Effective July 9, 2018, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), in various sections to clarify refund standards for postage and fees.
The Postal Service will revise sections 604.9.2.1 and 604.9.2.4h to clarify the time limits for refunds, and add section, 604.9.2.6, Refund Payments, to provide the refund payment methods for all classes of mail and extra service fees. With the addition of section 604.9.2.6, section 9.5.7 will be deleted.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the DMM until July 9, 2018, the standards are effective immediately.
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 and Refunds
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9.0 Exchanges and Refunds
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9.2 Postage and Fee Refunds
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9.2.1 General Standards
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Exhibit 9.2.1 Postage and Fee Refunds
[Revise the chart in Exhibit 9.2.1 to read as follows:]
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9.2.4 Postage and Fee Refunds Not Available
Refunds are not made for the following:
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[Revise the text of item h. to read as follows:]
h. Except for extra service fees paid with Priority Mail Express under 9.2.1, fees paid for extra services (as allowed under 9.2.3) when the refund request is made by the mailer less than 10 days or more than 60 days from the date the service was purchased, unless otherwise authorized by the manager, Revenue and Field Accounting (see 608.8.0 for address).
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[Add new 9.2.6 and renumber current 9.2.6 as new 9.2.7.]
9.2.6 Refund Payment
a. Online:
1. Priority Mail Express refunds are paid by check or as a credit to an account (e.g., USPS Corporate Account, a federal government agency account, etc.).
2. Applicable extra service refunds are paid by check.
b. Form 3533:
1. Immediate Refund: If USPS can determine immediately that the mailer is entitled to a refund and the item has postage affixed, then USPS refunds the postage immediately in cash or with a no-fee money order for refund amounts up to $1,000.
2. Deferred Refund: If USPS cannot determine immediately that the mailer is entitled to a refund, then USPS researches the application and, if appropriate, issues a refund by check or as a credit to an account (e.g., USPS Corporate Account, a federal government agency account, etc.) to the mailer.
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9.5 Priority Mail Express Postage and Fees Refunds
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[Delete 9.5.7 in its entirety.]
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The Postal Service will incorporate this revision into the next online update of the DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification, Marketing, 5-10-18
