Confuse me but the postal changes have really done it.  I always print my labels with dc.  I was told ( or I think this is what I was told LOL) that I would no longer have to pay the 19 cents for the dc.  When I printed out my labels yesterday it said dc 00.00.  But when I got to the post office today and she was weighing and putting the postage on the packages the 19 cents was added in.  Was the post office charging 19 cents to print on line and another 19 when the package was weighed for a total of 38 cents????

You paid 27 cents to PBS. You paid 19 cents to USPS. This is the same as before the postage change.

Please contact PBS by using the Contact Us link below. Tell them the ZIP code of the Post Office you used and whether your package was sent Media Mail or First Class so they can look into this. It might also help if you know how the postage was calculated. Did your clerk scan the barcode and their system automatically added the 19 cents? Or did the clerk manually add 19 cents to the total?

Cathy,

 The 19 cents was added by the computer, the clerk did not add it herself.  It cost me with the price increase and the 19 cents a total of 3.60 to mail each book, they were all media mail

Have you contacted PBS, Bertie? I use PBS DC and will be mailing books later this week so I'd be interested to know how this works out, please follow up here when you get a reply. Thanks.

Marya,

 Yes I did contact them, I will let you know what the have to say

I had the same experience, but then I doublechecked the newsletter we all received (if you signed up for it) and it looks like the 19 cents is only added IF you also use Printed Postage.  Since I did use DC but not the postage, I guess the 19 cent charge still applies.

(Boy, I just reread the above and it was confusing to me. It is not what I mean to say, so I just edited it). Hopefully, I got it right this time.

Also a bit confused, but thought I understood the memo to say that USPS was no longer going to charge (.19) for e-DC.  USPS counter DC is to remain at .80.  Wouldn't surprise me if USPS was having computer issues, and we know not all clerks are well trained.

I'm also curious what PBS admin has to say Bertie.

ETA - searching online, it appears the counter DC has increased from .80 to .85 each.

I just got back from the PO and looked at my receipt. I mailed 2 pkgs first class and 2 media mail. I used printed e-DC on all of them and then pay postage at the PO. The 2 first class pkgs were NOT charged the .19 fee, but the 2 media mail pkgs WERE charged .19. Maybe the fee is only free with first class? I don't know.

Yes, free for First Class Packages/parcels, 19 cents for Package Services (and Media Mail is a subclass of Package Services).

I just mailed 4 books with PBS DC. The one that went first class was scanned for free but the 3 media mail packages were charged the same old 19 cents per scan.

I seem to recall from the postal rates listen in the newsletter that all the PBS DC would be scanned for free. Wrong?

IF you send it First Class and you print the postage, then you receive the discounted postage rate and the free DC.

IF you send it Media mail, then there is no free DC, but if you opt for DC on the printed wrapper then it still costs you 19 cents at the P.O. , but you do not pay the old DC charge of 27 cents to PBS

At least, that is how I understand it.

I sent my same post to PBS via the 'contact us' button and they replied that the PO mislead them on the free PBS DC scan for media mail. It's free on first class but still the same 19 cents for media mail.

The media rate is showing the 19 cents on the choose options page, but it is not showing up on the label.  Very confusing. 

Even if you print PBS postage you still have to pay for DC for media mail and hopefully it is including the fee and postage when you print the label.

This is not correct. If you use PBS Printable Postage for Media Mail, the tracking is free. You do not have to pay 19 cents for it. This type of tracking is not eDC. You cannot use the number from the barcode to get info at USPS.com, but you can get the scan records from the transaction details at PBS.

If you choose the DC-Only option when printing a Media Mail wrapper, then you do have to add 19 cents to the Media Mail postage rate. This is eDC. It is not free. You can use the number from the barcode to get the info at USPS.com and you can also get the scan records fro the transaction details at PBS.

Can anyone point me towards an online USPS regulation that clearly states that the eConfirmation on First Class without preprinted postage is not to be charged the 19 cents when figuring out the postage at the counter? Having a printout in hand might resolve some of these issues at the post office. (Or not - I have never met a more intractable group of folks in my life as the clerks behind the counter of many USPS branches.)

Interesting, Ed. I've not had them charge me that extra .19 since the change with First Class, even when they scan the barcode.

Here's the link to the DMM page (it's close to the bottom of the web page):  http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2008399

eta: (you can click on "Extra Services" under the SERVICES and FEES heading)

Jennifer... Just today, the clerk in a branch that I don't usually go to tried to charge me  full Delivery Confirmation fee, not just 19 cents. Unfortunately for the Requester, (who will now have to wait another two days for the book to go out), I declined. I refused to pay almost a dollar more to ship a book that I know will go out from another branch later in the week at no charge. The chart under Delivery Confirmation makes it pretty clear that unless I add the DC at the retail counter, there should be no charge for any customer-printed Deliver confirmation on First Class packages or parcels.

BOO, Ed. Sounds like you have a cranky-pants post office. If they scan that barcode, it should come up $0.00. Since that's the postal fee schedule, it should be programmed into the computer.

Ed, do the clerks use the online USPS computer?  If so, the correct charge should be calculated when they enter all the information. 

Tres annoying when they attempt to over-ride the official computer tho.

Actually, Jennifer & Denise, that is part of the problem. We have several local branches that apparently don't do enough retail business to qualify for the real-time online hookup. They only use the hand-held scanners, which then tie in via upload every evening, but do not provide any POS pricing. Unfortunately, that means that every clerk needs to be well versed in everything. Whenever there's a change, there is naturally going to be a bit of a lag in this education process. The branch I went to today is at the very low end of the size scale and is predominantly in place to support carrier routes and PO boxes; the retail side of things there is really pretty limited. I only go there very infrequently. As luck would have it, I need to go right past there on Wednesday and will be stopping to share a printed copy of the USPS Fee Schedule from 01/22/2012. Hopefully, the clerk will be open-minded enough to read it and agree that she was in error.