Is the post office near your house as pathetic as mine?

Scavenger

I'm not knocking postal workers but, I am really tired of going to the post office and having to stand in line for twenty to thirty minutes because they have five windows for you to go to but only one or two tellers working. This has been going on for months, it's to the point now that I dread picking up a coin because I know that it's going to kill my Saturday morning. Is this just a South Florida thing or is it happening everywhere.
By the way, I have complained several times to the supervisor/manager on shift to no avail.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Is this just a South Florida thing or is it happening everywhere. >>

During the week here, there are typically 3 or 4 windows open, but Saturdays, rarely more than 2.

Bochiman

Just go right when they open. If you go even 5 minutes early, you will likely be one of the first in line on a Saturday and you then save 10-20+ minutes

FLBuffaloHunter

<< <i>I'm not knocking postal workers but, I am really tired of going to the post office and having to stand in line for twenty to thirty minutes because they have five windows for you to go to but only one or two tellers working. This has been going on for months, it's to the point now that I dread picking up a coin because I know that it's going to kill my Saturday morning. Is this just a South Florida thing or is it happening everywhere.
By the way, I have complained several times to the supervisor/manager on shift to no avail. >>


I suppose they have a personnel budget to meet. My PO pet peeve is people that do their packaging at the window holding up the line for everybody else that came prepared

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>Just go right when they open. If you go even 5 minutes early, you will likely be one of the first in line on a Saturday and you then save 10-20+ minutes >>

It's the opposite here- there's always a line waiting for them to open on Saturday morning at 10, but almost never any wait right before they close at 12.

TennesseeDave

Ours is always packed from opening till closing.We need a second P.O. in my small town.(less than 50,000 pop.)

OKbustchaser

At least your PO is open on Saturday morning. Other than the lobby my local office isn't. You can hear the workers in back loading the PO boxes, but there is no one is willing to take (or give you) your package. During the week a window is open only from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM--so no going in before or after work. At lunch they actually open up 2 windows to take care of the line which usually extends out of the front door. Even the lobby is closed between 7 PM and 7 AM so no access to your PO box is available.

19Lyds

Saturday's are always miserable at the Post Office. Monday's come in second place. At other times, its as dead as a graveyard so I can understand why they don;t have all the windows staffed all the time.

My philosophy is to just wait my turn and not to get all upset about it cause it just isn;t worth it! Realize the really bad days and then go early as suggested.

coinman420

i have 2 PO`s in my city. the one i use has a 24hr kiosk for shipping. if i have to ship registered i dread the lines and dealing with gov`t employees

Walmann

Small town, post office is inside the gas station/conviencemart/liquor store/video rental. One window, one worker, the worse wait one get expect is 2 or 3 minutes if there is person in front of you with a package to mail. Otherwise there is never a wait.

halfhunter

I am really tired of going to the post office and having to stand in line for twenty to thirty minutes because they have five windows for you to go to but only one or two tellers working.

The PO here only has 2 windows total. Only one is usually open, but this is generally sufficient EXCEPT on Sat. morn.!

Regards, John

drwstr123

Each PO is alloted a number of "Window Hours" per year. That's their budget. Stick to it - you're OK, cut it - you get a bonus, exceed it - you get your pee-wee slapped. The clerks don't decide anything, they're told.

Barberian

I had to laugh when I read "south Florida". I live in Homestead and use the Florida City PO. I swear it's like a 3rd world country in south Dade County. Typical long lines and no seats for customers to sit in and wait. I see old people that are about ready to keel over all the time. I just hate going to the PO, and now only go twice a week. This has gotten me in trouble with a seller once that claimed I'd exhausted any chance to return coins because I didn't pick the coin up the day it was delivered.

cinman14

Just what I was thinking today..Went to pick up a box..I was number 4 in line..20 min to the window.
the clerk spent 6 minutes digging through a file box looking for 1.47 combination of single stamps to help
this lady mail a bubble wrapped package without a address..I was watching the clock above his head
ticking away..Then I get up to the counter. give him my slip..I had to sign his electronic pad two seperate
times then he handed me the slip back and I had to sign and print my name on it as well..

I made the comment after he handed me the box.."you guys sure make it hard to pick up a package don't you"

his response---YEP!!!!!! and a courteous smile back.......

PreTurb

happening everywhere

06001

fcloud

Nope! My post office was voted one of the best in the area. Fast, friendly, helpful, courteous, and so on. They call me by name and I know all their names. They know what is in my packaages and watch over them. I love my post office!

originalisbest

Living in Chicago, I have to say "yes!"

Goldbully

Internet business via USPS(5+ packages) are in the same line as people like me picking up one registered package.

My PO can be quite pathetic.

Typical wait time is 5 minutes per customer when they get busy....check it out sometime.

My real rant is when these mostly women(sorry girls) pack their mailables in front of the clerk.

"What box is best?" they might ask.

Don't get me started!!!!!!!!!!

storm888

"Is the post office near your house as pathetic as mine?"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Yes!

TexasNationals

Oh yeah, they hold mail for some reason for a few days to a week or so, they are slow as heck. I bought a coin from a board member last week, normally my check arrives long after I get his coin. I was shocked when my check was in his PO box when he went to ship the coin. Shocked me, so I guess all the complaining finally paid off. At least for now.

lkeigwin

The secret I discovered is to go to the Post Office, the DMV, the Social Security Office, etc. 15 minutes before they close. You can't be turned away because you arrived before closing. And workers become very motivated then. Managers help pick up the work too. They all want to go home.

Back in the mid 70's I worked at a Social Security Office in the North Bronx. When we opened our doors at 8:30AM there were usually 40-50 people in line. They would wait, on average, four to five hours to be seen. Atrocious. These were elderly and disabled folks, some blind, many indigent and living on meager SSI (federal welfare managed by the SSA). Of course the dilapidated office building had constant HVAC problems, which only aggravated things.

It wasn't entirely the fault of unmotivated workers, though there was that. It was simply gov't trying to work within a tight budget. Never enough help, never enough time or money. So everyone suffered.

But come 4:45PM...every hand in the office was interviewing. It was a regular circus...and a little funny at that, but mostly sad I think.

sturmgrenadier

Quasi-public government agency with a quasi-monopoly that possesses the ability to raise the rates for its products and services largely bereft of any (more than token/rubber stamp) oversight = low productivity and long waits.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I made the comment after he handed me the box.."you guys sure make it hard to pick up a package don't you"

his response---YEP!!!!!! and a courteous smile back....... >>

Well, being a government operation, they really don't have any incentive to provide you with any convenience, do they?

If you go to Applebee's only to find a 45 minute wait with half the tables empty, you can leave and go to Outback instead. They're both open after 5PM daily, and they're open weekends, too. Need to get your driver's license renewed? 9-5, M-F, closed on the weekend. So you have to take time off work to go, but why should the government care about that? It's not like you can go to the competition instead, is it? Just get in line, and they'll get around to you when it suits them.

WTCG

It's not just in South Florida, it happens everywhere. Some post offices will seldomly have more than one window open at any given time.

Despite that observation I still believe the biggest contributor to delays at the post office isn't the lack of customer service personnel, but rather the customers themselves. It's frustrating to see somebody walk up to a service window without labels completed, incorrect packaging, and asking redundant questions, and that's all still without the old lady trying to start up a conversation about her grandson's baseball game last weekend...the rest of us could care less.

prooflike

Just wait until the next rate hike in a few days, I hear the post offices are going to (1) part-time clerk!

CarlWohlforth

Saturdays are the worst. Well almost the worst. The worst are days near Christmas or tax day. As was said Mondays are almost as bad.

Banks are bad just after the 1'st and Fridays. These things are predictable. On Saturdays the amateurs show up at the PO. I try my best to avoid waiting in lines on Saturdays, I just check my PO Box and leave. Everybody needs to be told how to fill out a form. They then ask about what form and why and they complain and so on. The senior, more experienced, clerks get the weekends off. The ones with fewer years who are not as efficient are the ones who get stuck working on weekends. Please just avoid waiting in lines on Saturdays. It is always better to go on Tuesdays, before lunch and not near the time when the local school gets out. Thursdays at 10:30 or 11:15 seem best.

mike92694

<< <i>I'm not knocking postal workers but, I am really tired of going to the post office and having to stand in line for twenty to thirty minutes because they have five windows for you to go to but only one or two tellers working. This has been going on for months, it's to the point now that I dread picking up a coin because I know that it's going to kill my Saturday morning. Is this just a South Florida thing or is it happening everywhere.
By the way, I have complained several times to the supervisor/manager on shift to no avail. >>



My problem isn't the post office employees. The problem is the customers.

TwoSides2aCoin

My local post office treats me great. They sing songs and bring donuts for the public. Each day they have a procession outside , waving at the cars driving by.

cmerlo1

The one I use (Balcones Station in Austin) is terrible...no sense of urgency from anyone working the counter. It's not unusual to see 20 people in line, 4 employees at windows, and only one person calling and assisting customers. The other 3 people don't seem to be doing anything other than shuffling things around, while everybody in line stares at them. For a while, they had the 'take a number' thing working, and a 30 minute wait was not unusual. They switched to a 'line' type cue, and that has sped things up a little, but the entire experience sucks. They try to get people to use the Automated Postal System, but the machines are down most of the time or can only print HUGE labels that won't fit on a #0 padded mailer...thank God for PayPal shipping, or I would've wasted a big part of my life there...unfortunately I can't ship everything that way, or I would!

Cocoinut

South Florida here, too. I have to go to a substation to pick up packages, and it's not open on Saturday. The only opportunity I have when picking up a package is to go there during my lunch hour, and invariably the clerk is working in the back sorting mail, so I have to wait for him to realize there's somebody waiting for him. I can't mail packages from there, either, and have to travel several miles further to a "regular" post office if I want to ship anything. I always pray that any packages will be delivered at a time when I'm home, but it seldom works out that way.

Jim

Barberian

In south Dade County, you also have the problem of people not knowing any English and PO staff that don't know Spanish or Creole. Lots of confusion that delays things even more. There is a huge segment of the population here that cannot speak any English, even though they may have lived here for 20+ years!!

braddick

Didn't a first class stamp just go up a penny?

I think now, with the pay raise, you'll see the post office go back to the stellar service and high quality performance oriented organization they've always been known for.

Goldbully

<< <i>Didn't a first class stamp just go up a penny?

I think now, with the pay raise, you'll see the post office go back to the stellar service and high quality performance oriented organization they've always been known for. >>



Wasn't that, "Thru rain and snow, or wind and cold, or gloom of night!"

mrpotatoheadd

Kramer: What happened to Newman?
George: He called in sick!
Kramer: Oh yeah right, it's raining.

George: You don't work in the rain? You're a mailman! "Neither rain nor sleet nor snow"… IT'S THE FIRST ONE!!!
Newman: I was never that big on creeds.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>Nope! My post office was voted one of the best in the area. Fast, friendly, helpful, courteous, and so on. They call me by name and I know all their names. They know what is in my packaages and watch over them. I love my post office! >>



Mine is sorta like that.

Goldbully

<< <i>Kramer: What happened to Newman?
George: He called in sick!
Kramer: Oh yeah right, it's raining.

George: You don't work in the rain? You're a mailman! "Neither rain nor sleet nor snow"… IT'S THE FIRST ONE!!!
Newman: I was never that big on creeds. >>

foodude

The service at my PO is horrible, and it has been consistantly that way for years- I 'm at this PO several times a week. Typically there are 10-20+ people in line, 2-3 tellers, and

still believe the biggest contributor to delays at the post office isn't the lack of customer service personnel, but rather the customers themselves. It's frustrating to see somebody walk up to a service window without labels completed, incorrect packaging, and asking redundant questions, *, **

Several times there have been 20+ people in line with 1-2 tellers. On these occasions, I call the PO while in line and point this out, and then they open up more windows. The PO is almost always packed with customers from before it opens to close And about a year ago they cut there hours from 7-5 to 8-5 to make it even more convienant for those that work during normal business hours.

*a year or so ago, someone tried to send a small box Registered Mail secured with twine rather than the special tape they require

** about 2 years ago one teller (with that being the only window open) spent 30 minutes with one customer

MikeInFL

My post office sucks. Always a line, usually out the door, and I think the attendants are related to sloths. I truly dread going there.

nutz4coinz

I wanted to post before I read anyone else's horror stories. I only say that as I HOPE that most dont have the experiences I have had. I had a kid do the route for awhile, while I was still lurking, but doing my ebay, TT thing, selling a little, buying alot. So, I am getting packages, and alot of dealers/sellers put that bullseye on the package....where the return address mentions coins in some way, not to mention my CW & NN. He asks me about it, and I figure, ok, maybe I can have him focus on it in a positive way, as he seems like a nice kid (maybe 25ish). After that, he took a liking just to bullion coins, and gold was much cheaper, so, he spent an inordinate amount of time with me every day (as I have been home for a couple years disabled, which has been discussed more in depth in other threads), he'd ring the bell and hand deliver just to chat a bit. This kid was like clockwork, I never EVER had a problem, he took extra special good care of my mail..such good care, on Fridays, I'd have a 30 pack of Bud for him (bought warm, so it wouldnt skunk on him, which meant he had to come by the house on his way out of work, and being on his way, it was not a bad thing, and we would chat about coins some more, I showed him some of my stuff, I'd try to give my best advice-most of which was learned here-just simple coin talk, which was really kinda nice), and an ocassional pair of Red Sox tickets (season tix in this house, he went to 4-5 games one summer)....I am getting alot of stuff, and he's taking CARE of me, boy, couldnt ask for a better letter carrier. THEN, one UGLY day, an old guy knocks on the door, has me sign for something that was only a delivery confirm, no need to ring the bell. I ask 'Where's Chris?'. The old guy informs me that Chris is not on the route anymore, the old guy wanted it, seniority, union, blah blah blah. This guy is so bad, I have had to file 4 or so claims with the PO totalling over $5,000, due to his incompetency (from the first ring of my bell, with a delivery confirm and he thought he needed a signature, I knew this guy was gonna make things awful at best).

My latest gaffe, is a coin from TeleTrade, mailed March 6. After needing to find it after a few weeks, as I do quite frequently (I dont mean to be politically correct, or insult anyone, or anyones family members, honestly, I dont, but I think this guy could be mentally retarded), it turns out that it was signed for, by D I, nothing more, just D I (those are not my initials), just that. Its also signed for in another zip code (my town has 3 codes). Thats what online tracking shows. When the PO looks it up internally, when they get a copy of the signature on the little machine they carry, it shows an N. Nelson (again, not my name), with no address on the address line....so, now I have to file with TT again. I swear, I am going to get shut off from some of these people because of the incompetency of my local PO.

Now, what was the question again?

well, I guess I'll edit it....my POST OFFICE, the BUILDING....the service is deplorable, unhelpful, unfriendly, NEVER enough people manning the registers.....its simply a reflection on management though.

BECOKA

My post office opens when I have to be at work and closes when I get off work.

When I decide to be late to work they only have 2 workers at opening when the line is out the door and around the corner. As the line gets smaller they add workers until all of the windows are open and there is no line to use them.

Saturdays are a joke, the line is about 1.5 hours.

Nope, no issues with my post office.

nutz4coinz

Lets not forget, they get paid a pretty decent wage, great benefits, union, the work isnt all that hard. Longhaul drivers haul it to the local facility, sorting machine breaks it down to smaller trucks for each city/town, carriers have to pick it up, stuff the little truck and/or bag..and the hardest part of their job is putting letters/packages in either ascending order or descending order, depending on how they do their route.

Its not rocket science, they are compensated rather well, and once you are in, you cant screw up bad enough to get tossed (refer to my prior rant). And still, there are mostly negative things said about the PO.

Perhaps someone should send this link to the Postmaster General in D.C.

weresteve

Is this just a South Florida thing or is it happening everywhere.

Happening pretty much everywhere ...

My local post office has five windows, is normally staffed by three clerks during the day, and it routinely takes between twenty and thirty minutes just to mail off a package. If I go to the next nearest post office that I usually deal with, it has six windows, is normally staffed by four clerks, and I can usually mail off a pagkage to a certain grading service in less than ten minutes.

Trime

PO are PO.
But even FedX is full at 6PM pickup time when the wait can be 15 minutes.

weresteve

Its not rocket science, they are compensated rather well, and once you are in, you cant screw up bad enough to get tossed (refer to my prior rant). And still, there are mostly negative things said about the PO.

Compensation is about par with most civil servants, tho' I haven't kept up with things like I used to. If I remember right, the first ninety days is considered a probationary period during which you can be fired for almost any major gaffe. After about five years it would take something really serious to get canned ... like Azeezaly Jaffer did a few years back.

Perhaps someone should send this link to the Postmaster General in D.C.

It wouldn't help ... the Postal Service for the most part rewards stupidity ...

CB2597

Theres one here in my neighborhood as well. There are only two of them at most and the line is long about 30 min wait and there is this one elderly lady i could not wait to retire. She lectures everybody and will not accept your package if she sees one iota wrong with it. People in front of me who's its unfortunate turn to be called to her line wave me first to go ahead of them because they dont want to deal with her. I must admit i have done the same since.

Steve27

My local post office is the largest one on Long Island. The building is enormous, but the parking lot for patrons is tiny and the service terrible (long lines at all times regardless of day of the week). However, there is a small post office near where I work, which isn't very well known. So if I need to ship something, I go there.

BAJJERFAN

At mine the PM has decided that long lines will be divided into 2 lines closer to the window service area and when the lines become of unequal length people forget that [or are too effen stupid to realize] first come first served still applies. I have heard that some customers got into fights over it. I wrote the PM a note suggesting he remove the sign, but the dumbo won't do it. Otherwise its ok. As some here have said, most of the problems are due to the customer.

Manorcourtman

I live between two small towns one pop. 1500 and the other pop. 150. Both have PO's and if I wait 2 minutes it sucks I asked the woman who runs the smaller one why the Gov't keeps a place that small open to which she responded it's a matter of convenience for postal customers. In this case it pays to live in a small Midwestern town!!

duck620

we just opened a new post office where i live.thought it would be quicker,because it's a lot bigger.lo and behold,it's the same service as before.never more than 2 people working(1 most of the time).oh! well.

Veep

The POs I frequent give excellent service. They are open Mon-Fri from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm and Sat. from 8:00 until 4:00. I usually stop at 7:00 am on weekdays and am the first in line. I can also swing by to get into my PO Box at 5:30 am. I send a lot of registered packages with most of them being in the heavy, flat rate box. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the U.S. Mail is one of the great bargains in the world. For 41 cents, someone will drive to your house, pick-up your letter and send it anywhere in the world for you. I wouldn't cross the street to pick up 41 cents!!!

On the other hand, my older brother spent five years as a rural carrier for the PO. He finally quit when he couldn't stand working around a bunch of shlubs all of the time. My bro would finish his route and then fill-in by doing someone else's who was sick or on vacation. His "co-workers" ("workers" used loosely) would get on his case that he was working too hard and making the rest of them look bad. He quit and has had a successful 25-year career as a commodities broker at the Merc.

ziggy29

One of the best things about moving to a small town out in the boonies is that there are no lines at the PO, pretty much ever. A "long line" there tends to be two deep. When I lived in Houston, lines were routinely 10 deep and sometimes 20-25 deep.

Even on a Saturday (when they are only open for two hours in the morning) and over lunch hour, it's very quick to get in and out.