Post office scam!!!

[gbdolfans]

Hi all, I am so upset at the Post office!!! I went to mail a matted painting. The package was about 28" X28" X2".

At first he said it would be $15,which was OK.When he put in the dimensions he said it caused it to go Priority and there was a

Balloon surcharge. I had no choice for ground and no surcharge. He said it would not let him send it Ground.

What a RIPOFF!!!!!

George

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hi all, I am so upset at the Post office!!! I went to mail a matted painting. The package was about 28" X28" X2".

At first he said it would be $15,which was OK.When he put in the dimensions he said it caused it to go Priority and there was a

Balloon surcharge. I had no choice for ground and no surcharge. He said it would not let him send it Ground.

What a RIPOFF!!!!!

George

To avoid surprises at the PO, you can always use the online postage calculator. It works for me.   https://postcalc.usps.com/

[gbdolfans]

Thanks for the link Bill. I just feel you should always be able to send it Ground, not Priority.

[Mark]

Not so much a "scam", it's more a case of "left hand, may I introduce you to...right hand".  Pretty common occurrence at the post office...

[Brett Barrow]

Ground's not cheaper at that size.  

[espo]

Might want to check Fed-X or UPS, sometimes they are cheaper.  

[Jantrix]

.When he put in the dimensions he said it caused it to go Priority and there was a

Balloon surcharge.

I'd no idea they shipped things by balloon.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'd no idea they shipped things by balloon.

Apparently Japan uses a similar system. I bought a Tamiya 911 kit over 30 days ago and it's still "in the mail". Must be by balloon...or it got put on a slow boat from China.  

[Mark]

Aren't balloons full of hot air?

[martinfan5]

Apparently Japan uses a similar system. I bought a Tamiya 911 kit over 30 days ago and it's still "in the mail". Must be by balloon...or it got put on a slow boat from China.  

Sounds like you chose the cheapest shipping option from Japan the seller offered, or maybe the seller did not offer another shipping option.  

There are four different shipping options Japan Post offers, Express Mail Service ( EMS), Airmail, Economy Air( SAL), Surface Mail,  so if it has been 30 days, the seller sent it surface mail, which means it was transported by ground to the port, loaded into a container ship, and then once it reaches the USA, will be put in a trailer and transported by ground to its destination.  

SAL, that is a combination of surface and air,  surface in Japan, air to the designation country, and then ground to its destination, and I have heard, I dont know how much truth there is to this, but SAL packages are the last to get loaded and only if there is room, if not, it waits for the next air cargo container.

Or the short of it, yes, its on the slow boat from Japan.

Edited May 13, 2017 by martinfan5

[martinfan5]

Aren't balloons full of hot air?

Something is full of hot air for sure.

Edited May 13, 2017 by martinfan5

[mike 51]

I get my Japanese orders just as quickly (or quicker) than those from the mid-west or east coast.   Usually for about the same price.  

Sometimes be too "frugal" is kind of expensive... "emotionally"  

[martinfan5]

I get my Japanese orders just as quickly (or quicker) than those from the mid-west or east coast.   Usually for about the same price.  

Sometimes be too "frugal" is kind of expensive... "emotionally"  

Someone that gets it

I get my orders from Japan within four days as well, but I also spend like $50 or so for shipping,  I have no complaints ,  I currently have a order inbound from Japan as we speak, and I think it was $53 US via FedEx.

[Joe Handley]

Might want to check Fed-X or UPS, sometimes they are cheaper.  

There is always the possibility that the package may not arrive with the same dimensions in left with. Don't know how many times I saw boxes come in to the stores I worked for that said things like FRAGILE and DO NOT BEND, that were crunched up, torn, folded in the middle, ect.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Yup. Hot air indeed.  

This is the first time I've done business with this particular Japanese seller, and there was only one shipping option offered.

I'm usually happy with the cost AND the timeliness of shipping from overseas. As long as the item arrives within the estimated time window, I really don't give much of a damm HOW long it takes.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[espo]

There is always the possibility that the package may not arrive with the same dimensions in left with. Don't know how many times I saw boxes come in to the stores I worked for that said things like FRAGILE and DO NOT BEND, that were crunched up, torn, folded in the middle, ect.

I have been lucky with UPS with one very big exception. About 20 years ago I ordered some sway bars for a pick up I was redoing the suspension on. Came home from work and there was an empty box on the front door step. It had all the signs of someone doing a burnout on the end of the box. It took UPS some time to step up and replace the sway bars, but since then I have never had a problem.   

[Quick GMC]

depends where it's going, where it's leaving from, how big it is and how much it weights. I ship every day for my business, with FedEx, UPS and USPS. Weight is the major factor with all 3, but once you hit a certain size with USPS, the price jumps up a lot. Shipping from CA to Hawaii is always a LOT less with USPS with smaller packages, but after a certain size, USPS is double UPS and FedEx. 

USPS trucks are small and not meant to be carrying around large boxes, so when you ship something that size, 18x18 is not small, compare to what they typically carry, then they are going to make you pay for the real estate on the truck . 

I forget the comic that did the standup bit, probably Jerry Seinfield, but he was talking about people complaining about the price of postage. "You mean to tell me, you'll take this envelop from New York to California, in 3 days for $0.49? That's outrageous, what a ripoff"

I had a guy needing some tooling for a stone job like yesterday. Everything fit in an 18x18x6 box, not much bigger than what the OP's package was, but it weight 45lbs and went UPS Next Day Air, Early AM, which is guaranteed by 8am next day. The plate and tooling cost him around $550, the shipping alone was another $360, but he called me around 2pm in the afternoon and had it before I woke up the next morning 

[Quick GMC]

I have been lucky with UPS with one very big exception. About 20 years ago I ordered some sway bars for a pick up I was redoing the suspension on. Came home from work and there was an empty box on the front door step. It had all the signs of someone doing a burnout on the end of the box. It took UPS some time to step up and replace the sway bars, but since then I have never had a problem.   

 I had an entire McGaughy's lowering kit disappear from FedEx. Front spindles, shocks, rear shackles. Vanished, and FedEx only covered $100. Worst part about it was I sold it to someone on a forum. Of course they didn't believe me, so I had to pony up and buy a brand new kit and send it to them

[426-Hemi]

"Balloon" surcharge? WTH? I never heard of such foolishness!!!!

[espo]

Another fun experience on this subject. A couple of years ago I was in need of Tamiya Finish polish and nothing else would do. I went to my normal small privately owned and operated hobby shop. They were out and their supplier couldn't give them a date as to when he could get any. Next stop was Hobby Lobby and they also were unable to get any. So I tried Amazon, and they listed it as available for next day shipping @ $10 with free shipping. Gave them the AMX Card number and expected it to arrive within two days, their promise. Well a week later I'm E mailing them about the polish. They now were having problems getting it, but promised I would get it with the week. Now add this up. They charged me $10, the package arrived from Taiwan with over $15 in postage and  Amazon apologized for the delay and even gave me a $10 credit on my Amazon account. So it cost Amazon $25 to give me a free tube of polish. Definitely a class act on their part. I saved the stamps just for the fun factor but now I can't find them. At least this was a positive experience.  

[Brett Barrow]

"Balloon" surcharge? WTH? I never heard of such foolishness!!!!

Balloon Weight

If you are shipping a package to any destination using Parcel Select or Priority Mail (excluding flat rate envelopes and boxes) with a destination zip that falls into USPS zones 1 - 4, then you may be subject to the USPS Balloon Rate.  This rate only applies to packages that weight less than 20 pounds and whose Length (longest side) + 2 * Width + 2 * Height is between 84" and 108".  If your package meets these conditions then the postage rate will be based on your package weighing 20 lbs rather than its actual weight.

 

 

Moral of the story: don't use USPS to ship large packages.  

[JollySipper]

Question for you guys...... If I was to send someone a padded envelope and I didn't put enough postage on it, would it come back to me or would the recipient have to pay the difference?

Let's say this hypothetical envelope was sent by a person from their work (maybe with my return address on it) ??

[espo]

Question for you guys...... If I was to send someone a padded envelope and I didn't put enough postage on it, would it come back to me or would the recipient have to pay the difference?

Let's say this hypothetical envelope was sent by a person from their work (maybe with my return address on it) ??

You did what now ??  I think it come to your home address.

Edited May 18, 2017 by espo

[426-Hemi]

Question for you guys...... If I was to send someone a padded envelope and I didn't put enough postage on it, would it come back to me or would the recipient have to pay the difference?

Let's say this hypothetical envelope was sent by a person from their work (maybe with my return address on it) ??

Yeah it come back to the "return" address on the package!

[JollySipper]

Yeah it come back to the "return" address on the package!

That's kinda what I was thinking.... Thanks, Guys