Any U.S. Post Office folks here? Can the Post Office ask...

me what is inside an envelope I'm mailing?

Never in my 15+ years of trading seeds/plants and selling at ebay has a Post Office employee asked me what's inside the envelope I'm mailing. It's the usual "is there anything perishible, fragile, hazardous or liquid" inside?

I mailed some seeds yesterday and the clerk stared me down and asked me 2x what was inside the envelope. He threw me for a loop...I acted very nervous since no one has ever asked before, and I just said gardening stuff.

Can the post office ask what is in the packages/envelopes you're mailing?

Thanks for your help!

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

Well, while they are not supposed to ask what is in the envelope,
he or she may have been trying to determine whether the item was
in fact legal to ship.

Were you by chance shipping out of the country?

The post office in the next town is a crap shoot. You either get a
stranger, a very nice man who is always smiling, or the jerk who
makes it his job to know your business. "Garden seeds" should
suffice if they must know, but I know of no law that states you have
to reveal what is in the package. Next time, tell him it is a vibrator.

On the other hand, a dripping wet, wriggling or otherwise out of
place package would raise concerns, LOL.

The 'jerk' I mentioned is a real pain. I've requested a certain stamp
only to have him ask "What for, what are you putting this stamp on?"
He's argued with me on numerous occasions only to have the nice
guy come along to point out that I am not only in accordance with the
law, but that he is wrong. He intentionally works very slowly when the
line is long, doesn't know how to hustle and never smiles unless he's
making a wisecrack about the customer. Ugh.

KM

At present, I am on hold with the USPS.

1-800-ASK-USPS. I'll see what I can find.

next time they ask, just say.....if it were illigal do you think i would be mailing from my LOCAL post office?

Okay, without the woman revealing any details, the fact
that the postal worker asked what was in the package can
be explained. She did say this is a new thing, but did not
say if it was permanent.

They are presently undergoing a 'security matter'. No details,
but it seems odd to me they would ask you and expect you
to answer the question honestly if you were a bad guy.

What is in the envelope? I doubt anyone is going to say
"bomb making materials". But, I guess they have their reasons
for asking. Hope this helps.

Hi Wuv...thanks for all your work in following up on this!

I wasn't mailing out of the country that's why I thought it was so weird. I recycled a bubble envelope that had fragile stamped on it in a few places, so maybe that's what caught his eye.

Hopefully everything will make it just fine. I sent two bubble envelopes, one he questioned, the other he didn't.

I guess next time I'll just be prepared for this question.

Thanks!

Hi Seed,

Oddly enough, I sent two packages today, with seeds in the
U.S. but no one asked what was inside them.

Huh. Maybe it's an area thing?

nah...who knows! I've sent bubble envelopes from this location many times before and was never questioned. Maybe next time I'll go to another location and see what happens there...

I have no idea what applies to your state, but I have noticed multiple Ebay sellers in the plant category list states into which they cannot ship plants due to import laws of the receiving state.

If you ship often (you mentioned being an Ebay seller) that particular person may be trying to figure out if there is something valuable in the box, for other purposes.

Hey guys, I just want to say there's soooo many reasons why this could happen. I don't work at a PO, but had an old friend who did. She's told many, many stories, including ones about drug busts. Our guy at my PO never seems pleased when I ship plants and he's told me not to write "live plants" on the box....told me it would make people suspicious. Suspicious of what? Sorry, but that made me suspicious of HIM, lol! For all he knows I have a nursery and am shipping out to special customers only, none of his business. I keep writing it because it's what's suggested to do. See, I get in trouble for declaring to the world what is in my packages. Does this make sense? LOL!

He probably didn't like that you reused an envie and wanted to give you a hard time. I wouldn't worry about it unless the same person/PO keeps asking you again and again. In that case I might ask to talk to the Post Master there and see what the beef is....or just go somewhere else.

Just an offshoot of the subject, my apologies. This has
nothing to do with any of the posts or posters.

On the mention of re-using envelopes, especially bubble envelopes,
I have to say I'm all for recycling, but there are times I've been on the
receiving end of one that has traveled well and is way past retirement.

;-)

To me this is just an example of how law abiding citizens are made to suffer because of the few bad people out there.
Ex. at our post office, there are now "no parking" signs in a area that I always used to park. This PO has limited parking and these spaces were nice to use. I guess they are afraid of a bomb left in a vehicle.
My take on this was...Oh, I guess I cannot bomb this post office now, because I can't park here. Come on! The bad guys don't care.
Now anyone with a disability has to walk quite a ways and across heavy traffic to get their mail.
Only then, to be asked what is in the package. It makes you want to lie.
My favorite is "is this item potentially hazardous?
I think anything can be dangerous if not used correctly. You could smother in a soft sweater, or get cut with a piece of paper.

Know what guys? We just need to have fun with our mail. Here's what we all need to do. Let's get an address list together of everyone who's sick of all the PO's garbage. Then we will all bake cakes for each other. Then we'll package up the cakes in plain brown boxes....but we'll poke holes in the boxes (think air vents), and we'll wrap duct tape around them real good. Then we'll address them with bright red sharpie markers, making sure to write "fragile" and "handle with care" on them really big. "This end up" and stuff like that. When you take the box to mail it you'll want to laugh uncontrollably and keep muttering things under your breath. Are you getting a mental image yet? We WANT them to ask what's in the box! When they ask what's in the box we'll say....

Eggs
Sugar
Milk
Oil
Water
Flour
(you get the idea)
Special Ingredients

Now, we can never reveal our special ingredients! No matter how much they question, poke or prod....even if they send us to Area 51, we can never reveal our secret ingredients!

Is this item potentially hazardous? Let's see.
(In jest)

Well, I guess I'd have to say yes. Grass seeds
could lead one to purchase a lawnmower, which could
lead to hard work, possibly a heart attack.

Tree seeds could grow into a tree, you could climb it,
fall out and break your leg.

Planting Brugmansia seeds, you may rush out to
dig it up during a storm only to be struck by lightning.

I wonder, if you say YES to the infamous slew of words,
what the response would be.

You guys are all too cute and creative! Now get back out to your gardens---unless there's lightning!

asked at our post office today and was told that while the post office really doesn't control what is mailed in the US.....there are certain states that will not allow certain plants to be introduced and brought in because of invasiveness. they said that as the person mailing the package it is your responsibility to check the state you are mailing to, and see if they allow that plant to be grown.

velveteena, no gardening here. We have an inch of snow on the ground.

In that case, you would not be allowed to mail snowballs.

Let's see, would that fall under 'perishable' or 'potentially hazardous'?

LOL

Snowing to beat the dickens here..yesterday drove to work in a blizzard..hate to think I'll be heading home in the same...

Betty and all driving in such weather, please be (of course you are)
extremely careful! Winter weather and driving scares me!

KM

Yesterday there were 50 fender benders in our travelling route...some not so cautious drivers who think snow and ice is like driving on dry pavement...after driving the 50miles of the 100 you get home and need to put your feet up..lol

Betty, I wish you a safe trip to and from wherever it
is you may go. :-)

Seedsower, not sure if this is the cause of the latest postal concern,
but there is a Hazmat situation at congressman Ron Klein's
office in Ft. Lauderdale.

i am a postal worker and they don't ask whats in the package but rather ask ou if there are things in the package that are not allowed to be mailed. for instance, when i mail a package they as me if it contains anything hazarderous, anythng explosive and things like that. i have never been asked what is actually in the package.

hope this help you and sorry its a little late

Well, Herbie, after all of these rants you're my hero to admit that you work at the PO. I don't know that I could of/would of done that! You're fearless! :)

Yeah, but can he get a discount for us?

LOL. Just kidding, Herb.

Yer always thinking aren't ya?

The post office is required to ask "anything fragile, liquid, hazardous or perishable". This happens because of 9/11. If it's fragile, we need to mark it as such and offer insurance for possible breakage and to make sure the package is suffiiciently wrapped for a fragile item.

Liquid is asked because may liquids are not allowed to be mailed through USPS, i.e. alcohol....and other liquids may leak onto other packages, etc.

Hazardous (HAZMAT) for obvious reasons..again 9/11 :-(. Some materials, like explosive powders are a no-no.

Perishable because we want to make sure the package arrives in a timely manner, etc etc.

Believe me, to ask every single customer mailing a package that same question over and over is very tiring! I know, I just left the post office as a clerk only 3 weeks ago. I love retirement :)

Some clerks are jerks! Some are nice like me! :D

We have no way to determine what in the package, we HAVE to ask (I hated it). Of course, if the customer is mailing something they shouldn't, they aren't going to admit it, but we have done our part and then it's out of our hands.

Anyway, to answer the question, it is required....but they shouldn't be asking literally what's in there. The only time I did is when the customer hesitated when answering or they were sure if what's inside met the questions asked.

Hope this helps..

This message was edited Nov 9, 2007 8:59 AM

We have friendly people like you at our post office and it really makes a difference.
Your mention of hazmat, reminds me of my old job. I was required to keep all the hazmat safety papers in my dept. Every product that could be harmful has a paper that has the information about flammability, what to do if it gets on skin, eyes, or if you drink it, etc.
We had rock salt for ice in the parking lot. Not fancy chemical stuff...rock salt, 100%. This had a safety sheet. It cracked me up. Salt puts out fire, is not harmful to eat (unless you have high blood pressure), and you can even put it in your eyes (saline solution) Why do we need to spend money keeping hazmat information on salt?
Kind of like the nutrition info on a candy bar.

Packing peanuts can be a choking hazard and are harmful to the environment, real peanuts can cause allergic reactions, etc. So pretty much anything you mail could be hazardous if an idiot gets ahold of it, like hot coffee between your legs in the drive-thru.

Well as long as we don't confuse the hot coffee and peanuts between our legs as we are going through the drive through I think most of us will probably be ok.

Oh my gosh, this just came up the other day. We were wondering
what on earth would possess anyone to put hot coffee between their
legs in the first place.

But on to what I was going to mention. We bought a water cooler which
also heats the water. I couldn't remember the degree, so in telling a family
member about the heater, hubby said the temperature of the hot button was
"Burn your crotch McDonald's hot".

We still laugh about that. Every time something is very hot around here,
we now call it "Burn your crotch McDonald's hot."

Sorry to get off topic.

KM

thankfully i don't deal with the public at my job but my son does at the post office he works at and some of the questions they call up and ask are so dumb. one time he got a call on christmas day at 4 a.m. in the morning (he starts as early as me) and when the person was told the post office was closed the man insisted that it be opened immediately cause he forgot to mail something.

only in new york kids, only in new york

have a great day

Like opening the office itself was going to do him any good. Your DS should have told him that the PO has a contract with Santa....if the PO delivers or opens on Christmas then Santa has the right to sue. He's the only one allowed to deliver on Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve Day a few years ago we got a knock on the door. We figured it was a neighbor bringing the usual neighborhood gifts (popcorn balls, homemade bread, etc.) We were so surprised when it was the mailman! He was holding a big box that was from my DMIL in Cali. I told him that I didn't know there was mail on Christmas Eve, he said there wasn't but that something got messed up at our local PO and he was running all over town delivering Priority mail. I told him to go home. My DH often has to work on holidays, including Christmas, and I hate it.

I'll also make a confession here. I've hunted down my mailman as he was delivering in the neighborhood, but before he got to our home. That was a while ago when DH's paycheck was mailed to him. We were leaving for the weekend and we didn't want to wait for the mail to come....so we went and got it! Our mailman was in his truck and saw me coming and as I walked up he just handed my mail to me out the door and laughed.

We have a wonderful mailman. He's in a truck, but if the mail is a large quantity or on the heavy side, he brings it up to the door for me because it is so hard for me to get out some days. Now his sub is another story, we find mail in the yard, mail at the wrong houses, last week I had a book in the street, and it was a GARDEN book!

OMgosh, mail in the street? Does he think he's a paperboy and just throws the mail or what? Holy cows. That is really odd.

One time I got my neighbor's kid's bank statement. I didn't notice who it was addressed to. I saw it was a bank statement, so I opened it. It said there was $1.81 in the account. I was like, WHAT???? Then I started flipping through the pages and saw the kid's name on it. Sheesh, don't scare me like that!

We have a BIG mailbox because my meds come in big bottles. This book was oversize, I'm guessing he balanced it on the top or on the opened door. LOL on the bank statement.

Here we are required to write SEEDS on bubble envelopes and live plants must have a state inspection sticker on the box.

We live out in the country. The mail is delivered from a small town, where we also have a P.O. Box. DH knows the regular contract guy that delivers the mail. Sometimes we're in town and he is expecting something special addressed to our community mailbox. If he sees the guy's vehicle, he'll go ask for our other mail. BTW, they are supposed to charge extra for bulky envelopes like the BE's and may charge extra if something in a regular envelope is marked "fragile".... Darn P. O.! I started sending most of my seeds out in a regular envelope with a couple of stamps on it. So far it seems to be working, none came back for extra postage yet.

i never have to worry about my mail. since the mail comes from the post office where my son works i am always taken care of and so are my neighbors. of course, it doesn't hurt to sneak a little something in for mail person during christmas. i guess this is post office wide but did you know you can order and pay for your stamps via your mail carrier??