UPDATE: Comcast has now removed Brad from its mailing lists for really reals.
usps
USPS Says Guaranteed Overnight Isn't Guaranteed. What?
By 6.15.08
Dorothy found out that the USPS’s guaranteed overnight delivery doesn’t apply if you use their Express Mail boxes, because “Letters get stuck up in the top of the box all the time. Sometimes, it takes days or even a week before we find them.” Hey post office, maybe you should try to check the top of the box every day. Problem solved!
It's Illegal To Stick Unstamped Flyers In Mailboxes, But The Post Office Doesn't Care
By 5.28.08
Section 1725 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code prohibits placing mailable materials like circulars and sales bills with unpaid postage in mailboxes with intent to avoid payment of postage. That means that the Chinese menus and offers for cheap lube jobs that end up in your mailbox might have been placed there illegally. One reader whose mailbox was clogged with this junk contacted the USPS to report the businesses. Her story, and the post office’s ambivalence, inside.
Stamp Prices Rising May 12
By 5.6.08
New stamp prices go into effect starting May 12. Here’s the new prices you’ll be paying for postage:
If You Love Junk Mail, Visit The Direct Marketing Association's Advocacy Website "MailMovesAmerica.org"
By 5.6.08
Did you know that “advertising mail is under threat?” It’s true! But what can you, the consumer who loves junk mail, do to stop the 15 states that, in 2007, “proposed the creation of state Do Not Mail registries, similar to the national do not call registry”? The Direct Marketing Association has set up a website just for you!
Don't Reuse That USPS Priority Box, It's Illegal
By 5.1.08
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…
Postal Worker Steals Your New Credit Cards, Goes On Shopping Spree
By 4.22.08
Police have arrested Paul Hank, a distribution clerk at the Smithtown, NY post office, after he stole credit cards from the mail and went on a shopping spree, says Newsday
It's Tax Day! Here Are Some Post Offices That Are Open Late…
By 4.15.08
Today is the day, folks. You’ll need to finish up your taxes and send them on their way to the IRS.
This Reusable Best Buy Coupon For 10% Off Does Not Expire
By 4.11.08
Save 10% on your visit to Best Buy by bringing along this printable, reusable coupon that doesn’t seem to expire. The coupon is accessible to the public, but it is meant to serve as a chintzy government house-warming gift from the Post Office to people who recently moved.
"Do Not Mail" Junk Mail Registry Called For By Green Group
By 3.13.08
ForestEthics has started a petition to enact a Do Not Mail registry, similar to the one that’s sort of in effect (when marketers choose to abide by it) for telemarketing. Their reasoning: junk mail is enormously wasteful and damaging to the environment. We agree, but we’re in favor of the registry for the simple reason that less junk mail means fewer uninvited distractions, ID theft risks, and trash we’d have to deal with every day.
"For Security Purposes, This Card Is Not Active" Is A Lie
By 2.28.08
When you get a new or replacement credit card in the mail, you have to call the number on the back to activate it, or else you can’t use it, right? Wrong. Despite the sticker on the back that says, “For security purposes, this card is not active,” credit card companies are mailing out cards that can be used without phone activation. This is a problem if the letter containing your credit card is intercepted by an identity thief, like what happened to reader PC Guy. The kicker? He didn’t even request the card, it was a forcible reissue when his store-branded card switched from Visa to Mastercard. His story, inside.
USPS & FTC Mail Out "Avoid ID Theft" Brochure
By 2.21.08
Today we received a handy brochure (PDF) in the mail from the postal service. “Deter, Detect, Defend,” it reads, and it offers a bunch of handy reminders of what to look out for when it comes to protecting your identity, and what to do if you suspect it’s been stolen. If yours was stolen (ha ha, we kid!), you can read read or download it from the FTC’s ID theft website.
Amazon: Let's Ship The Flat Wrist Rest In A Giant Box
By 1.26.08
“I wonder if other readers have experienced the wasteful excessive packaging used by Amazon.com. I recently ordered a Gel Wrist Rest and a hardcover book (to qualify for free shipping). The two items were shipped to me separately, probably because they were coming from different warehouses. Though that itself is wasteful, I can understand why it may be necessary. But when the Wrist Rest arrived, it came in a GIANT box filled with paper stuffing (see photo). The box measured 24″ x 12″ x 18″. The wrist rest is about 20″ long, but flat. Is it possible that a company that sells all of its various products by mail doesn’t have a long flat box that could have been used instead?”
Post Office Offers Refund In Stamps After Delivering Priority Mail Package Five Weeks Late
By 1.26.08
“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!”
USPS Asks That You Write Addresses Clearly To Speed Up The Holiday Mail Season
By 12.14.07
This coming Monday is the busiest day of the year for the USPS and they’d really appreciate it if you’d write your addresses in clear handwriting, so the computers can read them without human help.
By 12.6.07
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Is Netflix costing the post office millions of dollars with its poorly-designed DVD mailers? Um, sort of. [Machinist]
USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines
By 11.21.07
Here are the absolute last USPS mail-by dates for making sure presents land under the tree in time:
