A Simple Matter Worth Fighting For

At the beginning of August, I believe it was around the 6th, I went to the post office to rent a post office box so my ex-husband, Paul, could begin forwarding his mail before he moved here from Indiana. I couldn't rent it in his name because he'd have to do that on his own, so I rented it in my name and added his name to the box. It was $25 for three months, no refunds for early closure. Because I was only renting the box for three months I was required to sign up for automatic renewal payments from my bank card. I didn't like it but had no other choice.

The day I rented it I told the woman who was filling out the paperwork that I would be closing the post office box before the three months were up so I didn't want them taking another payment from me. She said that wasn't a problem, all I'd have to do was go to the post office and return the keys. Simple enough, right? Wrong!

In the middle of last week I asked Paul if there was any way the lady at the rental office where he was getting his apartment could give him his address so he could forward his mail and I could close the box. He said he's supposed to get the address this weekend when he moves into the place. I told him he had to get that address because the post office will be automatically renewing the box in about three weeks and I don't want that happening. He said we'll be closing the box this weekend, Monday at the latest. He also said he'd received the renewal bill in the box last week and it isn't due until the 31st. Okay, works for me.

I got up this morning and checked my account online as I do every couple of days. The USPS had already put the $25 on hold from my account. WHAT!!?? That was unacceptable. I called the post office immediately and explained why I was calling. The renewal fee isn't due for another two weeks yet they've already put the fee on hold from my account. The woman who answered the phone told me I needed to speak to the box clerk who wasn't in until 9:30; it was only 8:40 and I was aggravated.

Fortunately the box clerk is the same woman who rented the box to me so I was hoping she'd remember me. When I called at 9:45, however, and explained the problem, she gave me an 800 number to the USPS and told me I needed to speak with someone there. {{SIGH}} So I called the number and spoke with a woman. I explained that I never intended to renew the post office box and that the renewal payment isn't due for two weeks so I wanted them to release the hold on my funds. I told her they had no right to take my funds when the payment isn't due yet.

She explained that they'd sent me an email telling me I had to cancel the auto-payment before the 15th or the box would automatically be renewed and there are no refunds. I told her the only email I received from the USPS was on October 3rd and that was to tell me that my bank card was expiring and they needed me to update my card information. I told her my card isn't due to expire until late next year and that the email I received didn't include anything else about a renewal of my post office box on or about the 15th of the month. She tried to argue with me about what email I'd received but it didn't work with me so she got her supervisor on the phone to try to help me.

Same conversation, different person. She repeated the same thing to me about the renewal on the 15th and that I "should have been informed of that when I rented the box." Guess what! I wasn't informed of anything. I was told to come to the post office before the end of the third month to close the box; nothing was ever mentioned about them renewing it over two weeks before the third month was done. She read me the rules about cancelling the auto-payment before the 15th but that she didn't have any other information; that I'd have to go to the post office and handle it with them. Holy shit, was I annoyed.

A friend of mine, R, had shown up at my door as I was dealing with these government morons so she decided to go with me to the post office. Two people waiting in line and only one clerk at the desk; the clerk I needed to speak with about my issue. We finally got called and I explained everything that had been told to me over the phone. I told her I wanted the box closed and I wanted the $25 payment released back into my account. She said, I'm guessing without thinking, that I was the second person to complain to her about the early renewal of a post office box. She said that the other person complained about the payment being taken two weeks early but that she'd actually known the USPS to auto-renew boxes up to 30 days early.

Surprise, surprise!! I looked her dead in the eyes and told her she never bothered to mention that to me. Imagine that. The shocked look on her face told me that she really wasn't supposed to reveal to me the early-renewal dilemma; that's she'd just slipped up big time. I told her, quite clearly mind you, that if something wasn't done to close the box and refund my money I was going to go as high up the government ladder as I had to in order to correct the situation. I don't know if she was nervous or angry but she did look like she wanted to vomit.

She went into the back and seemed to disappear. About 10 minutes later, as a long line was forming behind me, R moved a bit down the counter and was relaying what she saw. The clerk was speaking to someone at a computer, a third person joined them, they were pointing at the computer and discussing my issue. The clerk finally returned to me with a refund request form in her hands but left again to check something on the computer. When she returned she allowed me to close the box, to fill out a refund request form, and she handed me $25 in cash. Now how easy was that to do? That's all I wanted and look at all the aggravation I had to go through to get it.

What I found really interesting is that these government employees have no clue how to reverse a payment back into someone's account. Renewing a post office box over two weeks before it expires thus prohibiting someone from closing the box if need be is thievery. The government stealing from people...is that a new concept? HAHAHAHAHAHA!! It just makes me wonder how many people just give in and deal with the USPS taking their money without complaining about it. I'm not one of them. You steal from me, I'm gonna get angry; you lie to me and we'll have more issues than you bargained for.

Tomorrow I'm going to contact the Postmaster General's office to apprise them of my issue and to find out if this is common practice amongst post offices across the country. Why would I do that when my issue has been resolved? Because I feel like making a stink over it simply based on principle. Like I said, you mess with me, I'm going to mess back - because I can. I'll let you know what I find out. I'm excited already; causing a stir gives me a joyous tingle in my bones. :)

Until next time...peace to all.