m-bag warning

took my six giant m-bags full of books to the post office this week.

the first post office could only handle parcels weighing up to 44 lbs, so they took the three lightest bags & shipped them off.

so off i trot to a different post office, where i am told that the bags i was using were, in fact, the wrong bags.

if you're shipping books via m-bag, make sure you're using #3 bags (which are smaller) and not #1 bags (larger).

of course, every single post office has its own set of arbitrary rules, and no one who works for them seems to know their ass from a hole in the ground.

long story short, half of my personal library is most likely lost in limbo forever.

it's a damn good thing DF was with me, because my midget ass was just about ready to climb the counter & go postal. 

This is kind of a thread hijack, but I take it the M bag method works out cheaper than shipping books in the container with the rest of your stuff?

Years ago, when I first contemplated the move, I had a removal firm come out and eyeball my junk. They were going to charge me as much to move the books as everything else in my house put together. Ever since, I've been dreading the task of cutting down my library to a size I could afford to ship. I have a bunch of junky, falling-to-bits paperbacks I don't mind leaving, but I like to have great tottery piles of books all over the place. If nothing else, pushing them over gives the cat something to do.

Hey niku2  couple of questions
1- which post office did you get them at?
2- did the bags look any different?

This is why I ask:

I also went to post office (Frankfort actually) to get bags.  Having no idea what they looked like, the office gave me 6 very big, manilla canvassy bags.  I thought ok, cool.  So I pack them all up (all around 44 pounds likely) and then take them to next post office to send (Tinley Park).

They tell me - um, these are the wrong bags dear.  I was like 
They gave the correct bags, which looked a lot different - sort of made of this plastic-y white mesh material, looked a lot less sturdy than the other ones.

So yes do be careful the post office gives you the right ones!  A lot of post offices don't use them very often so might accidentally give you something wrong...

Hey niku2  couple of questions
1- which post office did you get them at?
2- did the bags look any different?

This is why I ask:

I also went to post office (Frankfort actually) to get bags.  Having no idea what they looked like, the office gave me 6 very big, manilla canvassy bags.  I thought ok, cool.  So I pack them all up (all around 44 pounds likely) and then take them to next post office to send (Tinley Park).

They tell me - um, these are the wrong bags dear.  I was like 
They gave the correct bags, which looked a lot different - sort of made of this plastic-y white mesh material, looked a lot less sturdy than the other ones.

So yes do be careful the post office gives you the right ones!  A lot of post offices don't use them very often so might accidentally give you something wrong...

grrrrrrrrr!!! 

here's my beef: it's a nationwide corporation--their employees should know their *!@$!!!!

i got the bags (largish corrugated plastic ones) in new lenox, where i was able to send the lightest of them, and then joliet told me i had the wrong bags & would probably not see my books again. they then gave me some smallish corrugated plastic ones instead. i never got canvas ones from either post office.

i had gone into the willow springs post office on my lunch break to ask a question about m-bags, and the postmaster--the farking postmaster!!--had never even heard of them.

This is kind of a thread hijack, but I take it the M bag method works out cheaper than shipping books in the container with the rest of your stuff?

Years ago, when I first contemplated the move, I had a removal firm come out and eyeball my junk. They were going to charge me as much to move the books as everything else in my house put together. Ever since, I've been dreading the task of cutting down my library to a size I could afford to ship. I have a bunch of junky, falling-to-bits paperbacks I don't mind leaving, but I like to have great tottery piles of books all over the place. If nothing else, pushing them over gives the cat something to do.

Mbags are definitely cheaper than sending with the other stuff.  A LOT cheaper.  Do it!

here's my beef: it's a nationwide corporation--their employees should know their *!@$!!!!

Yeah I know,  but maybe they learn about them when they first start their jobs and likely never get asked again about them?  That is my guess.  Ask your DF!  I'm sure he had fun dealing with your wrath

I was really annoyed because when I got the old bags (the wrong ones), they didn't have any ties with them - they had these holes with metal rings around them like you see on a tent.  So I went to the Home Depot to buy string for them!!!  And then I get to the post office and they give me the right bags and what a surprise, they already have ties.   

Yeah I know,  but maybe they learn about them when they first start their jobs and likely never get asked again about them?  That is my guess.  Ask your DF!  I'm sure he had fun dealing with your wrath

I was really annoyed because when I got the old bags (the wrong ones), they didn't have any ties with them - they had these holes with metal rings around them like you see on a tent.  So I went to the Home Depot to buy string for them!!!  And then I get to the post office and they give me the right bags and what a surprise, they already have ties.   

that's another thing!!! the "right" bags have nothing to close them!!! 

This is kind of a thread hijack, but I take it the M bag method works out cheaper than shipping books in the container with the rest of your stuff?

Not necessarily. If you're bringing over a ton of big pieces of furniture and your movers are using a container, or even half a container, you might as well fill it up. I brought all my furniture with me. I brought over 700+ books and there's no way I ever would have gone the M bag route!

Not necessarily. If you're bringing over a ton of big pieces of furniture and your movers are using a container, or even half a container, you might as well fill it up. I brought all my furniture with me. I brought over 700+ books and there's no way I ever would have gone the M bag route!

Yeah of course if the books are relatively small compared to the rest of the stuff, then by all means ship them.  But if you're thinking of a lot of books and a few boxes and wanted to put the books in the regular boxes, I'd bet that M bags are cheaper.

I was given the canvas bags w/ the metal rings  and my stuff got here just fine back in August.

This was from Arlington, VA to Leeds, UK. Now, it took about 4-6 weeks and one bag come before the other. But, overall, they arrived and nothing was damaged! I have the bags and will use them when I move someday from here.

My general experience w/ the US postal service has been awful - the employees hate their jobs, most don't speak english and are so SLOW. Then, they never  know how to help you. It amazes me why the US has yet to privatize the mail.

This is what I was given a few weeks ago. Is this the right bag or the wrong bag? It's a lightweight tarp-like woven plastic.

Looks like what I got...

yep, looks like the second version i was given--the "right" bags.

of course, it's all arbitrary, depending on which self-loathing USPS employee you ask