How to Get Dissed By the US Postal Service
Jul 10th, 2007 by msdanielle
So this afternoon I headed over to the Post Office to send Enkay his new prize. Seeing as how the Zune itself has been recycled, I decided to ship it in its original packaging that it came in from JC. At this point, I hadn’t taped together the package yet. I mean, it’s the Post Office, they should have tape, right? I approached the counter, letting the gentleman behind the counter know I needed some tape in order to ship out my package via Priority Mail.
USPS Guy: You have to use your own tape if you’re using your own packaging. You can’t use our tape.
Me: I can’t use your Priority Mail tape?
USPS Guy: No. It’s for labeling, not shipping. [Blank stare]
What the…!? But I’m paying for the Priority shipping! What’s 6 inches of tape to him? Did he buy the tape? Did he personally roll it onto the cardboard by hand? Geez… When did the Post Office guy become the tape Nazi? Well anyway, this has been a rant by your friend Ms. Danielle on how to get totally dissed by the US Postal Service. Let it be known, BYOT.
[Image found here]
[If you enjoy reading MsDanielle.com, please feel free to subscribe via RSS or get free email updates.]
Follow me on Twitter
Subscribe via email:
My post office people tape whatever up for you as long as it is Priority. No matter what the box. I always ask them to add a couple strips for me on top of what I did just for security, they always do, never a problem.
*Please fix your tabindex in Bryan’s Threaded Comments
exactly! i’ve been to the Post Office in Alhambra a THOUSAND times and i’ve never experienced this before. they would let me wrap the entire box in priority tape if i wanted to — as long as it was shipping priority mail. this is what happens in the snooty part of downtown LA i suppose. Alhambra would’ve never hired this guy…
@jon – thanks for the link! i’m going to check it out right now!
Yeah. they always let me use the tape as long as it is priority.
I tried asking to use the “Airmail tape” from Canada Post as regular tape and I got a “no way”. But I guess my situation was understandable since I was sending local mail.
Check this out by the way: http://consumerist.com/consumer/on-the-cheap/get-free-shipping-materials-from-the-post-office-276368.php
That’s sad! Its okay though! Some of the guys there are pretty protective of USPS property. The one time I was shipping a box that had “eBay” written on it and they suspected that it was one of their USPS eBay boxes and they wanted me to pay an additional $4.95 for my own box! It was pretty crazy!
[...] Contest Poor Ms. Danielle was turned back at the US Postal Service Office today when she was denied Priority tape even though [...]
That’s pretty lame from USPS. They should treat their customers better.
You know what’s classic about my post office? The crappy customer service like you describe. They have 2 drawers and guess what, I’ve NEVER seen them both open. Every time I go to the Post Office there is at least 2 people lined up or 2 people behind me.
That’s just pathetic customer service! Considering mail is on the decline in general, you would think they would do everything in their power to make sure they please the customers they got.
USPS just outsources to FedEx anyway, so next time just take your package to Kinko’s.
If you ship ground (3-5 days across the country) and the shipment has any weight or size to it, it’ll be cheaper than USPS anyway.
And yes, this is an unsolicited plug. In one of my former businesses, I shipped and received almost a dozen packages a day, and there’s no way I’d have ever used USPS.
yea i think im heading to Kinko’s in the morning on the way to work. there wasn’t one on the way back to the office after lunch. when i used to do fulfillment i’d also use fedex and ups, unless packages were being sent to FP/APO. then we had to use them by default. blah…
@lyndon – i think you’re right. and since mail is on the decline it probably creates a downward spiral of decreasing morale.
@browie – why is that? it’s like you can see them standing in the back thinking, “haha…look at that line!”
Lame city, it’s too bad that people can’t take 2 seconds to be helpful any more. I wonder if this guy has a clue he got blogged about today…probably not, it would have interrupted his TV dinner and Seinfeld episode that I’m sure was the highlight of his evening.
Too bad/Congrats Enkay
yea he seemed unhappy. i hate to rant but i carried that package all over downtown!
Wanna know what i think of this sticky issue?
It’s the CURSE of the WHITE ELEPHANT! LOL!!
When I first moved to Japan, post offices didn’t even sell envelopes! I mean, really, what kind of post office doesn’t sell envelopes??? At least they let me use their tape.
I had a ther person working at the USPS open up a package and dump the contents on the counter yelling at me in front of everyone saying that I was trying to steal from the post office as I had placed the wrong shipping label on the package.
All I wanted to do was buy a new label and ship it, but she wouldn’t sell me one!
wow i can’t believe she actually dumped out your box. where is the lesson in all this? it’s like they just make up their own rules as they go. the post office is one of the most unpredictable places ever.
if any of you are in the LA area, the Alhambra post office is pretty helpful and consistent!
Some idiot gov’t employees seem to have some sort of an ego power trip when they’re in the uniform behind the counter.
In reality they are nothing but meager salary-earning union workers. When things like that happen to me, I just think to myself “Yes, you’re making $17/hr minus union fees. I make $50~$100/hr through cash contracts.”
My post office always just hands over the entire roll of tape and says to hand it back when I’m done. LOL
lucky. how did i get jacked??
@jeff – now i feel bad for the guy!
you should feel bad for him, he’s a miserable loser going nowhere in life, with a false sense of ego and self-importance which is not even there. He will probably end up in a cheap ass retirement home masturbating to playboy magazines until he cannot even get it up and then he’ll fade away as a nobody and his kids will never even come to his funeral, if he ever even manages to have any.
wow … thats crazy … never got dissed by the USPS before … guess there is a first for everything!
LOL
Darin
I ship out a lot of books that I self publish, and dealing with the Post Office is such a pain. There are times when I have to go two and three times per day, and I dread every minute of it!
That’s hilarious! I had no idea…I guess I’ll have to keep tape in my purse now…