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Can I sue USPS and win?

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Jordand123

Junior Member
I live in Ohio and was mailing two football tickets. I went into the USPS store and told the worker I was mailing tickets and I needed them to be delivered by Friday. I gave him the zip code where it was going to and he sold me an envelope with a stamp embedded onto it. They were returned to me after the game on Tuesday because there wasn't enough postage. I went in as a customer, presented him all info necessary for him to sell me this prestamped envelope. Because I bought the envelope, it costed me over 200 dollars to refund the tickets. I have a witness who was standing right next to me. I called and the rep told me rudely to go get a lawyer. Can I sue them in a small claims court and win?
 


BOR

Senior Member
Ohio SC court's do not preclude suing a govt. entity, at least facially.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/1925.02

However, you say USPS "Store"? Is this something like a subcontractor site. I know under the postal rules a business can provide mail depositories, etc??

First, if it is, they may enjoy quasi immunity, but not as much as the USPS.

If you file, and they can by law remove it to Federal Court as an Original Jurisdiction Question (??), under 28 USC 1441, then that creates a problem for you!!

Try reading some case law annotations on chapter 1925. The Main branch of your county/city library will have the Ohio Revised Code. Look up 1925. After it will/could be cited case law, see if any helps!!
 

antrc170

Member
No one can say for certain if you could win or not. I'd say you have a gigantic hill to climb through the courts. Did you ensure that you had purchased a time delivery guarntee form of mail such as overnight or two day mail? If not, then you are out of luck. If you did, and there wasn't enough postage then you're still probably out of luck.
 

Jordand123

Junior Member
Thanks + more info

First off, thanks for the replies!

USPS is not owned by the government anymore. Last year, they were privatized. This makes it easier for me as I won't automatically have to sue them in federal court.

To answer the question about whether it was guaranteed mail or not, I don't believe it matters. With USPS, if my mail was simply lost, or was not delivered on time, I would have been out of luck. I had no insurance, or delivery confirmation.

However, my case is different. I have a witness (and I welcome their cameras/audio) hearing me say to the employee that I needed tickets to arrive by Friday, and giving him the zip code to which they needed to be delivered. Based off of the zip code, he gave me an envelope with a stamp on it to use. This envelope's stamp did not have enough postage to go to the zip code I gave him. It's like me putting on a fireworks show, telling the employee I need fireworks to go a certain height, and him selling me rockets that don't go to that height (and my whole show a failure). My case is better because there aren't laws of physics involved - he should know the correct postage necessary, because it is a defined system and he's a USPS employee!

Thanks a lot for your time, I appreciate your input.
 

Jordand123

Junior Member
oops

Sorry for that last reply. USPS isn't privatized, it is owned specifically under the Executive Branch. It honestly isn't an issue of money anymore. It is the fact that they are one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with, and the only reason I use them are because of their proximity.

If it were any private company, would I have a case? I want to represent all people who have been screwed over and take this as far as possible. They are severely taking advantage of citizens as a company owned by the government.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Jordand123;2678934]

If it were any private company, would I have a case?
Not enough info to make a call but very unlikely

I want to represent all people who have been screwed over and take this as far as possible
. you do not get to represent anybody but yourself.

They are severely taking advantage of citizens as a company owned by the government.
actually, I think they do one Hell of a job.
 

>Charlotte<

Lurker
Not legal advice, but it might come in handy for you sometime.

Many teams (including the Browns) have a process (on their web sites) where you can turn paper tickets into electronic tickets. You enter the serial number, those tickets are void, new tickets with new serial numbers and bar codes are emailed to you as a pdf, and then you can forward them to whomever. They print them, and that's it.
 

BOR

Senior Member
First off, thanks for the replies!

USPS is not owned by the government anymore. Last year, they were privatized. This makes it easier for me as I won't automatically have to sue them in federal court.
Last year they were privatized?

Around 1971 they became an "Independent Agency" a remake of the U.S. Post Office, but they are still a govenment ageny, just independent. My World Almanac has a list of US Independent agencies, I know the EPA is one.

Not at home so I can't check the Almanac.

What do you mean last year they were privatized?

There was a US SC case several years ago about something about tripping over package on the doorstep and could they be sued? I will try to find it.

They still enjoy sovereign immunity to at least some degree??
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
The type of claim you are looking at is a breach of warranty, specifically, this one:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-315.html

(cite for demonstrative purposes only - the warranty exists nationwide)
 

justalayman

Senior Member
The type of claim you are looking at is a breach of warranty, specifically, this one:
U.C.C. - ARTICLE 2 -&#167;2-315.

(cite for demonstrative purposes only - the warranty exists nationwide)
but the question I have is; what envelope might the USPS sell to a person with paid postage applied that would not allow the delivery of 2 tickets to a sporting event. I suspect there is more to the story (isn't there always?).
 

sandyclaus

Senior Member
All this talk about a USPS "Store" - there IS no such entity. There are post offices, and there are some contracted sites that sell stamps and postage. But no such thing as a USPS store.

Perhaps OP meant a UPS Store? Because those do exist. Not affiliated with the post office, but UPS instead.

And I find it hard to believe that an authorized postal employee would sell someone an envelope with insufficient postage for a mere 2 sports tickets. A standard pre-stamped envelope should have been MORE than enough, unless that's not all that was being put in there. Unless OP asked specifically for a pre-stamped envelope, if you are asking for postage sufficient to mail an item, the postal employee pretty much ALWAYS weighs the items with an envelope to verify the proper postage for the mailed weight.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Ok, let's assume that the OP actually went to the USPS (the Post Office) and paid for an envelope to get the ticket there over night...

The only remedy the USPS (the Post Office) offers if a next-day item doesn't get there on time is a refund of the postage, I don't see the OP getting anything but what s/he paid for postage.
 

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