Problems at the post office.

Kazipoo

As some of you know I have been selling some books and other things on ebay this week. Today most buyers have paid and I (as I have in the past) weighed and measured them and paid via paypal. This afternoon I took them all to the post office. Some of them were dvd's in a standard dvd case, some books and some were larger packages.

I measured the dvd's and all of the books, bar one, at well under the 2.5cm for large letters and priced accordingly. These should have all gone through as large letters, but were changed by the very smug looking lady at the post office, because she clearly wasn't happy that I came to her window (the first window told me to rejoin the queue because she had to stay free for currency).

Anyway, she changed ALL of my large letters to packets, which has resulted in a further charge of £10.45!! I was not happy, as you would imagine, and I questioned her on each one she changed, she simply said, with a very smug look on her face, if you are not happy you can have them back and find someone else to post them for you.

Basically, they had me over a barrel, she said that they would not fit through their letterbox thing, so i asked her if i could try, and she said i am sorry but we are told that they must freely glide through. I asked her to smooth the envelopes down because some were simply getting caught on a rogue stuck up bit of envelope, she said "I'm sorry but you can see yourself that they are not going through!" I asked if there was someone else who could check and she said everyone was very busy.... it was quite dead actually!

Anyway, I paid the £10.45 difference and immediately as I got home, phoned post office customer services. They didn't want to know.... they basically said "prove it!".....Er how???? They have my items, they are in the postal system, how can I possibly prove it???

So now my small profit on my second hand books, has turned into a loss and the amount charged for some of my other items has risen significantly too...

.....go on............... i'm waiting for the "told you so's". :rolleyes: but after that, can anyone give me any advice??

soolin

Some POs will only send large letters that freely pass through the slot, in fact that is what the rules say. Some are more lenient and will allow anything that will pass through even with a bit of a push.

I find a lot of my smaller books are borderline and if I have more than a couple in a lot to be posted I actually have to go to a lenient PO as my smaller ones requires the books to go through without any 'rubbing' sound from the paper envelope.

I don't think you can do anything about the lot that has been posted but maybe you might want to invest in a plastic slot measure yourself (I got mine from ebauy for about £4 delivered) and then if a lot of yours are borderline find a PO that is a bit more forgiving with the rules.

Kazipoo

soolin wrote: »

Some POs will only send large letters that freely pass through the slot, in fact that is what the rules say. Some are more lenient and will allow anything that will pass through even with a bit of a push.

I find a lot of my smaller books are borderline and if I have more than a couple in a lot to be posted I actually have to go to a lenient PO as my smaller ones requires the books to go through without any 'rubbing' sound from the paper envelope.

I don't think you can do anything about the lot that has been posted but maybe you might want to invest in a plastic slot measure yourself (I got mine from ebauy for about £4 delivered) and then if a lot of yours are borderline find a PO that is a bit more forgiving with the rules.

Thanks, our local post office closed a few months back, despite thousands of signatures to try keep it open, so the next nearest one is the main one in town. I have been selling on ebay for quite some years now, and I have to say, I have never encountered such a pinickity (sp) staff member in my entire life. A standard dvd easily flows without rubbing.... except for when she did it.... also she had her "letterbox" flat and was balancing my letters on the top instead of pushing it through like you would a letter.

:mad::mad::mad:

soolin

Kazipoo wrote: »

Thanks, our local post office closed a few months back, despite thousands of signatures to try keep it open, so the next nearest one is the main one in town. I have been selling on ebay for quite some years now, and I have to say, I have never encountered such a pinickity (sp) staff member in my entire life. A standard dvd easily flows without rubbing.... except for when she did it.... also she had her "letterbox" flat and was balancing my letters on the top instead of pushing it through like you would a letter.

:mad::mad::mad:

That's how my local one does it too which means that usually books are Ok if they are thin but anything 'floppy' just flops over and however thin it is it doesn't fall through.

Kazipoo

soolin wrote: »

That's how my local one does it too which means that usually books are Ok if they are thin but anything 'floppy' just flops over and however thin it is it doesn't fall through.

Think they all would have been fine to be honest, but they had just been taken out of the bag and were a bit crumpled up, which obviously has led to the rogue bit of envelope sticking out and therefore stopping it from going through.

Thing is, we all know that if the postie were to come across a 2.5cm post box, he would force the thing through!!! I have had so many envelopes ripped with our postie trying to force things through my large letterbox, so I know they do it!

custardy

Kazipoo wrote: »

Think they all would have been fine to be honest, but they had just been taken out of the bag and were a bit crumpled up, which obviously has led to the rogue bit of envelope sticking out and therefore stopping it from going through.

Thing is, we all know that if the postie were to come across a 2.5cm post box, he would force the thing through!!! I have had so many envelopes ripped with our postie trying to force things through my large letterbox, so I know they do it!

i dont get your analogy? delivery has nothing to do with RM pricing

Kazipoo

custardy wrote: »

i dont get your analogy? delivery has nothing to do with RM pricing

My apologies, I thought, maybe wrongly that the pricing was to do with the size of the letterbox?? My point was a postie doesn't take size into account if he thinks he can squeeze it through.

custardy

Kazipoo wrote: »

My apologies, I thought, maybe wrongly that the pricing was to do with the size of the letterbox?? My point was a postie doesn't take size into account if he thinks he can squeeze it through.

the pricing was set to reflect the extra handling of larger items
that is within the sorting process to delivery offices
in delivery we are just pack horses to be loaded up and sent out
if it fits through the letterbox then you put it through
if its a problem then fit a nice new big letterbox
i deliver to some doors where i cant fit anything larger than a small letter through.PITA

Kazipoo

Sorry, I never actually looked into the reasons behind the price changes, I think someone may have told me that info and I never thought too much about it. I know what you're saying about letterboxes, I was a courier several years ago and it could be a proper nightmare at times.... the worst ones for me were the ones attached to the walls outside the property, because nothing would ever fit!!

Thanks for the reply.

Secret_Lady

If something that is a "bit" tight but goes through with a push and is accepted by the post office, guaranteed to be delivered with no extra fee charged because it was later found to not slip through the sizing guide easily? Anyone know the answer?

supersaver09

Kazipoo wrote: »

Basically, they had me over a barrel, she said that they would not fit through their letterbox thing, so i asked her if i could try, and she said i am sorry but we are told that they must freely glide through.

As someone else suggested, maybe buy one of the post office measuring guides to use yourself. (I bought a wooden one from Ebay for about £2.50).
Then print your postage via Paypal.

Anything thats a large letter or smaller should fit in a Letterbox (i.e in the street or outside the P.O), so just post these at a letterbox if they're not too expensive - and take the larger/more expensive items to the actual Post Office counter.