I'm having a panic attack right now!

[brittin]

I went out to dinner with some friends last night. My friend who is an ADPi alum informed me that I didn't put enough postage on the envelopes I sent out with my daughters rush information. Rush starts in 3 weeks and I don't know what to do. A couple of the friends that were there told me that they added more postage because they noticed but that leaves 14 more sororities I don't know about. What happens when you have some postage on a large envelope but not enough? Does the post office throw it away or deliver it and try to collect upon delivery.

I haven't even told my daughter yet. She's at the beach thinking everything is great. Please Help!!

[SoCalGirl]

Don't they return to sender?

[LAblondeGPhi]

I think someone else on GC posted a couple of weeks ago that some recs were being delivered at her school postage due. I can't remember what school it was, but I believe it was a large SEC school.

I assume you have the contact information for the rec writers who helped your daughter. I would imagine that sending each of them a quick note mentioning that you were just made aware of the postage error and that you apologize for the inconvenience caused would be a nice gesture.

I don't have experience working with competitive Southern schools or Southern alumnae Panhellenic groups, so I don't know if a small Starbucks gift card or something similar would be a nice gesture to help make up for any postage an alumna paid out of pocket. Would those more familiar chime in?

I won't presume to know how to handle it with the chapter - I'll definitely let the other ladies make recommendations there.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

Don't they return to sender?

Yea, the mailing should be returned for insufficient postage.

[als463]

Originally Posted by brittin

I went out to dinner with some friends last night. My friend who is an ADPi alum informed me that I didn't put enough postage on the envelopes I sent out with my daughters rush information. Rush starts in 3 weeks and I don't know what to do. A couple of the friends that were there told me that they added more postage because they noticed but that leaves 14 more sororities I don't know about. What happens when you have some postage on a large envelope but not enough? Does the post office throw it away or deliver it and try to collect upon delivery.

I haven't even told my daughter yet. She's at the beach thinking everything is great. Please Help!!

If it makes you feel any better, when I got large envelopes with rush information to write recommendations, I still took the large envelope with the rush information in it to the post office to make sure that anything else I added did not make it go over the postage rate that the young ladies put on it. I'm sure many others did the same thing.

[irishpipes]

I get notices of postage due at my office on occasion. The mail carrier delivers the item (to me - the recipient) with a slip of paper showing how much postage was short. I have to leave the extra postage in the mailbox with the slip the next day. It stinks because it is the sender's error and the recipient is charged the shortage.

[AZTheta]

Do NOT tell your daughter. Reach out to everyone that you had send recs, and send everyone a few dollars in an envelope or whatever and apologize profusely without groveling.

And take a deep breath, for the love of Mike.

[Titchou]

It all depends on the mood of the PO that day! I mailed 12 DVDs from the office a few weeks ago. ONE was returned for more postage because THAT PO decided it belonged in a different category.

If I were you, I'd ask the other 14 (I know, a pain) if they had to put extra postage on them or if they were returned for more postage - and then, of course, reimburse them. But I usually check the postage as well.

[AZ-AlphaXi]

Also some of us submit recs on line, so no postage necessary.

[pnmmom]

We mailed 25 letters, exactly the same, and 1 was returned for more postage. The problem I had with that is we put the amount the post office told us to put.

[als463]

Originally Posted by AZ-AlphaXi

Also some of us submit recs on line, so no postage necessary.

That's a great point! I forgot to mention that most of my recommendations are submitted electronically too. Just do what everyone else said and apologize to the people who you sent the packages to. Make up the difference for them. It happens. I don't think anyone is going to think any less of you for a simple mistake like that.

[brittin]

Thank you everybody! This whole sorority thing is new to our family and I don't want to mess it up for my daughter. I had it weighed by the post office but I guess it didn't factor in the extra papers in the envelope. I've contacted almost all my alums now and most either did electronic recs or they send them with the alumni organization. I feel much better! Thank you so much!