TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:01 pm

I was told by a VW parts vendor, that they do not have USPS flat rate boxes available in Los Angeles? This can't be correct, right? Are they saying this because you must go to the PO in person to mail it?? I was trying to order $92 in parts and was quoted (online) $78 :shock:

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:04 pm

You can order USPS flat rate boxes online and they deliver them to your address for free. You can use Click-n-Ship online to pay for it and select the Post Office to come and get it.

Since when is Los Angeles not part of the USA?

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:06 pm

Glenn wrote: You can order USPS flat rate boxes online and they deliver them to your address for free. You can use Click-n-Ship online to pay for it and select the Post Office to come and get it.

Since when is Los Angeles not part of the USA?

April 29, 1992

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:15 pm

Glenn wrote: Since when is Los Angeles not part of the USA?

I live here and sometimes question whether it is part of planet Earth.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:16 pm

Glenn wrote: You can order USPS flat rate boxes online and they deliver them to your address for free. You can use Click-n-Ship online to pay for it and select the Post Office to come and get it.

Since when is Los Angeles not part of the USA?

I can buy them at our local PO, which I do to send my daughter "care" packages on the main land. I was floored that these folks were saying that they were not available in LA. I know the postman can't take them because of homeland security reasons, so maybe that's why these guys told me this crap! They should be straight up! Still, I wouldn't pay $78 for 2lbs or less on shipping.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:16 pm

I must of missed the memo.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:27 pm

I think there is a reg that anything over 16 oz has to be delivered in person at the PO counter and perhaps even sealed up there in their presence.

About five years ago, I dropped off a box that was a tiny bit over 16 oz. I put it in the bin at the PO--not in person at the counter. This violated their rules, which they said were to protect their carriers from suspected dangerous stuff. I found this out when I found the package on my porch days later, and I went in to the PO to ask why.

So they had returned it to my home address.

Delivered by their carrier.

Glad they were protecting them!

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:29 pm

True, but it's 13oz.
Quote: Mailpieces weighing more than 13 oz. bearing postage stamps for postage must be brought to an employee at a retail counter in a Post Office.

The PO is 4 blocks from my house so I always drop it of. Since they know me and it's paid for online, i just drop it off at the counter without waiting in line.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:40 pm

ritchiet002 wrote: I was told by a VW parts vendor, that they do not have USPS flat rate boxes available in Los Angeles? This can't be correct, right? Are they saying this because you must go to the PO in person to mail it?? I was trying to order $92 in parts and was quoted (online) $78 :shock:
LOL, sounds like 100% BS to me.

They have them at every Post Office I have ever been to (10+). Some Post Offices have the boxes behind the counter only so you have to wait in line to get them. Some limit you too, like only 5 boxes per trip. This sucks but you can order online as mentioned above. Online ordering can be random though, sometimes nothing comes...

I agree with Glenn on the 13 oz. rule. I have never had anything returned and I ship stuff every week that's over 13 oz by just dropping it in the slot.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:49 pm

You should be able to get a flat rate box anywhere in the US. The USPS is Fed. not local government. We ship stuff daily, any size and weight and never have any issues, flat rate or parcel post.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:35 pm

Quote: Mailpieces weighing more than 13 oz. bearing postage stamps for postage must be brought to an employee at a retail counter in a Post Office.

The largest item I had the PO pick up from my front door was 28lbs. If you use Click n' Ship or whatever it's called now, you're golden.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:37 pm

EverettB wrote: ritchiet002 wrote: I was told by a VW parts vendor, that they do not have USPS flat rate boxes available in Los Angeles? This can't be correct, right? Are they saying this because you must go to the PO in person to mail it?? I was trying to order $92 in parts and was quoted (online) $78 :shock:
LOL, sounds like 100% BS to me.

They have them at every Post Office I have ever been to (10+). Some Post Offices have the boxes behind the counter only so you have to wait in line to get them. Some limit you too, like only 5 boxes per trip. This sucks but you can order online as mentioned above. Online ordering can be random though, sometimes nothing comes...

I agree with Glenn on the 13 oz. rule. I have never had anything returned and I ship stuff every week that's over 13 oz by just dropping it in the slot.

I did not know about the limit of 5 boxes, and understand why a commercial supplier would not want to deal with the hassles of it all. Also the PO may not make them available to commercial enterprises??-----maybe that is what they were trying to explain?---VERY poorly I might add! I found another supplier further away that is charging $17 shipping which sounds about right, for the items.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:57 pm

The requirement to present the parcel in person is not to protect the carriers, they're expendable. It's a FAA regulation for anything that might end up in the belly of a passenger aircraft. Very much like the 'did you pack this bag yourself' question you get every time you board a commercial plane. Since the majority of packages end up flying to their destination, they all have to meet this requirement.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:02 pm

ritchiet002 wrote: Glenn wrote: You can order USPS flat rate boxes online and they deliver them to your address for free. You can use Click-n-Ship online to pay for it and select the Post Office to come and get it.

Since when is Los Angeles not part of the USA?

I can buy them at our local PO, which I do to send my daughter "care" packages on the main land. I was floored that these folks were saying that they were not available in LA. I know the postman can't take them because of homeland security reasons, so maybe that's why these guys told me this crap! They should be straight up! Still, I wouldn't pay $78 for 2lbs or less on shipping.

I order my flat rate boxes online for FREE, and I can put them in the mail box if they will fit, and the mailman will take them if they are prepaid postage. You can do the prepaid postage online too if you have a printer.
I also can go to my local post office if I run out, and they are FREE there too.
If your post office is charging for FLAT RATE boxes, I bet the money is going into their beer fund. They have other boxes that are not free. I cannot think what they are called.
I just shipped 34 lbs of stuff home from San Diego, (in flat rate boxes) and it cost me about $24.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:06 pm

The USPS must provide universal service and pricing throughout the entire USA. That includes APO, and it's territories (Puerto Rico) The VW supply place simply does not want to hassle with the USPS and do all their shipping through another carrier.

Priority mail boxes are free for priority mail service only. The PO does sell generic boxes for other uses. The reason some PO limit supplies over the counter is so people won't use them for other things besides mailing items. If you have a business that does a lot of shipping you can get all the supplies you need if the PO has the records to show that you actually use all the supplies to mail stuff through the USPS.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:08 pm

Russ, you might be thinking of Priority mail boxes.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:19 pm

Jeckler wrote: Russ, you might be thinking of Priority mail boxes.

No, I have Priority boxes here too.
I am having a brain fart and cannot think of what they call them.
I even went out to the garage to see if I had any where people had shipped me stuff.
They are for Parcel post stuff.

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:21 pm

Russ Wolfe wrote:
If your post office is charging for FLAT RATE boxes, I bet the money is going into their beer fund.

:oops: I have to admit that I steal the boxes from my wife's stash and had no idea they were FREE :lol:

Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:23 pm

i try to use the flat rate boxes as much as I can. you can even use them for international shipping.

and I thought LA was part of mexico?

Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:07 pm

Jeckler wrote: Quote: Mailpieces weighing more than 13 oz. bearing postage stamps for postage must be brought to an employee at a retail counter in a Post Office.

The largest item I had the PO pick up from my front door was 28lbs. If you use Click n' Ship or whatever it's called now, you're golden.

Ditto, key here is "bearing stamps". If you print off your postage there are no issues. If you try and affix 10 stamps then there is the issue. Flat rate boxes are available at any post office in different sizes, but they are priority mail only. I usually use the machine in the front and skip the lines unless shipping international, then you have to stand in line.