Corporate arrogance and the public's stupidity seem to be a perfect marriage. The United States Postal Service recently raised the price of a first class stamp to 39 cents. So, as of a certain day in January (I think it was) everyone had to buy a bunch of 2 cent stamps to add to the supply of 37 cent stamps they already had.
Now, the USPS is asking Congress for another increase to 42 cents per stamp. However, these are supposed to be special stamps. The Post Office is calling them the Forever Stamp. What that means, if congress approves, is that if you pay 42 cents for these stamps and don't use them right away (even if the rates increase again) you can still mail a first class letter without additional postage. Forever.
They finally have a stamp to match the speed of the letter getting there (forever).
But really, all seriousness aside, what is wrong with this picture? In a reasonable, sane world, isn't that how you would have thought stamps should have worked all along?
When I buy a stamp it is the same as buying a ticket or voucher good for one whatever. You don't buy a ticket to a movie outside and the ticket takers inside charge another 50 cents because the price just went up. You don't buy tickets for a cruise in February to be used in June and have to pay more at the time of the cruise because the rates went up.
When we buy a stamp, the Post Office is agreeing to move one letter, from here to there, for that price. Our proof of the contract is the stamp. There is no time limit displayed or implied in the purchase of this travel voucher for my message. They have received due recompense for mailing a letter. The money is in their system. They have a river of mail passing through their system all the time and it should not matter when our letter joins the stream.
To ask for more money after we paid them to move the letter is a retroactive price increase. We are expected to pay more for something that they already agreed to do for the previous price. I can't think of another example of this occurring in a free market society.
Well, maybe one example. "Here's the $10,000 for killing that guy for me."
"Yeah, about that. You didn't tell me he was a politician. There's going to be more heat on this. The price just went up!"
"To what?"
"I want $10,000 and a 2 cent stamp. And I ain't kiddin' around here!"
The thing that the Post office has to sell is passage on their mail trucks. When they sell a stamp they have sold that passage. They made an agreement or contract to move a letter at that price. The Forever Stamp is merely someone coming to their senses. Which is probably why it's just sane enough not to work.
Anyway, I have to go now. The place where I bought my Jeep called and said they think it is worth more than what they originally charged. So now, I'm going to have to stop by the Post Office and pick up a couple thousand 2 cent stamps to satisfy those pricks.
2 comments:
The $.42 forever stamp is exactly what you are asking for. You say that if you buy a stamp then that is the price that the post office should charge to move the letter or whatever but if that was the case, everybody would just buy a $.01 stamp and say that is now the deal to move what I am mailing. Your argument only works if there is only one stamp issued by the post office.
The point he was trying to make was that the post office should have never started the additional stamp business in the first place. Example: Say the current price is .25. They raise it to .28. Now they honor the .28 cent stamps AND the rest of the .25 stamps until they are gone. They would have NEVER issued or needed to issue a .01 stamp. Get it?
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