[Dx-qsl] The ubiquitous IRC!

[Ernie Walls]

I never cease to be entertained by the variances displayed in the
handling of the good old IRC.

It truly seems to be a function of the country/state/post
office/personnel with which you happen to undertake the transaction as,
very clearly, there is no single methodology employed although, to my
knowledge, there is a single rule under which transactions ought to take
place.

In good old OZ, the land down-under, in a small suburban post office in
Melbourne (whose total operational area is about 30 square meters - so
it's not a big, or particularly busy, establishment) they do it this way
-

1.	IRC's are sold for AU$2.60. You can buy one, or 200.
2.	IRC's are redeemed for AU$1.85, all types, all ages, which is
the cost of posting a 50 gram (not 20 gram or 25 gram, but 50 gram)
letter to anywhere in the world. Full stop.
3.	They are still cheerfully redeeming the '31/12/2006 expiry'
IRC's as recently as yesterday, 9/12/2006, with no comment, just a
friendly smile.
4.	They are still redeeming the 'small' IRC as recently as
yesterday, 9/12/2006.
5.	They do not require a stamp from the issuing post office on the
left hand side of the IRC, if the country of origin is printed on the
IRC. Some seem to have this printed upon them, some do not.
6.	They are unaware of a 'Pacific', 'Asian', 'Americas' or any
other type of IRC, except the one we all know about - and to which I
refer you to point 2 above. (In fairness, the chap did mention that
there may be a 'Europe' IRC - but he did not know anything about it -
and wondered why there would need to be one, given rule 2 above).
7.	Obviously, again in reference to point 2 above, they do not ask
for more than one IRC for any one item of mail - unless it is above the
50 gram weight limit.
8.	They actually seem to know what they are doing - reference the
so called UPU rules on IRC's.

	Obviously some countries, and notably Germany, charge like a
wounded bull for international postage, which is somewhat of a surprise
to this writer, as they seem (seemed!!!) so efficient and cost effective
in so many other areas.

	Australia is a big country, and a long way from most places,
with a level of postal traffic somewhat smaller than many other
countries but, since Australia Post was made a quasi-government
organisation many years ago, and was/is expected to attain accepted
commercial business standards (unlike your typical government agency,
perhaps!) they seem to be remarkably cost efficient, all things
considered.

	BTW, in VK you can send a QSL (one) anywhere in the world for
only $1.25, if you send only the card, and SASE, and print in red
letters above the 'Airmail' sticker the words 'Card Only'. Works
wonderfully.

	In closing, the value of the AU$ is, as I write, about US$0.77.

	Sorry for the bandwidth - summary is that I have NO problems
with IRC's. 

Ernie Walls VK3FM
vk3fm at wallsy.com.au
vk3fm at arrl.net