Last Saturday morning I brought a package into the satellite office.  It was a thick book in a poly envelope package. I put 9 stamps on it (more than it needed with D.C.) I handed it to the clerk and left after
he put the D.C. on the pqackage.

Yesterday (3 days later) I get the package back in my mailbox at home. On it is a sticker that tells me that if I send packages over 13 ounces I need to bring it into the P.O. for processing! WTF?

The stamps were NOT cancelled. The D.C. had a magic marker line through it. The clerk did NOT stamp it "Media mail". 

So, should I be angry?

Well, that's kind of a philosophical question. Personally, I figure it's not worth it to get angry about stuff like this. Everybody screws up once in a while, and although it might seem like USPS does so more often than most, they do handle many millions of packages successfully every day.

I'd probably just take the package back and explain that they made a mistake by returning a package that you'd handed over the counter, so you'd like a refund for the DC that they destroyed and to have a brief discussion with the Postmaster about what steps you should take in the future to prevent this from occurring again.

I understand your frustration Greg, that should not have happened.  Satellite post offices are a bit infamous for less than well trained staff.  You may wish to reprint the shipping label and take it to the original place of mailing, or just skip directly to the regular PO.  You can probably just re-apply the DC baracode over the defaced DC and have the counter staff re-mail (no additional charge).

Hi Greg

I work for the US postal service and I have to agree that the satellite offices don't always have the best trained staff...sometimes they aren't even postal employees.  I agree 100% that you should ask to speak to the postmaster and explain what happend.  You are obviously aware of the 13oz rule and the fact that you honor it is much appreciated, I hate to see that your knowledge wasn't respected in this case.  I wish I had more customers that knew that rule.

Good luck and please don't hold it against the rest of us that KNOW our jobs at the post office

Mary

Ok, thanks for your replies. Here is the result....

I went to the main P.O. in my town. Walked in expecting to do battle. But, to the contrary, when I asked my clerk "What did I do wrong" she said, "Nothing." What the satellite forgot was to put a $0.00 label on the package which, I guess, is the Post Office golden key to whether it was inspected or not. I did not even have to pay for a new D.C. She scanned the old one and it went through.

All is good again. :)

Glad to hear it!!