Post Office snake oil saleswoman?

August 7, 2008 7:06 AM

Have you ever tried to send a piece of mail at the post office certified or signed? Yesterday I tried and the lady went into all this strange ins and outs to justify why I should pay $5 for priority mail envelop instead of the $2.50 (or so) I could pay to just track it (if I skipped the mailed receipt option). This included telling me I'd have to pay for the envelope (which is fine), but insinuating it would be expensive and deflecting how much an envelope would actually be (finally admitting it's only 10 cents).

Are they on commission? Most post office workers are really nice - but I more than once I felt like I was dealing with a used car salesman, which was a strangely eerie feeling coming out of a government employee.

posted by cha4 to law & government (14 comments total)

That woman was crazy. Last time I was at the post office and I asked for delivery confirmation and insurance on a large envelope, I was offered the cheapest option (ground with benefits) with no haggling on my part whatsoever. Great price, great service, no hassle. Perhaps I am just lucky to have good postal service at my local office.
posted by crazycanuck at 7:19 AM on August 7, 2008

Have you ever tried to send a piece of mail at the post office certified or signed?

I know I've gotten pushback from the post office because they have confusingly many different ways to do this and if I say "I need a delivery confirmation." that's not an appropriate service for the type of mail I'm sending. Now I just say "I need to mail this and I need to be able to prove it was received" and let them figure out the details.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2008

Post office employees are clearly under instruction to try to "upsell" their customers. I go to many different post offices, and when sending packages I always say, "I'd like to ship this in the least expensive way possible. I don't care when it gets there." They always begin by quoting me the most expensive option while emphasizing the number of days it takes to ship. They run down the whole list before getting to the option I choose. It's so consistent and scripted that it must be by direction.
posted by OmieWise at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2008

Speed (and impatience) being on most people's minds these days, perhaps she just generally figures (quite rightly, I think) that there'll be less likelihood of complaint, all things considered, if a letter arrives with the speed of priority mail rather than with the lesser speeds of certified mail.
posted by astrochimp at 7:25 AM on August 7, 2008

Government businesses are still businesses and, as such, will try to maximize profits through things like pushing higher-margin goods and services. Commission doesn't factor into it at all- people who work fast food counters, for example, are always upselling.
posted by mkultra at 7:29 AM on August 7, 2008

I know I've gotten pushback from the post office because they have confusingly many different ways to do this and if I say "I need a delivery confirmation." that's not an appropriate service for the type of mail I'm sending.

I totally agree with this, and it's nice to hear that someone else has problems with it. I think it stems from the fact that (a) they can't commit to either a bundle of services or an a la carte approach, (b) their signs provide very little info that assists in the decision, (c) there's a separate form/label for everything, to which you are often directed after you finally have guidance; (d) I'm a little bit stupid.

That was cathartic.

But anyway, I do not think they are on commission, and my personal experience is that the problem is due to the way the services are designed, not the individual employees. At least half the time I have found them to give helpful and sensible advice, which is a pretty good ratio.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 7:43 AM on August 7, 2008

Agree that the problem is that the services are named and designed in sometimes confusing ways. The eightieth time you go through everything to get the customer set up with certified mail, only to be greeted with WHAT? IT'LL TAKE HOW MANY DAYS ISN'T THERE ANYTHING FASTER? you probably start second-guessing what the customer actually wants, rather than says that he wants.

Or maybe you just got a weird post office employee who has taken it upon herself to push priority mail. The folks who work in the USPS office near my office are wonderful -- knowledgeable, sympathetic, helpful. Most of the ones who work in the office closest to my boyfriend a mile away are insolent and impersonal.
posted by desuetude at 7:59 AM on August 7, 2008

I know I've gotten pushback from the post office because they have confusingly many different ways to do this and if I say "I need a delivery confirmation." that's not an appropriate service for the type of mail I'm sending.

I think it stems from the fact that (a) they can't commit to either a bundle of services or an a la carte approach, (b) their signs provide very little info that assists in the decision, (c) there's a separate form/label for everything, to which you are often directed after you finally have guidance; (d) I'm a little bit stupid.

This is all true, except for part (d). It's a problem the USPS is aware of, and is working on in the background. Some of the options for specific mailtypes have already been culled, but they have a long way to go (and they know that). Trying to get one form, with all the necessary options but not an overwhelming number of options, is like walking a tightrope.

And no, they're not on commission; second mkultra's line "Government businesses are still businesses" -- remember, the USPS is, funding-wise, completely self-sufficient (none of your taxes go there).
posted by inigo2 at 8:00 AM on August 7, 2008

Seconding omiewise. I doubt they're on commission, but I've had upselling attempts happen so frequently that it must be encouraged somehow. And yeah, it's a kind of surreal experience.
posted by greenmagnet at 8:20 AM on August 7, 2008

The window clerks aren't motivated by commissions; the USPS is motivating them with the fear of discipline. They are under orders to sell the most profitable services and ignore the least. Try to send something parcel post these days and see what happens.
posted by faceonmars at 8:33 AM on August 7, 2008

Agree that it depends on the individual clerk. I've had the "upsell" experience also, but I've also had clerks familiar with the local mail system who'll point out that for a given destination, my parcel will get there at the just as soon at the next cheapest rate, etc. And then there are the unfortunates who clearly hate their jobs and go through their mental script mechanically with as little engagement as possible. :/

It doesn't help that a lot of the services or classes are unintuitively named. I've always found it jarring that for many types/destinations, "first class" is the cheapest/slowest option available. I think this is largely because, over time, the slower classes of mail have been dropped— for example, you can't send letters to Europe by boat any more; they're all air mail.
posted by hattifattener at 8:55 AM on August 7, 2008

My experience at the PO when requesting proof of receipt has always been one standard question: "Do you want to send it registered or certified? Registered sends it under lock and key, and only the addressee can sign for it. Certified allows anyone to sign for it." Almost the same scripted explanation every time. I've been mailing such pieces at various post offices for 20+ years, and I've never experienced an "upsell." But these instances were always for standard #10 envelopes (not oversized documents) and I didn't require a tracking number, just a verification signature to prove that someone received the missive.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:13 AM on August 7, 2008

The reasons for the frenzied orders to upsell can be found in these two articles:

http://www.dmnews.com/USPS-reports-Q3-net-loss-of-11-billion/article/113478/

http://www.dmnews.com/USPS-sees-mail-volume-decrease-in-Q2/article/109896/

In two quarters the USPS had a loss of 1.8 billion dollars. There was a rate increase in the middle of the third quarter.
posted by faceonmars at 12:06 PM on August 7, 2008

In America, if you say you have a personal preference, people will figure their business's policy trumps that.

So one technique I use is to explain that my business's policy requires me to do something, such as go with the lowest rate (or not install their connectivity software, or not give my credit card or social security numbers).

Often it seems customer service types understand more readily "it's the policy" than they understand that as an individual you want to do something the way you want to do it. This works whether or not the policy or the business actually exists.
posted by orthogonality at 1:12 PM on August 7, 2008