confusing
Steve was mailing some packages from his home in Virgina to various points in the country, and noticed something strange on his receipt. The packages destined for Pennsylvania and Washington state are leaving the contiguous
United States. What?
More »
revenge
Jeff has a quandary. He spotted his neighborhood
mail carrier delivering his package in a way he didn't like. Jeff wants to know whether he should report his friendly, package-tossing mailman to the
post office, or whether he should expect retribution.
More »
mail
The USPS is getting all modern-like,
hooking up with eBay to let sellers be billed later for postal services rather than pay immediately. Also, a new tool will let sellers roll streamline the shipping process by letting them buy and print labels without having to juggle accounts or wait in line at the
post office.
More »
scams
For those readers who are job-hunting for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, let this serve as a reminder: you do not need to pay a private company to get a job with the
post office. No study guides. No sample exams. As T.J. learned, these companies will be happy to sell you all kinds of unnecessary exam-taking supplies...whether there are any postal jobs available or exams planned near where you live, or not. Multiple companies are masquerading as hiring for the post office.
More »
followups
After our
story about
USPS losing a reader's five insured computers then only valuing them at $74 generated a lot of response (and turned into a vowel-less debate on health care), a couple readers sent us the contact info for the insurance agent who denied our reader's request.
More »
usps
The US
Postal Service lost five new Lenovo laptops that Pedro's friend bought and shipped to him. Pedro expected that this might happen, so he wisely insured the package for $3,000. After stalling for about two months, USPS finally agreed to pay his
insurance claim, but reduced the payment, claiming his merchandise was only worth $74.
More »
procrastination
Today is the day, folks. You'll need to finish up your taxes and send them on their way to the IRS.
More »
woot!
I ordered an awesome shirt from Shirt.Woot! How awesome? Awesome enough for the U.S.
Post Office to tear it right out of the super-durable SmartPost package Woot uses to protect their shirts. The Post Office, bastion of empathy that it is, didn't want me to miss my order completely, so they delivered my ripped empty package wrapped in an obnoxious "WE CARE" apology bag. Heartbroken, I tried emailing Woot for help...
More »
usps
Postal employees have been ordered to upsell pricey express or priority mail services to anyone sending anything more than a letter, according to an anonymous tipster. The directive comes straight from Washington to help combat the
Post Office's $1.1 billion operating deficit. To avoid the upsell, specifically ask if there is a cheaper way to ship your package. The anonymous tipster's letter, inside...
More »
usps
Reader Joe wrote to us with a heads-up about not short-changing the U.S.
Post Office. His postman left him a serious-ass invoice charging Joe with 1ยข postage due. According to Joe's rough numbers, the PO spent at least $.25 to pay the postman for the estimated minute it took to write the invoice. Joe's letter and photos, inside...
More »
post office
7 News in Denver reports that a Colorado man has been officially warned that reusing a United States Postal Service "Priority Mail" cardboard box is a violation of federal law. We're not even talking about mail fraud but simply reusing them for other types of shipping. Could reusing these boxes actually be a federal crime? Find out more about this outlaw...
More »
rain, sleet, or snow
"I wanted to let you and my fellow readers know about the agonizing experience I had with the US postal service recently. They didn't quite lose my "2 to 3 day" Priority Mail package, but inexplicably shipped it back and forth across the country for over 5 weeks, missing Christmas by over a week, and then told me I did not deserve a refund!"
More »
civics
A Vermont judge sent his sheriff to the mall to round up a jury that could fairly try a child molester.
They stopped passers-by and asked if they were residents of Caledonia County; a "yes" answer won a summons to appear at the courthouse for jury duty immediately, right now, this minute. They rounded up 45 people that way in all, to join the 34 already at the courthouse.
More »
mailboxes
John Conway paid $1,300 for a lamppost and matching mailbox, but the Thiensville, WI postmaster refuses to provide service because the mailbox is on the wrong side of the street. The disputed mailbox is part of a new
housing development located twenty minutes north of Milwaukee.
"I'm sort of the guy who set the pace here," Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. "I'm cemented in."
The Conway's concrete stance has the post office in a tizzy. They have refused to answer the Conway's phone calls, and a local paper quoted one postal supervisor threatening to mark the Conway's mail "return to sender." A killjoy postal spokeswoman later retracted the statement, adding "We don't do that."
More »