Square invites postage - anybody get wrong info from USPS?

Re: Square invites postage - anybody get wrong info from USPS?

• manateehugger member

  

  July 2013

  A letter will be charged a nonmachinable surcharge if it’s a square letter 5" x 5" or larger, it doesn’t bend easily, has clasps or similar closure devices, has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter, is lumpy, or the length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.

  https://www.usps.com/send/can-you-mail-it.htm

  Did they actually measure your envelope to account for the 1/2 inch? It looks like it doesn't require more postage technically, but has some sort of surcharge, which appears to be about 20 cents extra/piece.

  

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• LyannaStark member

  

  July 2013

  There are measurements/markings labeled on the scales they use, and both places put it on there, presumably checked the size since I asked "Really?" seventeen times, and still said I was fine.

  
  

  It's probably worth the extra $15 or whatever just for peace of mind, because yes, what you said is exactly what I've read everywhere else, and who knows if I just happened to get three terrible clerks all within a half hour of each other. Weird.

  
  

  

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• manateehugger member

  

  July 2013

  It's totally possible. USPS employees tend to be less than helpful, unfortunately, in my experience. I'd visit another office if I were you. I find ones that have good reviews on google - no joke.

  

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• LyannaStark member

  

  July 2013

  StageManager14 said:

  Why don't you just mail a test one and see if it comes back to you or not?  

  Well there's an idea. I guess I think of these invites as being precious and expensive and made of gold or whatever, but yeah, if I'm mailing it to myself, from myself, in an envelope I have very likely already ruined...

  
  

  I'm at work but pretend there's a really clever DUH gif here.

  
  

  
  

  

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• libby2483 member

  

  July 2013 edited July 2013

  I had a couple of friends who had square invitations, and I'm absolutely positive that they both had to pay extra, even though the invitation was not over the maximum weight. 

  
  

  Edit: Also, if it were me, I would just put the extra postage on for peace of mind.  I don't have much of a clue how the post office works, but it may be possible that if you mail and invitation to yourself, and it just goes through your local post office, it may be fine (given the employee's apparent lack of knowledge of what is on the postal website).  However, you could mail it to a different city, where it could get processed through a different post office, and it may be returned for insufficient postage.  Again, I have absolutely no clue if this is actually how the USPS processes mail, but it is a definite possibility.

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• FizzySips member

  

  July 2013

  PDKH said:

  It's totally possible. USPS employees tend to be less than helpful, unfortunately, in my experience. I'd visit another office if I were you. I find ones that have good reviews on google - no joke.

  
  THIS. I weighed my invites at two separate post offices and both told me they were under weight and one "forever" stamp would do. I showed up with them all stamped and licked and was told that I needed to add 20 cents. I almost lost it. @stage is a genius. I wish I had done that to test my font selection (printed directly on the envelope! No labels)

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• LyannaStark member

  

  July 2013 edited July 2013

  Update no one asked for/PSA:

  
  

  I got a third USPS quote, this one from the sassy lady who took my passport application who is very decidedly not full of shit, of 66 cents, like the internet says. Seriously, she's like the least full of shit person I've ever met, she does not fuck around. But the PSA is that both my RSVP stamps and my invite stamps are fucking gorgeous, go figure! There are other love/wedding themed ones, which is nice of them, but these are the prettiest.

  
  

  (There are other states but this one is mine and I know where that is.)

  
  

  ETA Good lord I'm a pottymouth.

  swallowtail stamp.jpg 79.6K

  louisiana stamp.jpg 93.2K

  

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• lrweigel member

  

  July 2013

  I just bought stamps today for my wedding invitations and the envelopes for mine are square that I got from Paper Divas.. the guy at this post office has helped me many times before and he knows his stuff. Yes, it's .66 cents for the square size unfortunately.... I'm soooo glad I told him it was for my wedding invitations!! b/c if I hadn't...then he wouldn't have asked why type of envelopes I had! I would've ended up getting the .46 cent stamps and then would be screwed!

   

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• LyannaStark member

  

  July 2013

  Right??? Further update, FI dropped them off at the main post office Wednesday, local people called yesterday to say they got them and state people are calling today, so far so good. And those stamps are GORGEOUS. 

  
  

  In the "go figure" department, It's really funny cause I mentioned hand canceling to FI but I was fucking OVER IT cause whatever, so tired of talking to the post office and people throw the envelope away anyway. But every time I say like "oh hey, Mom got her invite" he's all "ask her if they have a barcode! Did they hand cancel them???" Heh.

  

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