wasjrx51
**Member** 
Posts: 6
What I collect: US, Canada, UN and UN "Topicals"
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Post by wasjrx51 on Feb 3, 2022 18:55:17 GMT
Sorry for the vague generic heading ... I am finding that the self adhesive stamps I am getting from the US Post Office, like Annual Yearbooks and "Collector" stamps purchased, arrive with cut perfs, or worse, no perfs. I have written twice to complain without a response. I have only checked this year's (actually 2021) stamps as I have always kept the Yearbooks sealed, but I feel compelled to open up past years to see what condition they are in. Has anyone experienced this? And what recourse is there if they do not answer emails? I assume that a cut stamp is worthless to a collector - or has times changed that?
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angore
Member 
Posts: 5,335 
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Feb 4, 2022 12:25:06 GMT
I am not actually surprised since removing self adhesives from a sheet without the die cuts going through the release liner are difficult to cut out cleanly quickly. I believe this reduces the collectability of singles but USPS really wants people to save sheets.
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Feb 4, 2022 13:00:09 GMT
I am not actually surprised since removing self adhesives from a sheet without the die cuts going through the release liner are difficult to cut out cleanly quickly. I believe this reduces the collectability of singles but USPS really wants people to save sheets. |
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Cephus
Member
Posts: 161
What I collect: U.S. 1847-1993, Australia, China, New Zealand
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Post by Cephus on Feb 4, 2022 18:47:11 GMT
That's why I stopped collecting modern U.S. If they want to make it difficult for me to collect, I just won't collect anymore and spend my money elsewhere.
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wasjrx51
**Member**
Posts: 6
What I collect: US, Canada, UN and UN "Topicals"
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Post by wasjrx51 on Feb 18, 2022 1:52:45 GMT
So I have an update about the bad stamps I received from the USPS ... After waiting 3 weeks without a response, I called the phone number on the invoice. It was a long wait (maybe 25-30 minutes on hold) but I finally spoke with a lady about my problems. She advised to send the entire packets back but keep the album. I didn't notice it before, but there is a return postage label right on the invoice you can detach. So I sent both packets back with a letter explaining that I wanted "collector quality" stamps as the lady advised. Within 4 days, I got a Priority Mail back with 2 new packets. Unfortunately, the album packet was worse than the original, but the high value packet only had 1 stamp that was bad, so that one was better. I called again, waited on hold for about 20 minutes, and spoke to another lady. When I explained that I had already sent in a return, she admitted that they use scissors to cut the stamps apart, and it is just luck as to which stamps you get. She actually said to buy 2 or 3 sets, cull the better stamps out to make one good set, and send the rest back! Maybe I am being naive, but I would think that if they sell stamp sets for collectors, they would at least have stamps that didn't have cut and missing perfs! Anyway, I will keep the one set, and send the other back for an exchange ... but this is the last year I will buy the Annual Album!
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,335
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Feb 18, 2022 11:46:44 GMT
The recommendation to buy multiple lots and pick out the best is quite unusual. It sounds more like a sympatric person and not a USPS employee.
If I collected US singles, I would suggest getting a group to do a group buy of sheets and then have someone that cares separate the stamps.
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Cephus
Member
Posts: 161
What I collect: U.S. 1847-1993, Australia, China, New Zealand
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Post by Cephus on Feb 18, 2022 19:39:28 GMT
So I have an update about the bad stamps I received from the USPS ... After waiting 3 weeks without a response, I called the phone number on the invoice. It was a long wait (maybe 25-30 minutes on hold) but I finally spoke with a lady about my problems. She advised to send the entire packets back but keep the album. I didn't notice it before, but there is a return postage label right on the invoice you can detach. So I sent both packets back with a letter explaining that I wanted "collector quality" stamps as the lady advised. Within 4 days, I got a Priority Mail back with 2 new packets. Unfortunately, the album packet was worse than the original, but the high value packet only had 1 stamp that was bad, so that one was better. I called again, waited on hold for about 20 minutes, and spoke to another lady. When I explained that I had already sent in a return, she admitted that they use scissors to cut the stamps apart, and it is just luck as to which stamps you get. She actually said to buy 2 or 3 sets, cull the better stamps out to make one good set, and send the rest back! Maybe I am being naive, but I would think that if they sell stamp sets for collectors, they would at least have stamps that didn't have cut and missing perfs! Anyway, I will keep the one set, and send the other back for an exchange ... but this is the last year I will buy the Annual Album! Because they're not actually trying to sell to collectors. They want to sell to members of the general public who will ooh and aah over the stamps, then put them away and never look at them again. It's painfully clear that while the USPS tries to make use of philatelists, they don't actually respect us or care what we think. They're in it for the money (which is fine) but they don't really give a damn about their customers. It's why service has been so terrible for so many years. They just don't care. |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,335
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Feb 19, 2022 11:41:32 GMT
I think they are trying to sell to collectors but as you said they do not respect them. They highlight the issues of self-adhesives - hard to separate from a sheet and they do not soak of envelopes - not collector friendly. They really want collectors to buy sheets.
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