Really Fed Up With Damaged Self Starters

[59-in-pieces]

Jason,
Clearly - kill them with kindness, whoever they R, works best.
However, the USPS from what I understand is - they often go "POSTAL"
I'm sure everyone knows where that description comes from.
Still like your house.

Have fun,
Steve B.

[Jason Edge]

Jason,
Clearly - kill them with kindness, whoever they R, works best.
However, the USPS from what I understand is - they often go "POSTAL"
I'm sure everyone knows where that description comes from.

First, friending the postal carrier and treating them as I would like to be treated is not what I would call killing them with kindness. I call it friendship and respect.

Second, I would never stereotype a group of people like that.  They are human beings. They are not perfect. they are not all the same.  And, they often have to put up with a lot of hostility from the public.  I have been close friends with a guy name Steve that has worked at our Garner Post Office front desk for probably 20 years now. He's a gentle big guy, and I have stood in line and watched people cuss at him, threaten him and the post office, and completely flip there lid while he stands there, takes it all in, and does his job, in a polite courteous manner. So for me when you say "go Postal", I have to relate that to the friends I have made locally in the post office and take that as a complement for them. I wish more people would go Postal like Steve and Carl.

And let me throw out some more kindness. My current postal carrier, a middle aged African-American lady, lives in another town, so her route, like most postal carriers, is nowhere near her own neighborhood and has no connection with my neighborhood other than our mail delivery and the friends she has made.  I had a 98 year old neighbor who lived right around the corner from me that recently died. She had a bad stroke a couple of years ago, and was in very bad condition, but she would often sit on the front porch at her house here on Main St, Garner, NC.  Often as I would walk my dogs on our morning walk I would notice that my postal carrier always made a point to stop, go up on the porch and sit with my neighbor and hold her hand and talk to her a couple minutes before continuing on her route.   My neighbor could not even speak after her stroke and her sons had to lift her out on the porch. I know waiting for the mail and seeing her postal carrier friend meant a lot to her.  My neighbor died a couple months ago, and our postal carrier, was at my neighbor's Wake. We talked, and hugged and reminisced about our late neighbor, as friends do. 

So yes, today when I saw the hard downfall of rain, and my postal lady grabbing her umbrella, I ran for the boxes and helped get them in her truck. That is the sort of thing friends do. 

[Art Director]

When this issue came up a year ago, the Publications Committee asked the printer to quote us a price for bags, and it was 33 cents per member per month. This extra expense would result in a five dollar dues increase.

How many members out there think the CLC should increase the dues to pay for bags?

Tim

[Art Director]

How soon after first joining does your first issue arrive? I am excited to get it.

Within two months.  Depends on the time of month when you joined.

Tim

[Glen]

Jason, I really like your style there.  I try to be friendly with my mail carrier too.  My current one is a female that I think is afraid to smile at men because they may get the wrong idea.  But that does not stop me from going out to the truck get my mail, especially if I have a package coming in. 
A while back I had a problem and talked to the mail carrier (not the one I have now).  Did no good.  Went to the supervisor.  She tried several times to correct the problem but could not fix it.  At one point she told me to “write a letter”.  Since she could not fix the problem I figured I should go up the line.  The area vice president, he was not able to fix it.  I sent a to letter to the post master general.  The problem was fix and I never saw the mail carrier again. 
You have to be persistent and go up the chain of command. 

[D.Smith]

I have the nicest mail carrier you could find.  Always stops to chat if I am outside, brings my mail around back to the rear porch if there is too much for the front box or there are boxes that won't fit.     My Self Starter arrives with a wrinkled cover a few times a year.   

If you think the mails condition solely relies on your street carrier you need to understand how many hands move that mail before it reaches him or her.  As the old expression goes, "don't shoot the messenger". 

If plastic bags will fix this we should look into it.       BTW,  33 cents x 12 is $3.96 not $5.00

[Mike and Dawn G]

Thank you Tim

Within two months.  Depends on the time of month when you joined.

Tim

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

Disregarding the arithmetic, $5 is a logical increment. It would also give us just a little more cushion.(And, we have only "11" issues.) But what I'd like to know is what we do the first time someone's bagged issue gets torn up? Someone will be screaming and hollering just as loud when that happens. (And it will.)

I'm sure there are members who (shudder) toss their issue out each month just like it's a regular magazine. Some might think that the $5 is not worth it and quit the Club, so there is that to think about.  Tim, have you looked into bagging with removing the card cover and just inserting meet applications as needed? Of course, that would result in our not listing "new" members each month, and not having our Region names and addresses handy.

When your issue is mangled, does that include the slick paper part? THAT is the magazine. The white "cover" was added years ago to help protect the magazine. That we have found uses for the white card portion is a bonus.

[76eldo]

Tim,

There is no way that putting the issue in a bag would cost 33 cents in the volume numbers you are having printed and shipped.  You may want to get a competitive quote because if they are that high on the plastic bag they maybe high on the entire project.

If you want to be perceived as a high quality publication I think it's a necessary step.

As far as Jason's comments, I am 99 percent sure that the damage is occurring before he ever touches it.

I can see marks on the ones I get from going through machinery.  This happens almost every month.

Brian

[Jason Edge]

Disregarding the arithmetic, $5 is a logical increment. It would also give us just a little more cushion.(And, we have only "11" issues.) But what I'd like to know is what we do the first time someone's bagged issue gets torn up? Someone will be screaming and hollering just as loud when that happens. (And it will.)

I'm sure there are members who (shudder) toss their issue out each month just like it's a regular magazine. Some might think that the $5 is not worth it and quit the Club, so there is that to think about.  Tim, have you looked into bagging with removing the card cover and just inserting meet applications as needed? Of course, that would result in our not listing "new" members each month, and not having our Region names and addresses handy.

When your issue is mangled, does that include the slick paper part? THAT is the magazine. The white "cover" was added years ago to help protect the magazine. That we have found uses for the white card portion is a bonus.

I completely agree with the comments and issues Barry brings up. Just to add I love the outer wrap. It is a good compromise between nothing and the bagging, helps protect the actual magazine,  and is a nice place to have all the additional info such as new members, Region and Chapter Info, and event registrations (e.g. Fall Festival in the July 2018 S-S Issue).  I find the new member info particularly useful reaching out and recruiting new Chapter and Region members each month. You take that away and I will be screaming louder than anyone else here on the CLC Forums! LOL

[Art Director]

Tim, have you looked into bagging with removing the card cover and just inserting meet applications as needed? Of course, that would result in our not listing "new" members each month, and not having our Region names and addresses handy.

Barry, the outer wrap is pretty much considered a "sacred cow," so no, removing it has never been discussed. You're welcome, Jason. The Grand National registration forms publish only twice a year despite one board member wanting them to run every month. The reason the forms run only twice is the extra cost the CLC has to pay. The Publications Committee has found that Regions, Chapters and Affiliates want their listings to run each month as well as the new members list so they can go after those people to join their groups.

[Art Director]

There is no way that putting the issue in a bag would cost 33 cents in the volume numbers you are having printed and shipped.  You may want to get a competitive quote because if they are that high on the plastic bag they maybe high on the entire project.

The CLC board of directors recently approved renewing our contract with Modern Litho of Jefferson City, MO, to print The Self-Starter. This company prints over 30 car club magazines, and their customer service is unsurpassed. They are not the cheapest printer out there, nor are they the most expensive. We invited several printers to bid this year and Modern Litho came in second to the lowest price.

To break down the costs of the 33 cents to bag each magazine, 21 cents goes to the Postal Service because it adds an extra ounce, the bag costs 10 cents, and there is a 2-cent fee for setup.


A little over three years ago, I visited the plant that prints The Self-Starter and watched our magazine be addressed and bundled for mailing. Extreme care is taken at each step of the process. The magazines are arranged and bundled by zip code, then tied with plastic straps going both directions before the Postal Service receives them.

I am going to ask the CLC Office to each month mail you a pristine copy inside an envelope. What is happening to your regular copy is extremely isolated and it's not fair to our over 6,600 members to raise their dues over something that happens to fewer than 15 members each month. I've been a CLC member over 24 years and can count on one hand the number of mangled issues I've received. I live outside Denver.

Tim

[76eldo]

That bag weighs an ounce?  Obviously you never bought pot in the 1970's.

To answer the question the outer jacket is almost always damaged on my copies.  The actual magazine has bent, wrinkled, and sometimes torn pages, I would say at least 4 out of the 11 issues.

It's only 15 people that complain due to probably shredded issues being received but I would bet that a lot more are only slightly mangled and they just don't take the time to complain.  For the record I have never complained and asked for a replacement copy.  I would bet there are more like me.

Brian

[Jason Edge]

That bag weighs an ounce?

I ship all over the world every day and have precise scales at my desk in the garage, etc. The August 2018 Self starter was 5.9 oz. I took a very plain plastic bag that I use to protect my Self-Starters after I read them and it was 0.3 oz... tried to go to 0.4 oz but settled on 0.3 oz.

So I put the Self-Starter in the bag and weighed it. It was now 6.2 oz. So guess what? The Post offices doesn't round down, or let you slide if you go over the next ounce increment, they Round Up!

For a test I plugged in shipping the 5.9 oz from NC to San Francisco, it was $2.05.  I plugged in 6.2 oz, and it went up to $2.26, so there is the 21 cents Tim is referring to. I guess they have a general reference weight and if the bag pushed it above the next ounce increment the PO goes up on the rate.
I did a couple of screen shops cropping out the destination name and attached.

So maybe you really were getting ripped off in the 70's if you were letting them include the weight of the bag! Unless you smoked the bag too! As they say, nothing is free!

[Chuck Swanson]

That bag weighs an ounce?  Obviously you never bought pot in the 1970's.

To answer the question the outer jacket is almost always damaged on my copies.  The actual magazine has bent, wrinkled, and sometimes torn pages, I would say at least 4 out of the 11 issues.

It's only 15 people that complain due to probably shredded issues being received but I would bet that a lot more are only slightly mangled and they just don't take the time to complain.  For the record I have never complained and asked for a replacement copy.  I would bet there are more like me.

Brian

  You are right Brian.  I have had two in last year or so get mangled.  It actually happened right after your first post way back months ago.  I didn't bother reporting and forgot to reply to the old post.  I do know my postmaster well, and mailman, and happening before they get.  As Brian mentions, definitely looks like it was caught in a machine.  The entire corner, around 6-7 inches.  Never bothered to report, or ask for a new copies.   

No issues with the AACA mag in bag ever (lifetime member)


Chuck...Syracuse NY area

[Art Director]

This discussion is going nowhere. I will personally mail Brian Rachlin an August issue that is pristine.

Moderators, please lock this thread.

[76eldo]

I would encourage everyone that gets a damaged copy to request a replacement so that the club directors get a more accurate feel for how often this happens.

Brian