Trying to send a Blackstone sample

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15SilvyEcotec

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Wesley Chapel FL
My local post office acted like I had a uranium pill in a aspirin bottle with a missing lid and a cracked bottom. They flat out refused and so did my local FedEx. I took it to the UPS store and they reluctantly put it in a box with a ton of packing and tape and said it can not go by air?

I argued with the postal lady for 5 minutes. I know Blackstone has the letter but I do not have a printer so I read it to her from my phone. I was asked to leave. I feel like contacting the post master general because what would have been a little over $3 to ship cost me $ 15. UUUUUUGGGHHHHHH.

How do you guys do it and have you had a issue?
 
I go to the post office. They gave me trouble once, not because the contents but because the black bottle was too small.

I put it in a small cardboard box and shipped it. Was still like $3-$4.

When they ask if there's any liquid in it you didn't tell them yes, right? I don't think it's any of their business what's in the package as long as it's not hazardous, and it isn't.

UPS prices are ridiculous
 
Not surprising at all.

The USPS has not been known for anything that resembles "service" for years now.

They don't want the business from individuals, they don't think that's where the money is. They only want business from the big mailers and the big customer, and their junk mail.

Next time, find a small box to mail it in. And *don't* put the word "Laboratories" on the mailing label. Just put Blackstone for the name, and leave it at that.

Our local post office is chock full of the same type of idiots, who are never wrong, and are never to be questioned... especially not by the likes of you and me.
 
Here is what you do.

Declare to them in a personable way right up front that it is a liquid and a motor oil sample, and that these samples are sent through the USPS all the time, and that the container is a special container that prevents leaks.

Emphasize to them that it has a flash point of 325F and that this flash point is higher than the minimum flashpoint for shipment of liquids as per the USPS regulations.

If that doesn't work, ask for a supervisor and repeat the explanation.
 
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Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Here is what you do.

Declare to them in a personable way right up front that it is liquid and a motor oil sample, and that samples are sent through the USPS all the time.

Emphasize to them that it has a flash point of 325F and that this flash point is higher than minimum flashpoint for shipment of liquids via the USPS regulations.

If that doesn't work, ask for a supervisor and repeat the explanation.


You're completely correct. However, he's dealing with a special type of idiot here.

They don't want it, they don't care what it is, or what the flashpoint is. It is MUCH easier to simply refuse it, than it is to deal with it.
 
I didn't have any grief or even a delay due to conversation as I used a drop box outside the usps office. Pull up, open lid, dump and go.
People suck on average, so I try to go a different route. Worked for me.
 
my local office has never given me a problem it just took two weeks to get there so with that said my local pack and ship sends it fed ex ground for 9 bucks delivers next morning to Ft Wayne IN

it's a trade off but 2 weeks ??? USPS is on a slippery slope down hill as far as I am concerned
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04


They don't want it, they don't care what it is, or what the flashpoint is. It is MUCH easier to simply refuse it, than it is to deal with it.


On the contray, they have to consider flash points because it is in their regulations.

Where I lived previously the USPS had a counter person that gave me grief every time I went to mail a sample of MO or other oil.

I asked for and spoke to the supervisor and told the supervisor that if the customer service 'counter' people are not educated properly in the handling of liquids and their regulations, letters would be sent to the regional and then to the DC offices.

After that, this counter person greeted me with a smile and a no hassle shipment.

These people are to provide a service. Don't let them try and snow you.
 
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After reading accounts here at BITOG about difficult times shipping oil samples by USPS, I overpacked my first sample in a box, and told my wife to not tell them it was fluid. She wasn't happy about having to lie to the postal clerk. So the next time I took it myself, just in the brown bottle.

The postal clerk didn't even bat an eyelid. So I took the opportunity to ask here if they see many of these small bottles going through the post office, and she casually said that there are two or three other men in town (I live in a small farming town) that also mail out these samples. She was aware that the sample bottle inside is overpacked with absorbent padding, and was not concerned in the least about shipping it.

I will say that I take extreme care to avoid getting any motor oil on the outside of the bottle, lid, or label. My reasoning is that I don't want to leave any outward indication that would give the postal clerk a concern that the contents may already be leaking before they even took stewardship of it. Perhaps I'm a little over the top on this, but I really believe this is an important step in preparing the sample, so as to avoid difficulties in shipping.
 
A copy of the letter might go a long way in the OP's situation. I always carry a copy with me, but have never had to use it. This probably depends a lot on the location, or even the individual clerk. At my local urban/suburban PO, I go to the counter, tell them "liquid" and "oil sample" and they don't seem pause a bit.

I used the bottle mailer for my first-ever sample, and it took about two weeks to reach the lab. Now I put the bottle in a small box, and it seems to arrive much faster. Like mrsilv04 said, I just write "Blackstone" in the address. I also put a copy of the letter in the box.
 
Everyone is making this unbelievably complicated.

Sign up for an account at the USPS website.

Put the bottle in a plain box and attach a prepaid label.

Put it in your mailbox.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
I always put it in the smallest box it fits and drop it in the automated mailer at the post office


This.
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
These people are to provide a service. Don't let them try and snow you.


"Service"... right. Here's a timely example of the idiots that I have to deal with at my local Post Office.

My mail delivery, just today... He drove by once, delivered nothing. He drove by a second time, and delivered the mail on MY side of the street. Then he drove by a third time, and delivered nothing.

This was 90 minutes ago... and he STILL hasn't come back to deliver the mail on the OTHER side of the street.

Once you figure out how to make anyone connected to the USPS to care about their own regulations, then please let me know. Because I have the biggest bunch of idiots and morons on the planet running my local Post Office.

Again, my earlier statement stands. Refusing the package is much easier than knowing the regulations. Stupidity is the easy way out.

I have to deal with people who appear to be barely capable of delivering the mail.
 
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