The ineffectiveness and incompetence of the USPS is well-known. In the hopes of making a transaction on a forum, I accepted payment as a USPS money order. Big mistake. The payment came by US Mail, taking about two weeks to arrive. The item I sold I sent to the buyer many many days before the money order arrived. It's just my own way of affirming that I still trust people. The payer even went to the post office to begin filing a claim, but was told to give it a few more days. Good thing, as the envelope arrived the next day.

Great! I can just scan the money order in my bank app on my phone to deposit it. Nope. You think it has been accepted, but in reality it is an exception, which means the bank app can deposit any check except a money order.

So, I go to the nearest post office today. One clerk. One. Three windows. One clerk. The line is out the door. Each person in front of me has another unusual situation. A woman in front of me had the clerk scurrying around looking for a lost item, which she had return addressed TO HERSELF with the wrong ZIP code. Yes, she was sure that the clerk could find her lost envelope from the UK somehow. In the post office for her real ZIP code, when the item was return addressed to the wrong ZIP code. How can you not know your ZIP code? A good 40 minutes in line wasted.

It is my turn. May I please cash this money order? Let me see if I have the cash, replies the clerk. Of course not. The USPS did not put any cash in her drawer that morning. Nothing. So, I leave with the $45 money order and head to my bank to cash the money order.

And, the bank is not open. No personnel. Nothing but the ATM line. Which won't work, as the bank already told me in rejecting my iPhone app deposit that such money orders require me to show ID. The ATM cannot verify my ID.

Never again will I accept payment other than by electronic means, for forum sales. It is just not worth it. Making it especially bittersweet was that the holster, recently purchased on a forum, did not fit my pistol, and I had to sell it at a loss.

Plus, from personal 600 dollar experience, you think there is some built n protection right? Postal Inspectors right? It’s all bullshit. I got nowhere. Money gone, no interest in my case, nothing. I send cash now. It offers exactly the same protection to me as a buyer as a USPS money order. Which is no protection but without the .95 cent charge and trip to PO. No thanks.

I really don’t sell stuff anymore. Thank God to because for years I was trying to find the right platform for relative permanency. So that meant selling dozens of magazines, holsters, etc. PITA.

I will only accept two forms of payment. PayPal gift payment. I’m explicit to not put any details in the payment at all. If you do, if you put one got damn thing in there “X holster”, anything at all, I reject the payment and I will NOT sell you the item. I cannot count how many times someone would not follow instructions. They just couldn’t resist putting something in there when I was explicit and transparent that if you do the the transaction is canceled. Idiot after idiot did it anyways. And this is when I gave them another option, mail a check, you know like from a bank! And it would state that I will wait for the check to clear before mailing. How hard is it to write a check for x item, put it in your mailbox. What’s that take like 2-3 minutes? I think it’s the waiting for clear that bothers people. When they pay for something they want it now got damnit. Nobody has any patience. On the flip side, when I buy something, I tell the seller I’m not in a hurry. I’d rather get it in mint condition compared to you stopping your life to mail a widget.

The Post Office is just fuckery these days no matter what. If I need to ship something I automatically run it through USPS, UPS, and FedEx. As long as it’s way more expensive I’ll ship through UPS or FedEx as it’s faster, and less bullshit. I’m not going to USPS to save 50 cents or a dollar or whatever. I don’t like waiting in their insane lines and I have to get a receipt from them that I dropped it off to them in case the idiots lose it. Selling things used to be so much easier. Post for a fair price, someone accepts, and no part of it as a huge thing. Simple. These days, everyone wants to haggle, and they have to feel like they get a win by bending you over. Cheap ass mother fuckers. Then they fuck up the payment. Next they are upset you didn’t ship it 30 minutes before they bought it. Sans a firearm I’m almost more likely to toss it in the trash I’m so tired of dealing with people.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Never again will I accept payment other than by electronic means, for forum sales. It is just not worth it.

Yep, whether people like it or not, technology marches on and by and large it is a good thing.

If you don't go with it, it'll run you over, much like a semi truck.

I often ask if I can send a personal check, never a hurry on shipping. I don’t care if it ships a month later, just don’t run off.

I’ll do a few electronic means too. Some sellers get hung up with a postal money order, that’s all they want.

I'm the guy who bought the holster and paid with a PMO, as so many f us have done successfully over the years. No more!!

And yes, I've been run over much like a semi truck -- my PayPal account was hacked twice in addition to running into problems like Prefontaine's. No more!!!

I called my post master again after reading 4MUL8R's rant, and he's 100% right. She told me there have been recent changes and small post offices can't cash PMO's over $24.99 and banks won't accept them electronically. That means they are officially as fucking useless as any other thing the government does.

She suggested trying a bigger post office branch (I'd suggest calling first to verify they will cash a mere $45 PMO)or take it to the bank again, My bank has a drive-through that's open pretty late.

I know you work long hours and this may not work but I won't leave you hanging. I can't risk EFT's but I'll mail you either a BANK money order or a personal check, your choice, just return the PMO once you get my new check.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this clusterfuck. I promise I'll make it right.

And, as I said in our e-mail exchanges, the holster is great!

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Yep, whether people like it or not, technology marches on and by and large it is a good thing.

Whether it's a good thing or not is a matter of opinion, but, regardless of opinion, wants or feels: It's happening.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
If you don't go with it, it'll run you over, much like a semi truck.

Yup.

I used to think myself as resistant to change as anybody you'd ever meet. That was until I saw some of what I've seen posted here on SF

I get some of the dislike, unease, paranoia, what-have-you I've seen expressed by some. I truly do. My career was in IT. I was paid to be paranoid. And I was. Still am. But the old ways of paying for things are slowly, but surely going extinct.

You can hate it. You can gnash your teeth and howl at the moon about it. But you can't stop it.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
... my PayPal account was hacked twice in addition to running into problems like Prefontaine's. No more!!!

If your PayPal account was "hacked" it was because you failed in one way or another to follow good security practices.

I've had the exact same PayPal account for twenty-one years. It so far has never been "hacked." (Knock on wood, because I'm only human.)

I follow IT security news pretty rigorously. I have yet to have heard or seen of PayPal accounts being particularly susceptible to being hacked.

Here are the common ways in which PayPal (and other) accounts get "hacked":

• People use the same email addresses for sensitive accounts they use everywhere else
  
• They use weak passwords or, even worse, the same or similar passwords they use elsewhere. (I've actually seen people here on SF admitting to doing that.)
  
• They fall for phishing attacks
  
• They use commonly-vulnerable and commonly-exploited operating systems and mobile devices, and are incautious in how they use them. This leads to things like keyloggers and other spyware getting installed on them.
  
• They share resources, such as computers, mobile devices, and accounts with others who behave irresponsibly
  

I just got back from Sam's Club and I was thinking about this thread while there.

I thought about a guy who used to be a friend. He refused to learn technology and was proud of it. I told him he needed to learn some things, but nope, he refused.

Well, I happened to go into a supermarket one Sunday and there he was, in the self checkout line and he couldn't figure out how to do it. People were staring at him because they wanted to check out and go home, and he started getting mad. Then he started getting vocal and berated the poor lady who worked there for his own stupidity. He felt stupid and took it out on another human being.

I told him if he ever did it around me again, we were through as friends. Civilized people don't do that.

And guess what? We're no longer friends and he's still technology illiterate and proud of it.

Wow. Sams self checkout is EASY. There is even a nice lady who helps if she sees you having a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Wow. Sams self checkout is EASY. There is even a nice lady who helps if she sees you having a problem.

It wasn't Sam's club, it was a supermarket called Fry's, but it isn't much harder than Sam's. You just don't have a handheld scanner, you have a flat bed scanner but otherwise it's the same.

But speaking of how easy it is at Sam's, the place was packed because of Easter coming up so I did the self checkout and I've got to say their handheld scanner has got to be the best in the business. It must have taken me around 2 minutes to check out and go.

For Postal Money Orders I send them Priority Mail so there's tracking and a chance of expediency.

PayPal- Love or hate them- I've both bought and sold items on a Sunday. Paid promptly and received \ delivered the item on Wednesday. It can't be beat when it works.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
And, the bank is not open. No personnel. Nothing but the ATM line. Which won't work, as the bank already told me in rejecting my iPhone app deposit that such money orders require me to show ID. The ATM cannot verify my ID.

Maybe you're doing business with the wrong bank. My bank is open seven days a week, and staffed by humans. They are only closed on federal holidays, and Easter Sunday!

Postal Money Orders used to be a respectable form of payment. I have a friend who years back, fell for a on line scam. UPS delivered him a parcel with 9 x $500.00 US Postal Money Orders. He took them to his bank and the bank put them in a new, seperate account. They turned up to be counterfeit. Ol Rob was looking on line to see if he had done something wrong and if he was wanted... . I told him that stuff was too good to be true. I sold a H&K here in classifieds years back. Guess I had 2 Postal Money Orders totaling around $1,200.00. I had to wait two days for my Post Office to have enough cash on hand to cash those. Its even worse now as every transaction gets paid by plastic. I am done buying and selling by internet. Sad because I've spent a lot on line over many years. I now better realize the inconvienence of Post Office MO for sellers.

Local issues with USPS PMO's:

PO never has enough money on hand to cash.

USPS calling a legit PMO counterfeit and attempting to seize it without compensation. Had to deal with the Postal Inspectors on that one. Took a couple of weeks to resolve in my favor.

Post Office A: Sign the back, put your DL number on there too.

Post Office B: Phone number on the front only.

Post Office C: Sign the back, phone number on the back.

Post office D: Don't write a single thing on the front or back, that is for the USPS to sign.

All four Post Office facilities insist their way is correct, and the other Post Offices are wrong. Different cashiers want different things at the same facility. So much for uniform training I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

My bank is open seven days a week, and staffed by humans.

What bank is that?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

My bank is open seven days a week, and staffed by humans.

What bank is that?

A bank that opens "seven days a week, and staffed by humans"? That's not a bank. That's a convenient store.

Btw, the "I don't have enough cash right now" at the PO is well known. Don't even bother with that shit, I just go to the bank and physically deposit the MO.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

My bank is open seven days a week, and staffed by humans.

What bank is that?

TD Bank...America's Most Convenient Bank!

Wow. Mine's only open 6 days a week.

I've no idea what days & hours our CU is open. I so-rarely have to actually physically go there anymore it's become somewhat unimportant.

I am not a young man. Or even a young-ish man. I was born and grew up during the glow-bottle (vacuum tube) era. I paid cash or wrote checks for everything for all my younger adult life.

Maybe because of my past primary hobbies and career (all tech-related), I've felt it necessary to stay atop things and not shun fancy new tech just because it was fancy new tech.

I am selective, though. I tend not to do tech just because it exists. There's some tech I shun because I don't need it and I don't trust it (e.g.: home bugging tech like Alexa), other tech I shun because it's not available/packaged in a form I find suitable (e.g.: virtual reality toys), and still other tech I shun because, while it sounds like fun, I know I wouldn't get much use or play out of it (e.g.: drones).

But tech that fills a need and with which I can establish an acceptable comfort level: You betcha. In a heartbeat.