Man! I must have the SLOWEST postal service around. I still haven't got my copy of RM.

Glad I am not the only one, This happened last issue too. I swear the post office people read it first. And they want a raise. Pay more, do less.

Don't feel bad my wife is a letter carrier out of the office where we get our mail and I don't have mine yet either.
Allen Madsen
San Jose, CA.

How does the USPS determine with Presorted Standard what goes where/how first? I have had mine almost 2 weeks ago and I live in rural Central Oregon. Is it all shipped surface or is some, to farther destinations, sent air?

Just curious.

Bob
La Pine, Oregon

It sits, and sits and sits. It sits until enough presorted mail gathers for your particular area. Generally, it takes about 30 days to reach most subscribers. In some cases it gets there in two weeks, for others it takes about 5 to 5 and half weeks.

I wish I could afford to mail it at the second class rate, which moves regardless of volume. But, even at the 3rd class rate, the recent postal increase will hit me for about an additional $2000 per year. I gross about $1.20 per subscription. So I'll have to sell an additional 1500 to 1600 subscriptions just to break even on the latest increase. I don't begrudge the US Postal Service any increase - after dealing with so many postal services in other countries, I'm confident the US Postal Service is the absolute finest postal system on the planet, bar none. But, there is only one really affordable way to do this and we're reaching the limit even at that.

Be grateful for our wonderful postal service. In most countries that I've dealt with, only about 50% of the subscribers ever got their issues. Here in the U.S., about 98% will receive theirs, even though it may take a few weeks.

.................



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2006 04:54PM by Tom Kirkman.

Want to have some fun? Ask your mail carrier about "mail count" and what it has to do with when that priority of mail gets delivered. You will really be steamed when you find out that Rodmaker could have been piled in back of the local post office until the supervisors daily work load is such that class of mail can get if sorted and distributed to the local carrier without any overtime being paid. My daughter is a rural carrier and she can talk for hours on the inadequacies of the postal system and their petty rules to keep working hours to a minimum. I can see the headlines now -

Rodbuilders Storm Federal Post Office In Search of Their Magazines!

Gon Fishn

Man! I thought I was bad off. Allen has it worse! LOL

He's not the only one. I live in Sunnyvale, CA, just up the road from Allen. So far, no RM for me either. It is kind of difficult to keep focused with the giant sucky sound from the local USPS offices. Not only can they not deliver all the mail in a timely manner, they cannot even run their business to keep the costs down. Grumble, Grumble.

Doug Weber
Weber Rod Works

That is three from California. It is a conspiracy. Lets storm the PO.(I heard that somewhere) In Case anyone really cares I wouldnt begrudge anyone for getting a pay raise(other than the politicians), I guess I was just making a poor joke. The Post office does a good job, I just want my RM. Also not criticising the class the mag is sent out by Tom. Sending it any other class would be a waste of money. I will try to be more patient in the future.

3rd Class Presorted Mail was never intended to offer "timely delivery." Only delivery.

.............

Tom,
You know this is all in good humor. Not one of us is going to drop a subscription to the best publication on rod building that has ever been available.

Tom. I don't know what the increase would be to go to second class mail per subcription a year ??
I wouldn't mind paying more for it to get it sooner.I would also like seeing RodMaker deliverd in a plastic bag.It would really be nice to be able to get what you payed for,clean and fresh,unsoild and unread by the freebie,lookie lews.

It seems like about every 3rd issue looks like it has been read and re-read by many.I think this may have been brought up before.But it does get old.But then again it happens to my Florida Sportsman mag.too.
Just not right.

Oh I realize that, but on another note you would be surprised what consumers react to. For instance, when I raised the price of a RodMaker subscription by $2 a couple years back (had to do it to cover increasing printing and mailing costs) about 1/3rd of the total subscriber base dropped their subscriptions. Think about that - an increase of just 33 cents per issue was all it took to get 1 out of 3 people to decide not to renew.

Frankly the numbers were getting out of hand anyway so it was a nice respite for me as the workload tapered off somewhat. Of course, now the numbers have come back up. But it's always interesting to see how and what consumers react to.

.......

As a matter of fact, RodMaker used to be mailed in a clear plastic bag - heat sealed. The delivery rate was about 94%. It seems that those who wanted to peak at it had to tear the bag open, which then made it impossible for it to be delivered. With the false mailing covers, the delivery rate is a solid 98%. The carrier or whoever, can now thumb through it and then toss it back in the pile where it still gets delivered.

As far as those willing to pay more for second class postage, give it some thought. What would it change? You'd still only get 6 issues per year. Everybody now, regardless of when their magazine gets to them respective to each other, will still get them about the same time each month. Nothing would really change except the expense.

And, I know that about 30% to 35% of the subscribers would either cancel or fail to renew if the price went up but just $2.

None of this is an excuse, just some explanations from someone who has been mailing these things and studying the data for going on 9 years now.

If you do get a magazine that's been through the wringer, just email me and I'll send you a replacement.

...........

Thanks Tom! I knew you had it coverd from all views.Never knew that it would be taken out of the plastic bag though.Oh well it just goes to show you.Thanks for your time.

Kudo's to Tom and the USPS!!
Although I cry and whine like everyone else till my RM issue arives I have alway received it in the same month
it was mailed and never in other than exelent shape! I also send and receive many many through the postal
service and to date only and problems with 2 packages and they arrived at my local post office at the same time.
I guess this could be because I live in the capitol (Sacramento) who knows? After 100's of things comming and going I don't reslly have much to complain about!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I also live in San Jose, CA. and no RM for me either. San Jose must be a little behind with the mail.

- Sam

Do you know the way to San Jose?? la la la la

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Whoo I thought my mail was slow sence I live back in the booies, but I got mine the day before XMAS
Good Wraps Bob

See what happens when you live on the laid-back west coast? Too much sun and sand - the postman (and your mags) are probably at the beach.