The priority box that they would fit in was at a $7.40 rate, which was just 60 cents more than my friend had paid me for the two items.
That seemed asinine.
I decided to buy a small box that wasn’t Priority Mail, fully aware that the Priority Mail boxes are free. I knew that the first class rate, even with the cost of the small box, would be less than the $7.40. This seemed to be the most logical plan of mailing the items at the lowest cost.
Or so I thought.
The Post Office has a sign where people queue for their turn, a sign that says we are not to approach the counter without having our packages addressed and fully closed. I had my box addressed and closed, and so I went to the counter with no misgivings. I stated that I wanted it to be mailed First Class.
The clerk weighed the small box. “This is too heavy to go First Class,” he said. “Your options are to either go with Express Mail for around $17, or Priority Mail for $7.40.”
What?
“It’s too heavy?” I asked. “It’s a little box.” I’ve seen much larger boxes go First Class, or at least with other options.
“Yes. It’s too heavy. And here’s what’s worse. If you’d just used a Priority Box, you’d have saved yourself a few dollars from buying this box and only paid the postage. Now you have to pay for the box, since you wrote the address on it, and the Priority postage.”
“Seriously.”
“Yes. Next time you should come up and ask and we could tell you this,” he said.
“It’s too heavy. Really.”
“Yes, to go First Class. Would you like Express Mail?”
“No, I would not like Express Mail.”
“OK. We’ll put it as Priority Mail.”
“Fine.”
“Can I interest you in any other services or products today? Insurance? Stamps?”
“No, you really can’t.”
I ended up spending almost $10 to mail something that cost $8.
I did get a stupid lecture for free, however, a lecture on things I already knew except the bizarre “this tiny box is too heavy” part of it.
What kind of rip-off is the USPS perpetuating on us now? Is everything going to be forced, eventually, to go Priority, which means nothing will be priority? How could that small box be too heavy for First Class mail?
What, are they using kittens to deliver the mail now?
