Loydene
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,639 
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Post by Loydene on Jul 3, 2016 16:05:02 GMT
I used to be a staunch defender of the US Postal system. But MAN !!>>>!!! They have really let me down!
From my area, the suburbs of a major city, but still well within the metropolitan area, I USED to be able to expect downtown (courthouse -- about 12 miles) delivery of mail in one day; same for an adjoining City/County Seat (9 miles or so) -- 1 day for 1st class mail. Now delivery time is routinely 3 days. I could expect 2 day delivery to my Mother in a mid-size City 150 miles away, and 3 days to my sister to a large city in the Southwest. Now it is 3 or 4 days to my Mother and we can expect 7 days to my sister -- for 1st class envelopes!
Then, lets discuss the actual post office and staffing. No ... let's not because my head will probably explode! Suffice it to say that those subjects are simply a joke - from the limited hours the counter is open, to the normal status of failure of the cheap machines to work and/or dispense postage in the denomination or physical property I want, to the poor staffing when the counters are open, to the closure of many of the brick and mortar facilities, to the unGodly unable, inefficient and plain stupid and obstinate persons staffing the counters when and if those counters are open.
And the effrontery of the Post Office to suggest they are losing money. Well no F**CKING wonder!
I apologize to all the good people, if any, still working for the U S Postal system. I'm confident that you too are tired of the inefficiency of the system -- it has to be even worse for the capable staff.
But, frankly, none of them are in or at the postal offices through which my mail seems to be aimed.
I need to use the US Mail -- much of my mail is really too small for the package delivery places ... and now their reliance on the US Postal for the final delivery of their packages might be why 1st class delivery is diminishing.
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,078
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jul 3, 2016 16:31:21 GMT
I, on the other hand, remain impressed that I can have a piece of mail go across the country in about 3-5 days for under 50 cents!
With the exception of a few weird delivery problems which the head postmaster said was employees being lazy, I am pretty happy.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 3:18:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 16:35:08 GMT
The worst part is there is absolutely no system for resolution. Mail delivered to the wrong house? Oh well. Mail not delivered at all? You may not even know what you are missing. Didn't pick up as scheduled? By the time you make a report and someone calls you, the issue is resolved usually by you taking it to the post office and then it is just marked as resolved but the problem isn't addressed.
I could go on and on but you get the picture.
They are so inefficiently run that it's ridiculous.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,598
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Jul 3, 2016 16:35:53 GMT
I'm a USPS defender as well, but my local office is the WORST. Dirty, dark, dank. Cranky workers (I would be too if I worked in that black hole.) I travel one town over to a lovely, sunny, friendly small town PO. The postal worker knows everyone by name, it's like their country store. All the townies go and chit chat with him - I feel like I'm in Mayberry.
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,739
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Jul 3, 2016 16:40:23 GMT
They are losing money because of the pre-funding mandate. But if not for the pre-funding mandate, required by no other public or private entities, the post office would be making money today, with the recession over and its package business booming. linkand link
That being said the management in some facilities need to step it up. I worked for the USPS for years, in various offices and there were some really well run and some not so much. |
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Post by anxiousmom on Jul 3, 2016 16:41:26 GMT
I always feel kind of bad for our neighborhood mail carrier. We all have our mailboxes on our houses so the carrier has to walk the entire area rather than drive from house to house. One time about 20 years ago the post office tried to get us all to switch to the roadside boxes, but no one did. For the last 10 years or so we have had the same mail carrier who is really nice and I like her just fine but boy, she sure does put in the miles every day.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 2, 2024 3:18:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 16:43:06 GMT
only 1 out of the four employees at our local one seem to want to be friendly, helpful or there at all. The rest seem like they are marking time. Our delivery lady though is great!
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~Lauren~
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,876
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Post by ~Lauren~ on Jul 3, 2016 16:47:11 GMT
If I place a piece of mail in my town, addressed to someone in my town, it goes to Syracuse (70 miles away) and then back again despite the fact that we have a large main post office in my town.
Like everything the government is involved in, it's ridiculously expensive (in terms of costs of operation) and it's inefficient.
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Post by Suziee2 on Jul 3, 2016 16:53:23 GMT
I do the bookkeeping where I work. I mail bills SEVEN days before they are due. I can't tell you how many bills do not make it in that time frame. It's crazy.
A few years ago, DD send me a birthday present. I'm in the south and my birthday is in the middle of summer. I live on a corner lot, and the side street is a major side street for our area. Our mailbox is at the street. It is enclosed in a bricked in thingamajig with a rounded brick top. The box was too big to fit in the mailbox so the mail person SET IT ON TOP of the mailbox. In those days, our mail was delivered early in the morning. The box sat there all day. Thankfully no one stole it. It was beautiful candles from Napa Valley. They were all nice and melted after sitting in FULL SUN all day long. They are supposed to walk up to the houses for anything that doesn't fit in the mailbox. That is their job - in their job description, in their union agreement. They were too lazy to do so. Little did they know, the Postmaster was a friend. They were written up and apparently violated several union regulations. Lazy dumb ass! I also found out that they have several unions that they work under.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jul 3, 2016 16:54:49 GMT
A big part of the delivery problems have been the result of USPS closing and consolidating sorting facilities. I've noticed that most of my First Class mail is now taking longer than it used to. For the most part I have good service with the USPS. Every once in a while I get a lemon of a delivery person or someone at the post office. Just this past week we had substitute delivery people. On Monday I had a small package out for pick up (we still get home delivery/pick up in my neighborhood). I just happened to be near the front door when the mail was delivered but my package wasn't picked up. I went out and flagged her down and handed her the package saying she forgot to pick it up. She took it, turned it over several times like she had never seen a package before. Finally she tells me she is new and is going to have to call her supervisor to see if she can take the package!  Seriously? I told her I was going back inside but if her supervisor said no, then she was welcome to put it back on my porch. She sat outside in the truck for a good 10 minutes, then drove off...with my package. They really need to train these people better! |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 3, 2016 16:55:04 GMT
Yep, there is something wrong with a system when it takes a birthday card 13 days to travel less than 15 miles.  Or when I get a piece of mail for someone who lives a mile away. It is easier to just deliver it myself to said person and probably more reliable too. |
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Loydene
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,639
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Post by Loydene on Jul 3, 2016 16:56:12 GMT
They are losing money because of the pre-funding mandate. But if not for the pre-funding mandate, required by no other public or private entities, the post office would be making money today, with the recession over and its package business booming. linkand link
That being said the management in some facilities need to step it up. I worked for the USPS for years, in various offices and there were some really well run and some not so much. Thank you for the (second) link -- that does provide an explanation as to the system, but it doesn't answer the cranky, inefficient, under-able counter-staff, and the inefficiency of the entire system. Yes - I believe we need the postal system but it has to work better! |
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basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,615
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Post by basketdiva on Jul 3, 2016 17:37:28 GMT
Gypsygirl- do you just put out packages for the carrier to pick up or do you schedule the pickup? I can get a package picked up so long as I schedule it before 2 am EST.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Jul 3, 2016 18:21:36 GMT
I'm a USPS defender. They are trying to do a job under impossible conditions. $0.47 for a first class letter is crazy cheap compared to most of the world.
The post office has no control over prices - that would be our shitty congress and their ability to FUBAR anything they touch.
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Post by PolarGreen12 on Jul 3, 2016 18:21:59 GMT
My complaint with the mail right now is that we have a delivery man who is the biggest jerk fuckwit possible. He mixes up everyone's mail. At least twice a week I have to drive through the neighborhood to give people their mail that was delivered to me. Addresses are not similar in any way. He delivered a package to us that is from a town 70 miles away. Wtf. He is always on his phone and smoking. People in the neighborhood have him on security cameras throwing mail into bushes. He maced a neighbor's dog when it was only barking and he daughter had the dog on a leash. He hit the daughter with the mace because of wind and she went to urgent care.
Several neighbor's got together and with proof of his bad doings they wouldn't remove him from this route. They bid on their routes and it's set in stone.
So frustrating!
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Post by Linda on Jul 3, 2016 18:25:29 GMT
I, on the other hand, remain impressed that I can have a piece of mail go across the country in about 3-5 days for under 50 cents! With the exception of a few weird delivery problems which the head postmaster said was employees being lazy, I am pretty happy. I agree - under 50 cents for a letter to go from my son in Japan (FPO address) to Florida (via California) in less than a week? Good deal! |
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846
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Post by georgiapea on Jul 3, 2016 18:35:12 GMT
My complaint is that because of seniority, incompetent people can keep their jobs. My postal delivery person is one step below blind. I see her squinting, 6 inches from a piece of mail while sitting in front of my house. The end result is that she regularly gives me other people's mail. And due to the late notices I get, it's obvious she delivered MY mail to other addresses.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,173
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jul 3, 2016 21:41:36 GMT
I'm generally a defender of the USPS too, but sometimes individual employees or certain post offices really frustrate me. There is often only one window open at the office in my town, and you can stand in line for quite a long time. I do try to mail things from the little town where I work, but that office closes at 4, so unless I can get out of school pretty quickly, it can be hard to get there before they close. But they are nicer than the usual woman at my local office.
When I was mailing several small packages a few months ago I was really ticked off that the main post office in my town has made their postage stickers bigger than other places and then they insist that the package has to be big enough for the address, return address, AND that honking big sticker to all be on the top of the package. Boxes the same size as I had previously used to mail things weren't big enough that time. So I had to insert them into big floppy envelopes, re-address them all, and mail them with a higher price than I was expecting because those envelopes cost more to mail. I was pissed off. I confirmed, on the website and by asking a worker at a postal substation inside a grocery store, that there is NO minimum size for packages. It's just that post office that has made their stickers so big.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Jul 3, 2016 21:51:25 GMT
I have seen such a decline in service in the last 6 months it's crazy. I now pay more to use Fedx when it's an option and have quit ordering at s few places that use USPS. Our PO is horrible but I know that things no longer get tracked like they should and hate not knowing if and when a package with tracking will show up. So many times it travels across the country without any tracking info until it's delivered while others you can see every move - two boxes sent on the same day out of the same Warehouse - one not found until it was delivered granted they both showed up but still frustrating wondering what's happening. Or getting s message at a failed delivery because the business was closed. It was a residence so where did they leave the claim ticket and we were home, returned packages that are addressed wrong but they aren't label wasn't damaged and we got other mail that day. We haven't recieved a neighbors package in a while so maybe that is getting better - it was getting really bad with getting neighbors and them getting ours.
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Sarah*H
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,973
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Post by Sarah*H on Jul 3, 2016 21:58:20 GMT
You know, Congress screwed the USPS with the pre-funding mandate and IMO, it's intended to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Decimate their ability to operate on the budget they're legally mandated to follow, requiring draconian cuts in service which affects reliability and delivery times and then those same reps. will say that their constituents are pissed that the USPS sucks so much so it's time to do away with it altogether and let the free market handle it. Votes have consequences. If you aren't happy with how it's operating, ask why those sorting facilities have been closed and why a letter mailed from the same town now often has to travel 2 counties over before it makes its way back to where it belongs.
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Post by mirabelleswalker on Jul 3, 2016 22:07:21 GMT
The last three times I went (2 different facilities), they were out of stamps! Glad I could order online and get them in two days.
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Post by nepean on Jul 3, 2016 22:13:26 GMT
I am a USPS defender as well, but something seriously has to change, and they unfortunately can't due to congress stupidity.
My thoughts may not be popular but, they need to charge what it takes to at the minimum break even. This latest stupidity of lowering postage rates was foolish. US postage is CHEAP compared to most other countries, and sadly we are paying for the "CHEAP" in poor service and appalling working condition for the USPS postal staff. I also think they need to cease Saturday and Sunday deliveries, as they cannot afford it right now. But between Congress and pressure from places like Amazon, they are between a rock and hard place with no way out.
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melissa
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,912
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Post by melissa on Jul 3, 2016 22:19:50 GMT
I have 4 post offices near me. One is the big one for the zip code we actually live in. They seem understaffed. It is a huge regional post office. I only go there when I need to. Another covers 2 zip codes and is OK. They have a kiosk in the lobby. I use that as often as I can. It's faster than waiting on the always present line. Of those 4 near me, there are 2 small hole in the wall type post offices that I am surprised still exist. One has a guy who is always cracking jokes and is very chatty. Truly like Mayberry USA. The other little post office has two women who work behind the counter who seem very efficient yet friendly. I walked in with a priority box they other day with the old packaging, so no flat rate. I didn't realize it would be so expensive. She gave me what I needed to repack it right there. I didn't need to ask for anything except a pen.  I still like priority mail. I don't send mail locally very often so I am not aware of a change in the time it takes to get somewhere. I do dislike the other services delivery to the post office. I hate that the tracking for estimated arrival is the arrival at the post office! Then again, I really dislike Fedex lately! If a package is at the facility a day or more ahead of time, they hold it until the expected or estimated delivery date. Really? Don't you think I know the package is sitting at your facility? Don't you think I'd be a happier customer and more impressed with your service if it came early? We ordered 2 replacement cell phones recently, both delivered by Fedex. One sat there for an additional 2 days, the other for 3! You can delay delivery but cannot speed it up. Each phone was to replacement a broken phone. It was extra frustrating. |
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,739
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Jul 3, 2016 22:37:23 GMT
nepean The prices will go up again soon. They had to "lower prices" as the increase was only approved as a temporary price increase that expired. They, unfortunately, can't call their own shots. Although the USPS is totally self-sustaining, they have to go before a board of governors that have to approve price changes etc and it takes forever. It's kind of like they get no assistance but all the control issues/grief from the government.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jul 3, 2016 22:52:57 GMT
Gypsygirl- do you just put out packages for the carrier to pick up or do you schedule the pickup? I can get a package picked up so long as I schedule it before 2 am EST. I just put them out with the regular mail. We live in an older neighborhood with delivery at each house. All we have to do is just set it out. I really appreciate not having to make a run to the post office every day or so (I sell on eBay). My regular mailman is wonderful! It's the subs when he is on vacation who tend to drive me nuts. Save |
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Post by txdancermom on Jul 4, 2016 1:11:28 GMT
For the most part the service has gone downhill. I do like that I can print the postage for a priority mail box and then drop it off.
My biggest beef with them is that when we request mail be held because we are going out of town, it is either not held as requested, or if we ask to pick it up they will deliver it, or have it delivered they will continue to hold it. I think part of our problem is that while we are in a suburban neighborhood, we are still considered a rural route.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jul 4, 2016 13:12:32 GMT
Overall, I still think that the magic of having our mail delivered any where in the world for what we pay to do so is incredible.
But, sure, I have complaints. I have three, what I would consider, very local post offices near my home.
The one is a tiny hole in the wall. Very friendly employees, but the wait sometimes extends outside the door, and there is no parking available around there.
The second one is always late to open. Every single day. Ten to twenty minutes late. It has three different employees that I ever see, two of which are always on break, just about to go on break, or busy doing something that is not helping customers. The self service machines are always broken in that location too.
The third one is located in a strip mall, and run pretty efficiently, although I seem to get the employee that has just eaten lemons and hates the world, and hates her job, and wishes I would just stop sending mail entirely. The self service machines in this location have had out of order signs on them too as long as I've gone there (3 years).
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Post by mystuffandnat on Jul 5, 2016 2:53:41 GMT
Oh were do I begin... For the last month there has been one day (varies) a week that we did not get mail - we get mail everyday. The first week I guessed vacation schedules. The second week no one on the street received mail and when I 'nicely' asked why at the PO I was told not everyone gets mail everyday...but it was 8 people??? The other day I was going out after dinner, 6:00ish and the mailgirl was delivering our mail...she waved like it was 2 in the afternoon. I deal with 3 PO. One is the local PO, I don't go there unless it is an emergency. Mr Crabby, Ms Clueless, and Mrs Rule Maker Upper are to much to deal with. Two is a small little hole in the wall, friendly staff no hassles except...they refuse to believe a 6x9 envelope is still considered a letter. I took a screen shot from the USPS site and showed her, she looked very scared. They also have no idea what the template for measuring the thickness of an envelope is...they guess and twice I had something arrive postage due on the other end. Three is a large, efficient, wonderful, friendly PO that unfortunately can add 1/2 hour to my commute if I hit it at the wrong time of day. Some days I just spin the wheel and take my chances. Tomorrow should be interesting...I purchased some stamps from the automated postal center (kiosk). Put them on my mail and realized I didn't address one of the envelopes - I threw it in the car and forgot about it today I picked it up to take inside and the stamp disintegrated in my hands. Now if the stamp couldn't last 4 days in my car how was it supposed to last on it's two week journey across the US?  Thank you for your time  |
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Post by dealsamongus on Jul 5, 2016 3:28:25 GMT
I can tell you stories.. Lost packages... Bulk mailboxes being left open on xmas eve... As a blogger who gets a TON of mail. I have seen it all!
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Post by Really Red on Jul 5, 2016 12:04:10 GMT
The worst part is there is absolutely no system for resolution. Mail delivered to the wrong house? Oh well. Mail not delivered at all? You may not even know what you are missing. Didn't pick up as scheduled? By the time you make a report and someone calls you, the issue is resolved usually by you taking it to the post office and then it is just marked as resolved but the problem isn't addressed. I could go on and on but you get the picture. They are so inefficiently run that it's ridiculous. YES!!! This exactly! I can read postal regulations online, but the USPS refuses to take my letters because they say they don't LOOK like a letter. I have the regulations and they don't care. I wrote the USPS, but never got a response. I hate monopolies. |
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My original pea date was November 1999 and my number was 1803
Or when I get a piece of mail for someone who lives a mile away. It is easier to just deliver it myself to said person and probably more reliable too. 
