Hand Canceling - Invites

My local Post Office is just awful and full of misinformation. In addition to all the problems I have had over the years, I was told this morning when I went to retrieve a package that they do NOT hand cancel mail and that everything goes through the machines Now I know that is NOT true since not all mail can fit in the cancellation machine or the sorter machine.

So, after I was lied to this morning, I decided to track down the postal worker who flirts with me all the time He told me to bring in my invites on Saturday and he will personally hand cancel them and make sure they do NOT go through the sorter



ETA 1/23/06

I dropped off 4 straggler invites today and was told it's .90 each to hand cancel (A clerk and her supervisor told me that). And that THEY RUN THEM THROUGH A MACHINE ANYWAY to spray on the bar code for sorting Not sure if it's the same machine that cancels the postage Maybe there is a way to turn off that feature since I doubt they send mail through two separate machines to cancel postage and then do bar coding

So what is the point of hand cancelling

ETA 1/24/06

My invites WERE NOT hand cancelled and they went through a machine (to cancel postage, to sort) possibly 3 TIMES

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

Why are you cancelling???

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

It is best to hand cancel the invitations b/c otherwise they stick them through the machine and they can be ruined or marked up.

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

u go girl

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

Am I the stupidest person?? What is hand cancelling???

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

Work it girl!!!

(insert little whistling icon here!)

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

Sorry to burst your bubble K...but they all go through the machine anyway. It's a huge waste of time as they need to be 'sorted' at the different PO's that they're being mailed to. So they'll be barcoded, stamped and trated badly...like all other piece of mail. My invite came back with 3 stamps...and my MOH's was bent.

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

someone please save me from my ignorance - what is hand cancelling? The date stamper???

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by lipglossjunky73

someone please save me from my ignorance - what is hand cancelling? The date stamper???

---

Cancelling out the postage (so that it can't be re-used) by using a hand stamp as opposed as running it through a machine.

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

OOOOHhhh - I thought so - for a second I thought she was cancelling the invites - meaning - not having the wedding...

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by SomethingBlu
So they'll be barcoded, stamped and trated badly...like all other piece of mail.

---

mine weren't...

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

i went to a place here in CA to send my STD with magnets in them, i sent out a few first to family to make sure they made it ok (hand stamped) then went to another post office since they made it all ok, and the guy ROLLED his eyes at me and said they'd be fine! THEY WEREN'T all the ones i heard of the magnet came loose and was forced to one side of the invite fromthe roller and made crease marks and black marks from the magnet.. so in the mail the magnets were loose and made all kinds of black marks.. i AM soooo upset!!! i spent SOOOO Much time and effort on them! I went to the post master and complained! He said they should not have gone through the machine! His wife does a lot of artsy cards and he knows.... i was just SOOO pissed at this lazy postal worker,.. he is paid to be there anyway, what is the big deal.. there were about 50 of them!

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by suven

---

Posted by SomethingBlu
So they'll be barcoded, stamped and trated badly...like all other piece of mail.

---

mine weren't...

---

Mine weren't either!!

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by Boop2704

---

Posted by suven

---

Posted by SomethingBlu
So they'll be barcoded, stamped and trated badly...like all other piece of mail.

---

mine weren't...

---

Mine weren't either!!

---

I'm thinking that some fool tossed Sasha's in the sorter even though they were already hand cancelled...

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

i wouldn't worry about it.... DH is an engineer, and one summer he did a job at a regional postal center, and was talking about all the machines they had there and all that has to happen for the mail to get where it needs to go...
honestly, you can hand cancel them, but they'll still most likely go through a sorting machine to get to where they're going.... and i think most people expect envelopes and mail to get a little marked up in the process... its not gonna make them think any less of your invitation.....

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

I was out all day and just got back to this.

I will double check with my friendly postal worker guy but he did say he can make sure they are hand cancelled and sorted

We'll see

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by 103005FallBride

Work it girl!!!

(insert little whistling icon here!)

---

And the funny part is he will come out of his little cubicle area when I am in line to see what I need, go get it, and come back and wait for me to fill out the paperwork. I try to work my postal visits around his schedule if I can

When I called today to speak to him, he told me that I had a package there (which was the package I had picked up a couple of hours before I called). FH thinks is funny - at least for the moment

I know other people must hate that but hey, this is the first time that I asked for his help

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

This is an example of hand canceling, for those that asked. It's the red stamp in the corner.

• 

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

---

Posted by BKtoLI

This is an example of hand canceling, for those that asked. It's the red stamp in the corner.

---

Clearly the bottom barcode shows that hers were still sent through the sorter.

Mine were sent internationally and from a Manhattan PO...they were all sorted and stamped even though they were hand cancelled.

The ones that didn't have this happen are lucky girls. And seem to be in the minority.

Post about hand cancelling and its issues...

Re: Hand Canceling - Invites

exactly! like i said... there are tons of letters that go through the mail every day- its pretty much impossible for them to sort any of them by hand... they all have to go through at least a sorting machine at some point.... so to me, its really not worth stressing about hand canceling them, because theres still a chance they'll get marked up in the sorting machine.