USPS hazmat shops

Has anyone had a certain company reject their Hazmat USPS shop because you didn't ship priority? That is the whole point of the shop, They are supposed to reject shipping it priority. You used to then just buy stamps. Now the guidelines say you need to ship using the alternative method they offer. I did that and they won't pay me because they said I didn't ship it priority. Makes absolutely no sense. I am so sick of having no recourse. If I didn't follow the guidelines then I understand and I want someone to explain them to me because they are unclear.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2023 05:50PM by thecrwth.

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Just wondering if you either did not correctly check the box to indicate what happened or they may have changed the guidelines. They do update the guidelines fairly often so there may have been a change you missed.
You can only ship the box regular for 3 of the current 5 scenarios. Did you have one of those?
They specifically said it was because I did not ship priority. I only did one that day. I had certified for the guidelines the day before so I am stumped. If it were something else I did wrong, I'd be fine with it. That happens and it was a package I needed to ship anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2023 06:52PM by thecrwth.
In my opinion the hazmat shops used to be easier when the shipping was more black or white....they either accepted it for Priority or they didn't. Now I need to remember which scenarios allow alternative methods and which don't.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
Which scenario did you have?
I do not do these anymore as unless I am shipping to zone 5 or perhaps still 6 the shipping is more than the reimbursement. Same with the regular shops but at least for them i can send anywhere outside my city and I am guarenteed to have it shipped. If I do not get it shipped $2 in stamps plus $12 is not enough of an incentive to wait on the lines in the los angeles post offices. My friends and family are in zone 8.
I had the perfume, which allowed the alternate. IDK it seems to me like this company is getting a little insane with their guidelines. And for the same pay they've been offering for years, not even adjusting for inflation.
It sounds like there is a mix up here. The guidelines state perfume should not be shipped priority, but can ship ground if the clerk offers it. Did you try contacting them to discuss it?
Actually not the same because we used to be able to spend a lot more than $2 and get it reimbursed on the hazmat shops. I have so many stamps from those days. Now my daughter just needs to fall in love so i can use them for wedding invites!
@thecrwth wrote:

You definitely should try and contact the scheduler about your pay.
I had the perfume, which allowed the alternate. IDK it seems to me like this company is getting a little insane with their guidelines. And for the same pay they've been offering for years, not even adjusting for inflation.
Email the program manager and she will sort this out for you, as this is an Editor's error. Her name is Patricia Bellina. Her email is firstname.lastname@themsc.com (themsc can't be named here so you will need to fill in their actual company name).
You're right actually. I'm feeling like that $2 is more like 50¢ in this economy.
@thecrwth wrote:

You're right actually. I'm feeling like that $2 is more like 50¢ in this economy.

yes but just a few years ago we got a whole sheet of stamps.
@thecrwth wrote:

Has anyone had a certain company reject their Hazmat USPS shop because you didn't ship priority? That is the whole point of the shop, They are supposed to reject shipping it priority. You used to then just buy stamps. Now the guidelines say you need to ship using the alternative method they offer. I did that and they won't pay me because they said I didn't ship it priority. Makes absolutely no sense. I am so sick of having no recourse. If I didn't follow the guidelines then I understand and I want someone to explain them to me because they are unclear.

Copy and paste the section in the guidelines about about shipping alternate methods, send it to the editor that denied your shop, and your scheduler. But there are scenarios where you should not be shipping at all. So make sure you followed the correct guidelines for your scenario.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2023 04:15AM by Morledzep.
Sigh. As I said, I followed the guidelines. I had a scenario that said I could ship via alternate means if offered.
Respond to the rejection email, explain how you followed the guidelines and wait. I've had two Haz Mat shops rejected because I did not state exactly what is written in the guidelines.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
I did this and forwarded this to the program supervisor. I have not heard anything. I don't think the editors understand the guidelines. This might make them think that maybe the guidelines are a little ridiculous
When I forwarded a message to the Ipsos program manager regarding a pay issue, they didn't respond; but they did process the payment. Hope that is the case for you.
Finally got an answer to this. It was rejected because it weighed less than a pound. That sounds very different than it did not ship priority. These shops are so not worth it if you have nothing you already want to ship. Too many guidelines when you have to put your own money on the line for very little income. Risk/reward is low. Luckily I had to ship this package anyway, so not terribly upsetting.
@thecrwth wrote:

Finally got an answer to this. It was rejected because it weighed less than a pound. That sounds very different than it did not ship priority. These shops are so not worth it if you have nothing you already want to ship. Too many guidelines when you have to put your own money on the line for very little income. Risk/reward is low. Luckily I had to ship this package anyway, so not terribly upsetting.

Next time use a kitchen scale or the scale some of the post offices have in the lobby to check the weight. If light, add a can of tuna or something else you brought with you.
I don't usually have a can of tuna with me. smiling smiley But that suggestion made me LOL. Good advice to invest in a cheap kitchen scale - they are less than $15. I keep all the catalogs that come as junk mail, and use those to pad the packages so they weigh enough. They can be relatively heavy, and provide free and effective cushioning in the box around the items you are shipping. And they get you up over 1 pound.
Perhaps you should re read the guidelines too. The one about weight of your package is clearly stated. There are good reasons for that guideline. It is too bad you were told the incorrect reason for your shop rejection but not having a package under a pound is a major one for us to pay attention to. \
I do agree with you though that doing a hazmat shop or any of these shops with no benefit of shipping a package you want to ship anyway does not make financial sense when living in a place with long waits, difficult parking and usually no bonuses.

@thecrwth wrote:

I did this and forwarded this to the program supervisor. I have not heard anything. I don't think the editors understand the guidelines. This might make them think that maybe the guidelines are a little ridiculous
@Cassiespark wrote:

I don't usually have a can of tuna with me. smiling smiley But that suggestion made me LOL. Good advice to invest in a cheap kitchen scale - they are less than $15. I keep all the catalogs that come as junk mail, and use those to pad the packages so they weigh enough. They can be relatively heavy, and provide free and effective cushioning in the box around the items you are shipping. And they get you up over 1 pound.

I just figure if I'm sending my family a package, I might as well send them something they can use. I think someone said they have gone out to the parking lot and picked up some stones to add weight to their package as necessary.
Yep, a few of us said that. Sometimes, more so at approved shippers, THEIR scale is off.
@sandyf wrote:

Perhaps you should re read the guidelines too. The one about weight of your package is clearly stated. There are good reasons for that guideline. It is too bad you were told the incorrect reason for your shop rejection but not having a package under a pound is a major one for us to pay attention to.

See this is one of my pet peeves about posting on this board. We all know we need to read the guidelines. Thank you for pointing that I made a mistake that I already admitted I made. This contributes nothing to conversation. My compaint was not that the shop was rejected. It was the explanation. We make mistakes. Shops get rejected. It happens. It's when they are rejected with one sentence that makes no sense and you try to get clarification from the editor and you might as well be emailing a cat.
@thecrwth wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

Perhaps you should re read the guidelines too. The one about weight of your package is clearly stated. There are good reasons for that guideline. It is too bad you were told the incorrect reason for your shop rejection but not having a package under a pound is a major one for us to pay attention to.

See this is one of my pet peeves about posting on this board. We all know we need to read the guidelines. Thank you for pointing that I made a mistake that I already admitted I made. This contributes nothing to conversation. My compaint was not that the shop was rejected. It was the explanation. We make mistakes. Shops get rejected. It happens. It's when they are rejected with one sentence that makes no sense and you try to get clarification from the editor and you might as well be emailing a cat.


Actually I don't see you owning your mistake in any post... you actually posted that "sigh I followed the guidelines" and "I just certified for it the day before"....
Well, I guess you didn't follow the guidelines and you missed the part in the guidelines the day before that said the package needed to be over 1lb.
You made a mistake. The editor made a mistake in the REASON your shop was rejected.

What it contributes to the conversation is **hopefully** you will reread the guidelines and find your own error, and you won't make it again.

Years ago, when these shops were listed on another company's job board I thought my package was over 1lb. It wasn't and I wasn't paying attention when they weighed it. I have never made that mistake again. I add a bit extra if it's going to be close and I ALWAYS look at the weight before the transaction is complete.
@luckygirl0100 wrote:

@thecrwth wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

Actually I don't see you owning your mistake in any post.

Perhaps you should read my original post:
"If I didn't follow the guidelines then I understand and I want someone to explain them to me because they are unclear." Maybe I should have spelled it out for the people who were looking to admonish me for not following the guidelines that I was referring to the part where I meant I followed the guidelines that they rejected the shop for about shipping priority, which is what the edtor said I did wrong. Once they said it was under a pound I did argue with them. I said I didn't follow the guidelines and I deserved the shop to be rejected and wow there are a lot of guidelines. Too many for to remember and not really worth for me.

I've very glad you learned from your mistake a long time ago. I don't get what you are getting out of admonishing other people in posts and bragging about what a wonderful job you do. It is not helpful to others and makes them less likely to ask for help on this board. The problem was I didn't know what I did wrong and I wanted an explanation. I did get genuine help with that here and I thank everybody else on this post.
@Cassiespark wrote:

Good advice to invest in a cheap kitchen scale - they are less than $15.

Another way to weigh a package is to stand on a bathroom scale twice: 1st - holding the package; 2nd - without the package. Subtract the second number from the first and you have a good approximate weight.

Both kitchen scales and bathroom scales are not as accurate as postal scales, and usually it turns out the package is about 2-3 oz. heavier than what my scales tell me. But they are good for a ballpark figure, so you can shoot for somewhere around 1.5 lbs and be safe.
.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2023 03:54PM by shopnyc.
For not much money, you can buy calibrated weights on Amazon. You really only need the 1- and 2-pound weights to check your kitchen scale so as to ensure that your packages weigh close to what you need. This set is probably overkill: [www.amazon.com] and I would probably look further or even check on eBay. in the set I quickly found, the 500 g weight is 17.6 ounces. You really only need that one. If your cheap kitchen scale says it weights 16 or 17 ounces, you are probably OK.

Edit to add: Here is a used set on Ebay for just $5 - [www.ebay.com]
@shopnyc wrote:

@Cassiespark wrote:

Good advice to invest in a cheap kitchen scale - they are less than $15.

Another way to weigh a package is to stand on a bathroom scale twice: 1st - holding the package; 2nd - without the package. Subtract the second number from the first and you have a good approximate weight.

Both kitchen scales and bathroom scales are not as accurate as postal scales, and usually it turns out the package is about 2-3 oz. heavier than what my scales tell me. But they are good for a ballpark figure, so you can shoot for somewhere around 1.5 lbs and be safe.
.

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


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2023 01:46AM by myst4au.
I bought a Kitchen aid scale at a thrift store. It gets it right to a fraction of an inch.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
What is the expected result for the hazmat - mailing package for mom scenario? Is it usual for them to deny acceptance all together or ship via ground?
@VinceDiesel wrote:

What is the expected result for the hazmat - mailing package for mom scenario? Is it usual for them to deny acceptance all together or ship via ground?

They should.
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