Thursday, July 12, 2007

Going Postal - No Free Tape!

Dear Ms. L,

I am sorry that you left our store angry today. You came to the drive through with two boxes, both "Flat Rate Priority" boxes. All taped up and addressed and ready to go. The problem was, one of them was going to Germany. That flat rate box would have cost you $37 to mail. "Flat rate" means the price is always the same for that box, no matter the weight (which is a bargain for heavy stuff. For things under 3 pounds, not so much). When I put it on the scale, I saw that you could ship it first class international for only $18. I am sorry that I pointed that out to you. I am sorry that you then had to buy a plain brown box from us for 1.49. And when I told you that it was going to cost you another dollar to tape it up, I am sorry that it upset you. "You mean I have to pay for tape? I've never done that before!" Well, I don't know where you get your tape, but I can give you the name of our supplier and show you the invoices. It doesn't magically appear in our drawer. And I am sorry that you had to take ten minutes to repack your stuff in the box AND fill out the customs form required for international packages. I am very sorry that the three cars who were waiting behind you got tired and left, and missed getting served. To answer your question, "Yes, it was a very bad day". There were six people waiting for counter service inside the door, and only two of us working. So you can see, the extra work that was required to serve you, as well as waiting for you to fill out the paperwork and complain about the service, took me away from helping other people in the store.

I should have just put that box on the scale, hit postal meter, and charged you $37. Instead, you paid $18 for postage and $2.61 for the box and tape. And you also prevented the cars behind you from being served.

So I am sorry. Next time, I won't try to save you money. If paying $1 to tape your box is too much money, then pay the friggin' $37 to mail it as is. I hope that you'll accept my apology because it will be our pleasure to serve you again (without the drive-thru divas like yourself what would I write about on my blog?)

Yours truly,

Your friendly neighborhood contract postal unit worker

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