Actually happened at Walmart, but I don’t think it’s a Walmart issue.
Customer placed an order. Order weighs 4 ounces.
I purchased shipping on ShipStation and it automatically updated Walmart.
Shipped item.
Customer gets package and gets told “postage due of $5.40”
Customer is of course angry…I’m getting angry messages.
Second order placed same day, had the same results.
So now I have two orders that are “postage due” messed up.
I refunded the customer once I saw that the first order was “refused” and the customer said postage was due. She got mad and said she wanted the order…please ship again.
I messaged her and said I have to figure out what’s going on first and need that package back in my hands
So customer placed third order – I shipped. It too arrived postage due $5.40.
Meanwhile Walmart refunds 1st and 2nd order as they were refused. I still don’t have anything in my hands to look at for sure.
Customer PAID postage due from 3rd order but I got another pissy message. I’m agreeing with her in the message basically saying I’m as confused as she is. BUT I found her phone number in the order and called her. Managed to verbally express my frustration and convinced her to send me a picture of the label on the package. Sure enough…it’s marked “postage due $5.40”.
I could now text her and show her that I truly paid $4.02 already – so over $9 for postage for 4 ounces is ridiculous. But I have pictures and proof iin my hands now to go to the post office here in town and ask WTF.
Got any clues ahead of time that I should look into?
I use the same envelope 99% of the time. 15 x 10 inches
If it’s bulky, I use 21 x 15 inches
If it’s “too flat” because it’s a small doily, I even crumple a piece of the back of the label, because that used to cause confusion. (got told it’s an envelope not a package).
Back when I was selling a lot of stamps and collecting supplies they had that ‘rule’ about needing to be thicker than (I think) 1/2 inch or stiff and not flexible due to their machines.
What I did was put in a piece of cardboard from some of the shipments that I receive. I still do that now for books if they fit in envelopes as protection.
I don’t sell much of that anymore and almost everything is padded envelopes and I’m not even sure the PO still has that measurement in their rules (I’d have to dig to see where it is/was).
They have pictures of everything as it is delivered. Not everyone knows that but my one Postmaster showed me the scan and the package.
Yours should be able to see the package, weight, and probably dimensions as it moved through the system.
I have actually worked with buyers to take the items back to the PO and demand a refund (and got it!)
One is that the customer has a POSTAGE DUE stamp, and this is scam.
There is a Postal employee, located in the Mora, MN post office (Population 3,665) that is applying some mis-informed rule on your packages.
I see no reason for this occurrence. Ground Advantage, does not have flexibility rules, or size rules (well maybe at 6 foot long or something).
Further, my experience with postal mistakes tell me that this is the SAME PERSON as the postage due on all 3 were the same. That does not happen often, with the complicated pricing if there are changes to be made.
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If you are to go to the PO to find out, re-make another like package so that they can rate it correctly.
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report back - interested
We use a 6 x 8 stay flat envelope all of the time and do not have an issue with it being an envelope when shipping Ground Advantage.
Both of @Chimanimani reasons could be and there could be one more … someone at your local post office is marking it postage due when it is going out (if it happens to other locations also).
Recently, we had one that was in the USPS system as coming back to us as the address was non-deliverable. It never made it back (tracked for 60 days). We had sent a replacement order to the same address and it was delivered. USPS denied our claim on it as the said it was delivered and went on in their letter to state Delivery Date: Unknown.
Our thought would be, that in the OPs issue and our issue, there is a disgruntled USPS employee involved.
FYI for those interested … USPS has recently made changes to their online claim process. We suspect that more claim denials will be forth coming.
When USPS implemented the APV (Automated Postage Verification) system, local Post Offices were no longer supposed to charge Postage Due for packages with labels from Click N Ship or PC Postage applications. Your label falls into that category. My guess is that an over zealous local employee either doesn’t understand APV or chooses to ignore it.
I never understood why USPS keeps using the antiquated postage due method. They should just bill your credit card/account whatever they want to assess and then it’s between you and the post office if you want to dispute it. It shouldn’t involve the recipient in any way.
another thought: i have received a USPS audit claiming one of my packages was 13 oz which I know was 4 oz.
I appealed and they backed down, and I read of similar occurences with other sellers…apparently sometimes a lighter package will be sitting atop another package whilst passing beneath a scanner, and the total weight get assigned to the top package (?).
The puzzling part is that two sent the same day had the same problem.
So I spoke with James, in the Mora MN post office.
He said that if it wasn’t rigid and over 3/4", they upgrade to Priority. So the postage due was the upgrade.
I said Well,it was thicker than 3/4" and I am aware of that rule, and I’ll be taking the packages to the local post office to file an official complaint since there’s no way to resolve this over the phone.
He claimed many post offices don’t enforce the rule, and I said well, I ship over 7000 packages a year and you’re the only post office kicking back packages, so I think that demonstrates that I am aware of the rules.
SO NOW, I wait for the two to come back…let the local post office measure…and go from there.
AND I start putting more crumpled paper in every out going envelope where the item is on the smaller side vs. only the small flat items. The back of the shipping labels crumpled up into a ball should do that trick – or I’ll go buy packing peanuts and each envelope will get one
Go on USPS site and input the size of your package and weight to see what the USPS site will charge. Try it with under 3/4 inch and one time over 3/4 inch. Does it force you to buy Priority Mail? We don’t think it will.
From what we remember, USPS Ground Advantage under 15.99oz was only a rebranding / renaming of the service. When it was First Class Package, the package had to be under 3/4 inch and bubble pack envelopes were okay to be used. The one thing that we were told is that putting the label on horizontally could trigger to be scanned as First Class Letter rates and, if you put the label on vertically, that meant the item was a package.
Secondly, we can not find a USPS Priority Mail price of $9.42 to anywhere. The package would fall under the pricing of under 0.5lb which shows as
I wouldn’t even deal with the post office on this. Just call the USPS Consumer Affairs office for Minnesota and get them involved. I think James in Mora, Minnesota, will quickly get up to speed on policy at that point.
As mentioned, the 3/4 inch requirement for tracking used to be policy years ago but no one ever enforced it. I think they realized how much more money they would get by allowing it as opposed to sellers just sending it first class without tracking for 25 percent of the price it costs with tracking.
In my mind, a rep charging postage due when APV has been a thing for, what, 1.5 years….is a fireable offense. If you are that dense and off on the policies….who knows what else is going on at that post office.
