post-office

We're Sorry, Your Delicious Package Of Treats Was Intercepted By Post Office Rats
By Mary Beth Quirk on December 20, 2011 12:00 PM  
Rodents make the worst postal workers, especially when delicious, edible holiday treats are involved. One post office in Manhattan had a few rats and/or mice working over packages before they reached their intended destinations, resulting in a holiday surprise of a different kind. More Â»

My USPS Package Took A California Vacation, Didn't Invite Me Along
By Laura Northrup on September 22, 2011 1:00 PM  
Using the U.S. Postal Service's Priority Mail, Justin mailed a gift from his home in New York City to a friend in Georgia. Package tracking meant that he was able to follow the gift's journey and make sure it arrived safely. He was baffled, though, when the tracking information stated that it first traveled out to California for no reason, then made its way back to Georgia, eleven days later than anticipated. Where it was then delivered to the wrong person. In a different town. No one knows where the package actually ended up. More Â»

USPS: We'll Be Out Of Money By October
By Phil Villarreal on March 3, 2011 9:15 AM  
USPS is in crisis mode, stuck in an unsustainable business model that threatens to run the service into the ground by the end of the fiscal year in October. More Â»

Watch Out For FedEx SmartPost
By Chris Walters on December 23, 2009 6:55 PM  
Cristiana says beware the trap of sending things via FedEx SmartPost: the USPS handles the local part of delivery, and "since you now have two shipping companies involved, nobody wants to take responsibility for the package" when it never arrives. More Â»

Photo: whatatravisty

Kill Slightly Fewer Trees By Leaving Junk Mail Lists
By Laura Northrup on December 13, 2009 11:00 AM  
Thanks to e-mail and online bill payments, mailboxes are a lot less personal than they used to be. According to WalletPop, each week, the average American receives 1.5 pieces of mail they might actually be interested in (yes, including bills), but 16 pieces of junk mail. Evidently, "OCCUPANT" is a pretty popular guy. But when unwanted solicitations are 90% of what's in our mailboxes, why do they keep on coming? How can you make them stop? More Â»

Photo: rjmonts

North Pole, Alaska Will Answer Letters To Santa After All
By Laura Northrup on December 3, 2009 10:15 AM  
Letters that children mail to "Santa Claus, North Pole" will be destined for North Pole, Alaska after all, and the letters personally answered by dedicated volunteers. The program was initially shut down for logistical reasons, but restored after Rudolph paid a visit to Fairbanks and taught everyone the true meaning of Christmas. Or something like that. More Â»

U.S. Postal Service Tests Post Office Greeting Card Sales
By Laura Northrup on October 29, 2009 3:40 PM  

—>One of the few things that people still use the U.S. Postal Service to do is send greeting cards. Americans receive an average of 20 greeting cards per year, and they have to come from somewhere. So why not save a trip and buy those cards right at your local post office?  More Â»

USPS: No Stamp Price Increases In 2010
By Laura Northrup on October 17, 2009 6:00 PM  

—>You can rest easy and stock up on booklets of Simpsons stamps instead of boring old Forever stamps. The United States Postal Service assures us that it is not planning any stamp price increases in 2010.  More Â»

US Postal Service Redefines "Contiguous" United States
By Laura Northrup on October 2, 2009 3:44 PM  

—>Steve was mailing some packages from his home in Virgina to various points in the country, and noticed something strange on his receipt. The packages destined for Pennsylvania and Washington state are leaving the contiguous United States. What?  More Â»

Ask The Consumerists: Should I Report My Package-Rolling Mailman?
By Laura Northrup on September 9, 2009 1:41 PM  

—>Jeff has a quandary. He spotted his neighborhood mail carrier delivering his package in a way he didn't like. Jeff wants to know whether he should report his friendly, package-tossing mailman to the post office, or whether he should expect retribution.  More Â»

Postal Service Gettin' It On With eBay
By Phil Villarreal on June 17, 2009 1:50 PM  

—>The USPS is getting all modern-like, hooking up with eBay to let sellers be billed later for postal services rather than pay immediately. Also, a new tool will let sellers roll streamline the shipping process by letting them buy and print labels without having to juggle accounts or wait in line at the post office.   More Â»

Reminder: Don't Pay Private Companies For Postal Jobs
By Laura Northrup on May 27, 2009 2:52 AM  

—>For those readers who are job-hunting for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, let this serve as a reminder: you do not need to pay a private company to get a job with the post office. No study guides. No sample exams. As T.J. learned, these companies will be happy to sell you all kinds of unnecessary exam-taking supplies...whether there are any postal jobs available or exams planned near where you live, or not. Multiple companies are masquerading as hiring for the post office.  More Â»

UPDATE: USPS Agrees To Pay Insurance Claim On Lost Laptops
By Alex Chasick on May 8, 2009 8:16 PM  

—>After our story about USPS losing a reader's five insured computers then only valuing them at $74 generated a lot of response (and turned into a vowel-less debate on health care), a couple readers sent us the contact info for the insurance agent who denied our reader's request.  More Â»

USPS: Your Five New, Insured Laptops That We Lost Are Worth $74
By Alex Chasick on May 7, 2009 8:50 PM  

—>The US Postal Service lost five new Lenovo laptops that Pedro's friend bought and shipped to him. Pedro expected that this might happen, so he wisely insured the package for $3,000. After stalling for about two months, USPS finally agreed to pay his insurance claim, but reduced the payment, claiming his merchandise was only worth $74.  More Â»

It's Tax Day! Here Are Some Post Offices That Are Open Late...
By Meg Marco on April 15, 2009 6:21 PM  

—>Today is the day, folks. You'll need to finish up your taxes and send them on their way to the IRS.  More Â»

USPS Wants To Cut Back To Five-Day Work Week
By Alex Chasick on January 30, 2009 6:29 PM  

—>A $3 billion deficit and expected losses of $6 billion more have led the Postmaster General to suggest cutting mail delivery from six to five days.  More Â»

Woot! Replaces Shirt Stolen By The U.S. Post Office
By Carey Alexander on January 23, 2009 3:21 PM  

—>Two weeks ago I wrote that Woot! hadn't replaced a shirt stolen by the U.S. Post Office. Well, I was wrong. Unbeknownst to me, Woot! shipped out a brand new replacement shirt, just as I had requested.  More Â»

The Post Office Stole My Woot! Shirt!
By Carey Alexander on January 10, 2009 3:12 PM  

—>I ordered an awesome shirt from Shirt.Woot! How awesome? Awesome enough for the U.S. Post Office to tear it right out of the super-durable SmartPost package Woot uses to protect their shirts. The Post Office, bastion of empathy that it is, didn't want me to miss my order completely, so they delivered my ripped empty package wrapped in an obnoxious "WE CARE" apology bag. Heartbroken, I tried emailing Woot for help...  More Â»

Postal Employees Ordered To Stop Offering First-Class Mail
By Carey Alexander on September 21, 2008 4:00 PM  

—>Postal employees have been ordered to upsell pricey express or priority mail services to anyone sending anything more than a letter, according to an anonymous tipster. The directive comes straight from Washington to help combat the Post Office's $1.1 billion operating deficit. To avoid the upsell, specifically ask if there is a cheaper way to ship your package. The anonymous tipster's letter, inside...  More Â»

The Post Office Wants Their Penny Dammit!
By Jay Slatkin on July 17, 2008 11:08 AM  

—>Reader Joe wrote to us with a heads-up about not short-changing the U.S. Post Office. His postman left him a serious-ass invoice charging Joe with 1¢ postage due. According to Joe's rough numbers, the PO spent at least $.25 to pay the postman for the estimated minute it took to write the invoice. Joe's letter and photos, inside...  More Â»