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How do you submit a USPS shop when the location was closed?

December 04, 2019 06:53PM
The form asks if the location was open for business. I selected 'no', gave an explanation (power outage), and attached outside images. But it doesn't seem like I can submit the report without entering info into all the other boxes (which I obviously can't since there was no interaction and I do not have a receipt). I emailed the scheduler, but have not heard back yet. Is there another way to contact someone from the MSC? Thanks.
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December 04, 2019 06:57PM
I had to do it once. It's a tedious process for half the fee and takes longer to submit than if the location was open. You have to explain repeatedly throughout the report. Click NA when possible and otherwise answer yes or no, then explain.
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December 04, 2019 07:11PM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

I had to do it once. It's a tedious process for half the fee and takes longer to submit than if the location was open. You have to explain repeatedly throughout the report. Click NA when possible and otherwise answer yes or no, then explain.

Thanks for the quick response.

Yikes! You'd think they would ask if the location was open for business at the very beginning of the form. If the answer is 'no', then they shouldn't ask the rest of the questions. It's ridiculous. What am I supposed to enter for times, receipt ID, tracking number etc? Just a bunch of zeros?

I've done hundreds of USPS shops over the years. Never had this happen before. Yesterday it happened TWICE. Two locations were closed due to power outages after a snowstorm the day before. The locations were almost 20 miles apart. Must have been one heck of a big power outage...
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December 04, 2019 07:14PM
Yes, enter a bunch of zeros for all boxes that require numbers. It's annoying.
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December 05, 2019 02:04AM
It is a pain as JASFLAMT pointed out. Once they ask if the location was open, the rest of the form should have been grayed out except the picture of the closed location. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. I just filled in each field with something to get the report to go through and mine was accepted.

If you're happy with the half "go-fee" then submit them. If you need the shops to mail something, then don't submit the closed location. You can just return again before the due date to do them again or maybe request an extension to do them at the full amount.

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."
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December 05, 2019 05:17AM
Problem with my shop was that they had an expired lease but hadn't moved to the new location yet. The location was permanently closed.
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December 05, 2019 04:31PM
Thanks for the help everyone. I finally received a reply from the MSC that was remarkably unhelpful. I was told to "just answer no to all the questions and upload a picture". Anyone who has done these shops before knows that this is NOT a simple yes/no kind of form. *sigh*
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December 05, 2019 05:20PM
Answering no to some questions brings up a short narrative block. So, I answered yes or n/a to every question (or whatever answer would not bring up a narrative block) and then 00:00 for the times and 00000000000000 for tracking and bill ID fields. I think I uploaded my closed location pics where the receipt and box pics went.

My logic was if the creator and maintainer of this report didn't put the thought and effort into creating a simple closed location report option, I'm not going to put in any thought and effort into filling it out (during a closed location scenario). Don't overly think this report...

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."
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