Trying to pickup coins at the USPS during December......
Lakesammman
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What a disaster!
Stopped yesterday at my USPS - cars lining up in the street as the lot was full.
Finally get a spot to park, walk in and get in line - about 10th in line or so - not bad.
As busy as it is, they have 2 clerks!
Clerk on the left has a lady with cash spread everywhere trying to buy a USPS check - they can't agree on how much $$ is there.
Guy on the right is ESL helping a customer also ESL who hasn't bothered to finish wrapping her packages.
10 minutes later I walk out, still 10th in line!
I'll wait until after Xmas to pick them up. 
Time to bring the USPS up to speed re: service, privatize it or shut it down!
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Haha I feel your pain. As the deadline approaches for packages to still arrive by Christmas my PO is a madhouse. I've been having all of my Amazon packages shipped to an Amazon Locker so I don't have to stand in a line for anything that doesn't fit in my PO box. Spent a half an hour driving to satellite post office locations to get enough stamps to send out my office letters. Still probably saved myself a few hours not waiting in that madness.
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@Lakesammman A timely post as I am tied down on three coin shipments through USPS and wishing that I had just arranged for pick-up at the post office. But I am not sure that the tracking system is not overloaded as the tracking advice doesnot indicate the location, just that they are in transit. So now I am tied down at my office for another 24 hours at least. I would gladly wait in line for an hour if necessary just so that I can get on about life.
OINK
A similar process was observed yesterday when the window clerk and a customer got into a spirited debate over shipping a phone with a lithium battery. A five-minute wait before opening this AM was rewarded. Tomorrow is oy! to contemplate
My post office has 2 extra clerks this time of year so even if the lines are out the door there's someone there just to handle pickups
Terrible !!!
It spills out into unexpected areas, too.
Waited in line at Chipotle today for 5 minutes, (as my order got cold), while some woman tried to buy three $10, and one $20 gift cards.
"That one should be $20, because it's for my mother, and it's got the flowers she likes. Do you know what those are called? The other cards just have trees, so I don't care who I give them to. I think they call them Christmas Roses? The mailman really likes Chipotle.....blah...blah....blah."
"That'll be $50."
"Oh, let me find my credit card....."
ARRRGHHHH!!!!!
went Tuesday, line was about 30 people. Nope. Went Wednesday, thirty people plus another 15 or so outside waiting to get in. Yesterday, entropy was on my side. Ten in the line. Took fifteen minutes. PITA of course.
Stopped today at USPS to drop off some end mills I’m sending to a fellow gun forum member to help him out and was in and out in about 6 minutes. I was third in line when I arrived at about 1:15 pm and they had the usual two clerks. I’ve spent more time waiting on a normal non holiday time of year.
Need to add, live in Seattle that has outgrown it's infrastructure - if you reply that it's no problemo for you, please specify urban v. rural.
Oh my......I was going to hit the 'lol' on your original post but I didn't want to be misunderstood. I was just laughing at the lady and clerk that couldn't agree how much money is there......
Yes,it's been pretty bad here too. I've got a 'registered' coming in any day, it'll just have to wait until I can comfortably get it.
One of my great PO peeves is the woman standing at the counter, conducting transactions, but doesn't go for her wallet until a total is given to her by the clerk. (you mean I have to pay for this ?) The purse FINALLY gets hoisted up to the counter, gets unzipped, a few obstacles get removed.....The wallet comes out, gets unzipped, "What was that total?".....You gotta love it......
Yikes it’s like a DMV trip. Better luck next time. Merry Christmas.
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I was so frustrated when I arrived in my local post office today that I had to wait 30 seconds to buy a book of stamps. This is the first time I have ever seen anyone in the local post office but the clerk. Of course my town of residence has a whopping 250 people.
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I am fortunate in that the post office that was around when I was a kid is now a secondary facility in the same zip code. At the newer main monster facility everyone that works there is a jerk. Add to that the usual idiots that can't show up with their crap prepared to ship and it's nothing but long slow lines of mayhem.
Today I mailed some stuff at the old office and I was all alone. I recognized the clerk from the new one and he fully agreed the place is out of control. He said if he didn't get the transfer to the old place he was going to retire.
The unfortunate part is if I have to pick something up it's at the new nut-house.
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Won't they re-deliver if you sign the pink notice of delivery slip?
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WOW, my post office is much better. There is line but not that bad.
I Picked the wrong time of year to get my passport at my local P.O., sign says they except apps from 11 to 3 M thru F so i waited in line for 1 1/2 hrs. One clerk working, line out the door. I finally get to the counter and he says he doesn't do passport apps while he alone. I ask why doesn't the sign say so, he say "I don't know" i wasn't in the mood to argue. Public servants at their best.
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My post office now has lockers where they put my larger items in, so no going to the counter. Unless I need to sign for the items.
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No redelivery or big box option in the lobby - PO box, sig required.
My local Post office only has 10 parking spaces. Folks form a long line down the street and wait for someone to leave a parking spot.
Same here, an absolute nightmare. I normally just have ebay packages going out that are preprinted, so I can just hand them in to the clerk, they take them and scan them later. But days I have something going out to the TPG or having to pick up something,, good grief. I usually don't submit anything this time of year to avoid this, and also try not to have anything coming in.
One more reason I’m glad to live out in the sticks. If I go during the lunch hour at this time of year there might be three or four people in line. When it gets busy like that they usually pull extra clerks up to the window. I think I had to wait 5 minutes once.
They all know my name and we chat about the weather, family and such. On occasion they’ll see me walk in and quickly run back to grab my package while waiting for the patron at the desk to find their checkbook, finish addressing their letters, etc.
Did you know that the USPS receives no government funding? They are an independent agency of the federal government...legally mandated to provide certain services at specific costs...but expected to make a profit....
Due to the internet they have lost 2/3 of their first class mail in the past 20 years...Fedex and UPS have stolen all of their lucrative corporate package delivery business...yet Congress won't allow them to discontinue Saturday delivery...which costs the USPS $3 billion...and cuts the cost of a stamp by 2 cents...
75% of the USPS operating expenses are labor....hence why they only have 2 clerks now...
And why they are selling their services off to Jeff Bezos in a struggle to sell afloat...
Maybe someone can post a coin from 1792...when Ben Franklin became the first U.S. Postmaster...
The small rural post office where I live never has a line. The problem here is not the lines, it is lost and mis-delivered mail. I've got 9 coins I bought on line coming in early next week. Just keeping my fingers crossed.
my clerks are smart enough to direct unprepared customers to a side counter to finish wrapping or filling out forms/labels. Once ready they don't have to go to the rear of the line but do have to wait for the next available clerk. Nothing worse than a clerk twiddling his thumbs waiting on a customer to finish preparing the shipment while a line of prepared customers is waiting their turn.
While USPS does not receive government subsidies they do receive the benefits of being able to borrow at very low rates and being given the monopoly of delivering first class mail. What hurt the USPS was the rise of shipping companies that take the lucrative deliveries and leave the USPS with the least profitable. Also hurting the USPS is the requirement that they deliver on Saturday's.
Postal fact: the Havasupai tribe that lives on the floor of the Grand Canyon, receives first class mail and packages (for a regular stamp price), by USPS mule train - no private company wants this business… or any business for 50cents to every door in America - no matter the distances between the customers.
Congress should allow USPS to deliver three days a week and not the six as required. Mail would still be delivered six days a week, but to alternating routes every other day. This could reduce their labor and fuel costs by up to 50%. Most Americans wouldn't mind waiting an extra day for mail delivery.
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I have not had this issue at my Post Office... Small village - 4000 residents. They prepare for holidays it seems...also, I have my packages delivered, so no pick up issues. When mailing a package, the worst line has been five people... with three clerks. I guess a small town has some perks.
Cheers, RickO
I would not even know where to begin my USPS rant (actually I do and here it comes). I gave up on my local post office years ago, I only am forced to go there when they screw up a delivery, which happens on average about once a year. They are always under-personed, rude, dysfunctional, and a long wait, 15 minutes even when 2 are in line in front of you, used to be 30 minutes when 5 or 6. I have never seen a post office worker smile at this location. On the other hand, picking up my packages at the UPS store nearby, never more than a 5 minute wait during the busiest of times, typically less than 2 minutes, multiple employees helping customers, big smiles every time. Sadly the post office seems to make an effort to screw up delivery of packages there, as I noted I have to deal with that about once a year.
For example, I had a CAC package with substantial value that was 'delivered' to the UPS store, then retracted to 'delivery delay'. After 3 weeks CAC got an answer from my USPS where they told CAC 'oh we have contacted him several times to come pick it up'. Of course they never contacted me, and it begs the question why a properly addressed registered mail package was not delivered to the address on the package. And then I had to stand there at the USPS and convince them to hand it over since the address on the package was different than my home address on my drivers license. Oh I am sure the service varies from place to place, but my local USPS is simply atrocious. I can't even imagine what they are like pre-XMAS. HST, the folks that deliver the mail to our street box, they are wonderful, huge contrast.
Best, SH
The USPS tries every year to shutter or downsize unneeded or under utilized offices, but as soon as the public finds out there is an uproar and calls to their senators and congressmen who put an end to those plans. Happens every year, the USPS would like to make lots of changes but are handcuffed by politics. They have tried for reduced delivery for years.
Bob
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My town of around 30,000 usually only has 2-5 people in line. During December, it's usually to the door. I always hate the PO during December. The funny thing is, the post office needs this kind of volume year round to make a profit, but they show they can't handle it even for one month.