Nonmachinable Mail

[Blotbot]

I came across this USPS page on the physical standards requires of the mail, including the aspects that make a piece "nonmachinable", requiring a 20 cent extra postage.  Thankfully, calligraphy is not listed (yet), but are several things we generally do are mntioned.  This includes nonpaper envelopes, clasps and buttons (gems not specifically mentioned), uneven thickness (nibs not specifically mentioned), "delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mail piece", well the list just goes on. But I rarely see people adding extra postage.  Have we been flaunting US postal regulations and getting away with it?


http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#1039555

[keysayanez]

"delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mail piece"

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/101.htm#1039555

That one of the delivery address seems a little extreme. How come that adds to the service? Maybe we have all been pushing these guys too much making them spend extra time on some of our sometimes illegible (in my case) wwriting and they felt they've had enough!

[jeanwilson]

this video shows how the mail is sent through a machine that seems to jiggle it into a horizontal - or landscape orientation.
so, when the machine can't read a horizontal address, it takes extra time for a person to deal with it
and they charge for the extra time.
same with square envelopes...they only have a 50% chance of ending up in the correct orientation.

[Marcia Aronow]

I'd like to think that hand cancelling avoids the automated machines, but no guarantees!  I always advise my clients to take a completed & assembled envelope to the P.O. to weigh & assess if there are any extra fees.  Weddings are already expensive, but if it costs say, $25 extra, in the scheme of things it's part of the planning. 

[Alex O]

My comment is pretty much the same as Jean said. 
I have a friend who worked for the post office and his wife is a postmaster.  He said that if the calligraphy envelopes can't be read by the machine then it goes to a person whose sole job is to process them by hand.  Sometimes those handlers get backed up which can cause envelopes take longer than usual to get to the destination. 

[JanisTX]

@Marcia:  I do the same thing, EXCEPT that I tell my clients to go to TWO separate post offices!!  I can't tell you how often that results in different postage quotes!!  I tell the client to then demand to speak to a supervisor to sort out the correct postage issue!  I do NOT want my beautiful calligraphy to get rejected (and defaced with a "Rejected" or "Postage Due" stamp!!) & sent back because a dumb postal clerk quoted the wrong amount!  When I mailed my daughter's wedding invitations in 2012, this actually happened to me!  I don't think that the first (incorrect) clerk had bad intentions, she was just wrong! The lady at the second post office called her & read her the riot act over having given me the wrong answer about the correct amount of postage.  I didn't want her to get into trouble, but they just HAVE to get this right or we're all in trouble!

Janis

[jeanwilson]

I send my clients to certain postal workers, by name, at either the main post office or the branches.
I have phone numbers of the offices so they can confirm that these people are working before they go to the post office.
These people know me and give my clients the VIP treatment.
I also send some pretty spectacular envelopes to these postal workers to show my appreciation and they have the envelopes on display at the P.O.
For the cost of a stamp and an envelope, it is pretty easy to get some reliable customer service at the PO.

[Marcia Aronow]

Janis  and Jean, thanks for showing us how important it is to go the extra mile. I am definitely going to follow through with both of your  suggestions and advice. 

[sgast32]

this video shows how the mail is sent through a machine that seems to jiggle it into a horizontal - or landscape orientation.
so, when the machine can't read a horizontal address, it takes extra time for a person to deal with it
and they charge for the extra time.
same with square envelopes...they only have a 50% chance of ending up in the correct orientation.

JEAN! You always provide such helpful and insightful info -- thank you! Interesting to see the behind the scenes of the mailroom...Kind of like seeing behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz!