When will it end? Seems it stayed the same years ago for a good while and now it rises every year or two.. Geez!
-Rick
Postage rises again!
by rmayer32 9 Replies latest jw friends
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DakotaRed
So right Rick. I can remember when I was a kid, there was such a thing as a penny post card. And, it really only cost a penny!
Lew W.
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finnrot
Before I was born and well into my childhood, the price of a stamp never changed. I think I was about 12 years old when the postal service floated the idea that they were losing money and they needed to raise the price of a stamp from three cents to five cents. I could be wrong about the figures, but I don't think stamps were that expensive back then. It was such a controversial request, they acually had the Postmaster General on 60 minutes to explain that it was absolutly needed to keep the post office running. He also said that the post office "WOULD NEVER RAISE RATES AGAIN,EVER".
Even though I was a kid sitting there watching the Postmaster General on 60 minutes, I remember thinking to myself, this guy is full of shit. I certainly was no little genius, but even as a kid, I had a pretty good bullshit meter. Maybe that's why I never got babtized.
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FriendlyFellaAL
If the Postal Service isn't careful, they're going to price themselves right out of business.
Personally, I only mail one bill a month and that's my mortgage payment. I pay the rest online or over the telephone and for communication purposes I either email or telephone. I thought .34 cents a stamp was crazy, but the increase to .37 is ridiculous. Just my two...er, three cents.
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Gopher
Compared with other countries, I understand that the price of a first-class stamp in the USA is still quite a bargain. And look at the improvements the postal system has made in the past 20 years with computerization, automated sorting and such. The result: extremely dependable service. I can't remember having a letter mishandled or misdelivered in a very long time now. And my letters or bill payments always get their the next day if within the same state, or within 2 days, maybe 3, anywhere else in the nation.
Friendlyfella is right -- in that more people are saving time and money by automated payments or internet payments. I only mail in 3 payments per month -- for my regular phone, for my cell phone, and for my cable TV bill. Everything else is automatically deducted from my checking account, and I think that's great!
Edited by - Gopher on 29 June 2002 9:56:35
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mike047
I think that .37 to mail a letter is a bargain. Isn't a local pay phone call more than that?
Mike
edited to place decimal point.
Edited by - mike047 on 29 June 2002 13:25:12
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Solace
Thank goodness for e-mail!
We now have many of our bills electronically deducted from our checking account and its working out fine. We have had one incident when a company made a mistake and billed us twice in one month so you do have to keep an eye on it though.
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FriendlyFellaAL
I agree, Heaven. I've also had the misfortune of having a payment deducted twice, but the offending company was quick to right their wrong...thankfully!
Brian
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DakotaRed
I have all my online payments set up so they are not deducted until I intitiate them. No double payments that way. Of course, I have to remember to sign on and pay them still But, if I forget, no worry. I will definitely get the nastygram from the company reminding me
Lew W.
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jack2
Yeppers, another increase. Since I work with mail, I need to reprogram our machines with new software. It seems to happen alot. Actually, where the postal service really hits customers is on "special services" type stuff, like certified mail, which now costs almost $5 for a one ounce letter, or certified mail restricted delivery, which costs neatly $8 per one ounce letter. With each rate increase, such services are increased in price by almost 50 cents.
Of course, with e-mail and faxes so popular, and with more and more people paying bills online, the overall mail volume has been decreasing for some time. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds for the US Postal Service.