It happens here in my Tennessee town. Go into the PO and ask for a book of stamps and they will just hand you whatever is closest. I have never been asked which ones I prefer.
Really?! That's very odd. I have always been asked what kind of stamps I want, whether in Maryland, Wisconsin, California, here in Arizona, and so on. My point remains as I stated early on; those places that don't ask seem to me to be isolated, not the rule.