They warned us in April, but now it’s here. Postal rates will go up officially on July 10. For anyone who mails anything via the U.S. Postal Service, this is not good news.
I had seen the news the USPS released in April that Americans should get ready for another increase in postal rates, but it wasn’t played up much in the media.
They tried to soften the blow by saying that the 6.5% increase is lower than the May national inflation rate of 8.6%. For that, we are told, we should be grateful. Sure. I can hardly wait for the next increase we should be grateful for; there is no end to them.
Not long ago, I was going through some papers at my parents’ home and came across some “penny post cards,” some “penny stamps” and, lo and behold, some 3-cent First Class stamps!
Talk about collectable items. I’m saving them for posterity!
As for the increases, we will still have the “Forever” stamps – meaning whatever price you paid for them, they are good to use forever, even if rates are later increased.
So, to take advantage of that, get to the post office by Saturday, July 9, and buy some Forever stamps for 58 cents each. After that day, the price will be 60 cents each.
Think about it, Forever stamps were introduced on April 12, 2007, at 41 cents each! Talk about inflation!
What about the other price increases? One ounce metered-mail letters go from 53 cents to 57 cents.
Additional ounces for letters go from 20 cents to 24 cents for each ounce.
Remember those old “penny” domestic postcards I found? Now they are 40 cents each. They increase to 44 cents each.
If you plan to mail a one-ounce international letter, it is $1.30 now. It will go up to $1.40.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has already told us that we should get used to postage increases: “I believe we have been severely damaged by at least 10 years of a defective pricing model which cannot be satisfied by one or two annual price increases especially in this inflationary environment.”
He didn’t provide a translation of that.
Are you are a post office patron who uses the “Certificate of Mailing” option for your mail to insure that if it gets lost, you have proof that it was, in fact, mailed on a certain date to a certain address?
Well, forget it. The P.O. is discontinuing it entirely.
I have been using them for years, ever since I went through a spate of lost mail several years ago. The letters and bills I had mailed, just never arrived at their destination. I was advised to use the Certificate of Mailing to at least give me proof I mailed them and to whom. I’ve done it ever since, for any First Class mail I send, even though the cost is much higher than just the price of a First Class stamp.
Now, as I found out recently, they are discontinuing the certificate entirely. No reason given; it’s just gone.
The way I see it, this provides the Postal Service with cover for lost mail. We will have no proof of having sent the mail, and they have no evidence of their receiving it to deliver.
It will just be gone. Nice for them. Talk about eliminating any sense of responsibility.
I think I have a defensive response for this: Take a photograph of every piece of mail you send and save your P.O. receipts.
It’s the only way we can defend ourselves.
Whether or not it works, I have no idea, but I am fed up with the post office and with its lack of responsibility and higher prices.
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