USPS regional rate box postage adjustments

Discussion in 'Trade Talk' started by Qian_Xiao, Oct 8, 2020.

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  1. Qian_Xiao

    Qian_Xiao Devotee (302) Mar 10, 2020 Missouri
    Trader

    I've been using regional rate boxes for recent trades/proxies, but just received notification saying that a discrepancy had been detected and I need to pay extra postage after the adjustment.
    The question is what I used were standard regional rate boxes and the weight did not exceed the limit. And this only occurs with regional boxes. Have anyone ever had this happened before? Any particular issue with regional boxes?
     
    #1 Qian_Xiao, Oct 8, 2020
  2. jhavs

    jhavs Grand Pooh-Bah (3,587) Apr 16, 2015 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Did you pay online or at post office? Was the location set correctly so that the correct regional zone rate was used? Was A selected but B box used?
     
    #2 jhavs, Oct 8, 2020
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  3. Qian_Xiao

    Qian_Xiao Devotee (302) Mar 10, 2020 Missouri
    Trader

    If I recall correctly regional rate only applies to online payment. The rate is automatically calculated based on the destination input. Also box type has always been correctly selected.
    It's interesting that I shipped 2 regional B boxes once to the same destination but only one of them was reported discrepancy. The only possibility I figure is the APV system could not well identify the regional boxes. Weird though.
     
    #3 Qian_Xiao, Oct 8, 2020
  4. Qian_Xiao

    Qian_Xiao Devotee (302) Mar 10, 2020 Missouri
    Trader

    And the box dimension detected by the APV system is almost exactly the same as regional box B (of course because I'm indeed using their boxes) It looks like they treated the box as a ordinary priority mail and re-calculated the rate based on the weight I roughly estimated.
     
    #4 Qian_Xiao, Oct 8, 2020
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  5. Supermario79

    Supermario79 Devotee (392) Aug 12, 2017 California
    Trader

    I'm pretty sure regional rate boxes are based on weight, and maybe you miscalculated the weight. I've done that before. They said I owed money because I was off on my calculations, which was a guesstimate lol.
     
    #5 Supermario79, Oct 8, 2020
  6. Qian_Xiao

    Qian_Xiao Devotee (302) Mar 10, 2020 Missouri
    Trader

    Thanks for the input, but I suppose regional rate is said to be regardless of weight if not exceeding the maximum of 20lbs but depends on the travelling distance - the so-called zones.
     
    #6 Qian_Xiao, Oct 8, 2020
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  7. traction

    traction Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2010 Georgia
    Trader

    I think this is probably the case.
     
    #7 traction, Oct 8, 2020
  8. colby600

    colby600 Pooh-Bah (1,919) Mar 24, 2015 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah Trader



    I recently sent a box to Texas and received a notification weeks after delivery of extra charges. I have an online account so after looking into it, turns out weight was the problem. Not only do I round up on my box measurements but I weigh every box twice. Furthermore, I know exactly what was in box so I recreated same box and weighed again. I'm correct, they are not. I tried to contact them but it's difficult and it's essentially my word against theirs. Maybe since they can't run their business efficiently they just keep sending out adjustments hoping to raise more money. I paid more than I would've with UPS in the first place but USPS was requested by trading partner. I'm not paying extra charge and will no longer be using them.
     
    #8 colby600, Oct 10, 2020
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  9. bret27

    bret27 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,064) Mar 10, 2009 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Flat-rate is the way to go man.
    $20, any of the 50 states, up to 70#
     
    #9 bret27, Oct 10, 2020
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  10. colby600

    colby600 Pooh-Bah (1,919) Mar 24, 2015 Connecticut
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm more interested in packing in the upright position than saving a few bucks. Also, those boxes aren't large enough for most of my shipments.
     
    #10 colby600, Oct 10, 2020
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  11. flat_lander

    flat_lander Pooh-Bah (2,490) May 11, 2016 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Can confirm!
     
    #11 flat_lander, Oct 25, 2020
    Sinzanasti likes this.
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