Consequences of Including a Letter in a Media Mail Package

Factual Questions
1

I mailed a package to a friend that included six CDs a DVD, and a letter a couple weeks ago and the post office employee that took my order had noticed me packing it before I got into line so she asked me if I wanted to use media mail. Not knowing anything about it except that it’s cheap, I said yes and mailed it off, only to have it to return to me yesterday when my friend wasn’t able to get to the post office in time to retrieve it.

I went again today and told the employee taking this order that I had a media mail package to deliver and after paying, she asked, almost as an afterthough, if it was just media or if there was a correspondence included and my first reaction was to lie though, even at the time I knew I was stupid to do it.

So, assuming (as I do) that she opens the package and discovers the letter (it’s in the DVD case for added protection during transit but is poking out so she will notice if she looks), what will happen? I assume it will be returned to me for a third delivery but I can’t really find anything by googling or searching the USPS website.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

2

The post office used to inspect packages and required additional first class postage for any letters enclosed. Quite a few years ago, they stopped, figuring it was too much of a hassle to get an extra 41 cents. Unless they have reasons to suspect bigger fish to fry (e.g., explosives or other banned items), they don’t have the time to go through packages to determine if a tiny amount of postage could be squeezed out of the sender.

3

You’re not allowed to send a letter with other stuff in media mail? Seriously? Why not? It costs more to send a letter in a media mail envelope than just a regular envelope, correct?