No love for AK & HI??

[cmatera]

You probably got asked to pick up your package not because of what was in it, but the way you did it. You CANNOT just "drop a package" in a mail box ever since 9/11. You have to tender it over the counter and answer the hazmat questions, then you would be fine. You cannot drop ANY packages in a box any more.

 

[FALSECRACK89]

You probably did not get asked to pick up your package because of what was in it. You CANNOT just "drop a package" in a mail box ever since 9/11. You have to tender it over the counter and answer the hazmat questions, then you would be fine. You cannot drop ANY packages in a box any more.

I beg to differ. At my PO there’s actually a vending machine that allows one to send priority boxes without the presence of a live body. Sure it asks you the same questions pertaining to its contents, but effectively you pay the fee and drop the box into a slot that feeds into the building.

But I agree with the notion that a worker could somehow learn of the contents of a package without the sender volunteering this info. To do so would imply that they opened it sans consent—-which as far as I know is still illegal

 

[cmatera]

Trust me, your PO represents a small minority (that have a kiosk). If you use the kiosk, they have a record of your statement that the package contains no liquid, perfume, li-ion batteries etc. If you just put flat rate postage on and drop it in a drop box, expect to get it back. No, a postal worker has no way of knowing what is in a package (again which is immaterial), what matters is that they have your statement of content or consent thereof in the case of a kiosk). If, for some reason a postal inspector opens it or it is xray'd and determined to be suspicious and opened, then the answer you provided will matter. Yes I worked at the USPS for 33 years.

 

[yenniedn]

Trust me, your PO represents a small minority (that have a kiosk). If you use the kiosk, they have a record of your statement that the package contains no liquid, perfume, li-ion batteries etc. If you just put flat rate postage on and drop it in a drop box, expect to get it back. No, a postal worker has no way of knowing what is in a package (again which is immaterial), what matters is that they have your statement of content or consent thereof in the case of a kiosk). If, for some reason a postal inspector opens it or it is xray'd and determined to be suspicious and opened, then the answer you provided will matter. Yes I worked at the USPS for 33 years.

Carl, I routinely print my shipping labels at home (either through eBay Shipping, Paypal or Pirateship.com) and almost always walk up to the counter and drop my multiple boxes off at an un-manned portion of the USPS counter without any questions. Or sometimes I'll take them to the Postal Annex store near my house and it's the same - just drop it off and go, no questions asked & no forms. At other times when I'm home, I'll give the prepaid packages directly to my mail lady and she takes them with no questions. And yes, I've shipped pellets like that as well.

I almost never, ever go to the post office, stand in line and manually pay for postage anymore. When I did do that, they would ask me all sorts of questions as to what is inside the box.

 

[cmatera]

Do you have an Ebay account? Do you have a Paypal account? Do you have a Pirateship account? That is how they will find you if you do something wrong. I am a daily UPS pickup so obviously, I have a registered account. I give my packages to the driver and get my packages from him with no ??'s asked. If I go to the UPS Customer Service Center to drop off a package, I get interrogated as to the contents of the package. Same thing.
When the guy dropped a flat rate package into a letter only box, if the box of pellets, (contents unknown to the PO) was not opened but only required he pick it up, what would be the reason why?

 

[Firewalker]

How did they know there was pellets inside ?......yes you cannot ship real ammo to Hawaii but no law against pellets

They opened the package for 'inspection' as per postal code and rejected the delivery.

I used to send a good 6 small FIS boxes every month to four guys in HI every month, I made a buck a tin and told them up front that was my take, they paid all expenses are were pleased as punch, until the postmaster intervened. Oh well...

 

[Firewalker]

Do you have an Ebay account? Do you have a Paypal account? Do you have a Pirateship account? That is how they will find you if you do something wrong. I am a daily UPS pickup so obviously, I have a registered account. I give my packages to the driver and get my packages from him with no ??'s asked. If I go to the UPS Customer Service Center to drop off a package, I get interrogated as to the contents of the package. Same thing.
When the guy dropped a flat rate package into a letter only box, if the box of pellets, (contents unknown to the PO) was not opened but only required he pick it up, what would be the reason why?

Um, no... It was a 'blue box', it is for ALL prepaid mail including packages.

 

[yenniedn]

Do you have an Ebay account? Do you have a Paypal account? Do you have a Pirateship account? That is how they will find you if you do something wrong. I am a daily UPS pickup so obviously, I have a registered account. I give my packages to the driver and get my packages from him with no ??'s asked. If I go to the UPS Customer Service Center to drop off a package, I get interrogated as to the contents of the package. Same thing.
When the guy dropped a flat rate package into a letter only box, if the box of pellets, (contents unknown to the PO) was not opened but only required he pick it up, what would be the reason why?

Um, no... It was a 'blue box', it is for ALL prepaid mail including packages.

That's the part I didn't see in the previous post...you can't drop any ol' package into the 'blue box' - it's only supposed to be for letters and small packages under a certain weight limit (something around 14 or 15oz max). So yeah, if you drop a big package into those blue boxes (especially a particularly heavy one container pellets) you're just asking for things to go wrong.

 

[cmatera]

Not all the letter boxes are well marked, but frequently when you open the door of the chute, there is a sticker (vandals frequently remove them) telling you not to drop items in over a certain size. They are actually called a letter drop box. There are thousands of people in prison who thought their parcels could not be opened without their consent. If there are issues with packages going to a certain destination where criminal activity is high, parcels going there may receive extra scrutiny. For a while, even letters got extra scrutiny, like when the "Anthrax Scare" occurred. I can tell stories about those letter boxes. While doing collections from them, I once found a pair of women's panties, a handgun, and even a cat, that jumped out when I opened it, scared the wadding out of me and ran off.

 

[Firewalker]

No, it's an all mail box, priority boxes, prepaid are included.

(Eye-roll)

The box, shipment and postage are fine, the post master is the issue and I'm not making trouble for myself with him.