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So I roll into my local post offce today with a couple of guitars to ship out. Packed & addressed just like the hundreds of others I've shipped over the years:
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Headstock up, body down, marked "Fragile" and "This side up". I always place the address this way because I figure if they have to hold the package that way to read it (when it's not on the conveyers) there's a far better chance they'll actually ship it that way. This had always been fine ... until today.
"You can't have the addresses on there like that," said the USPS counter monkey who's shipped probably 10 guitars for me in the past year with addresses on there precisely like that.
"Why not?"
"Because whichever direction the address reads is the length and we measure that then wrap the tape the other way to measure girth. The way you have the address on there will make the measurement of your box huge and you'll have to pay over $100 to ship it."
"This is a new rule?"
"No it's always been this way."
"You, personally, have shipped 10 or so guitars for me, all addressed precisely in this manner and never once mentioned this. The gentleman on your right has shipped a similar number, all addressed this way, and has never mentioned this; the woman on your left has shipped a similar number, all addressed this way, and has never mentioned this."
"That can't be! I wouldn't have taken the packags! None of us would have taken them like that!"
"Did you have a training class recently?"
"No, this is just how it has always been."
"That larger box was shipped here then later shipped back to me. Shall we peel my address label off so you can see one that you accepted & shipped without complaint?"
"That won't be necessary."
"Fuck that. I'll take them to UPS across the street. It'll be a lot faster than driving home, ripping these labels off, printing new ones, and coming back here."
"You don't need to take those off, just write the address on lengthwise with a marker, those can be there as well."
"Which way will the packages sit when shipped?"
"Just as you've marked them."
"Then why can't the address be written on the box in the direction that'll be most convenient for you to read?"
<looking helpless>"I don't know, it's just the rule."
Fuck the government, fuck the postal service, fuck them right in the ass. Damn but they're the most fucking obnoxious and annoying assholes I've ever met. It's not that I mind the rule change or the fact that they discovered it or were told about it recently but to fucking act like they've always done it that way when that's not the case is just ... fucking annoying.
OK, I'm done.
So I roll into my local post offce today with a couple of guitars to ship out. Packed & addressed just like the hundreds of others I've shipped over the years:
<font face="courier">
-------------
||
|Address|
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
||
-------------
</font>
Headstock up, body down, marked "Fragile" and "This side up". I always place the address this way because I figure if they have to hold the package that way to read it (when it's not on the conveyers) there's a far better chance they'll actually ship it that way. This had always been fine ... until today.
"You can't have the addresses on there like that," said the USPS counter monkey who's shipped probably 10 guitars for me in the past year with addresses on there precisely like that.
"Why not?"
"Because whichever direction the address reads is the length and we measure that then wrap the tape the other way to measure girth. The way you have the address on there will make the measurement of your box huge and you'll have to pay over $100 to ship it."
"This is a new rule?"
"No it's always been this way."
"You, personally, have shipped 10 or so guitars for me, all addressed precisely in this manner and never once mentioned this. The gentleman on your right has shipped a similar number, all addressed this way, and has never mentioned this; the woman on your left has shipped a similar number, all addressed this way, and has never mentioned this."
"That can't be! I wouldn't have taken the packags! None of us would have taken them like that!"
"Did you have a training class recently?"
"No, this is just how it has always been."
"That larger box was shipped here then later shipped back to me. Shall we peel my address label off so you can see one that you accepted & shipped without complaint?"
"That won't be necessary."
"Fuck that. I'll take them to UPS across the street. It'll be a lot faster than driving home, ripping these labels off, printing new ones, and coming back here."
"You don't need to take those off, just write the address on lengthwise with a marker, those can be there as well."
"Which way will the packages sit when shipped?"
"Just as you've marked them."
"Then why can't the address be written on the box in the direction that'll be most convenient for you to read?"
<looking helpless>"I don't know, it's just the rule."
Fuck the government, fuck the postal service, fuck them right in the ass. Damn but they're the most fucking obnoxious and annoying assholes I've ever met. It's not that I mind the rule change or the fact that they discovered it or were told about it recently but to fucking act like they've always done it that way when that's not the case is just ... fucking annoying.
OK, I'm done.
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