Ripped off by a corrupt and bent system.
Mar. 24th, 2016 02:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reynardoI have a friend who is ... ahem ... "Serving at the Governor's pleasure" in the United States. Despite his crime, he's still a friend, so for the last little while, I've been sending him chatty letters and silly postcards. But some of it has gone skewiff.
There are other contact services available, depending on which company has the contract. If you want your loved one to be able to buy things, you can send them money. If you want your person to call you (you can't call them), you can buy them time on the telephone through one of many companies. If you want to send them authorised snacks, there are companies which are allowed to cater to the prisoners, so you can choose from an inventory and have the snacks sent in. And if you want to send email, rather than mail, there is often a way to do that too.
Unfortunately, all these companies know when they're on to a good thing. In the true spirit of capitalism, they'll have a monopoly for the service at a particular facility, and thus be able to charge almost anything they want. I'm serious. At some facilities, the families were having to pay up to $17 a minute for the phone. The snack companies were charging about 50% more than the cost of the items, and a huge delivery fee on top of them. And if I were to send any money, about 15-20% of it comes off to the company processing it in "administrative fees". Don't want to use those companies? Bad luck. There's no other way to get through.
One service I did occasionally use was the email one. Not like usual email, as of course the mail has to be checked. But I could type up my letter, paste it into the website, and it would arrive at my friend's mail check (printed out) within 3 days, at about 17c a page. For an overseas letter, that's not such a bad thing. I do enjoy writing an actual letter, drawing silly pictures in it, and sometimes enclosing newspaper clippings and such, but if I just wanted the fast information to get through, the "email" was actually cheaper. (Mail from Australia to the US costs about $2.75).
It worked brilliantly at Christmas, because his girlfriend (in Canada) can talk to him by phone, then relay stuff back to me via Facebook. So I worked out a code.
It worked like a dream. He got my email within 3 days (I sent it at Thanksgiving). Shortly afterwards, I got the following message on Facebook from S:
Snerk.
Which gave me plenty of time to find a beautiful scarf, and a very silly little Wombat Christmas decoration from me :-)
But...
The company through which the email went has lost that part of the contract. I can still send funds to the inmate through them, but I can't send an email to him in that part of the US's penal system. And of course, you don't just buy up 17c worth of email each time. You need to sign on for a set sum of money, usually $20, and use up the credit as you go. So I still had about $14 worth of credit for email with them.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Email stamps are non-refundable."
I can't get the funds transferred to a money transfer for him. I can't get a refund for them. I don't know anyone else in jail in the US, so I can't send anyone else emails with the credit. I can't even transfer them to anyone else who has a friend in the US in jail.
The only thing I can do is, if someone has a friend who is in a facility that will allow JPay emails, I can give them the details for the account, and let them run the credit down.
So, if you (or someone you know) has a friend in the US who writes to someone in jail, and that person in jail is allowed to receive Jpay emails, let me know. I will gladly hand over the account with its $14 credit for them to use. It's not a lot, but this thieving stinking bunch have squeezed enough money out of other people. I would like this small sum to be used for good.
There are other contact services available, depending on which company has the contract. If you want your loved one to be able to buy things, you can send them money. If you want your person to call you (you can't call them), you can buy them time on the telephone through one of many companies. If you want to send them authorised snacks, there are companies which are allowed to cater to the prisoners, so you can choose from an inventory and have the snacks sent in. And if you want to send email, rather than mail, there is often a way to do that too.
Unfortunately, all these companies know when they're on to a good thing. In the true spirit of capitalism, they'll have a monopoly for the service at a particular facility, and thus be able to charge almost anything they want. I'm serious. At some facilities, the families were having to pay up to $17 a minute for the phone. The snack companies were charging about 50% more than the cost of the items, and a huge delivery fee on top of them. And if I were to send any money, about 15-20% of it comes off to the company processing it in "administrative fees". Don't want to use those companies? Bad luck. There's no other way to get through.
One service I did occasionally use was the email one. Not like usual email, as of course the mail has to be checked. But I could type up my letter, paste it into the website, and it would arrive at my friend's mail check (printed out) within 3 days, at about 17c a page. For an overseas letter, that's not such a bad thing. I do enjoy writing an actual letter, drawing silly pictures in it, and sometimes enclosing newspaper clippings and such, but if I just wanted the fast information to get through, the "email" was actually cheaper. (Mail from Australia to the US costs about $2.75).
It worked brilliantly at Christmas, because his girlfriend (in Canada) can talk to him by phone, then relay stuff back to me via Facebook. So I worked out a code.
Dear D,
Choose something from the list below. You tell S on your next phone call to pass on a message to me, and I'll go organise it:
(Yes, other readers. This is a code. But we're being totally open about it here, so please let this through).
If you want me to get her (then ask her to tell me):
Jewellry:
Cat charm on a necklace (You owe me a letter by now)
Cat-style earrings (Mum got your postcard, thank you)
Heart charm on a necklace or bracelet (Hope you didn't freeze in New Zealand)
Something Australian in the jewellery line (You Australians are weird, not having Thanksgiving)
Book:
Rivers of London :-) (I'm looking forward to the next Peter Grant book)
An Amazon gift card (I can't decide which book to read next from your list)
Decorative Scarf (I wish I was in Australia – it's getting really cold here)
An Australian Christmas Decoration (You Australians are weird, having Christmas in Summer)
New Zealand Bone Carving (I would love to go to New Zealand some time)
It worked like a dream. He got my email within 3 days (I sent it at Thanksgiving). Shortly afterwards, I got the following message on Facebook from S:
"Tell G that her postcard made it through! And that he got both your letter AND your email today. He hopes that your bronchitis has gone away and that you are feeling better. " He says that he "wishes he was in Australia because it's getting really cold here. And if his math adds up, you Aussies are weird for having Christmas in Summer."
Snerk.
Which gave me plenty of time to find a beautiful scarf, and a very silly little Wombat Christmas decoration from me :-)
But...
The company through which the email went has lost that part of the contract. I can still send funds to the inmate through them, but I can't send an email to him in that part of the US's penal system. And of course, you don't just buy up 17c worth of email each time. You need to sign on for a set sum of money, usually $20, and use up the credit as you go. So I still had about $14 worth of credit for email with them.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Email stamps are non-refundable."
I can't get the funds transferred to a money transfer for him. I can't get a refund for them. I don't know anyone else in jail in the US, so I can't send anyone else emails with the credit. I can't even transfer them to anyone else who has a friend in the US in jail.
The only thing I can do is, if someone has a friend who is in a facility that will allow JPay emails, I can give them the details for the account, and let them run the credit down.
So, if you (or someone you know) has a friend in the US who writes to someone in jail, and that person in jail is allowed to receive Jpay emails, let me know. I will gladly hand over the account with its $14 credit for them to use. It's not a lot, but this thieving stinking bunch have squeezed enough money out of other people. I would like this small sum to be used for good.
