That's what someone scribbled on a piece of green printer paper affixed to a disabled stamp vending machine in the lobby of the U.S. Post Office on Estes Drive.

A sign on a second machine explained that the vending machines no longer serve post office patrons. And those patrons are miffed.

"Protest!" cried J.B. Marr after paying for postage through the Automated Postal Center that stands down the hall and around the corner from the defunct vending machines. The Automated Postal Center takes only credit cards.

If people want to buy a 41-cent stamp with cash, they can either wait in line for personal service or drive to the downtown post office or the one at Timberlyne Shopping Center.

"Who wants to use their credit card to buy stamps?" said Chapel Hill resident Angela Burnett, leaving the post office without the stamps she came for. "It doesn't make sense."

One man came into the post office on crutches Tuesday afternoon, while a dozen people stood in line for the tellers. He approached the coin-op machines but had to settle for buying a single stamp with his credit card.

"I guess I'll go someplace else and get my stamps," said another patron who asked not to be named.

That won't be an option for much longer. A post office spokesman said removing the coin-operated vending machines is a "national movement." The local postmaster certainly doesn't want to take the blame.

"The decision to remove the vending machines was made at the area and district level, not by the local postmaster," reads the green sign. "Please do not yell at the window clerk or the vending technician."

Spokeswoman Enola Rice said the postal service is phasing out stamp vending machines in favor of the Automated Postal Center, where customers can buy a stamp and also weigh packages and purchase more expensive postage.

"Last year, we spent $66 million repairing stamp vending machines," she said. "Spending $66 million to repair equipment that only provides one thing is not a good business decision."