Post Office Comments/Mailman Confusion

I have two different mail delivery people who come each day. One drops off basic packages including international and regular mail, the other drops off just stuff from Mandarake, Amiami, or Thailand that would need signed for. They all like to comment to myself and my boyfriend about how many international packages we get. Up to this point they have been increasingly confused and have asked us all sorts of different questions about why we get these packages, and until recently they never really looked at the packing slip! My boyfriend buys a lot of golf stuff, so when we have packages literally between the size of three feet for a doll and the size of golf clubs (around four, five feet high) from out of the country they probably think we're shipping in bodies. Does it help much that when I hear them knock I yell to my boyfriend, "My heads are here!!"? No, probably not.

 

Anyway, the mailman finally asked me the last package I got if it really was dolls inside. I suppose it was his first time really paying attention, and honestly I don't think they have any idea of Yen to USD value. If they did, I'm sure seeing $500 plus packages coming so often would probably be somewhat more concerning.

I ended up non-nonchalantly saying yes, and the poor guys face got even more confused. He was like, "Um.. do you sell them? Or do you have lots of dolls?" Of course my answer, "Oh yeah, I have tons!" As he gets more confused I turn and say "Thanks! Bye!" Before he can ask anymore. I suppose we will see what happens with the next package he has to deliver!

 

My post office lady the last time I had to go pick up a package even made a comment about how by now, I "know how to sign" on the pin pad.

 

So I'm curious, how many of you get comments from postal workers about the packages you receive - whether it's in number or from what location?

Yes, I've totally gotten comments about how many I get and that they're from abroad. I haven't gotten any indication that they read or care about the contents though, but I've been to the post office enough times that the workers there say things like "one more, huh?" and such things.

 

There's not usually anyone home when the mail arrives so my regular mail man has offered to leave packages in one of the lockers near my mail box if they fit so I don't have to go to the post office to pick them up, the webpage says I've signed for them but I actually haven't. As unlikely as it is since the lockers are, well, locked, I have wondered what would happen if the package somehow disappeared from the box, they wouldn't be able to provide proof that I've signed for it.

I've been collecting things since I was 16, and I'm 22 now. Been in the same house with the same mailman this whole time. My main thing used to be Pokemon collecting, so that's what my mailman knows me for. I've slowed down a lot in the past few years, but if I answer the door, he'll usually go "I got more Pokemon for you!" His son is also really into anime and stuff, so he gets it. He'll ask during the summer if I'm going to Fanime, or if I've heard about stuff at Comic Con and things like that. While most of my packages these days do say "doll accessories", sometimes it does still say "toy accessory" or just "toys" and things like that. So I don't think he's noticed my shift in collecting habits lol. Nice dude, always been a great mailman. Gonna be sad when he retires!

 

However, they do bring EMS at a seperate time and it's almost always a different person. So they don't really know me.

That's awesome! When I was younger I had a mailman like that as well. We were one of his last stops so I would always talk to him for quite a while before he moved on. Always packages coming and going! He used to give my cat a ride in the mail truck up and down our dead end street. Enjoy the great mailmen of this world! When you lose them for whatever reason it really is kind of heartbreaking.

Shortly after I first moved here, the postman was surprised at how many packages I get. Not many people in this town used to do online shopping ten years ago, I guess. These days they're totally used to it, but I still get more packages than anyone else in town according to the ladies at the post-office. They've never commented on the contents, even though it is always there on the invoice/customs slip.

Oh yeah, I'm pretty well known at the local post office!

Since the EMS/SAL stuff usually arrived while I was away at work I'd go every few weeks to pick them up at the office. Between my doll stuff, anime art books, clothes from japan, and figures my household gets lots of parcels from overseas. I don't think they ever bothered to read the packing slips, which is fortunate when there's embarrassing stuff like 'bust' and 'bloomers' written on there- thanks Volks >.<

 

But I did explain my doll hobby to a friendly postal clerk, who commiserated by sharing his own collecting hobbies. Now we chat about hobby stuff whenever I'm there

For a period of time a year or two ago when I would go to the post office to pick up packages, there were 3 girls that worked there that stopped checking for my ID. I think a couple of them asked me if it really was gun stuff. I play airsoft and work on guns for a small fee to keep the cost of the hobby down for me, so I have a rather high volume of packages containing parts to fix guns coming in at regular intervals.

 

If I happened to be at home there used to be 2 different guys that would attempt delivery to my door that also would ask about the stuff. Nothing about dolls though, but I ordered a lot of figures and anime stuff too so they would ask what the toys were sometimes.

 

Once, fedex refused to release a package to my door with a pre-signed release because they mistook the package value of 5000yen for 5000$.

Ohh yes my post office people are the same. Unfortunately my address isn't a "physical address" so I have to have a PO box at the post office. And whenever I order anything I have to go to post office workers and hand them the slip that says my package are there. They always have such weird looks whenever I come to get my package, since they know what's in them because it says on the custom forms on the box. I buy most of my dolls from other countries especially Japan. It's kinda of awkward but I really don't care what they think. But there is only one worker were I will not go to to get my package if she's working. She would always shake my fragile packages that had a full doll or just head in there and she also made rude stupid comments like "OMG you bought a doll head,that's like Chucky rolling around in there!"or "Arn't you a little old to be play with dolls?" I guess she's trying to be funny but still...

Since I'm a bit new to the Dollfie scene I've only really put one main order for my stuff when Volks was having a sale a while ago. When I picked it up at the post office, nobody really made much of a fuss apart from the mundane ID check because it was insured for it's 1700ish US dollar total cost.

 

Definitely got more mailman comments out of poorly packaged rifles with the barrel poking out the cardboard, I tell ya, like geez if you're gonna ship a firearm at least tape bubble wrap a few layers over the crown.

If it doesn't bother someone then it's certainly best to stay on good terms with your delivery people, but I would like to point out that they're not supposed to comment on what you receive in the mail. Beyond being unprofessional; it can get them disciplined or even fired if you log a complaint with the postmaster (here in the US anyway, not sure what they do up in Canada).

 

I don't know if they're the ultimate professionals or what, but my doll and doll accessories don't seem to phase any of my delivery people: not UPS, USPS or FedEx.

We are pretty friendly with our posties over here in Australia.

 

My first box from Volks was a squarish one full of dresses and a head. I was so very excited when I signed for it the postman asked what was in it. I explained to him it was a bunch of doll clothes and a head for a doll that I have been dreaming of buying for 4 years. He asked a couple of questions, especially how big these dolls are since someone else in the same town seems to get the long skinny packages with the same logo. I obliged and open up my package, showed him a few dresses and the head and he responded (jokingly), "Damn. That's a big-ass Barbie Doll".

 

I got a few more packages of clothes from other websites as I waited for her body to arrive from VolksJP. But when she did finally arrive he had her package buckled into the passenger seat of his delivery van and welcomed her home when I signed it.

 

Best delivery guy ever.

I miss my postman from my old townhouse. Somehow or other, he knew about our doll hobby, and was always happy to bring us large packages. My girlfriend and I got so excited, I'm sure it made his day. The post office we went to knew me well enough to know that I wanted insurance + tracking on every package I sent out, no matter what. And that I often had to use customs forms.

 

We moved a little over a year ago to a neighboring town, and the postman here is more reserved and shy. He's never said more than "sign here, please" and "thank you" since we moved in, and I miss the interaction. The postmaster in our town didn't offer insurance or tracking on my last international shipment, and the tracking never worked. Fortunately, it was one of MY dolls being sent out and not someone else's, but it was an extremely stressful week and a half.

 

Our UPS driver is terrible, however. Both times we had to order replacement phones since we moved in, he never bothered to knock and literally threw the packages at our front door. Had I been able to speak the second time, I would have ripped him apart. So until we get that straightened out, I'm not going to be using UPS for any reason.

 

Moving off that... Sorry.

 

While the postmasters I've dealt with have never said anything, I can see the surprise and confusion when they're typing in the information and read the doll is insured for $200+.

Oddly enough, my mailman has never asked. That said though, I think between Ebay, VolksUSA and DDE, all my doll purchases have been domestic in the last several years.

 

That said, as he himself is Polish (accent and all), he asked if I knew anyone in Poland because my husband gets computer stuff from there.

The ones that went to my house never asked much. To be fair, they seems to be rotated between different zones all the time even in the same city, so chances of meeting the same guy twice is literally nil.

 

My purchases has been international, but the only time one was withheld is when I got my large Azone in which the postal service called, and told me that I had to go to the international mail hub (an hour's drive away) to collect it in addition to paying GST for exceeding the limit set on cost of item(s) and freight combined together (500 MYR, it's a very low amount). No one gave me a strange look even when I opened the box (required procedure), paid off the GST and quickly went off.