U.S. Post Office Rate Increases & Service Changes -- 17 Jan 2016

Hey Gold Adventurers...

Well...............NO surprise..........the start of the New Year means all sorts of idiotic & unconstitutional laws and tax and fee increases are taking effect all over the country........at the city, county, state and federal levels. Government is the cancer of our country.

Reagan said it best in January 1981: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”


So, NO surprise either the U.S. Post Office has raised postage rates, trimmed services and generally plans to give us the same or less for a high cost.

One Example: USPS Priority mail flat rate price increases:

Envelope -- from $5.75 to $6.45
Small box -- from $6.10 to $6.80
Med box -- from $12.65 to $13.45
Lg box -- from $17.90 to $18.75

Overall, most shipping services for First-Class and Priority mail have gone up 8 to 14%. I had UPS raise all my rates by 5% on average again too. They raised rates as well about 5% last year.

So, don't believe the Federal Reserve and the government's BLS that say inflation is low, below the Fed's 2% "target". According to the old 1980 formula it's running about 7.6%, even with oil being at record lows: http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

So, when you go to the Post Office...........take more money.

Randy "C-17A"

Hey Gold Adventurers...

A short follow up here.  After the 17 Jan 2016 price increases & service changes...........I then noticed that on my USPS web site account I couldn't find/access/have as an option to use Regional Rate boxes...

Hmmm..........  So, I called the USPS Custom Service Center..............waited (not kidding) an hour on hold and when I got to a rep explained I needed to have on-line access to what I had before........Regional Rate boxes.

After some "checking" and "asking her supervisor" I was told they had no idea what was up.  So, they input a ticket to go to my Click-n-Ship account and restore my ability to use Regional Rate boxes.

Well, I got the following e-mail from USPS tech support yesterday.  Ha.  How sad.  Seems now I have to drive to town to the Post Office in person to ship one of those boxes.............OR sign up with one of their affiliated services!

How screwed up is that?  Really screwed up.  Just MORE of charging you more, delivering less.  No wonder USPS loses billions every year and people turn to UPS & FedEx.

Randy  C-17A  
---------------
Recently you requested personal assistance from the United States Postal Service. Below is a summary of your request and our response. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Subject:  cns
Response By Email (01/22/2016 01:58 PM)

Dear Randy,

Thank you for contacting the USPS Internet Customer Care Center.

We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.

Regional box C no longer exists.

Regional boxes A and B are only available for Commercial (discounted) rates if a customer is affiliated with one of our subscription partners such as Stamps.com and Endicia.com.  Both of these boxes are no longer available with the USPS Click N Ship online postage option.

Regional boxes A and B are also available at Retail windows paying retail prices.

We have no word on if these will ever come back to CNS

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact us again.

Thank you for emailing your Postal Service,

USPS Internet Customer Care Center

Hey Gold Adventurers...

An update on this situation...

Ha. MAYBE I (and everyone else) actually will get some "help" from the Post Office after all...

I am a squeaky wheel demanding grease.

Check out the little back and forth below between me and the USPS Tech Support folks. Sad & laughable...

I bitched up a storm. Now they say they'll TRY to give me (and everyone else) back Regional Rate A & B Box shipping labels thru my on-line USPS Click-N-Ship account.

Good. We'll see... I am not holding my breath.

Randy C-17A
------------

From: USPS Technical Support [mailto:uspstechnicalsupport@mailps.custhelp.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 9:27 AM
To: randylwitham@gmail.com
Subject: cns [Incident: 160119-000487]

Recently you requested personal assistance from the United States Postal Service. Below is a summary of your request and our response. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Subject: cns

Response By Email (01/23/2016 11:26 AM)

Dear Randy,

Effective January 17th, Click-N-Ship customers will be required to pay the same rate as retail customers. Prior to this change, Click-N-Ship customers were given a discounted rate equivalent to Commercial Based pricing.

To continue receiving these discounted rates and print labels:

Retail customers can use:

- Other PC Postage Vendors (Endicia, Stamps.com, etc.)

Business customers can use:

- Click-N-Ship for Business Pro
- USPS Meter Label Solution (formerly Click-N-Ship for Business)
- Electronic Verification System (eVS)

At this time, all Regional Rate Boxes are no longer available on USPS.com.

Regional Rate Boxes A and B were inadvertently removed during our last update.

We are working to resolve the issue and make them available on our website for Click N Ship customers. Please keep checking for updates on our Click N Ship page when you sign in.

Until the issue has been resolved you do still have the option to use a regular Flat Rate Box for shipping or one of the other services mentioned above.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your business and patience.

Thank you for emailing your Postal Service,

USPS Internet Customer Care Center

Customer By CSS Email (01/23/2016 11:25 AM)
Dear Tech Support,

Well................all bad news from my perspective...

So, you're telling me I now have to go to an "affiliated" subscription partner................like Stamps.com and pay $15.99 a month fee just to get access to USPS Regional Rate box shipping labels from my home off my computer/printer? Too expensive.

You said I could also go to my local Post Office every time I wanted to use a Regional rate box and pay at the window. Well, I live in rural Colorado, way out in the county. Driving to/from town every single time I want to ship a box is a nonstarter.

This decision to not allow me to utilize Regional rate boxes on my Click-N-Ship account is absolutely ludicrous!

It worked perfectly until you "fixed" it.

It's one thing to raise rates across the board, but to make it impossible for me to use my Click-N-Ship account to access/use Regional Rate boxes after 17 Jan 2016, when I happily have been using them before that date for years.............well, that's just plain stupid and is VERY bad business.

Any wonder folks and businesses are turning more and more to UPS & FedEx?

PLEASE push my customer comments up the chain to Senior Management.

I want & need you to again offer the Regional Rate A & B Boxes again as an option thru my USPS Click-N-Ship on-line account. Believe me, I am 110% certain millions of other USPS customers and businesses want the same thing!

Thank you in advance,

Randy

Randy Witham
Buena Vista, Colorado
USPS Individual & Business Customer

From: USPS Technical Support [mailto:uspstechnicalsupport@mailps.custhelp.com]
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2016 11:58 AM
To: randylwitham@gmail.com
Subject: cns [Incident: 160119-000487]

Response By Email (01/22/2016 01:58 PM)
Dear Randy,

Thank you for contacting the USPS Internet Customer Care Center.

We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.

Regional box C no longer exists.

Regional boxes A and B are only available for Commercial (discounted) rates if a customer is affiliated with one of our subscription partners such as Stamps.com and Endicia.com.

Both of these boxes are no longer available with the USPS Click N Ship online postage option.

Regional boxes A and B are also available at Retail windows paying retail prices.

We have no word on if these will ever come back to CNS.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact us again.

Thank you for emailing your Postal Service,

USPS Internet Customer Care Center