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I wonder if more countries will stop delivering paper mail ...

After getting over the shock, I think it makes sense.
You can't text or email a package, but you can a letter.

Imagine the postal system's huge cost in tax dollars, labor and carbon emissions of all those trucks, et al.
All increasingly unnecessary as everyone (nearly) has email and smartphones.

But what about the people who don't have or use technology, particularly in the poorest countries?
 
Don't forget the elderly. Many still rely on the mail for what the article listed but also for things like bank statements and other types of invoices. Some even still write checks and mail them to pay bills.

The decision will affect elderly people most.
 
kenny said:
Good point.
I am elderly, and have to constantly fight to keep my bills arriving on paper.

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I get mine in paper by mail as well. Mainly because if they were electronic, I'd still print them and put them to the side until I was paying them. If I kept them electronic, I'd probably forget to pay. I do pay them online though so don't mail checks.
 
kenny said:
Good point.
I am elderly, and have to constantly fight to keep my bills arriving on paper.

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Is that a very old Mickey Rooney?

DK :))
 
Our mail people are now contract employees for the USPS. I can see the need for downsizing or realignment, but not in another slash and burn way of today. People will still need to mail packages, have some type of mail delivery (even if not every day), and have access to postal offices. I still receive paper bills, but the bulk of my mail consists of advertising. It can be annoying, but I guess a necessary evil for businesses trying to capture your business. I think it would take a comprehensive, in-depth look at the service as a whole to determine how it could somehow be streamlined.
 
MissGotRocks said:
Our mail people are now contract employees for the USPS. I can see the need for downsizing or realignment, but not in another slash and burn way of today. People will still need to mail packages, have some type of mail delivery (even if not every day), and have access to postal offices. I still receive paper bills, but the bulk of my mail consists of advertising. It can be annoying, but I guess a necessary evil for businesses trying to capture your business. I think it would take a comprehensive, in-depth look at the service as a whole to determine how it could somehow be streamlined.
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I agree. I keep hearing comments (not here) that we should do away with the Post Office and use private services. People forget that in some rural areas, Amazon and even Fed Ex and UPS don't actually deliver directly to the end person. They often deliver to the local mail distribution center and the USPS delivers from there. I'm not rural, at all, and I've had Amazon packages delivered by USPS. So it's not as simple as some out there seem to think.
 
Lookinagain said:
I agree. I keep hearing comments (not here) that we should do away with the Post Office and use private services. People forget that in some rural areas, Amazon and even Fed Ex and UPS don't actually deliver directly to the end person. They often deliver to the local mail distribution center and the USPS delivers from there. I'm not rural, at all, and I've had Amazon packages delivered by USPS. So it's not as simple as some out there seem to think.
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Yes, I get items that are transferred to my local Post Office from Amazon - particularly smaller items. I think the USPO is an integrated, multi-faceted operation that would take a lot of study to fully understand where some cuts could be possible. Like the whole of government, it is huge, and I am sure there could be cost savings to be found. It would just take a lot of focus and analysis to be successful. No throwing away the baby with the bath water approach.
 
dk168 said:
Is that a very old Mickey Rooney?

DK :))
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Oh, I don't know; it does look like him.
I just did a search for, "angry old man". :mrgreen:
 
No need for the mail to be more than 1x weekly for paper mail.
Businesses can pay for more or do a postal box.
 
Karl_K said:
No need for the mail to be more than 1x weekly for paper mail.
Businesses can pay for more or do a postal box.
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I think more like 3 days a week would work. Certain things come with a due date. For instance, my cell phone bill shows up and the due date isn't even 10 days away. They seem to mail it late. That may not work for people who only pay bills when they get paid, as some are paid monthly. Yes, I could get it online, but as explained above, I'd still print it. I'd rather not do that. And for people who mail paper checks, they could actually end up being late.
 
Lookinagain said:
I think more like 3 days a week would work. Certain things come with a due date. For instance, my cell phone bill shows up and the due date isn't even 10 days away. They seem to mail it late. That may not work for people who only pay bills when they get paid, as some are paid monthly. Yes, I could get it online, but as explained above, I'd still print it. I'd rather not do that. And for people who mail paper checks, they could actually end up being late.
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PO boxes out and about picked up daily and there is no reason a business couldn't adapt.
Just thinking out loud I am not against 3 as a intern step.
6 is just nuts these days.
I get 3 letters a month that I actually need.
I asked some friends and a lot of them said 3-4 a year.
 
Karl_K said:
PO boxes out and about picked up daily and there is no reason a business couldn't adapt.
Just thinking out loud I am not against 3 as a intern step.
6 is just nuts these days.
I get 3 letters a month that I actually need.
I asked some friends and a lot of them said 3-4 a year.
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I think that most businesses would rather deliver electronically. They always ask if you want that. It's the recipient that may not want that. Someone like me for the reasons I've stated. I don't want to get a P.O. Box and go to the PO several times a week. Of course you go with the flow, but I do still have a preference and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. I can deal with 3 days a week. It seems like a good compromise.
 
I am actually one of those that still write checks for some of my bills and mail them...I am slowly moving into this century lol...about half of my bills are on auto pay and I think once I retire I will put all I can on autopay as mine and hubby's social security checks will pay out on the same day (if we still have social security lol)
 
What works for one doesn’t work for all. I assume folks are using letters, bills and statements interchangeably. The post office is a service that has been with us for a long time. I understand making changes that better reflect today’s needs, but making people and businesses run for their own mail all week isn’t the answer either.
 
Lookinagain said:
Don't forget the elderly. Many still rely on the mail for what the article listed but also for things like bank statements and other types of invoices. Some even still write checks and mail them to pay bills.

The decision will affect elderly people most.
Click to expand...

.....the moment I realized I am indeed elderly...despite what my brain keeps telling me.
 
diamondringlover said:
I am actually one of those that still write checks for some of my bills and mail them...I am slowly moving into this century lol...about half of my bills are on auto pay and I think once I retire I will put all I can on autopay as mine and hubby's social security checks will pay out on the same day (if we still have social security lol)
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I don't put anything on autopay as I like to make sure there's no strange activity so going online to the bank and doing the payments myself makes me feel more secure. It may not be, but it makes me feel better.
 
Lookinagain said:
I think more like 3 days a week would work. Certain things come with a due date. For instance, my cell phone bill shows up and the due date isn't even 10 days away. They seem to mail it late. That may not work for people who only pay bills when they get paid, as some are paid monthly. Yes, I could get it online, but as explained above, I'd still print it. I'd rather not do that. And for people who mail paper checks, they could actually end up being late.
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we have that now and i have no idea what days they are ???
 
this was in the news late last year
newsroom.co.nz

Changes are on the way for NZ Post, and posties aren't happy

Today from The Detail: Posties say proposals to NZ Post that include job cuts, price increases, communal delivery points and fewer deliveries and postal outlets threaten our culture
newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz
i have become friendly with the NZ Post courier driver who does our area at work,
she says this would be so much more work
imangine census time or postal local body elections when everyone gets mail at once, or even when the council rates (property taxes) come out 4 times a year

i have been with her for the end of the run when she empties post boxes on the way back to the depo for the packages and mail to meet the last truck out of town for the day and everyone works so hard

it may have been ages since i sent a letter but i still like bills in the post
i also think reduced postal services are very unfair on the elderly
 
Lookinagain said:
I don't put anything on autopay as I like to make sure there's no strange activity so going online to the bank and doing the payments myself makes me feel more secure. It may not be, but it makes me feel better.
Click to expand...
There are a few insurance payments that are on auto pay and the rest I enter myself. It takes us old folks longer to be able to trust the system. A friend of mine writes checks and mails all of her bills as she doesn’t trust online banking. She has had two mortgage payments returned to her in the envelopes she mailed them in. Thinks the mailman might have dropped them. All late of course. Bank forgave late charge on the first one but wouldn’t do it again for the second one. I said you don’t trust online banking but trust the post office to deliver your payments? I have never had a late payment due to online banking! It is hard to get used to new ideas but online banking can be such a timesaver and clearly, least in my case, more reliable than the post office. Her answer? She will just drive the check to the bank from now on! Is that really worth the time and gas? She just laughs!
 
diamondringlover said:
I am actually one of those that still write checks for some of my bills and mail them...I am slowly moving into this century lol...about half of my bills are on auto pay and I think once I retire I will put all I can on autopay as mine and hubby's social security checks will pay out on the same day (if we still have social security lol)
Click to expand...

we havn't had checks for a few years now as we have always had a high use and uptake of electronic transations in NZ but i know it was very hard on the elderly

Gary (not saying he was old) found a very old checkbook when we moved that had not been needed in years and that was over eight years ago
 
I'm old and very anti-technology, but I have used auto-pay for all bills for several decades.

But I practice, Trust but Verify.
I'll still check all mailed paper statements carefully, to the penny.
There has never been an error.

Of course, a sample size of one is statistically meaningless.
 
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