Photos
Blog
NewslettersDo you still use snail mail?
Submitted by Meghann Ackerman on Tue, 2008-05-13 14:25.
The cost of mailing a letter increased yesterday and I'm wondering how many people still use paper and ink as their main mode of communication.
Unless there's a "convenience" charge, I do all my bill paying online. It's especially handy for those months I need to make payments at the last minute. I'm a fan of e-mail because it lets me keep in touch while maintaining that degree of detachment that I like.
- Meghann Ackerman's blog
- Login to post comments
- 340 reads
I hardly ever use it anymore. Email is becoming my main method of communication, both near and far. I use online bill pay for as many things as I can. It's quicker, easier, and I get to keep my money in my account for as long as possible before having to give it to someone else. I still use the post office for packages and cards, though.
I think the postal service is in a catch-22 now. They keep on raising the rates to combat all the people going paperless, which only serves to cause MORE people to go paperless, which means they have to raise the rates again, because they are not making enough to meet the budget, etc, etc.
I believe that eventually (probably not in the immediate future) the postal service will become obsolete and go out of business.
On the rare occasion that I do need to mail something larger than a letter, the post office can't be beat on their rates.
Think about it for a second. You write your letter or pay your bill, put the self adhesive stamp on it and put it in your mailbox, or in a mail drop. Like clockwork, a vehicle drives to where your letter is, picks it up and takes it somewhere where it is sorted and put on the right plane or truck, and it gets delivered to another place where it is sorted again and put on the right truck and then delivered to the right person at the right address (most of the time at least)all that for 42 cents. Is it really that big a rip off?
This is from the same society that finds nothing wrong with paying a dollar fifty for a bottle of water or paying five dollars for a cup of mocca latte decaf frap with orgainc non dairy milk.
I rarely send a letter, but I don't feel ripped off when I spend 42 cents for a stam, but that's just me.
Actually it's a pretty good value. It's just more convenient to pay online and email is a lot faster. The postal service seems to have slowed down in the recent past. And, with life as busy as it is, I prefer to accomplish things as quickly as possible. But that's just me...
I looked at it too and decided to stay with snail mail. The cost per check is about the same either way, but online does mean you don't have to stuff envelopes and drive to the PO. From what I understand in a business forum I am on, payment is not any faster. The banks consolidate the transfers and that may take several days, so in most cases it is not instant unless you have an account with each vendor, like SCE&G and Embarq.
I pay my credit cards by email and they electronically transfer it out of my banking account. The payment time is your choice, but some cards will allow payment the same day and others insist on a one day delay.
To each his own.
Good point, stoney. But snail mail has lost 2 mortgage payments and 3 birthday cards with checks. So, yes, even 10 cents is too much. I personally deliver all mail that I can. The 4 or 5 others I mail out worry me till the next bill comes in showing credit for payment.
I trust the USPS almost as far as I can pee up a rope.
Maybe some people just don't have computers.Or maybe they need to mail things like christmas cards birthday cards and important documents.
Maybe some people just don't have computers.Or maybe they need to mail things like christmas cars birthday cards and important documents.
You can send me Christmas cars! I'll take a red Corvette convertible with manual tranny!
You can send me Christmas cars! I'll take a red Corvette convertible with manual tranny!
Haha,computer glitch but you know what I ment lol;>.
More like a user glitch,lol.
I doubt that I have sent 5 pieces of snail mail in the last 10 years. The internet is just to fast, cost effective, reliable, and convenient. E-mail, bill paying, and even purchases are easier. I use the Post Office and UPS for parcels, but not much else. I remember postage stamps a 2 cents each, and that was indeed a bargain for the service you received, but 42cents is not. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Not when the fat lazy union mail carrier refuses to get out of their truck to personally hand you anything. Mine sits at the curb and honks until we walk to him if personal contact is required. Not when the neighbor continually gets my mail and I get his. For my money, you could shut down the Post Office tomorrow. UPS and FEDEX do a better job with the parcels.
Think about it....send a letter by snail mail, it takes 2-5 days to get there and you pay 42 cents. Send it by e-mail, you can have a response in minutes, and the cost is included in your internet service.