USPS sucks
I am deeply disappointed by my local Post Office and other local mail carriers. Next week is my friend Starrie's birthday, and I wanted her to have a hoop. So I made her a beautiful, gigantic fluorescent green and pink hoop. It turned out gorgeous, I think. When you're hooping with it, it feels like a flash of light is chasing around you because it's so bright. After painstakingly but lovingly wrapping it in packing paper and packing tape, I was even able to squeeze it into the trunk of my tiny car.
I went to the post office, the wrapped hoop in tow. When I walked in, one of the postal clerks said "Where do you think you're sending that?" "To Virginia!" I replied. He said that that wasn't going to fly. The other postal clerk on duty was a little more courteous and looked up how much it was going to cost me to ship my "oversize" package. About $120.
So I dragged my hoop and myself out of there and drove to my local mom & pop UPS/FedEx store, Jensen's Mail & Copy. There is a really nice guy that works there who had helped me several times before, and I knew he wasn't going to let me down. But alas, he wasn't working that day. The guy that was working was about as helpful as the first postal clerk. He even went so far as to insult me by saying "It's just a hula hoop, right? I really don't think it will be worth it." He was not willing to accept my shipment at all and didn't even quote me a price.
So for now, the beautiful fluorescent green and pink hoop will have to stay with me until I find an alternate way of getting it to Starrie. I wonder: How does Anah charge shipping and handling of only $10?
Comments
Do you think you would be able to post it if it was smaller beacuse when i have to put my hoops in the car i un connect the pipe conector and then curl it up in to loops. if that makes any sense it makes my hoops at least half the size you might have to tape it up to hold it in the loops.
jane
Posted by: jane | July 21, 2003 2:04 AM
Jane - that's a great idea. I'll try it next time.
Posted by: Vera | July 21, 2003 8:32 AM
Anah has, in the past, had a special deal with a mom n pop shop in her neighborhood. Also: she doesn't wrap them into a solid flat circle: she only wraps the piping -- does that make sense? It's like it's taped with packing paper. That said, she's been having some serious shipping issues lately, too, as has Christabel.
Posted by: Ariel | July 21, 2003 8:36 AM
i have a photo of my 1st. hoop from anah before i unwrapped it ..
http://www.paisleyjane.com/gallery/album01
Posted by: paisley | July 21, 2003 9:44 AM
The shipping nightmare seems to be amplifying on every side of the nation. I had a "tried and true" post office an hour and a half away, but at least they would send hoops USPS wrapped in bronw paper with no problem. Unfortunately when I last went in a manager intercepted my trasnaction and said no way. There is one post office which is letting me send hoops, but they are slamming each one with what he called a $20 balloon charge (on top of the $8 or so bucks it costs by weight). I called Federal Express and the size limitations are exceeded by my hoops, as in UPS. Both recommended I contact their freight companies, which gave me outlandish quotes as high as $400 per hoop!!! So, it has been a serious wake up call. The only solution I can think of is to either make a smaller hoop or collapsibles. Unfortunately, the connectors I use cannot be easily dis and reinserted -- which I actually like. I like a solid circle. I guess I could locate different connectors. I am not really motivated to make collapsibles, but I see little other alternative. I am sort of coasting through loosing a bit of money on shipping until USPS shuts down my shipping completely. Meanwhile I am investigating other alternatives which I will share if any bear fruit. Postal blessings,
christabel
Posted by: christabel | July 24, 2003 2:20 PM
Anah had a heckuva time sending mine to me in Spokane. We finally ended up sending it via Greyhound--they don't seem to have a problem with the size. You can call them or visit the website for pricing ideas.
Posted by: Rosa | July 25, 2003 11:23 PM
Size of the item is one thing. For instance, if 30 people tried to send a box the size of a small refrigerator, how will the rest of the mail (bills, letters of love, etc., fit into the small white trucks? Business mail is the primary focus.
Secondly, there's alot of what I refer to as "nonsense" since 9/11. As if it's primarily up to the USPS to stop terrorists, the need to inquire if every article is "hazardous" is license for the rulemakers of shipping to make us jump through hoops, if you will. What could fly in our friendly skies before that date now is investigated and restricted fully. Screw the terrorists - live and ship w/out fear.
Posted by: TD | December 8, 2003 6:50 AM
Live and ship without fear? I personnally am happy for trepidation about oversized and questionable packages. If there could have been anything that would have prevented 9/11, I wish it had been done. In the mean time, federal employees DO put themselves on the line everyday weather they are aware of it or not. That is why National Security is stressed at the Postal Service and other federal facilities. Don't whine about safety unless you are personally put on the line.
Posted by: cf | September 5, 2004 9:21 AM