DVD rentals costly to Postal Service

Here's your U.S. Postal Service at work, doing what they do best, gouging its customers:

Cost to get a passport thru the Post Office: $189.50

Cost to get a passport thru my local County Offices where they also issue marriage licenses, etc: $97.50

So the Post Office nimrods manage to double the cost. So is that a good deal, Martha??

Your friend could save a lot time himself by just using the the USPS website and print his the postage out at home for each of his packages. Then your friend should call the PO for the free pick up service on the already posted packages.

No waiting in lines at the PO for the clerk to weigh and put the postage on each package and no traveling to the PO using up gas.

As currently prepared by Netflix we ARE talking about letter mail

No, we aren't. We are talking about mail that may, but is not required to be sent first class. On top of that, we are talking about mail which is being sent at lower than the standard first class rate for items that must be manually processed. You take an item to the post office that requires manual processing, and mail it, you will pay a higher rate. NetFlix takes a dvd to the post office, and they pay a lower rate, because the item qualifies (due to faulty regs) for automated processing. But the item must be manually processed. The question here is whether they should pay the full rate that you would have to for manual processing, 17 cents higher than they are now paying, or whether they should continue to get a free ride that you don't get.

There are 4 options. Continue to give Netflix a free ride. Get Netflix to change to machne processable packaging. Change the regs so that Netflix is treated like other mailers. Netflix could switch to another distribution channel, and meet the requirements for that channel.

Read what I wrote (and you quoted): “As currently prepared by Netflix we ARE talking about letter mail”.

Do you work for the USPS in a Business Mail Entry Unit?
I verify and bill Netflix mail on an almost daily basis.

I have also processed mail on the bar code sorting machines, including DVDs. In twenty four years I have keyed mail on the old LSMs, sorted mail by hand, worked the window, and serviced and maintained the stamp machines as well.

USPS clerks, like our customers, run the gamut. Many of the posters on this thread, like the blind men and the elephant, have a view of the subject limited by an experience of a small portion of the animal.

My current job is about revenue protection, making sure the mailer does the work properly to qualify for the discounts they claim. Our function is to be watchdogs not lapdogs.

I catch mailers cheating on a daily basis, not just being incompetent at preparing the mail for the rates claimed or making honest mistakes.
I’ve also caught an owner coming in on a Sunday and stealing things like pallet jacks.
I’ve been offered a bribe before to short count/weigh mail. I told the guy I’d break his legs if he ever spoke to me again.

Lots of business people aren’t very honest or competent. The number of companies that I deal with that are both I could count on one hand.

I go on site to some mailing houses to pre-qualify their mail, one of these companies is an out and out sweatshop staffed largely by illegals. When the company has a big job to complete they bring the illegals in by the bus load and laugh about paying the temp agency half what American workers cost.

Do I think all the companies are like that? No. Some of them are honest, professional, competent and a joy to deal with.

I don’t work for the post office - but we mail enough small items that I know how the rates work. There are usually 3 to 4 choices on rates for every envelope we send. The generally are not machineable, so we pay more than Netflix. If they get a lower rate for items that can’t be machine read, that means the rest of us pay more to subsidize them.

So you’ve threatened violence against a customer? Sounds like you probably get your money’s worth from your union dues.

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