gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
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Mood: hanging in there . . .
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Problem with too many expired sent cards?
I have what I guess is an unusual problem. The mail service here was on strike for nearly a month, which was announced on August 7th. They have been
back at work since the end of August.
However, I have the feeling that they were not sending out international mail for quite a while before then - without making it public. I sent out
quite a few cards, for example, on July 19th and 25th, and everything has expired.
I now have 17 expired cards, nearly all sent in the weeks prior to the strike. I usually don't resend and it would be expensive to resend all of
those, and there are some more that are likely to expire in the next week.
I just wanted to check that having so many expired cards is not going to affect my account when I request addresses in the future. I know when there
is a gap between sent and registered, at some point people can't send more cards. Is there anything similar when you have so many cards expire in a
short time, because maybe there is the assumption you didn't send the cards?
I am going to put in a complaint to the Chilean Postal Service tomorrow. The whole situation has me very annoyed, but I haven't had time to deal with
it. I was out of the country, then last week was our national holidays and now this week I was very busy working on a special project, so I haven't
been able to until now. |
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
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Mood: hanging in there . . .
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Quote: Originally posted by mtts  |
If the Chilean postworkers start working, sooner or later your cards will be delivered, depending on the baglog.
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Thanks mtts, it sounds like that could be what is going on. They are back to work, I am getting mail and a few things I sent out since they started
working have arrived. It is things that were sent before they even announced strike that are stuck. I just had another few expire today. I really hope
they begin to clear out the backlog and those things start to arrive. Along with the officials sent some swap cards that I can't get duplicates of to
resend, since I bought them on vacation. I would feel pretty badly if she doesn't receive them, since her cards have arrived to me. |
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Mundoo
Head Forum Administrator
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Location: Hindmarsh Island Australia
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| Quote: Originally posted by mtts |
If the difference get too large you might get blocked, sent versus received cards and the number of expired is from influence, and I think also if
subsequent requested cards are expired. I have the impression that with the mathematic formula Postcrossing uses for this accounts are automaticly
stopped, and not reported and handset on a stop. |
Sent and received numbers are all taken into account as well as sent expired and received expired.
When the percentage goes outside a parameter then an automatic stop is put on the account. A message is displayed that new addresses can't be
requested until some of the expired (sent or received) are registered.
Vicki
Postcrossing Team
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
Member Is Offline
Mood: hanging in there . . .
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Well, yesterday, I went to the Post Office to mail something out. I asked about the situation and they pretty much confirmed what you were saying,
mtts. They are dealing with the backlog, but there is no system by date or anything, they send out the bags they can get to.
The good news is that today two officials arrived (one expired, one about to expire) and an unofficial swap also was received. So, things are starting
to move again.  |
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Taxingwoman
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I don't know if the post in Chile is the same as Canada, but when there is a strike, they no longer pay overtime to clear the backlog. Workers have
all the new mail coming in and have to deal with the old stuff as well, on their regular shift.
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
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Mood: hanging in there . . .
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I don't think the public sector workers here wouldn't work overtime even if the government tried to make them. They are notoriously lazy.
The mailman was bugging me to pay him for the last few months. I haven't been around when he came by so I owed him for several month. They have a
legal right to ask for a certain amount per piece of mail. In my case, we agreed to a set amount for month, since I get a lot of mail. He told me I
owed August too, even though they didn't work nearly all of August. I tried to argue with him, but ended up having to pay. It's not that much money,
and I don't want my mail to suddenly start disappearing. Still it was annoying that he wanted money for that time when he wasn't even delivering mail.
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gran8
formerly known as gran7
Posts: 188
Registered: 1-10-2009
Location: Lancashire
Country Flag: UK
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Mood: Happy to be with my family 
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| Quote: Originally posted by gringalais | I don't think the public sector workers here wouldn't work overtime even if the government tried to make them. They are notoriously lazy.
The mailman was bugging me to pay him for the last few months. I haven't been around when he came by so I owed him for several month. They have a
legal right to ask for a certain amount per piece of mail. In my case, we agreed to a set amount for month, since I get a lot of mail. He told me I
owed August too, even though they didn't work nearly all of August. I tried to argue with him, but ended up having to pay. It's not that much money,
and I don't want my mail to suddenly start disappearing. Still it was annoying that he wanted money for that time when he wasn't even delivering mail.
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You have to pay your postman?? Is he not paid from his employer? Or am I being particularly naive? |
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
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Mood: hanging in there . . .
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gran7 - they get a (pretty low) salary, I guess more after the strike, but legally they have a right for a small extra amount for piece of mail
delivered. I am not sure how this came about, but it exists. |
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paulo
Super Administrator
Posts: 451
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@gringalais: Sorry to hear about the strike. I'm particularly surprised to learn that recipients in Chile have to pay to get their post. Was it always
like this or is it something recent?
I would imagine that, because Chile Post is member of the UPU, that they would have to follow universal guidelines for delivery, which means, they should charge a fee to the country of origin to deliver
the mail coming from them to Chile (called terminal dues) - this is what happens worldwide in pretty much every country that belongs to UPU as far as I know (but I could be wrong!). So
perhaps they are not charging the delivery to the country of origin as most countries do - which is rather odd I think.
Regarding your account, I just had a quick look and you currently have the same amount of sent and received so you couldn't be further away from any
risk of being blocked: the different between sent and received (and the ratio of expired postcards to some extent) would really have to be very large
for Postcrossing to stop you, and right now there's no difference at all. So for the moment, I wouldn't worry with it.
I hope better (postal) days come your way! |
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
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Mood: hanging in there . . .
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Thanks for checking on that paulo. I am glad to hear there is no problem. There were just so many cards that expired in such a short time, I started
to wonder.
I have lived here for 11 years now and always had to pay something to the mail carrier. I also lived here in the 90s. However, I am not sure it if was
in effect then because I lived in an apartment and if you live in an apartment it is included in the monthly condo fee that also covers stuff like
utilities in common areas, cleaning staff, etc. If you live in a house, they come directly and ask for it. It is viewed as a small tip for the mail
carrier, a minimum of CLP30 per letter, but they have a legal right to ask for it. The money stays with the carrier, it doesn't go to Correos Chile,
so it doesn't sound like it is related to the UPU regulations.
I guess it is a way of subsidizing their wages, since they are quite low. I was surprised to learn when they went on strike, that a lot of postal
workers start out at minimum wage, which is only about US$400 per month. Government workers tend to earn better salaries than that. They did get a
raise out of the strike, though.
We are also expected to tip the garbage men here, but only for Christmas and the national holidays in September. Of course, they also get a regular
salary too. Then, there are the grocery store baggers that depend only on customer tips. |
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paulo
Super Administrator
Posts: 451
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@gringalais: Thanks for taking the time to explain this. For me personally this is quite an interesting topic to learn about.
Do you know if this happens everywhere in Chile? Any chance that this would be only in some areas where it is too expensive to have home delivery?
And if you allow me one more question: what happens if you don't pay him? Do you have the option to pick up the mail yourself at the postoffice
without any fees? |
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gringalais
Member
Posts: 333
Registered: 20-6-2006
Location: Chile
Country Flag: Chile
Postcrossing Username: gringalais
Member Is Offline
Mood: hanging in there . . .
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paulo - I am not sure, Patagonia has some very remote areas, with ranches that are sometimes not even accessible by road, are hours from the nearest
town, etc. So, I would imagine they would have to go into town to get their mail. It wouldn't be cost effective to have a mailman just to go to one or
two houses a day.
As far as what happens when you don't pay and more information about this legislation, you can look here for explanations:
http://www.correos.cl/SitePages/ayuda/faq_empresa/distribucion.aspx
They say it was set at 30 pesos in 2004. I am sure it must have existed before that, maybe 2004 just was an adjustment to the price. I lived in an
apartment between 2002 and 2004 and I remember that the summary of the condo fees included a payment to the mailman. |
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paulo
Super Administrator
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Learning something new every day . Thanks for sharing! |
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nrrdgrrl
New Member
Posts: 11
Registered: 15-1-2006
Location: joburg south africa
Country Flag: South Africa
Postcrossing Username: nrrdgrrl
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Mood: winterrrr...
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8 lost in space, still not allowed to send
Hmmm after three lengthy postal strikes in a row, 8 cards remain undelivered. I received the stop message and sent all again, one for the third time.
Nothing much happened. Now what? Wait until the expired ones are a year old and disappear? (that's just 80 or so days to go)
I find it a bit unfair as I've sent 1200 cards now and am allowed to send way more than 8. However due to these 8 I can't send anything at the
moment.
Looking at the generic numbers of South Africa, where the top-5 has hardly moved for half a year now, it seems I'm not the only one with this problem?
(Due to the same cause I have unbalanced sent/received amounts - initially nothing was delivered and then the replacement cards came together with the
previously undelivered ones)
| Quote: Originally posted by Mundoo |
When the percentage goes outside a parameter then an automatic stop is put on the account. A message is displayed that new addresses can't be
requested until some of the expired (sent or received) are registered.
Vicki
Postcrossing Team
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nrrdgrrl
New Member
Posts: 11
Registered: 15-1-2006
Location: joburg south africa
Country Flag: South Africa
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Mood: winterrrr...
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Not sure if it had anything to do with this post or with the somewhat unexpected arrival of one more card at practically the same time ...  but my problem is solved. The block is gone.
Thanks.
| Quote: Originally posted by nrrdgrrl | Hmmm after three lengthy postal strikes in a row, 8 cards remain undelivered. I received the stop message and sent all again, one for the third time.
Nothing much happened. Now what? Wait until the expired ones are a year old and disappear? (that's just 80 or so days to go)
I find it a bit unfair as I've sent 1200 cards now and am allowed to send way more than 8. However due to these 8 I can't send anything at the moment.
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paulo
Super Administrator
Posts: 451
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@nrrdgrrl: glad to hear it got sorted, although we didn't do anything on our side about it. I guess it just arrived. By the way, I see that another
one had already arrived a couple of days before (on the 16th), so it seems that maybe your last attempt on resending them is working. Would be
interesting to know which postcard was received — do you know if it was one for your first attempt that was still queued up somewhere?
I should explain that 8 is indeed low, specially for your account — it was not the percentage of expired postcards that you were being blocked for.
Instead, you were being blocked because of all the postcards you had requested (back in August), not a single one had arrived since then. While I can
understand it is frustrating to not being able to request more, I think the block makes sense here — if none of those didn't manage to reach their
destinations, it wouldn't make sense to give away more addresses as they would probably end up on the same situation and affect more accounts.
I do hope the strikes are over now? From what I can see, number of postcards sent from South Africa is now back to what seems to be a normal amount,
although the average travel times are still quite high (~45-60 days). Perhaps there's still a backlog to go through. |
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Princess-Jo
Member
Posts: 792
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Country Flag: England
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Mood: Receiving beautiful postcards
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so many cards expiring  |
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