In Brooklyn NY post office I never have a problem like that. I always drop the mail piece off in the post office collection box, with the custom form attached, if it is under 13 ounces.

Funny, a few days a go I posted my own Post Office horror story here and got no comments. :-( I sent a small parcel from Brooklyn to Netherlands. It took this route: Brooklyn > Austria > Newark NJ > Amsterdam Netherlands > New York > London and Netherlands.

Robert
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Tony Curtis (3rd left) and Arthur Kennedy (2nd left) in "The Rawhide Years" (1955).
http://www.antiquegamblingchips.com/movie/movRaw091514.jpg