Stupid USPS Policy
I will start by saying that going to the post office is usually something I do not enjoy. Yesterday I had to ship something so I decided to take the plunge because it was convenient, but as normal I regretted visiting the USPS later. Long and short, my local post office is inefficient, and that usually is what makes my time there frustrating.
A few of the things I have PERSONALLY witnessed there follow
- - closing the second register at noon, when the line is long, because it is lunch time. Yes everyone deserves a lunch time, but this is a service business, or should be, and you should schedule a second worker for the front during your peak hours. One does not have to go to business school to understand that
- the statement - “Why would you want to send that?” Guess what my motivation is irrelevant as long as the box contains nothing of danger, which it does not. UPS and Fed Ex do not ask about motive, they just SHIP IT!!
- a conversation where one worker tells the other - “So I told him that if he wanted to protest his route not to do it quickly but to work slower, that would show them not to complain” Yeah that makes me want to trust you over UPS and Fed Ex
- “We are out of stamps” WHAT???
- “We can’t ship anything that is in a box like that “ - the box had arrived via UPS and had a UPS sticker on it
Those are but a few reasons that I have issues with the USPS. I did appreciate their sponsorship of the now Discovery cycling team, but let us be honest - The USPS really doesn’t need anymore customers, especially ones in Europe, as they can not even handle what they have now. I also appreciate that the USPS is the only branch of the government that pays it’s own way, but the fact that is a protected monopoly bothers me. Something tells me if Fed Ex or UPS were allowed to get into the mail business, even in a limited way, that the USPS would have to lower rates and improve service.
Now with all of that behind us, let me to the stupid policy. The USPS will not take a credit card that is unsigned, ok I understand that. They will also not take one that says = “Please see ID” or “Check ID” as that does NOT qualify as signed. They will not take it even if you are willing to show your ID to prove you are the person whose name is on the card. This presented a problem for me as my lovely wife puts “Please See ID” on EVERY STUPID CREDIT CARD that we have. Fortunately for me I had enough cash to cover the bill, but it is the point of the matter. I did not complain to my local postal worker as I could tell that it would have been futile.
I must also add immediately after I left my local post office and went to Lowe’s and they were more then willing to take my credit card with - “Please See ID”. I guess they are a bit more motivated to help the customer.
I did call the USPS 800 number and inquire about policy. After about 5 different menu’s and about 10 minutes on hold, I got a human. The lady on the phone was nice, as was I, and she explained that the credit card companies consider such a card to be INVALID. Well again it must not be a problem at Lowe’s, Target, Pilot, Eddie Bauer, nor Bob’s House of Pancakes and Bolts. My point is that businesses within competitive industries and segments do not and could not have such policies. I understand if the card company says it is invalid then it is, but something tells me that the card companies do not consider the cards truly invalid as they seem to work EVERYWHERE else.
Oh well I guess I will just continue using UPS and Fed Ex as much as possible and only use the USPS for cards and letters. For those that do not know that is also the part of the USPS’s business that is the least profitable for them.
USPS thanks for living down to your reputation of being inefficient and bureaucratic even in the simplest of things.
HERE’S a funny story:
My local post office does just as you said — no proper signature, no can do. I’ve argued and debated with them to no avail.
The post office in the next town over (about ten minutes if I don’t hit traffic) takes the card with no questions asked. The people at the local PO KNOW ME ON SIGHT. The people the next town over have no clue who I am.
This policy is a perfect example of why government isn’t the most efficient way to run anything.
Comment by
Warren — 9/15/2005 @ 10:23 am
That is funny…I will have to try some other post offices. You are dead on right about government inefficientancy as well.
Comment by
Frank — 9/15/2005 @ 12:40 pm
You can’t blame the USPS on this one; it really is the card companies’ policy. To quote from ScamBusters
(http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters80.html):
“So, the question is: is this the correct advice to reduce credit card fraud? Should you — or should you not — sign your credit cards?
To answer this question, we called the fraud departments at MasterCard, Visa and American Express.
All three advised that you definitely SHOULD sign your card.
MasterCard told us that this idea — not to sign your card — is an urban legend that sounds sensible, but is not a good idea.
American Express warned us that merchants are not supposed to accept your credit cards if they aren’t signed. Visa agreed — in fact, they said that the merchant is instructed to not finish the transaction until you sign your card!”
You can see that that is indeed Visa’s policy, even if the card says “See ID”, here:
Comment by
Richard — 9/24/2005 @ 1:49 am
Whoops! Lost the visa URL. Here it is:
http://usa.visa.com/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/card_present.html
Comment by
Richard — 9/24/2005 @ 1:51 am
Thanks for the link Richard, and as we said in the post -
My point is that businesses within competitive industries and segments do not and could not have such policies. I understand if the card company says it is invalid then it is, but something tells me that the card companies do not consider the cards truly invalid as they seem to work EVERYWHERE else.
It may be policy that is invalid, but other places take the card. Long and short the point of the post was that only noncompetive / government organizations can enforce such rules, because in a competitive envirnoment companies will take the card.
Thanks for the post and info though. Our issue is not with the CC companies, but with inefficency. Good stuff though, thanks again.
Comment by
admin — 9/24/2005 @ 6:50 am
[...] The crack young staff of the Hatemonger’s Quarterly launch today what can only be described a the perfect follow up to our post about the post office a few weeks ago – Stupid USPS policy – in their post titled The US Post Office [...]
Pingback by Swap Blog » Post Office Complaint #2 — 10/6/2005 @ 9:58 am
Those of you who claim that the signature is required on credit cards are simply ill-informed and this is NOT an “urban legend” in spite of what some people naively claim. I invite you to look at the website of virtually every credit card company. As an example, check out the Capital One website: http://www.capitalone.com/credit101/fraud/IDTheftPackageV012172004We.pdf?linkid=WWW_Z_Z_Z_FRD_R1_01_T_IDTFT
Look in the section “How Can I Prevent ID Theft?” Capital One bank’s Fraud Group clearly states “Sign your credit card or write that the merchant must ‘Check I.D.’ on the back of your card.”
So, clearly, those of you who say that signature is required are just flat wrong, and that it is even documented by major credit card companies (Capital One isn’t the only one - check Chase, MBNA, and others as well) to put “Check ID” in order to avoid identity theft.
Only the U.S. Postal Service and my State Liquor Store have refused to take my credit cards. As a result, I use my credit card online on the USPS website to purchase stamps (when obviously the card isn’t even available to them) and I write a fee-free credit card check in the liquor store. Every other merchant seems to be intelligent enough to grasp that it is a lot more difficult to generate a fake State Driver’s license than to sign a fake signature.
Comment by
Chris Knoll — 10/22/2005 @ 4:21 pm