Beware, heavy rant ahead. I went to pick up a package today at my local USPS and got the worst service ever. And coming from my post office, that's saying a lot. Now on a regular basis, I have to go pick up parcels that are to big to be left at my door. Which of course I am thankful for, until I get to the post office. You know how many offices have the little, "Pick up" window? Mine does, but no one is ever working it. So usually I wait anywhere from 1/2 hour to a full hour to pick up a goddamn box. Then there are the shipping problem I encounter on a regular basis. if at all possible, I avoid shipping from here. I'll usually lug my box downtown on the train rather than wait. But on this particular time, here's what happened. I went at 11:30am and 2:15 pm to pick up my box. Both times, no one was working the window. Someone else would be up there and one of the cashiers would tell them they had to wait in line. Now unfortunatwly, on my days off, I do stuff and don't have the luxary of spending that time in line. So I come back about 4:50pm. One of the supervisors was bringing boxes to the back through the window. He says someone will be with me shortly. A few minutes later, one of the cashiers comes out and tells me no one is working the window. Pissed off, I tell her that the supervisor said someone was working it and I expect someone to come over. About 10 minutes go by, no one shows. I got up to the woman on the end and ask her to get the supervisor. She says she can't leave her station for some reason. Yet she left to go open a door for the supervisor earlier. Funny. Anyway, I go to the one that told me no one was working the window. She staright up ignores me. Best part, I was even polite. "Excuse me" fucking strasight up ignored. Of course I said it again twice getting a bit louder. Same. SO I got wait in line for 1/2 hour and get my package from the third cashier whom I actually flustered when the one ignored me. She was nice and got the supervisor. However, right before he came to talk to me, I see bitchy one go to the back to catch him beforehand. I know this because i work management and as soon as a customer is going to oust them, they come running to tell their side. So he comes to the door and gives me the crooked eye but the old line of "Well we are shorthanded and your complints are valid" BS. I was polite to him as well and told him everything except the ignore part because that just would have set me off. So tomorrow I'm calling the postlaster for the Chicago area because honestly, I've had it. Every time I go in, if it's not me then someone else is having an issue. The office is a fucking joke in the area. You can easily find someone else with a terrible story. So honestly, what is there to do? It's governemnt run so it's not like anything will change but does anyone else ever have issues? Or better yet, does anyone work for the USPS that can give some explanation?
Sounds like it could be a great system for picking up packages if they actually did it right. My post office just has everyone, sending and receiving, stand in the same line. Occasionally an employee will step out from the back and announce they will take care of all non-monetary transactions. I say definitely drop your two cents with the postmaster. You can only hope others have too; power in numbers and all that. Just don't get your hopes, as it seems you don't, that anything will change.
I would call the Postmaster General in Washington DC to air out your grievences about the post office in question. I did that once when I learned I had a package in a curbside lockbox and it took nearly a month to get it. I tried to resolve it on my own for 3 1/2 weeks, but didn't get anywhere with that. It didn't help to learn later on I lived on a training route where untrained, unsupervised postal carrier didn't leave a key in my box to access it. The Postmaster General got the manager out in the field to fix the problem for me.
I had a similar issue when I had items shipped to my parents, I had to go to a local office and pick them up the only teller must have been straight from asia as he couldnt speak any english and kept telling me no box no box until i went and found it my self, a few months after that I got the same thing except my box was in sight and i could read my name and the ame thing no box no box...a few bitchy phonecalls and he is no longer working for them and all my mail comes to my place of business
The window at my location isnt in use at all anymore and get the same run around, what do you expect? Its a typical govt run institution. And these same folks want to enter the health care business? Ha ha ha
I feel your pain. My post office is run by uni students. You'd think that people attending university would be a slight cut above the the average joe in the post office, but I think they're actually even dumber. Almost EVERY time I go to pick up something I usually get one or many of the following excuses: -"My manager isn't in right now" -"The pickup card is wrong, you don't have a parcel here" -"I really don't know what to do" (seriously, I've had people straight up tell me this) -"Sorry, you didn't pick it up soon enough; it's been returned to sender" (even though I go straight to the post office the instant I get a pickup card) I actually PREFER to have to pay duty on my parcels, because then I pick them up at the actual town post office and there's never been any trouble there. Hell, the guy at the counter gave me an entire roll of packing tape for free once.
The post office I used to go to to pick up packages would have a buzzer to buzz someone, which was nice. I rarely go there unless I had a package that required a signature. Other than that, the neighborhood I lived in is pretty safe since the PO person would leave it behind a column, which hides it from anyone driving by. Just my
I used to work in a customer service center for the whole USPS when I was in college, and I gotta tell you guys that depending a lot on where you live, your postal service changes tons. In most of the eastern US, the postal workers belong to unions. If they are tenured at all, they just don't care about their jobs, or if you complain at all, cuz they aren't getting fired. To be terminated, they would have to do something caught on video that was blatantly against reg's, and usually they'd also have to have a long record of such to actually get the axe. 90+ percent of the calls I took for complaints never got resolved with one phone call from the customer. We gave them a call reference # and I bet 30-40% of all my calls in a day were follow-up calls on complaints. When we conference called the supervisors at the local PO, they would put if off on the customer for not doing something right, and sometimes tell the client that they were one step from being entirely cut off from receiving any PO service, no delivery/pickup of any mail at all. Wreckgar, if you really do get a lot of packages, and you know the dollar value of your time, I would recommend going to one of the Mailboxes Etc. or other private type postal places and renting a mailbox. Usually less than 50 bucks a year(at least in my area), they will also recieve your packages for you. Since they are privately owned, they have tons better service, and usually much better hours as well. It seems worth it to pay some money to a private sector drop off company vs. standing in line for as many hours as you say you are. Funny story,(unless your local PO operates similarly) I remember a customer steaming mad at their deliveryman, and when we got him on the phone he said that he had worked there for over 20 years, and was the president of the local union and we could kiss his butt, as he was untouchable.
I find crying to yourself helps. Seriously... what can you do against the almighty post office. I once was expecting a package from Amazon.ca and when I checked on it online, it said that it had been successfully delivered. Well not to me it hadn't. Amazon was great and resent the shipment, but when I called Canada Post to complain, they said only the sender could file a complaint.
The town where i do most of my P.O. stuff, is only about 25,000 folks. but we got this rather large building, tons of mailboxes in there and 2, 2 separate customer service areas. and there is one area for DIY mailing. it has a pair of scales, tells ya the postage charge, etc., and well, that's all fine and dandy. but the customer service there sucks like a hooker in training with a bad gag reflex. seriously, with 4 "windows" for us at the main service counter, only 1 person is ever there. at the other counter, the guy seems only interested in selling boxes or stamp collecting kits. but the worst was the day i walked in to mail 2 letters to Brandon, MB, and there was a line of 17 people, and all were seemingly confused by how mailing things works. that wasn't so bad....it was the 4 postal workers that were standing near all of us on the wrong side of the counter and refused to do anything more than talk to each other. it took me exactly one hour and nine minutes to spend less than 2.50 and mail 'em off. funny, but my postwoman will actually go out of her way to help me or my dad with things. (dad has health problems.) ever since then, i just leave a letter in the box and the money on top in a ziploc and problem is solved. she's cool.
