Almost duped by mail service

Almost duped by mail service

From Koran Tempo

Several days ago I went to the local post office to send a parcel of books -- a national leader's autobiography and a religious lecture -- weighing one kilogram, to my grandchild in Padang. I was asked to pay a delivery charge of Rp 22,000, while the books were worth only Rp 40,000.

To my knowledge, postage is only around Rp 2,500 per kilo. A few months back, I sent a parcel to the same destination and was charged only Rp 7,670 for five kilograms of textiles worth Rp 1 million.

The mail service officer explained that the minimum weight for a parcel was three kilograms. Since my parcel only weighed one kilogram, I was required to pay a charge of Rp 2,000 per 50 grams for ordinary letters. I finally canceled the delivery through PT Pos Indonesia (state postal company) and was just charged Rp 13,000 by a private firm.

I wonder why PT Pos Indonesia's practices of trickery have not invited the protests of the Indonesian Publishers Association, the Newspaper Publishers Union, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation and even the House of Representatives.

After World War II, Japan reconstructed its devastated country by, among other things, exempting its poor citizens from book delivery charges. No wonder Japan, with its low postage for books and reading material, has emerged as one of the world's most advanced nations.

H. SLAMAT S.M. Cirebon, West Java