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Had an interesting USPS/LTC experience

News Shooter

News Shooter

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So I go to the post office to open a box because I live so far out now and sometimes need to get my mail before COB.

The guy hands me an application and a sheet stating "All applicants for PO Boxes must have two forms of ID from the following list:

Alien Registration Card
Armed Forces ID
Certificate of Naturalization
Current Lease
Deed of Trust
Drivers License
Government ID
Home insurance policy
Mortgage
Passport
Recognized corporate ID card
State issued ID card
University ID
Vehicle Insurance poloicy
Vehicle registration card
Voter registration card

Now, I have no problem with this per se (he tells me it's part of Homeland Security), but it turns out I left my Deed of Trust at home this morning and all I had with me was my DL.

But then I noticed State Issued ID Card. So I gave the guy my DL and LTC. He looks at the LTC and his face becomes contorted and he's squinting to look at it closer. It was obvious he had never seen one before. He handed it back to me and said he couldn't accept it as an ID.

I pointed out to him that it is a state issued ID card. That seems to register sort of but, then he walked over to another clerk and showed it to her and she shook her head. He came back and said it had to be an official state "identification" card. I didn't even know there was such a thing.

I protested politely, but to no avail and decided that since I was in Boston
discretion would be the better part of valor and there are more important battles to fight, so I left.

It's not a big deal in the great scheme of things. I can always go back and there is also a UPS store with boxes not to far away.

I just kept thinking of the old line "We're from the government and are here to help you."
 
News Shooter said:
State issued ID card


But then I noticed State Issued ID Card. So I gave the guy my DL and LTC. He looks at the LTC and his face becomes contorted and he's squinting to look at it closer. It was obvious he had never seen one before. He handed it back to me and said he couldn't accept it as an ID.
Click to expand...

Both clerks were cretins, a class I am not tolerant of - especially when they exist to serve US.

You should have demanded to see the postmaster and then asked him/her just what part of "Commonwealth of Massachusetts" and "License" his staff was too stupid to comprehend.

It works with the occasional TSA twit; I would expect it to work with a USPS nitwit as well.

And who in Massachusetts has a "Deed of Trust"? Note that it is the functional equivalent of a mortgage, which is already listed. It is NOT the same as a deed, which, for some reason, is NOT on the list. [rolleyes]
 
They accepted it at my (very small) local post office. But then again, I've been going in there for 10 years and the personnel hasn't changed.
 
Thats just lame... I'm kind of an ass and the type to raise a stink about things... I would have surely demanded to push it up the ladder. But again... I'm kind of an ass.
 
I almost always present my LTC when asked for a "government-issued photo ID" (especially at the airport) just to see what the reaction will be. So far, nobody has even blinked. Big disappointment.
 
I used my LTC at probably the same one Eddie did. I had to fill out new forms a couple of years ago. It was dumb that I had to show the 2 forms of photo ID to someone who has known me for over 10 years.
 
Scrivener said:
Both clerks were cretins, a class I am not tolerant of - especially when they exist to serve US.

You should have demanded to see the postmaster and then asked him/her just what part of "Commonwealth of Massachusetts" and "License" his staff was too stupid to comprehend.
Click to expand...

+1

A similar thing happened to me at a post office in Wichita when I went to mail a shotgun to an FFL in NY as part of an internet sale.

Long story short, the clerk refused to accept the gun (broken down in two) because she "would not know how to tell if it was unloaded". I said I would show her. She said she still would not accept it. I said "get the Station Manager, please". Problem solved.
 
When I opened up My Business PO Box , because I live in another town , I had to wait till they could send a letter for my " regular mail man " to verify I was who I said i was , took 4 weeks to go from Medway to Natick and back , just like their normal deliveries.
Last summer My box in Framingham (had it since 1975 ) had all my mail stamped Box Closed Return to Sender , I found out when Verizon called to ask where to send bill. ( Sorry , was supposed to be Box below Mine )
Only the Junk Mail kept coming , no Catalogs , Gun Adds , etc.
And these Jokers want a Raise
Bob [angry]
 
When I run into bureaucratic incompetence, my standard reaction is "Let me talk to your supervisor." I keep repeating that mantra until I find a) someone with a higher-than-room-temperature IQ or b) someone with the testicular fortitude to make a decision. Usually I only have to go up one level. Sometimes two, but usually the first supervisor I get to is more interested in customer service than blind adherence to stupid rules.

Oh, and Bandit? Your Ration Of Capital Letters Is Being Cut - you might want to ration them. [wink]
 
dwarven1 said:
When I run into bureaucratic incompetence, my standard reaction is "Let me talk to your supervisor." I keep repeating that mantra until I find a) someone with a higher-than-room-temperature IQ or b) someone with the testicular fortitude to make a decision. Usually I only have to go up one level. Sometimes two, but usually the first supervisor I get to is more interested in customer service than blind adherence to stupid rules.

Oh, and Bandit? Your Ration Of Capital Letters Is Being Cut - you might want to ration them. [wink]
Click to expand...

Sorry Ross
My cyberphobia was acting up today and I took My Daughters hydrocodone instead of my meds.
I use to suffer from "camel notation " but as you have probably noticed , I overcame it .
Bob
 
Last edited:
Bandit said:
Sorry Ross
My cyberphobia was acting up today and I took My Daughters hydrocodone instead of my meds.
I use to suffer from "camel notation " but as you have probably noticed , I overcame it .
Bob
Click to expand...
Well... let's just say that you're on the road to recovery! [wink]
 
Just remember, since Massachusetts won't issue a resident LTC to anyone who isn't a US citizen, it should also count as proof of citizenship as well as residency. (I won't hold my breath for that one, either.)

Ken
 
It never ceases to amaze me that airports, the PO, hotels, and all sorts of other places will accept and easy to counterfeit DL, but not other, far less likely to be forged IDs. I've offered my agency issued ID, a federal government issued ID, my LTC, and a few others and every time the dope has insisted on seeing my MA DL.

Having raised two kids, I can tell you that a VERY authentic looking MA DL can be had for $100.00-150.00. Probably less if you shop around. Good enough to fool most anyone except a LEO.

Madness, just sheer madness.

Gary
 
Gary, try showing a US Passport. The ultimate proof of identity and nationalty, and it goes unrecognized by the overwhelming majority of Americans, who have never traveled to a country where they needed one.

Canada and the Mexican border and resort towns do not count as foreign.
 
Jose said:
Gary, try showing a US Passport. The ultimate proof of identity and nationalty, and it goes unrecognized by the overwhelming majority of Americans, who have never traveled to a country where they needed one.
Click to expand...

Good thought. Then again, I remember hearing about someone who tried to order something on the phone and was told that the company couldn't ship to New Mexico because they only shipped within the United States. {sigh}

It says alot about the sad shape our education system is in.

Gary
 
KMaurer said:
Just remember, since Massachusetts won't issue a resident LTC to anyone who isn't a US citizen, it should also count as proof of citizenship as well as residency. (I won't hold my breath for that one, either.)
Click to expand...

Precisely my argument when entering Bermuda w/o a birth certificate or passport. It worked - but that was before 9/11.
 
Jose said:
Gary, try showing a US Passport. The ultimate proof of identity and nationalty, and it goes unrecognized by the overwhelming majority of Americans, who have never traveled to a country where they needed one.
Click to expand...
Doing the paperwork for my new job, I brought my passort in as proof of citizenship. The woman who was taking all the paperwork was surprised; apparently most people go the driver's license/SS card or birth cert route.

Hey, I used to work for a travel agency! Of COURSE I have a passport! [rolleyes]
 
Having dealt with morons at a USPO (Stoughton and that included the Postmaster), I've learned to escalate the issues politely but firmly! It usually works.

Most people "reinterpret" the rules and thus will only accept those items that they are familiar with for ID.
 
Scrivener said:
And who in Massachusetts has a "Deed of Trust"? Note that it is the functional equivalent of a mortgage, which is already listed. It is NOT the same as a deed, which, for some reason, is NOT on the list. [rolleyes]
Click to expand...


The drones working the front desk at the local PO must have knowledge of what an actual "Deed of Trust" looks like too... [rolleyes]
 
They were technically within their rights to decline your LTC as ID. The state does indeed issue a "State ID card" for those who choose not to (or cannot) obtain State driver's licenses. In other words, that form is referring to a specific card. While your LTC is a State-issued card that should validate your ID, it is not a "State ID card".
 
jamz said:
They were technically within their rights to decline your LTC as ID..... While your LTC is a State-issued card that should validate your ID, it is not a "State ID card".
Click to expand...

Not merely wrong, but oxymoronic. Read the stated criteria:

Government ID

State issued ID card
Click to expand...

As the state IS a government, any card issued by it and specifically identifying the holder is "government ID." As an LTC specifically identifies the holder and is issued by the commonwealth, it is both "government ID" and a "state issued ID card."

The rejection was the act of an ignorant flunky and should have been challenged accordingly - not excused by inane rationalizations.
 
Scrivener said:
As the state IS a government, any card issued by it and specifically identifying the holder is "government ID." As an LTC specifically identifies the holder and is issued by the commonwealth, it is both "government ID" and a "state issued ID card."

The rejection was the act of an ignorant flunky and should have been challenged accordingly - not excused by inane rationalizations.
Click to expand...

And folks, this is why they go to law school. That's a fine example of lawyering. "Mr. Scrivener, you use..." <G>

Gary
 
As the state IS a government, any card issued by it and specifically identifying the holder is "government ID." As an LTC specifically identifies the holder and is issued by the commonwealth, it is both "government ID" and a "state issued ID card."
Click to expand...

Not to throw gasoline on the fire but when using this logic, why would "Drivers License" be listed separately?
 

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