What do you say when a nosy post office clerk...

coinman420

i had my fair share of horror stories at the PO but no more. a member here helped me out and showed me his method of shipping. he pointed me to a label printer that uses no ink!!! i took it a step further and as long as i have 1 priority package they pick up at my house. on top of that they hand me a receipt stating they have the package(s). i sent out my bo5 sets of 25th anniv. coins. sent them express. had an oversize box and printed label the night before. guesstimated the weight at 17LBS. UPS had it at 15.3LBS. got home at 4:30 re-boxed and handed to the clerk at 4:57. told the clerk "paid for and labeled" and got the anything liquid, fragile perishable?. "no". handed me a receipt and i`m gone. this was one of the rare times i go to the PO. most shipping i don`t have to leave the house.

goodmoney4badmoney

Next time I'm asked, I'm going to say "stamps".

halfcentman

<< <i>I think what you did was fine. She's just being nosy, nothing to get overly upset over. As far as trying to sell you on their services, that is their job. Would you like fries with that?

-Paul >>



They have to sell all of their services because they are $5B in the hole, and they USPS has supervisors pose as customers.

TwoSides2aCoin

He was kidding when he said it was a "blow-up" doll. Next thing he knew the bomb squad arrived.

acloco

FYI - per the postal regs, they can ask and inspect ANY letter or package sent through the post office.

coindeuce

When I was shipping bottles of Blue Ribbon to forum members the past year or so, the anguished look on the faces of clerks when I presented the package was priceless. None of them, not one knew their own Domestic Mailing Manual specs. for hazardous/restricted materials. I had a lot of fun with that, but every bottle I shipped made it without incident.

frnklnlvr

<< <i>I guess I look like a terrorist trying to mail something because they go a step further everytime and and ask me "...anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous in here?" >>



Every clerk at my local PO asks that every time I mail a package.

RTS

All my packages to be mailed are required to go through the security/x-ray machine so the government knows what's in the packages anyway.

DuPapa

metallic tender disks

MacCrimmon

<< <i>I responded "coins" once and within 3 months, I lost a package from that post office. >>




For domestic (if they ask), and especially foreign shipments requiring a customs form............"prototype metal stampings". The high insurance request is because it's a high cost pre-production parts run; set-up costs, small metal order, proto dies, etc.

CyStater

When I shipped my box of five ASE 25's, the nice woman at the post office remarked how heavy the box was and asked me if they were human ashes. I informed her that they were not.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>I responded "coins" once and within 3 months, I lost a package from that post office. >>



And how many other packages did you ship from there in that 3 month time period?

Casman

I first read this story on the US coin forum...I thought the thread title looked like a must read...Turns out, this guy was my neighbor. Glad he never asked me what I was shipping...Good Grief...



MOUNT CLEMENS, MI (AP) -- A Detroit-area postal worker has been charged with stealing gold from the mail after he tried to pawn his treasure to the shop that had shipped it.

The postal worker sold the gold on Nov. 7 to G&S Brokers pawn shop for $320. Authorities told The Detroit News that jeweler James Zelinske recognized the gold because he had melted and mailed it to a business in Ann Arbor.

Zelinske had insured the parcel of gold for $1,000.

The postal worker has been charged with embezzling mail from the Mount Clemens post office. He appeared Thursday in federal court in Detroit. Court records did not identify his lawyer.


Edit: Well, I looked up the court records to see what happened with this guy and basically, they agreed not to prosecute him if he made restitution of $1,000 + the filing fee of $350, and stayed out of trouble for a year...Oh Ya, he got fired...

Cubby

I was once standing in line at the PO, I overheard the clerk ask the customer "What is inside?" The lady
replied "ITS NOT YOUR BUSINESS!"

tahoe98

<< <i>I was once standing in line at the PO, I overheard the clerk ask the customer "What is inside?" The lady
replied "ITS NOT YOUR BUSINESS!" >>



...

Mowgli

The post office clerk asked me what I got in the mail - she thought it might be coins. I told her rare coins and then we proceeded to have a discussion of what she could look for in the change she got from customers. My Dunkin Donut guy did the same thing and would ask me to look at his finds. There are only two clerks at my post office and I have mailed and received enough coins that I'm pretty sure they know, don't care and have forgotten given how long it has been since I have found a coin for my collection.

comma

<< <i>Ask her why she needs to know. >>



Don't do that. They get suspicious thinking its something hazardous or illegal.
I was shipping something expensive once, they asked what it was, I wouldn't tell them and they almost refused to ship it for me.
USPS is a necessary EVIL in my opinion...

pennyannie

I bought a case of r12 freon, the sender cut the original box and turned it inside out and sent it. This summer i bought a gas tank for a yamaha raptor, the sender did not even bother to drain all the fuel out. It had about a 1/4 tank of fuel. The guy wrapped it in bubble rap and put it inside a heavy duty plastic bag. This was during the 100 days of 100 plus degree heat wave. I have recieved octane boosters (torqo) many times thru the mail. It never ceases to amaze me what people will send thru the post office.

Add 1 remington 600 in .350 rem a guy sent me direct without shipping to a ffl. I am just glad i got the gun.


I have gotten to where i ask the seller how he plans to ship what i win before i pay now.