CONSUMERS : Mailing Tips for Christmas

It may seem somewhat early to think about sending Christmas gifts, but not if you want to ensure that international packages get there by Dec. 25. It’s already too late to send surface mail abroad, and the U.S. Postal Service’s suggested airmail deadlines for mailing packages overseas, to Hawaii or Alaska are coming up fast.

But if you’re a last-minute shopper, Express Mail service can get your package there in a rush--for a price.

Overseas, the Postal Service delivers Express Mail to 69 countries in one to three days, depending on the location. But it’s not cheap. For instance, a two-pound package sent from Los Angeles to Hong Kong via Express Mail costs $26.70.

In the United States, however, sending a two-pound parcel from Los Angeles to New York by Express Mail only costs $10.75 and the Postal Service guarantees overnight delivery, even on Christmas Day.

“It’s still a good idea to mail early, especially overseas,” said Larry Dozier, a Los Angeles public relations officer for the Postal Service. “But, if you wait until Christmas Eve, you can still send a package Express Mail from any major city here and it will get there the next day.”

Last year, according to the Postal Service’s David Mazer, communications manager in Los Angeles, the pre-Christmas postal volume nationwide was 13 billion pieces, which includes letters and cards as well as parcels. “In the Los Angeles Basin, the figure for those eight weeks during the holiday season was 1.7 billion pieces of mail,” he said.

“Each year the volume grows about 2%, but automation has helped us speed up everything,” Mazer pointed out.

Last Thursday, in an extended effort to assist consumers in the nation’s large cities who have questions about sending parcels, the Postal Service instituted its Postal Answer Line, a new customer information system that provides recorded responses 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Los Angeles consumers who have touch-tone telephones and live in ZIP codes 90000 to 90099 may dial the toll-free number--(213) 587-6142--any time to receive the prerecorded messages. Los Angeles and Orange County households will receive booklets from the Post Office describing the new service and listing extension numbers.

For Los Angeles residents in ZIP codes 90024, 25, 34, 49, 64, 66, 67, 73 and 77, the toll-free number is (213) 272-6172.

Postal Answer Line will be available to San Fernando Valley residents in early December. Its toll-free number will be (818) 908-0130.

The Orange County toll-free number, already in service, is (714) 662-0681.

Variety of Topics

The new phone service offers information on a wide range of postal topics, including post office locations, deliveries, special services and prices, insurance rates, mailing of valuables, proof of delivery and forwarding.

After you dial the service, you will hear the introductory message, then instructions on what three-digit extension number you should press to get information on a particular subject. For instance, insurance questions are Ext. 337; package rates and classes of mail, 333; size standards for mail, 118.

Postal Answer Line’s “rate calculation” segment can give consumers the prices for all first-class and priority packages up to five pounds and most parcel-post (fourth class) packages up to 15 pounds.

No matter how you intend to send your gifts, be sure to have them wrapped properly before you get to the Post Office.

You can get tips through the new phone service by dialing Ext. 139 for a recording on how to prepare packages for mailing.

The official Postal Service guidelines include:

Placing the gift in a sturdy box--post offices sell three sizes of boxes and Jiffy bags. “You don’t have to have fancy packing materials,” said Dozier. “Newspapers, after you’ve read them, will do just fine.”

Including a slip of paper inside the package with your name and address as well as the recipient’s printed on it in case the box’s label is damaged. “That way we can resend it if we have the proper address,” he said.

Sealing the box with heavy-duty tape, not Scotch or masking tape, which can come loose and foul up the processing machines. “Do not put string or twine on them,” said Dozier. “It will jam the automatic sorting machines.”

Addressing the outside of the box legibly on only one side, not on all the panels, using the proper ZIP code. If the package is going to an apartment or condominium, include the number of the unit. Place your return address only in the left hand corner of the front of the package. “A bunch of addresses all over the package becomes confusing to carriers,” Dozier said.

Dozier also cautioned consumers that they must fill out customs forms for overseas parcels, and that they should check with the Postal Service on weight limits in particular nations. For most countries, the maximum mailing weight is 44 pounds.

Insure Packages

Dozier wholeheartedly recommends insuring the package for the worth of the gift. “It’s always a good idea to insure packages for your own security, whether you’re sending them overseas or across the country,” he said. “You can insure items up to $500. But you shouldn’t try to insure a package for more than it’s worth. We only cover the fair market value of the item if it’s lost or damaged and we need a receipt or some proof of the price.”

To insure a package for $50 or less, for example, the Postal Service charges 70 cents.

Express Mail parcels are automatically insured up to $500 on the value of the item.

If you’re sending a high-ticket present such as a diamond watch, the best bet is to send it registered mail, “the most secure way to send mail,” according to Dozier. Registered mail costs an extra $4.40 no matter where it is going, and the item is “automatically insured.”

If, for some reason, the parcel doesn’t arrive, the Post Office will reimburse the customer for the value of the item, providing you show Postal Service officials a bill of sale.

POST HASTE FOR CHRISTMAS The U.S. Postal Service has guidelines for the last day you can post mail for destinations ouside the continental United States, and have it arrive by Christmas.

Destination Parcels Letter & Cards Africa Nov. 20 Dec. 1 Alaska Dec. 8 Dec. 8 Australia Nov. 20 Nov. 24 Caribbean Dec. 8 Dec. 8 Central and South America Dec. 4 Dec. 4 Europe Dec. 1 Dec. 1 Far East Dec. 1 Dec. 1 Hawaii Dec. 8 Dec. 8 Middle East Nov. 20 Nov. 24 Southeast Asia Nov. 20 Nov. 20