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

[medleysong]

I just had to share this really strange encounter with my mailman. He came to our door on Monday to deliver three packages (one which was an awesome proto Ploomette from So Silver, whoo hoo! Anyway, one of the packages was something I ordered from an online toy store. He hands me the packages and leaves. Well...later that afternoon he shows back up telling me that I was supposed to sign for one of the packages and he forgot to have me do that. Uhmmm...ok...a little too late but sure, why not. I sign and he leaves again. Well yesterday he shows up at my door again. This time he tells me that he forgot that the bigger package (from the online store) had postage due on it. He said it was about $8 dollars  We then stand there staring at each other for a few minutes before I say "do you have a form that says that?" He just looks at me and says "no, it was on the box, do you still have it?" Well, I didn't have it anymore because as soon as a nice sized box comes in the house I use it to ship ebay items in it and my husband had already sent packages out early yesterday morning. I didn't see anything on the box saying I owed money. I told him "I will gladly pay you if you show me a form and then I will give it to you as a check". He said again that he didn't have any form, and then he just stood there.    *chirp* I told him that I wasn't going to just hand him over $8 dollars cash on good faith. So he said, "well, ok, I guess we will have to forget it then"

WHAT...WAS...THAT!? First, why would I owe shipping when I paid it online already? Second, who does that? Sooooooo Awkward! Anyway, had to share that bizarre enounter with someone lol...

[Marlin]

ummm... dodgy 

Good on you sticking to your guns. Close the door in his face next time! Even if it was legit, he's clearly rather inept at his job!

[BlackCurtains]

I've had to pay for postage due on packages before, never that much though. However, he should have said that when he delivered it, not later - that's just weird. I wouldn't have paid either without proof.

[DJOctaviaSymphony]

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

[hathorcat]

Wow! That was different - I know it works differently in different countries. But if postage is underpaid on an item in the UK you usually have to collect it from a sorting office and pay it over the counter in order - the post man leaves an official card and you can get a receipt.

How random that he thought you would just give him $8 without any actual official forms!

[RockinPrettyBeats]

Eight dollars?!?! Wow, weird. I almost wonder if since he messed up that he was the one that had to pay it out of his own pocket. So maybe he didn't want to say that and was hoping you would pay him back. Way weird.

[ponylady]

Weird 

I understand that there are times that postage maybe due.  But he made a trip back to your house not once, but twice.  And all over one delivery he made.

I'm actually really not sure what to think? Could this man be that disorganized? Or was he trying to get $8 out of you.  I mean why in the world would he come back and ask for it without any proof that you actually owed it?

[partypony566]

That's REALLY odd!

[ShortyBoo]

That definitely sounds strange. I've only had something come postage due once ever and that was just a few days ago with the FiM trading cards. There was a red stamp on the envelope that said "Postage Due" and the amount, 20 cents was written in pen. The mailman (a substitute) told me I had a postage due and asked if I had the money to pay it and I told him I didn't, since we pay for everything using debit or credit and never have any cash, therefore no change. I thought he'd take back the envelope, but he said he'd take care of it for me.

[Oneleo1]

If there was postage due...they would have held it at the post office, it would have never made it to the truck.

How odd!

[HawaiianRain]

Not necessarily. I have packages arrive all the time here and have had a few that had postage due on them. They will do a COA (collect On Delivery) which is not odd at all. Except yours and the way he went about it was pretty odd lol. He either was in a hurry to get his route done or he was a sub or he really had never had to do a COA before.

[khyron]

That is exceedingly strange.  I think you did the right thing.

[achab1984]

Should of had something to say that you owed it. And he should of done it all at the same time. LOL

[Dragonflitter]

In my office we send out a lot of catalogs at a discounted bulk mail rate, so if they get returned to us with a bad address, we get those notices that we owe money for each return (because the discounted rate only applies to sending them out, not getting them back).

It's kinda up to the individual post offices whether or not they're going to crack down on that type of thing. My mail delivery girl explained the whole thing to me. They have to sign a sheet before they leave for their delivery route saying they're aware of the postage due items. IF her manager at the post office decided to be a stickler about it, and she didn't have the money from the home when she returned from her route, it would have to come out of her own pocket. But usually if it's just a few cents they don't really care, so they'll leave the envelope/package even if it says 'postage due' on it, and they'll either get the money next time they see you, or forget about the whole thing.

However, I have never heard of $8 underpaid on a package! o.0 20 cents, sure, but $8? Geez. It's much more likely in that situation that they would have returned it to sender with insufficient postage rather than choose to deliver it with that 'postage due' option (but again, that kinda is up to the individual post office how they're going to handle the situation).

My guess is, as RockinPrettyBeets said, this guy was a newbie and messed up, lost the paperwork or something. When he realized he would have to pay himself, he went back to your house to try to get the money. But then again, maybe he was just confused or just trying to pull something, so good job sticking to your guns without proof! If he did mess up and have to pay, it would be a good lesson to remind him never to lose the paperwork again.

[medleysong]

In my office we send out a lot of catalogs at a discounted bulk mail rate, so if they get returned to us with a bad address, we get those notices that we owe money for each return (because the discounted rate only applies to sending them out, not getting them back).

It's kinda up to the individual post offices whether or not they're going to crack down on that type of thing. My mail delivery girl explained the whole thing to me. They have to sign a sheet before they leave for their delivery route saying they're aware of the postage due items. IF her manager at the post office decided to be a stickler about it, and she didn't have the money from the home when she returned from her route, it would have to come out of her own pocket. But usually if it's just a few cents they don't really care, so they'll leave the envelope/package even if it says 'postage due' on it, and they'll either get the money next time they see you, or forget about the whole thing.

However, I have never heard of $8 underpaid on a package! o.0 20 cents, sure, but $8? Geez. It's much more likely in that situation that they would have returned it to sender with insufficient postage rather than choose to deliver it with that 'postage due' option (but again, that kinda is up to the individual post office how they're going to handle the situation).

My guess is, as RockinPrettyBeets said, this guy was a newbie and messed up, lost the paperwork or something. When he realized he would have to pay himself, he went back to your house to try to get the money. But then again, maybe he was just confused or just trying to pull something, so good job sticking to your guns without proof! If he did mess up and have to pay, it would be a good lesson to remind him never to lose the paperwork again.

I think you are right on with this. I actually went back to the site I bought the item from as it had been a backordered item originally. I saw that it had our old delivery address on it (we just moved 2 months ago). I didn't notice this when it was delivered. It must have gotten forwarded from our other address rather than be sent back to the store. That would make sense. Now I feel bad as it was a legitimate amount that I owed. I was just so floored that this guy came back multiple times because he just couldn't get it right. He is a bit odd anyway...my husband had a run in with him when we first moved in. We left the mail in our mailbox for 3 days. We just forgot to go out and get it because we were busy. He brought it to our door and scolded my husband for not getting the mail out lol. I guess we are not off to a good start with this mailman..eek!