Postage Mistake

[Deleted User] · May 2015

I finished up my invites last night and asked my fiancé to help. I originally put stamps on all the invites myself a few weeks ago, but ran out of stamps because we added some last minute guests. I asked my fiancé to put the stamps on the envelopes. My envelopes needed 70 cent stamps. I instructed my fiancé to put the 70 cent stamps on the mailing envelopes and the 40 cent stamps on the returns. He completed the envelopes, I stuffed and sealed them, and put them in the mail this morning.

I came home from work today and my fiancé said he I had a confession. I asked what and he said that he thinks he mixed up the stamps on some of the envelopes. At one point during the process, he took a phone call and then came back. When he came back, he said he might have switched the stamps and realized it this morning after I mailed them.

I'm stressed out now. What's the worst case scenario here? I checked each envelope to make sure it was sealed all the way. Now, I wish I checked the postage. This is only 20 invites out of close to 100 we sent.

LondonLisa · May 2015

Did you have a return address on your invitations? worst case- they get returned to you.

I wouldn't stress. Do you know which of the invitations this may have happened to?

I would call up one of these friends or family members and say: "Silly us, we are having a bit of wedding brain and are afraid we switched the postage on the wedding invitations. Would you please do me a favour and let me know if/ when you receive the invitation? In the mean time, just for your information it is on X date at Y time at Z location."

If it after about 7-10 days they haven't received the invites, I would call the 20 people and just say you are having postal issues with your invitations, but you did want to confirm the Date/time/location and that you will get the invites to them ASAP.

There is no point stressing about something that might have happened. Wait until you have confirmation one way or the other. This is so solveable!

[Deleted User] · May 2015

I read on another site that it's possible the reciepent could be asked to pay the additional postage. I would be mortified if this happened? Is this the procedure? I did include a return address on all the invites. If they come back , I have enough extras to send new ones.

spglsp · May 2015

They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents

[Deleted User] · May 2015

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents

We had this happen at a business; client sent us something and was ten cents short on poatage- we had to pay to get it.

redoryx · May 2015

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents

It's not impossible and happens all the time. Even for small amounts that seem insignificant.

MyNameIsNot · May 2015

redoryx said:

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents
It's not impossible and happens all the time. Even for small amounts that seem insignificant.

This. At work, our mail carrier has to ask us for money to cover deficient postage at least once per week, usually for less than 25 cents. But I work for a firm that receives a ton of mail from insolvent consumers.

I don't know if they'd do that for residential, though. I think it'd be more likely to just get returned.

redoryx · May 2015

MyNameIsNot said:

redoryx said:

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents
It's not impossible and happens all the time. Even for small amounts that seem insignificant.
This. At work, our mail carrier has to ask us for money to cover deficient postage at least once per week, usually for less than 25 cents. But I work for a firm that receives a ton of mail from insolvent consumers.

I don't know if they'd do that for residential, though. I think it'd be more likely to just get returned.

I can't say for letters or mail like this but in the Etsy forums there are frequently sellers and buyers talking about the post office asking the buyer at a residence to cover the postage when a package is delivered.

MyNameIsNot · May 2015

redoryx said:

MyNameIsNot said:

redoryx said:

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents
It's not impossible and happens all the time. Even for small amounts that seem insignificant.
This. At work, our mail carrier has to ask us for money to cover deficient postage at least once per week, usually for less than 25 cents. But I work for a firm that receives a ton of mail from insolvent consumers.

I don't know if they'd do that for residential, though. I think it'd be more likely to just get returned.
I can't say for letters or mail like this but in the Etsy forums there are frequently sellers and buyers talking about the post office asking the buyer at a residence to cover the postage when a package is delivered.

Isn't there a thing that they used to do with that when you ordered mail order back in the day? Like COD or something?

redoryx · May 2015

MyNameIsNot said:

redoryx said:

MyNameIsNot said:

redoryx said:

spglsp said:
They should just come back to you with "insufficient postage" stamped on them. It would be impossible to charge the recipient. I just can't imagine a postman ringing a doorbell and asking the resident for 30 cents
It's not impossible and happens all the time. Even for small amounts that seem insignificant.
This. At work, our mail carrier has to ask us for money to cover deficient postage at least once per week, usually for less than 25 cents. But I work for a firm that receives a ton of mail from insolvent consumers.

I don't know if they'd do that for residential, though. I think it'd be more likely to just get returned.
I can't say for letters or mail like this but in the Etsy forums there are frequently sellers and buyers talking about the post office asking the buyer at a residence to cover the postage when a package is delivered.
Isn't there a thing that they used to do with that when you ordered mail order back in the day? Like COD or something?

Cash on Delivery. But that's different -- you buy something knowing you'll pay when it's delivered.

This is a situation where postage is paid in advance but the postage is incorrect. the postal service will still deliver but expect the person at the destination to pony up the difference without advanced notice.

Postage Mistake

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