Invitations Hand Cancelled help!

trambam · April 2012

Hi Knotties, I know this has been a popular subject with many threads, but I wanted to hear back from someone that recently had their invitations hand cancelled. Not sure if the post office has new regulations or what but I inquired to get my invitations hand cancelled not to go through the machine and the post office worker said it is considered mailing as a parcel and would cost me 1.95 per invitation! The reason why I need hand canceled is because I sent a test invitation through regular mail to myself and it got ruined! For those that hand cancelled recently, does this pricing appear normal? Also, anyone have any alternatives to my situation? Would love any and all feedback. Thanks!

amberr110 · April 2012

I had my invites "hand cancelled." I was told that there is no extra charge for this, but some post offices that are very busy won't do it. However, our invites still went through a machine - despite my requests that they not, and the post office employee's assurance that they would not. I paid almost $1 per invite - supposedly because they were non-machinable (not related to hand-cancelling, which evidently just means that they hand stamp the post mark) - but many of my guests received very damaged invites that, based on marks and tears, clearly appeared to have been caught in some kind of machine.

Basically, my wedding invite experience made me hate the USPS and distrust anything they say. My advice is to try a different post office, and be wary of paying extra for "services" that may end up not being what you thought.

trambam · April 2012

<div>Oh thanks for your advice! I always thought that hand cancelling meant not running it through the machine, but I guess maybe they are not the same? </div><div>
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</div>In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_invitations-hand-cancelled-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:5841d4f0-4572-4014-8e67-0c33c26fbee3Post:971f3840-b072-4967-94f6-489e1171d74b">Re: Invitations Hand Cancelled help!</a>:
[QUOTE]I had my invites "hand cancelled." I was told that there is no extra charge for this, but some post offices that are very busy won't do it. However, our invites still went through a machine - despite my requests that they not, and the post office employee's assurance that they would not. I paid almost $1 per invite - supposedly because they were non-machinable (not related to hand-cancelling, which evidently just means that they hand stamp the post mark) - but many of my guests received very damaged invites that, based on marks and tears, clearly appeared to have been caught in some kind of machine. Basically, my wedding invite experience made me hate the USPS and distrust anything they say. My advice is to try a different post office, and be wary of paying extra for "services" that may end up not being what you thought.
Posted by amberr110[/QUOTE]

aimers1525 · April 2012

I do not think they should/can charge you extra to do this, but I like PP, I've heard many will not do this. My mom took our invites to a post office in the suburbs and went during a non-busy time (ie not the end of the day or during lunchtime) and asked them to hand cancel. They didn't charge her extra. To be honest, I forgot to send myself a "test" invite in the mail so I have no idea how they turned out (not sure if they ended up going through a machine or not.

hz80408 · April 2012

My items were sent in Aug '10; but I did a normal test and the envelope was slightly torn so I requested handcancel when I dropped off my invites (Sears Tower around 10am on a weekday morning), the worker Betsy (she became my buddy during all of these wedding mailings) said she'd set them aside and when they weren't busy she'd do it. I had $0.44 postage and no extra fees.

However, if I remember correctly, they did still go through some machine because there was a mailing stamp/code across the bottom of the envelopes.

msmyrnio · April 2012

I hand cancelled my invites last month. I was told that only the downtown central processing post office will hand cancel in Chicago. It was free, but I wasted so much time trying to find the right spot! You need to go to the post office at Harrison and Canal. The building is a USPS corporate office with HR, etc but if you go up the escalator you'll find the retail store and just hand over all the invites and say that they need to be hand cancelled. Guests said the invites seals were still intact when they got them

trambam · May 2012

<div>Thanks! I will definitely check this out. </div><div>
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</div>In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_invitations-hand-cancelled-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:5841d4f0-4572-4014-8e67-0c33c26fbee3Post:bd6b4e19-828d-4fb3-b9db-31d14b331d23">Re: Invitations Hand Cancelled help!</a>:
[QUOTE]I hand cancelled my invites last month. I was told that only the downtown central processing post office will hand cancel in Chicago. It was free, but I wasted so much time trying to find the right spot! You need to go to the post office at Harrison and Canal. The building is a USPS corporate office with HR, etc but if you go up the escalator you'll find the retail store and just hand over all the invites and say that they need to be hand cancelled. Guests said the invites seals were still intact when they got them
Posted by msmyrnio[/QUOTE]

Invitations Hand Cancelled help!

Re: Invitations Hand Cancelled help!

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