[JZelle]

Prepare for a fee hike.

[Slapshot68]

“Prepare for a fee hike.”

That’s fine...Netflix is worth it to me.

[Scarchin]

Privatize

[Badeye]

Another example of why we should have privatized the Postal Service two or more decades ago.

Its a government program for union members, thats all.

[ClearCase_guy]

Sorting this out may take several years, and the bureaucratic back-and-forth may cost tens of millions of dollars. And by the time they iron out a final solution ...

DVD Rental companies will begin doing their business completely over the internet.

[MrB]

Sounds like someone needs to upgrade their equipment to satisfy the needs of their customers...

and...

I thought that the postal service was ALREADY privatized, but regulated...

[Jack Wilson]

Ever heard of a private enterprise complaining about too much business?

[napscoordinator]

The post office is always crying for more money.

[Obadiah]

...because its sorting machines can't process millions of return envelopes, government inspectors say.

Does this not sound exactly like a government agency? We can't adapt, boo hoo. Because we can't adapt to changes we need a lot more money/taxes from you. It's your fault we need more money. Sheesh.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I bet UPS or FedEx would solve this problem.

[Spok]

Every time you hear a government agency say “can’t”, plug in ‘National Health Care System’ for the agency’s name and imagine socialized medicine.

[ozzymandus]

Yup. PO smells money.

[ASA Vet]

Slam the PO thread ping

[Izzy Dunne]

The problem is return envelopes for some DVD rental mailings have a "floppy edge" that can jam sorting machines and cause "missorts," according to inspectors.

It seems to me that a company like NetFlix would have the clout to sit down with the USPS and work out what is "sortable" and what is not, and change the packaging accordingly (It's hard to believe they didn't do that at the beginning.)

I've wondered why the floppy side is there, but it's not really my problem.

I mail a disk on Monday morning, they get it Tuesday morning, they send a message Tuesday afternoon, I get a disk Wednesday morning. It's a good deal.

Work it out, folks.

[conservativeharleyguy]

Sounds like a business opportunity to me. I think even I could probably design, build, and ship “DVD Sorters” to the USPS for about half of that $20-million.

[Question Liberal Authority]

Meanwhile they have no problem shipping all sort of weird flyers and junk mail for bulk rate.

You'd think they could sort those netflix packages in their sleep. Like letters to the IRS on April 15.

[Nathan Zachary]

Oh boo hoo. Cry me a river post office. Sorting mail is just so beneath the post office now, even though IT'S YOUR JOB! And why should we prepare for a fee hike? do we ever get a fee decrease when the post office adds more mechanization to save labor costs?

[domenad]

As a former employee of the Post Office, I can tell you that this is totally their fault. The equipment they use in many cases is so antiquated that when a machine breaks, they simply archive the unit for parts and decrease capacity. I worked for months on a manual labelling machine, while in plain sight I could see the a poster advertising the machine that was supposed to do my job automatically.

[Clock King]

I call BS. On a 60 minutes program, netflix has its’ own sorting machines and system, equal to USPS. They ship such a massive volume, they have to use their own system or they can’t meet the customer expectation. Sounds like a puff piece to justify a postal rate increase. A**holes. Just tell us the truth: that they can’t run an organization within budget.

[50sDad]

The problem is return envelopes for some DVD rental mailings have a "floppy edge" that can jam sorting machines and cause "missorts," according to inspectors.

Where I work, when a machine doesn't behave, we redesign it, especially if we know things are only going to get worse.

[NY.SS-Bar9]

OK USPS you win.

No more DVD’s through the mail - we will just download the content.

Instead of adapting to the business enviornment by purchasing equipment to deal with your customers needs, raise the rates and drive them elsewhere.

Genius.

I can’t wait until the government handles my healthcare.