I got home tonight to find this and I am LIVID.

I used PBS postage on my packages that I mailed this morning.  The dumbass post office put stickers on them and put them back in my mailbox that "all packages over 13oz bearing stamps MUST be mailed at the post office".

WTF?!?!?!

First, these are NOT stamps, they are electronic postage.  Second, only one of them was over 13oz.

I am beyond pissed.  I am SO sick of those clowns f-ing up my PBS mailings!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!

Has this happened to anyone else?

I got a package back today with the dreaded stickers.  What really ticked me off is I DID mail it at the post office! 

It was a priority package to a client, I put the stamp on and dropped it at the drop-off window in my post.  As I do with every package I send out that's over 13 oz or too big for the slot.

I mailed it on Tuesday, along with an identical package to another client.  I got the one back today, and the other was delivered on time.   Aaargh!!!!!!!!  It's crazy making.

Worse, the package included their payroll, which they normally would have signed and mailed today.  Now they'll have to hand-deliver it to various work sites tomorrow.

Doncha just hate it, when you follow ALL the rules, and it still gets screwed up?!!

I take all the books I send to the Post Office, stand in line and watch them scan it.  

I've lost three books in the mail, so I don't take any chances.

I agree....I just prefer not to take any chances with it getting lost (not that it has been a problem for me).  I like to make sure they are all scanned.

Dawn

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago, they  returned three packages to me all bearing the "bring packages over 13 ounces to your post office" stickers.  Two of the packages were over 13 ounces and I had brought them to the post office 3 days before, waited in line and handed them to a clerk who postmarked the stamps on them while I was standing there.  The other package was a 9 ounce book that I had put in the blue box. 

I was furious too.

Did you take it back to your PO and ask them what the heck they were doing?  that metered postage does not have to be handed to a clerk?  and take the info with you because it sounds like some people are not very well informed!

How frustrating!!!  Argh!!!

_

If it makes you feel any better..........i work at our Post Office and still have to take books in to be weighed and have postage put on them, my own carrier will not take them from my mailbox and i am her substitute on her days off!   I'm not trying to bash our post office and i know they have their reasons for doing things, it's just that sometimes i think there are so many regulations and rules it's hard for all the different offices to keep a united front on how proceedures are carried out. Every time you get used to one set of rules(as a carrier that is) , they turn  around and change them. So,i know , personally if i come across a package in someone's mail box,i usually leave it, because i don't want to get in trouble when i get back to the P.O. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Our rural carrier (a driver, not a walker) takes anything and everything that I put out for pickup.  I was using PayPal postage occasionally, but after the 13 oz rule came into effect, I started using electronic postage for almost everything.  I've not yet had a package returned.  Maybe I'm just one of the fortunate few whose Postmaster makes sure his/her staff are informed.  So what is causing packages to be returned that you DID hand to a postal employee - do they have some sort of stamp that signifies the package was handed in rather than dropped in a chute or left in a box??  There must be some way for the next person down the (mailing) line to know whether it was handled properly or not ..?..

I've just had this happen to me twice this week so apparently I have missed the boat. What happened to the 1 pound limit? One book was sent back that was 9 oz. and the 2 paperbacks I sent in one package were a hair over 13 oz. Are we to take all media mail to the PO now?

Have you filed a complaint with the post office?  Not just talking to the person at the desk, but using the online comment form?

I was having problems with improperly delivered mail (a PBS book marked delivered online that was actually delivered to somebody else's house -- this wa happening all the time with various items)  After filing out the online form, I got a call back from a local supervisor and they told me how they were going to fix the problem, and it hasn't happened since.

No I haven't done that yet. I'll look into it though. Thanks.

Kari, the 13 ounce rule has been in effect for some time now.  Any package over 13 ounces that has only postage stamps on it has to be handed in to a clerk at the post office.  If you use some kind of preprinted postage they can still go in the box.  And of course, packages under 13 ounces with stamps should be able to go into the box--however, some some postal employees are obviously not weighing the packages before returning them to sender.

I'm with Phyllis - I stand in line with all of my PBS packages.  After hearing so much about what happens to others, I think it is time well spent.

Me, too. I always go to the PO and hand  to a clerk. Feel more secure that way. 

Postage printed out from PBS is supposed to be accepted just like metered mail. The idea is that electronic postage has codes that can be traced back to the entity printing it, so if it turns out to be anthrax or a bomb, the postal inspectors can go back and investigate. Thank the eminent Dr. T. Kasczinsky for that.

If your package is over 13 oz. and has stamps, you can't just drop it off and have it postmarked. The clerk is required to run off a meter strip (what we call a PVI strip) with zero postage on it to indicate that a human being, working for the post office, saw the face of the person mailing the package. Once again, guarding against mail bombers.

And these regulations weren't originated by the USPS, either. The Federal Aviation Administration requires us to do this, to help control what sort of stuff gets on their planes. That's also the reason we have to ask every customer sending a parcel, "Does your package contain anything liquid, fragile, perishable, or potentially hazardous?"

I always take my packages for PBS stuff to the post office and watch them stamp it/put the postage on it.  That way I know they will get to their destinations.

~Keri

PS-it also helps that we have a PO in the building where I work. =)

The clerks at my post office do not put the zero strips on my packages.  After packages that I handed in at the post office were returned to me at home, I brought them back and asked about the zero postage strip, and the clerk said no, I didn't need one.  Frustrating!