Effective July 5, 2011, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 604.9.3 to clarify the standards that apply to the payment of approved refund requests for unused postage evidencing system indicia.
Approved refunds for unused meter indicia of $350 or less are typically paid by no-fee postal money order under current DMM standards. This revision clarifies the payment methods for refunds over $350 as being by no-fee postal money order up to $500 and via the Accounting Service Center for refund amounts over $500.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards for all Mailing Services
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604 Postage Payment Methods
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9.0 Refunds and Exchanges
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9.3 Refund Request for Postage Evidencing Systems and Metered Postage
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9.3.2 Unused, Dated Postage Evidencing System Indicia, Except PC Postage Indicia
***Submit refund requests for unused dated postage meter indicia as follows:
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h. ***Charges for processing a refund request for unused, dated meter indicia are as follows, depending on the total face value of the indicia:
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[Add a new second-to-last sentence and revise the last sentence of item 9.3.2h2 to read as follows:]
2. When the total face value of the indicia is more than $350, the amount refunded is the total face value reduced by $35 per hour for the USPS time to process the refund, with a minimum charge of $35. The charge is $35 for each hour spent, with the last fraction of an hour treated as a full hour. For example, if the time to process the refund is 2 hours and 12 minutes, the charge is $35 for 3 hours ($105), which is deducted from the total face value of the indicia. USPS may process the refund payment via a no-fee postal money order for amounts up to $500. Payment processing for refunds of $500.01 or more is through the Accounting Service Center.
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9.3.4 Unused, Undated Metered Postage
***Submit a refund request as follows:
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f. ***Charges for processing a refund request for unused, undated metered indicia are as follows, depending on the total face value of the indicia:
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[Add a new second-to-last sentence and revise the last sentence of item 9.3.2h2 to read as follows:]
2. When the total face value of the indicia is more than $350, the amount refunded is the total face value reduced by $35 per hour for the USPS time to process the refund, with a minimum charge of $35. The charge is $35 for each hour spent, with the last fraction of an hour treated as a full hour. USPS may process the refund payment via a no-fee postal money order for amounts up to $500. Payment processing for refunds of $500.01 or more is through the Accounting Service Center.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 6-2-11
