CanadaPost vs. Math

[dipmicro]

The o/s lettermail parcel came back with "postage due" sticker and written by hand 241g $4.10 Reg

There is 8x $0.50 + 1x $0.10 stamps. Nice of CanadaPost they did not cancel these stamps 🙂

[007steveb16]

I think that the only math CP is good at is calculating their millions of dollars loss they endure each financial quarter!

[pierrelebel]

"Nice of CanadaPost they did not cancel these stamps"

That is part of the problem.  No kidding.

If the stamps had been cancelled, the envelope would have gone through the system and be delivered.  However, when stamps are not cancelled, someone has to check if the envelope is properly franked.  And that is where some postal employee can make a mistake.

Now, I only mail a few hundred pieces of mail a year.  Prior to my retirement, I would mail several thousand pieces of mail every year.  Every one of them was hand cancelled at the post office.  That process avoided 99.9% of the problems.

[pjcdn2005]

I find that 99% of the envelopes/packages with stamps that my husband and I receive are not cancelled.  I'm sure that some people would steam off those stamps and try to reuse them so the post office must lose money because so many stamps are not cancelled.

[toff3]

PJ,

Years ago, during one of my run-ins with Moya Greene, Deepak's predecessor, she admitted that  failure by Canada Post staff to cancel stamps was a major headache for the corporation and assured me that every effort was being made to remedy the situation.

Now, with stamps at $0.85 a pop, I'll bet more and more people are assiduously steaming off uncancelled stamps for re-use.

Royal Mail in the UK appears to have found a solution to the problem. Their new stamps display a faint image of what looks like a paper clip. You try and steam one off. Bet you can't do it. I know - I've tried!

Tom  

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Whenever I stick multiple stamps on the envelope, I always write something like this right next to them...

0.50 x 4 = $2
0.30 x 6 = $1.80
0.01 x 5 = $0.05
----------------------
Total = $3.85

(I just made the numbers up on the spot of course)

Whoever still bounces that back should repeat elementary school level math, just sayin'... 

[reallynicestamps]

I'm sure that some people would steam off those stamps and try to reuse them so the post office must lose money because so many stamps are not cancelled.

I always imagine the sneaky person trying that steaming the skin right off their crooked little hands.

There is a safe way to remove stamps (not the self -stick ones) but I'm too mean to publish it. Ask a stamp collector.

And at 17 cents a minute, (ON minimum wage) how much do those smart alecs think they are saving anyway? Not counting the polysporin and time in the ER for scalds.

[toff3]

You don't actuallly need to bother with steam. A quick soak in cold water removes Canadian stamps in no time flat.

tom

[mr.elmwood]

Tom! You disappointed me. I expected (hoped for?) one of your anti-CP depositions. 🙂

[femmefan1946]

Which is almost exactly what I didn't want to tell scammers.

Fortunately, the advice still includes an error.