Oops at the post office

[evan price]

Someone ordered three boxes of 60# each of soft lead ingots from me on another forum and I was dropping them at the post office the next morning.

My little postal scale only goes to 52# total so what I do is weigh out 30# of ingots, twice. That's 60# and then the box gets stuffed with newspaper and taped.

So the last of the three boxes when I get done sealing it up and turn off the scale I notice it for some reason shows (- 9lbs14oz) on the display instead of zero. Didn't think much of it at the time.

With those three boxes and a few others besides and the other mail it took three trips to get all the mail into the post office. The clerk is always happy to see me (not) but at least she knows me by now. Post office is busy as usual.

First two boxes were 62# and 63#. Third box was off the scale heavy. By now there's like six or seven people waiting in line behind me as I shuffle everything off to the table and borrow a roll of tape.

Yes, I was 10# heavy.

So there I am pulling ingots out of the box and people are gawking. You'd think I was shipping dinosaur eggs. "LEAD???? You are shipping LEAD????? How much does THAT cost?"

Flat rate box, if it fits, it ships, up to 70# gross weight.

People are amazed. One lady even says it should be illegal to ship that much weight in one box because it could fall on someone's crystal paperweight in a smaller box. The postal clerk says "Well, they should have had insurance on their crystal before shipping it by USPS! That's the rules! It's legal! We don't like it but it's what the rules allow! If I had my way people would be only shipping feather pillows in those boxes!" (laughing)

[Jim]

Someone ordered three boxes of 60# each of soft lead ingots from me on another forum and I was dropping them at the post office the next morning.

My little postal scale only goes to 52# total so what I do is weigh out 30# of ingots, twice. That's 60# and then the box gets stuffed with newspaper and taped.

So the last of the three boxes when I get done sealing it up and turn off the scale I notice it for some reason shows (- 9lbs14oz) on the display instead of zero. Didn't think much of it at the time.

With those three boxes and a few others besides and the other mail it took three trips to get all the mail into the post office. The clerk is always happy to see me (not) but at least she knows me by now. Post office is busy as usual.

First two boxes were 62# and 63#. Third box was off the scale heavy. By now there's like six or seven people waiting in line behind me as I shuffle everything off to the table and borrow a roll of tape.

Yes, I was 10# heavy.

So there I am pulling ingots out of the box and people are gawking. You'd think I was shipping dinosaur eggs. "LEAD???? You are shipping LEAD????? How much does THAT cost?"

Flat rate box, if it fits, it ships, up to 70# gross weight.

People are amazed. One lady even says it should be illegal to ship that much weight in one box because it could fall on someone's crystal paperweight in a smaller box. The postal clerk says "Well, they should have had insurance on their crystal before shipping it by USPS! That's the rules! It's legal! We don't like it but it's what the rules allow! If I had my way people would be only shipping feather pillows in those boxes!" (laughing)

That's why I bought a 75 lb. commercial 'Approved for trade' scale.

[bumpo628]

If I read that right, it's not the scale that was the problem. It looks like it got re-zeroed with about 10 lbs of weight on it. That can happen with any digital scale.

As for the reaction at the post office, I'm surprised they didn't break out the pitchforks and torches.

[zuke]

Or the HAZMAT suit's!

[500MAG]

My post office is horrible. I have mentioned it before. They won't deliver anything that is over 20 pounds. I get a slip everytime to pick it up at the PO. This past Saturday, I stopped in to pick up a 55 pound box full of lead. As the worker struggled with the box I used one of the lines I got off one of the CB members and said "another anvil for my collection". The workers all gave me a dirty look, but the people in line cracked up

[Lance Boyle]

My post office is horrible. I have mentioned it before. They won't deliver anything that is over 20 pounds. I get a slip everytime to pick it up at the PO. This past Saturday, I stopped in to pick up a 55 pound box full of lead. As the worker struggled with the box I used one of the lines I got off one of the CB members and said "another anvil for my collection". The workers all gave me a dirty look, but the people in line cracked up

Thanks, I got a good laugh out of that!

[grubbylabs]

And they wonder why they are having a hard time staying afloat. I know congress is bending them over pretty good, but still, you would think they would go out of their way to make people happy. But I guess when you are entitled it is different.

[WILCO]

But I guess when you are entitled it is different.

Teenagers and Section 8 housing folks see it that way.