pbSmartPostage^™ Product Terms

Account Requirements
Your subscription is billed based on the nine digit zip code for the address entered during registration.

Your postage account is subject to USPS regulation. If you: (i) use your postage account in a fraudulent or unlawful manner; (ii) do not use your account during a consecutive twelve (12) month period; (iii) fail to exercise sufficient control over your account to prevent fraudulent or unlawful use; (iv) take or allow the account to be taken outside the United States without the prior written authorization of the Manager of Retail Systems and Equipment, U.S. Postal Service, Washington DC 20260; or (v) otherwise fail to abide by the provisions of postal regulations and these terms regarding care and use of your account, then your account may be cancelled. You acknowledge and agree that your account must be surrendered to Pitney Bowes or the USPS upon demand.

You also acknowledge that any use of your account to fraudulently deprive the USPS of revenue can cause you to be subject to civil and criminal penalties applicable to fraud and/or false claims against the United States. The submission of a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement can result in imprisonment for up to five (5) years and a fine of up to $10,000 (18 U.S.C. 1001). In addition, a civil penalty of up to $5,000 and an additional assessment of twice the amount falsely claimed may be imposed (31 U.S.C. 3802). The mailing of matter bearing a fraudulent imprint is an example of a violation of these statutes.

The USPS has granted Pitney Bowes the license as a PC postage vendor to create a shared postage evidencing system (“pbSmartPostage”) that users will use to dispense postage. As a user of pbSmartPostage you must understand and acknowledge that authorization to use the system is granted by the USPS. You accept responsibility for control and use of the system and agree to abide by all rules and regulations governing its use, and that the rules and regulations regarding the use of pbSmartPostage as documented in the Domestic Mail Manual may be updated from time to time by the USPS. USPS may deny use of or revoke authorization to use a postage evidencing system in the event of (i) failure to comply with rules and regulations; (ii) submission of false or fictitious information; (iii) entering of a series of unpaid or short-paid mail pieces and/or packages in the mail stream; (iv) use of the system for any illegal scheme or enterprise; (v) use of the system outside the customs territory of the United States; or (vi) possession of a decertified system. You must make the postage evidencing system and transaction records available and surrender the system to Pitney Bowes, the USPS, or its agent when notified to do so.

Subscriptions; Billing Cycle
Your subscription cost is based on the subscription plan you select and does not include postage.

If your registration includes a trial period and if you do not wish to continue your subscription past the trial period, you must cancel your subscription before the last day of the trial period to avoid being billed for the first month of subscription once the trial period has completed.

If you received your pbSmartPostage subscription at no cost in connection with your lease or rental of a Pitney Bowes meter, your pbSmartPostage subscription will remain at no cost so long as you maintain your lease or rental of the meter. In the event that you terminate or fail to renew your meter lease or rental, or your meter lease or rental otherwise expires, you will incur a charge for your subscription to pbSmartPostage at the then-current rate. We will begin billing such subscription charge in the month immediately following the end of your postage meter lease or rental.

Subscriptions that are offered at a discount in return for a commitment over a period of time (e.g., one year) will be subject to an early termination fee if canceled prior to the end of commitment period. The early termination fee will be based on a fixed amount that will be disclosed with the subscription registration.

Purchasing
Pitney Bowes reserves the right to verify the identity and/or credit of any person registering for the service, and the identity of any person accessing the account or attempting to use the customer support process for accessing the account. In order to provide you with access to the service, we require that you provide certain personal information and answers to security questions. Personal information we collect through registration and answers to security questions will be used to authenticate your identity when you sign up for the service and each time you sign in, and may further be used to verify the identity of individuals who contact Pitney Bowes in connection with access to your account.

Postage costs for use of the service are not provided by Pitney Bowes and you are responsible for funding a pre-paid postage account. You may select a different method of payment for postage than used for the subscription payment. Postage payment options will be displayed during account setup. You agree to the minimum purchase of $5 each time you purchase postage. The maximum amount of postage that can be held in the pre-pay account at any given time is $1000. There is no limit on postage account refills as long as the max postage amount is not exceeded. No sales tax is charged to postage refills or dispenses. Postage costs will be charged to the preferred postage payment source immediately upon purchase and will be applied to the prepay account balance. Unless Pitney Bowes is the preferred payment source, charges for postage will appear and be supplied by your credit card issuer or bank directly; Pitney Bowes will not provide payment statements or invoices for third parties. You may request refunds from your postage account balance at any time for any amount. Postage can be dispensed at any time as long as the subscription account is paid and in good standing. (See Account Suspension section below)

Postage fees and product costs will be applied to your payment source at the time of purchase. You will be allowed to print postage up to the amount of funds in your postage account that have cleared and provided that your subscription fees have been paid. Pitney Bowes will notify you if any transactions are rejected. If a subscription fee transaction is rejected, your account may be suspended until your account is brought up to date.

If you dispute a charge to the credit card which is your payment source, Pitney Bowes is authorized to debit your postage account from time to time in amounts which in the aggregate do not exceed the amount of the disputed charge.

Free trial periods will vary depending on offers. No subscription billing will occur during the free trial period based on your subscription selection. Billing will occur at the end of the trial period on the same day of the month the subscription was ordered and the invoice will reflect the billing cycle selected for the value of the price of the subscription ordered at the time of registration. You are only entitled to the free trial period for the specified period. Postage is not included in the free trial period unless specified.

Free postage offers will vary and will have specific terms depending on the offer. Free postage offers are not refundable. Pitney Bowes will not provide any cash payments or account credits for granted free postage at any time.

Promotional offers: Subscription plans that may include other products or services identified as “included”, “free”, or “discounted” are only available per single subscription plan. If you select the same items in the checkout process to be purchased in addition to the promotional offer, the additional items are not subject to the same value (e.g., free or discounted) as in the original promotional offer. All promotional items that are offered as part of the subscription are considered sold material and are invoiced at subscription check out and become the property of the subscriber excluding service type offers. Material items that are sold as part of a promotional offer or part of a bundle are not returnable for credit at any time.

Account Suspension
Accounts will be suspended for improper use, violation of USPS rules and policies, illegal activity or when Pitney Bowes is unable to charge due to an invalid payment source for the subscription. During account suspension, you will be unable to access the account until payments become up to date. All past due billing will be charged as soon as a valid payment source is updated. It may take 24 hours for your account to be reactivated. After 90 days from the suspension date or if Pitney Bowes has determined that the account must be canceled for violation of policy, all funds in the prepay postage account will be credited to the prepaid account payment source less any unpaid fees owed to Pitney Bowes. Accounts closed for policy violations will be charged a $25 processing fee.

Subscription Account Cancellation
Pitney Bowes will refund the full amount of postage remaining in your account at the time of cancellation to your current payment source. Pitney Bowes will not provide any cash payments for subscription credits or postage in your postage pre-paid account.

Postage Refund
Requests for postage refunds for unused, misprinted or damaged postage will be granted for active accounts in good standing for face value only in accordance with USPS and Pitney Bowes policy and procedures. See www.pbSmartPostage.com/ Click the Manage Menu, Select Refunds and Help for details, instructions and FAQs. 

Pitney Bowes reserves the right to reject claims deemed not qualified for refunds at its sole discretion. All postage refund claims when granted will be credited to the prepay postage account balance. No cash payment or interest will be paid for any postage refund when granted.