Uhmmm...my mailman asked me for money!?

[Ringlets]

*blink*    even if that was a legit amount you owed,  that still has to be the most disorganized mailman I have ever heard of!

[Galactica]

Oddly enough- this has happened to me.  It was for like $2.33 that was owing on the package (the sender didn't put enough postage on I guess)

[medleysong]

Oddly enough- this has happened to me.  It was for like $2.33 that was owing on the package (the sender didn't put enough postage on I guess)

lol..maybe it is a Western Washington thing

[Izrabeth]

Here in Italy our mailmen have an official list of people/packages/amounts due when they have to collect money. At the post office they put a paper on the package itself but also they give to the mailman a paper with the list of all the people, where you put your signature after you paid.
I find weird he didn't have such a thing, he supposed you would have believed him and dropped $8 so easy? 
Anyway the fact he came to your house twice makes me think that he realized the mistake, realized he was in trouble and was trying to find a way to cover it hoping you would have understood...but no way without official papers, he for sure now has learnt the lesson and will pay more attention to his job 
You did good refusing to pay!

[babylofty]

I'm leaning toward scam.

If he had the paperwork for you two sign for a package, he'd have to have paperwork to pick up cash. The post office would be doing a CYA here, so that they have proof that a) there was indeed postage due and b) the cash was recorded as picked up, and brought back to the local branch.

I'm wondering how many other people he's tried this on.  Your best bet in all this is to call your local branch where the mail is sorted (we have three post offices, but only one handles incoming mail for the city), and ask if they have you on a list somewhere that says you owe them money.  If not, explain what's happened. Believe me, if this is indeed a scam, you're not the first person to call about it.

After this, I would trust the guy with any of my mail, either coming in or going out (especially going out!).  I hate to think badly of people, but the whole thing reeks like yesterday's garbage.

[Galactica]

Maybe it is a Western Washington thing?

I actually doubt he was trying to scam you- you could always call the post office and ask for the name of your letter carrier- get his supervisor- ask supervisor what it was about?

My guess is that he messed up and should have asked you for the money when he came to the door. 

In my case the package came through the building mail- so the guy who picks up our mail said I had to go and get something personally.  When I went down- the guy said I had to pay for the missing postage (English was not his first language so he was probably not doing a good job of supplying an explanation)

Someone had written in pen what was owing on postage- I had to go up and get the money (exact change) and come down and pay him to get my package. 

I am actually grateful that some carriers will just ask you for the postage owing rather than send the package back for insufficient funds-

[Dyzarktarzk]

That's weird =S

If you really DID owe postage, sorry, but giving it out without proof...  But, NO.  If he told me it was a mistake, and forgot, I'll understand.  But only saying you owe money, and it was on the package...  And if you still have it... 

At least with me, a lot of times just threw away the packages or use them on different things (depends...  acually, I still have a package I received 3 years ago due to it's amazing big size ).  But small/medium size boxed are easy to threw or reuse fast.

[emery]

So odd.... I mean I believe that packages can show up postage due as I have had that on a number of occasions but normally it is less than $1 and the mail carrier just leaves a little envelope with their name and the amount due and you just put money in the envelope and leave it out the next day, plus there is also a stamp or note written on the letter or package that matches the amount due and everything matches up. I have gotten a package that was due $6.94 because the package itself weighed over 8 lbs and the seller printed out the label for 4 lbs (I did get the money back from the seller after sending them pics of all the info)! That package my mail carrier brought to the door and collected the money from me before giving me the package. I believe the money comes out of their pocket if they don't collect it. If there was no postage due stamp on the package and he didn't bring it up with any type of documentation then I would have done the same thing that you did. You kind of need proof, not just "it was about $8" after the fact.

[Sarah-Bee]

Wow...lol that mailman seemed just a few cents short of a dollar.

Probably why he was asking for cash

That's extremely odd! I mean, I've had to pay postage before but they've always had some proof! Very weird situation.

[octocorn]

I've had to pay more on a package before, but they dropped it off and left a small brown payment envelope with my mail, then I put it back out the next day. I agree with everyone else, your mailman sounds a bit shady!

[RockinPrettyBeats]

I've had to pay more on a package before, but they dropped it off and left a small brown payment envelope with my mail, then I put it back out the next day. I agree with everyone else, your mailman sounds a bit shady!

lol, I've never heard of this before. It sounds so small townish.

I wanted to add that I did have a customer who had to pay $6 on one of my packages before. It wasn't even a large package. She messaged me and said "Thanks but I had to pay $6 extra".

I thought she was accusing me of overcharging so I assured her that wasn't the case and never got a response. It was like 2 weeks later that something dawned on me that she had to pay $6 extra for the package when it arrived. I messaged her and asked if this is what she meant and she said yes so I refunded her the $6.

Although I still don't know why she didn't clarify that.

It was later that I found out I had accidentally used a flat rate box instead of a normal priority mail box and was supposed to pay for the flat rate amount.

So they do go ahead and deliver some items that have quite a bit owed on them. It's called not being very good at what they do if you ask me. They should really return it to sender with postage not paid.

Maybe I'm naive but I still don't think the mailman was trying to scam. So I don't think you have to worry about having a dishonest mailman but maybe having a disorganized mailman is another problem :-p

[sparkleset80]

Wow! I think if I were you I would give a call to my local post office and report him. Something is not right there.

[Skeen]

That is really weird.  The one or two times I've had insufficient postage, they leave me an official notice and I have to go to the PO to pay and pick it up.  They NEVER let me have the package before they get paid!

[Dragonflitter]

So I don't think you have to worry about having a dishonest mailman but maybe having a disorganized mailman is another problem :-p

Agreed lol.

[mlpfan]

had this happen to several of the people we sell to.