US. POSTAL Shops

I got simmilar issues with them last year. I tried to explain them that ship something that not like going to buy food at supermarket. When I need to ship something I can pick it up without their assistance. As soon as I ended call with scheduiuler, another one called me with the same offer again. (calls, texts and emails). After third one called I started block their numbers. I posted on FB with attention to owner of such MSC to stop such calls.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

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" My college student thought it was HILARIOUS that he got a care package with hazmat labeling." yes I have warned recipients not to be concerned about the stickers.
@Capurato wrote:

My hazmats always get mailed. I use the shipping for mom, I don’t know what’s inside. Most of the time the clerk shakes it, sends it ground and calls it a day. One time the clerk sent it priority.

I give very minimal effort. I usually give them high marks and only really time the wait.
I avoid that scenario because I feel foolish saying that I have no clue what I am shipping. They are supposed to refuse to ship unknown contents and I am alarmed to hear that you found a PO where they consistently ignore safety protocols.
@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@Capurato wrote:

My hazmats always get mailed. I use the shipping for mom, I don’t know what’s inside. Most of the time the clerk shakes it, sends it ground and calls it a day. One time the clerk sent it priority.

I give very minimal effort. I usually give them high marks and only really time the wait.
I avoid that scenario because I feel foolish saying that I have no clue what I am shipping. They are supposed to refuse to ship unknown contents and I am alarmed to hear that you found a PO where they consistently ignore safety protocols.

They don’t get disciplined or coached individually so there is no real incentive to care.

I think the idk scenario is the easiest. I’m just the drop off person. I did have a clerk open it once. Smh.

Are they supposed to reject all the shipment scenarios?
@Capurato wrote:


They don’t get disciplined or coached individually so there is no real incentive to care.

I think the idk scenario is the easiest. I’m just the drop off person. I did have a clerk open it once. Smh.

Are they supposed to reject all the shipment scenarios?
They don't tell us the "correct" outcome so my educated guess is that ground service is acceptable for some of them because they mostly focus on what questions were asked and what services were offered.
I did the battery a few times but the last time the clerk was asking me all sorts of very technical questions about the battery...Not Q about lithium vs other or size. I got the impression she would have sent it ground if I knew any of what she wanted but I am not a computer genius and did not even understand the questions.
@sandyf wrote:

I did the battery a few times but the last time the clerk was asking me all sorts of very technical questions about the battery...Not Q about lithium vs other or size. I got the impression she would have sent it ground if I knew any of what she wanted but I am not a computer genius and did not even understand the questions.
Mine didn't go that route. Yet. I have watched them clearly reading something lengthy on their screen and there will be a long pause while they do. The questions they asked have been pretty consistent so I thought their messaging must be clear enough but maybe not? The ones I have encountered just verified it was for a laptop (presumably judging size based on that?). They wanted to know that it was new, in the original packaging, and not in a device (the last one I chuckle and say, "Nah, I didn't buy him a new laptop, just the battery to fix his old one."

I've only had one where I was sure they didn't do what they should. It was a packing and shipping place and they skipped asking the hazmat question altogether. They asked how big a hurry I was in to get it there, I said it's Christmas presents but there are a couple weeks yet. They selected everything for me and sent it ground with no questions and no warning labels.
looking up what to know about buying batteries reminded me the clerk wanted to know how many cells the battery had and the voltage. Evidently if it fit into the ground rules she would have sent it that way. My response was i was sending it to my son who forgot to pack it when visiting me so i had no idea. I tried to get her to reveal what numbers were shippable but she refused to tell me thinking I would just come back and tell her the correct information to get it shipped.
@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

I did the battery a few times but the last time the clerk was asking me all sorts of very technical questions about the battery...Not Q about lithium vs other or size. I got the impression she would have sent it ground if I knew any of what she wanted but I am not a computer genius and did not even understand the questions.
Mine didn't go that route. Yet. I have watched them clearly reading something lengthy on their screen and there will be a long pause while they do. The questions they asked have been pretty consistent so I thought their messaging must be clear enough but maybe not? The ones I have encountered just verified it was for a laptop (presumably judging size based on that?). They wanted to know that it was new, in the original packaging, and not in a device (the last one I chuckle and say, "Nah, I didn't buy him a new laptop, just the battery to fix his old one."

I've only had one where I was sure they didn't do what they should. It was a packing and shipping place and they skipped asking the hazmat question altogether. They asked how big a hurry I was in to get it there, I said it's Christmas presents but there are a couple weeks yet. They selected everything for me and sent it ground with no questions and no warning labels.
I didn't have any trouble finding the page on USPS detailing the regulations. I now know they messed up on one other, they let me ship a box where the overall package weight exceeded 5 pounds.

Most of the ones I sent, they got it right.
$15 for shipping is worth $15 to me. Last week I shipped 4 packages which would have cost me $52. I picked convenient locations. I made the minimum fee. Worked for me!
its not just that, the shipping prices have exploded. Also they inserted a few questions in the app that makes no sense. It just there to be an inconvenience. They also have a screening system that looks at the image quality of your receipt and sends you an automatic rejection, request to reupload photo.
@emm2131 wrote:

$15 for shipping is worth $15 to me. Last week I shipped 4 packages which would have cost me $52. I picked convenient locations. I made the minimum fee. Worked for me!

This would be the most likely scenario for me but since I am not running a business where I need to pay for shipping items it is only useful to send holiday or bday gifts when I cannot purchase the items online and ship for free.
The guidelines state weight of 1-2 lbs. Has anyone sent something past the 2 lb and been accepted?
I sent one 3 weeks ago that was 3.5 lbs. There is no issue as long as it is over 1.5 lbs and max 12” on any side. I ended up only making .20 since over 2# Will almost certainly cost more than $15.
I've sent a lot of packages in the 3-5# range. As long as it's over the minimum weight and not "oversized", they don't care.
@Deedeezthoughts wrote:

I've sent a lot of packages in the 3-5# range. As long as it's over the minimum weight and not "oversized", they don't care.

I got lucky a few times and shipped some packages heavy weight and well over the dims. I gambled with a PO where I knew the clerks were very lax. If they actually measured, I would have “had second thoughts” and mailed a package that actually fit the dims.
OK, thank you. I am good to ship this week then. BTW, they are offering a $7 bonus.
Yeah, I took one with a bonus because I have a package to mail. So, I will get to see what's changed since December. I really don't mind doing them, did a lot for the previous msc. If only they would pay a fair amount.
For the laptop battery scenario, what are we supposed to say? That it is outside of the device, and the battery is new in the original packaging? I think I had one rejected by the USPS clerk because I said the battery was still in the device. And the MSC rejected the shop commenting that the box size didn't even match my laptop scenario.
It actually just needs to be over 1 pounds. This ridiculous MSC has put 1.5 lbs in new guidelines "as a suggestion" as they were getting a bunch of newbies sending packages under 1 pound. I had a whole lively email exchange with them about this, but they see nothing wrong with asking people to go out of pocket for that extra .5 pounds as it helps their reviewers get through these faster. Same reason you now have to add the PO's hours of operation screenshots - this is to save them the time of going to look up the hours.

But it really is just 1 pound or greater. Reason for that is that is the clerks are trained to offer Priority on anything over 1 pound.
@catmom23 wrote:

I sent one 3 weeks ago that was 3.5 lbs. There is no issue as long as it is over 1.5 lbs and max 12” on any side. I ended up only making .20 since over 2# Will almost certainly cost more than $15.
@Pokaluk46 wrote:

For the laptop battery scenario, what are we supposed to say? That it is outside of the device, and the battery is new in the original packaging? I think I had one rejected by the USPS clerk because I said the battery was still in the device. And the MSC rejected the shop commenting that the box size didn't even match my laptop scenario.
This is covered in the guidelines. If you don't know, then there are surely other details you missed. I suggest reading the whole thing before trying again. Once you have it down, it's easy. But there are a lot of details.
If you are going to do the HazMat shops, don't do any scenario other than "Mailing a Package for my mom". The rest of them, their revolving door of Editors interpret the guidelines different each time. All the new narrative thats being requested - that is them asking 2 different places how you presented the scenario. And while its the usual display of no-QA at the MSC that results in wacky, redundant survey questions, for us it means the Editor now has 2 chances to not like what you said or did. They trip over themselves on the perfume scenario, and the laptop scenario.

So just do the Mailing for Mom. The story is always the same- you don't know what it contains. The clerk will accept it, or the will not accept it. They generally don't have follow up questions.
From a taxpayer’s point of view it was rather nuts that they were paying $150 for a mystery shop (if the USPS was the one actually paying it).
@metro25782 wrote:

From a taxpayer’s point of view it was rather nuts that they were paying $150 for a mystery shop (if the USPS was the one actually paying it).

Do you mean that is how much the msc gets per completed job? Where did yoiu get that info from? It would be interesting to us shoppers to know what the msc earns on each job.
I now only do the laptop battery scenario. The guidelines are explicit as to what to say. I tried some of the others, and since I am youth challenged, some of the clerks occasionally "help me". After all, would my even more youth challenged mother or even my youth challenged wife possibly ask me to mail something that is bad? The laptop scenario is entirely formulaic. Sometimes they refuse to ship it because of poor training. I thought that the thermometer scenario would be straightforward, but found that it isn't when it comes to the editors. I have never had a laptop scenario rejected.

Shopping South Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware above the canal since 2008
@sandyf wrote:

@metro25782 wrote:

From a taxpayer’s point of view it was rather nuts that they were paying $150 for a mystery shop (if the USPS was the one actually paying it).

Do you mean that is how much the msc gets per completed job? Where did yoiu get that info from? It would be interesting to us shoppers to know what the msc earns on each job.

I really have no idea....but I can’t imagine the MSC just handing out three digit fees without the client ponying up some of that. Maybe...but I don’t know.
Three digit fees for a postal shop? Man, that is one nice bonus. I used to do a lot of those but never got anywhere near triple digits. Maybe 40 was the highest...can't remember for sure.
Three digit fees for a postal shop? Man, that is one nice bonus. I used to do a lot of those but never got anywhere near triple digits. Maybe 40 was the highest...can't remember for sure.
thermometer scenario should be straightforward; but not all Postal workers understand they can be sent Ground. Batteries are entirely formulaic. I have been asked to ship a battery to my son with his written instructions thus I have a list I can look at to review what I put in the box *~) when asked by a clerk.
I beg to differ. Anything containing metcury is forbidden to be shipped by any USPS method, that includes Ground Advantage.

"Key Guidelines for Shipping Thermometers via USPS:
Mercury Thermometers: Forbidden. Mercury is a liquid metal, and if a thermometer breaks, it releases toxic vapors, making them hazardous to mail.
Allowed Thermometers: Digital thermometers, fever thermometers without mercury, and thermometers using red-colored alcohol are generally acceptable.
Prohibited Items: Antique thermometers, barometers, and blood pressure monitors that contain visible silver-colored liquid mercury are prohibited."
@Rho wrote:

thermometer scenario should be straightforward; but not all Postal workers understand they can be sent Ground. Batteries are entirely formulaic. I have been asked to ship a battery to my son with his written instructions thus I have a list I can look at to review what I put in the box *~) when asked by a clerk.

Shopping South Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware above the canal since 2008
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