Excessive waiting in line at the post office... does this happen to anyone else?
I'm wondering if this is a Canada problem, or if anyone else has this type of experience when they wait in line at the post office.
Mostly I drop stuff off with postage, today I had to send a registered letter and needed to wait at the counter. I get inside the store and end up walking behind someone else who's also going to the post office, and they are the only customer in front of me. How long can this possibly take?
When she got to the counter, I noticed no boxes are taped, no boxes are addressed, there's 4 of them, with addresses written on sticky notes. The clerk at this post office is extra social even at the expense of the ever growing line behind the customer being served, so I got to hear all about what she buys at the dollar store to sell online (not sure if it was eBay or not), I know what she got for Christmas, about the time she spent with her family... and after listening to this for 20 minutes I realized they had only processed ONE package.
I had to leave without being served because after 25 minutes of waiting and only being on the second package, and the fact the clerk stopped what she was doing every minute or so to listen to the customer's stories about whatever (and I'm not blaming the customer on this one, the clerk kept asking prompting questions which kept the customer talking about stuff).
Perhaps it's the customers very first time making sales online and she didn't realize to take a package to the post office it needed an address and to be taped shut (they were small boxes). I've been at post offices where they kick you out of line and tell you to get it ready "properly" and service at these post offices is pretty fast.
In Niagara NY at the main post office that I go to sometimes, they want everything addressed, taped shut, and ready to mail when you get to the counter. They have a few clerks working so if one customer has a lot of stuff and takes a long time other people are seen quickly (which is something that doesn't happen in Canada very often, it's usually one clerk serving one customer at a line...) When I was doing that job I had a nut who used to bring me 20 packages every day, pay cash, and want me to ring each one in one-by-one and take cash and give change on each of the 20 packages. I started kicking her to the back of the line when we were busy, multiple transactions, don't have time for you to spend an hour here with your OCD getting a cash receipt for each package.
Anyway I'm sure most people here just drop off and go... but if you've had to wait in line, do you ever have to put up with 20+ minutes behind a completely unprepared customer and/or a clerk that is keeping everyone waiting because they can't socialize and do their job at the same time?
I did the job for 3-4 years about 20 years ago and would take pride in providing very quick but thorough service to each customer.
C.
marchair
·1 year agoI'm in a small town of about 15,000 people. Usually the lines at the post office are not long -- with maybe 3 people ahead of me. And the postal clerks are friendly and social. One of them is a personal friend and I am always aware that she might be talking to me too much and holding up the line, so I try to keep my transactions brief. This past Christmas season the lines were excessively long -- I had over an hour wait (think it was an hour and 20 minutes, but I didn't time it precisely) the day I had to buy some special postage. And quite a few customers came with their packages half prepared and had to have the clerks tape them up, etc. The clerks do usually send them to a back table to fill out forms or labels. So while I usually wait in line to get a receipt, as proof of shipping, this season I opted to just drop off my prepaid packages. This post office is very good about scanning packages when they're dropped off, so I felt comfortable doing that. But I still prefer to get a receipt if the line isn't too long.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoInconsiderate, ignorant, unprepared people are growing in numbers.
I was chatting with the sales manager at a car dealership. They sell some EV models and have a charger available for their customers. They have customers who hook their car up to the charger and leave the dealership. They sometimes leave their car at the charger for days before retrieving it.
Needless to say, I would have had the car towed to a lot three towns over, but they do not.
yuzuha
·1 year agoI never wait in line these days because I always use the self-serve kiosks for scans, but the clerks at my local PO will absolutely kick someone out of line if they don't have their package all ready to go when they come up to the counter and tell them to go to the island in the middle and finish whatever needs to be done first. It's a busy enough PO that they don't cut people any slack on that front since there is almost always a line of at least a few people.
a_c_green
·1 year agoYes, same here, and I see that done pretty much everywhere. I don't think it's rude; it's just common sense that if the customer is going to be occupied with prep work (packaging, filling out a form, whatever) then he can step to one side so someone else can get served. I always hear the clerk telling the customer that he can come straight back to the window when he's done; he doesn't have to get back in line.
Never seen any customer get upset about that, and I see it done so consistently that I assume it's policy, at least for clerks who are aware of that. The one standing around chatting with a slow customer while others are piling up in line behind him has a higher level of cluelessness that needs to be addressed.
yuzuha
·1 year agoYep, that's exactly what the clerks at mine say too. They just want to ensure that the line keeps moving efficiently, and to their credit, they're quite good about doing just that! The line may get long sometimes but it always moves quickly, even during the holidays.
a_c_green
·1 year agoSomething that just occurred to me: the lobby layout might contribute a bit to how well the line moves. In some post offices I have used regularly over the years, a waiting line can quickly reach the door and extend to the outer lobby, which the clerks cannot see; they only see the first 5-6 people in line and have no idea whether there's a backup outside. (Insert obvious comment here about whether they even care about that. 😉)
By comparison, our local PO has a wide rectangular lobby, where you come in at one end and walk the entire width of the lobby before finally reaching the "PLEASE WAIT HERE FOR NEXT AVAILABLE WINDOW" sign at the opposite end. There's enough room to fit a big backup, maybe 12-15 people, into that lobby across the entire room, so when a clerk looks up and sees this wall of people all staring back at him, and not with Holiday Cheer, it does seem to have an effect, and keeps things moving along one way or another.
714ricki
·1 year agoMy USPS office always has a long line. I just use a scan sheet for my parcels when my mail courier stops by daily or if I go into the USPS office I use the self service kiosk to scan all of my parcels and drop off the parcels there or if on the rare chance there isn't a line I also come with my scan sheet and I'm out quickly! 😎ðŸ™ðŸ˜âœŒï¸
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoPeople can be so strange...people actually will pack like 6+ big boxes and I guess because they are using the post office as their movers. Kind of funny. I have seen it a few times.
Customers come in with a trolley of boxes..and too heavy for the clerk to even move them about.
Me being nosey I do kind of look with open ears and see what the cost is but alas, I never find out.
I don't can't imagine using the post office as your choice of moving.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year ago20 years ago I mailed a great big box to France (for a customer) and it cost $300 by air... 10 years ago I sent my aunt in the UK care packages (big box like the kind you buy paper in) and I spent $170 to send by air. I did once send by purolator a huge box of manuals from Canada to Pennsylvania and it cost $450.
I did find out 20 lbs is a magic weight with Ground Advantage, when you get to 21 pounds it costs a whole lot more to ship. I packed a 20 lb box to my customer yesterday (the extra stuff is sitting on my coffee table for his next package).
Just trying to satisify some of that curiosity from some mailing experiences I've had...
C.
dirk12955
·1 year agoRegarding the drama and excitement of having to actually go to the counter and
interact with PO employees
Local PO: Always busy, Always a line.
PO 10 minutes south of here: Moderate. If there's a line, It's short
PO 15 minutes West of here: Never busy, Never a line. Sometimes
I walk in and the lady that runs the counter will be in the doorway between
the lobby and the counter area and she'll ask me what she can do for me today?
moondogblues
·1 year ago"
I did find out 20 lbs is a magic weight with Ground Advantage, when you get to 21 pounds it costs a whole lot more to ship. I packed a 20 lb box to my customer yesterday (the extra stuff is sitting on my coffee table for his next package)."
Helpful to know...I just sent a friend of mine some books and it was over ten dollars. I wish we still had Media Mail.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoI didn't realize Media mail went away, I knew I couldn't buy it on Stallion Express but I thought that was their decision, didn't realize USPS did away with it.
I checked the package at 20 lbs and it was $25 to ship, it became something like $45 going a couple pounds over, I figured out by checking rates (before buying postage) that 20 lbs would ship the most stuff without paying too much.
In dehoarding I've been sending recycled stamp supplies to a customer who puts together collections to sell. We get lots of stamp pages because we take apart collections and can't use everything we get. I've been saving things up for the past year and made an offer to the buyer. Problem is eBay kept censoring my messages while I was trying to offer him stuff, and he didn't know what he was committing to buying until he paid me, then eBay would let me send a message telling him what's in the box. I think they thought inventory codes were contact info.
C.
a_c_green
·1 year ago@sin-n-dex : They did not do away with it. My mentor newbie seller is shipping Media Mail items almost every day.
What may be confusing things is that I understand eBay blocks access to Media Mail shipping for item categories that do not qualify for it. If for some reason you have a sale that does qualify for it (USPS Quick Reference chart for Media Mail is here) but is in a category where eBay does not offer it, you just need to ship via some other site such as PirateShip and then upload the tracking number to eBay (unless PS does that for you automatically; not sure).
As for delays waiting in line, I guess I am fairly fortunate, although I did get kind of peeved the other day: the old man in front of me walked up to the only open window that morning and proceeded to take out not fewer than 15 padded envelopes, all of which bore printed labels from home but none of which had postage on them. Aaargh.
The line grew to 8-9 people behind me as the clerk laboriously keyed in every package -- oops, there's some problem with the ZIP code on this one... 🙄 -- and I had enough time to guesstimate that he could have saved a solid fifteen bucks in Ground Advantage postage, maybe more, if he had just printed real prepaid shipping labels at home, not to mention saving the time of everyone else in line. (Normally the front desk calls in back for help if there's a big backup, but apparently they had no one else available on that morning.)
I was chatting with the clerk about the guy later on, mentioning the obvious savings (in both time and money) that he could have had, and she agreed, but said, "He's a regular here. That's just the way he does things." Sigh...
moondogblues
·1 year ago"I don't can't imagine using the post office as your choice of moving."
It used to be cheaper to send books and music through the mail than to use movers or even rent a truck. That could be a reason. When hubs and I moved just one state away, we did it ourselves with a UHaul. It still cost 18,000 dollars to do so. If we do it again (highly doubtful) I will give away half my books and vinyl and price out shipping with all the carriers.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoWe have these tech people who get paid a lot in San Francisco and are rather lazy and prefer to use the post office when it is just down the street where them live for moving out when job is done...LOL
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoThat's a lot for moving... I remember when my house sold and I was "in transit" without residence for a month and a half... I moved everything for a few months before the house sold into my partner's basement (he bought a commercial building that was being converted into apartments, but this was before the reno started). We had to clear out the house to sell it because we're hoarders, so we needed to reduce clutter and make it look nice, gave me a chance to throw tons of stuff out that I didn't want to move.
It wasn't a state away though, it was close enough to go back and forth 25 times to move everything in my car (and rent a Penske truck for the furniture). I ditched what couldn't fit in the truck and just bought new stuff at the thrift shop.
C.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoMy post office gives the appropriate materials to the customer and sends them to one of two tables where they can complete labelling.
And, although we are in Victoria BC, they can do this in English, French, and occasionally (when Hugh is working ) in Chinese.
The postal outlet is unilingual but that is their practice too. Most of the outlet customers are walk in, although the pharmacy where they are located does have a parking lot out back, but most customers have one or two items at most.
The Post Office has ample parking and gets a fair bit of commercial business, including our local online philatelic auction house Weeda Stamps. But they courteously wait for a break in the customer stream, and have their paperwork ready.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoIt's like free entertainment to me when a customer argues with the clerks....
I never do the post office on a Monday or the next day of a holiday or in the mornings hours.
And the first few days of the months customers are getting money orders for rent(that's a biggie in my city) plus money orders to pay other bills.
But I love the free entertainment...especially from other customers in line who get into the interaction of the customer giving the clerk a hard time.
I told a customer last month she can't ship clothes in a box that states 'wine or alcohol' on the outside while waiting in line...that lady snapped at me and told me to mind my own business...sure enough clerk said the same thing and the customer states more nasty words than I use in a month for everyone to hear...LOl
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoIt's like free entertainment to me when a customer argues with the clerks....
I was behind a lady who could not understand that she would not be able to insure or track a parcel she was sending to her daughter in Zimbabwe.
She went through all sorts of services offered.
Registered. No.
Priority Post. No.
Tracked Parcel International. No.
Then she learned that her untracked, uninsured parcel would cost over $150 to ship.
And even Air Mail might take over a month to arrive.
She was almost in tears.
I did offer her my (Canada Post) Solutions for Small Business card to give her that small discount.
And off her daughter's present went with the $142.50 "discount" label.
Perhaps for Christmas she will send a money order.
luckythewinner
·1 year agodo you ever have to put up with 20+ minutes behind a completely unprepared customer and/or a clerk that is keeping everyone waiting because they can't socialize and do their job at the same time?
There are about 33,000 post offices in the USA, with multiple clerks in each. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are 78,000 postal clerks.
I have to imagine that among those many thousands of employees, there are good ones, bad ones, and those in between.
broto_64
·1 year agoOh no, I only go to the Post Office in person about twice a year. The rest of the time...
You see, I've become so allergic to what you just described that at my age I simply do not believe in waiting in line, so it is not a practice that I indulge in, at all. No sir, not doing it, my mental health and spiritual well being highly depend on these circumstances (you can laugh here if you want).
For that reason I have a jumbo size mailbox, and all my outgoing packets go in there, raise the flag and I am done, don't forget the scan sheet and to have regular chit chats with the local carrier just to be sure everything's copacetic.
Once the merchandise is boxed up and my packages are taped shut (which actually happens when I list the item)... Then the label is printed and attached, and out to the mailbox it goes, we're talking under 5 minutes, nobody to talk to, no lines to wait in, and sanity and wholesomeness prevail.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI do the "request pick up" by my local mail carrier offered by the USPS. No trips to the post office. No standing in line. Perhaps you will also have this option when Canada becomes the 51st state. 😂
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoUnless we're taken over by force, we need to have a referendum with majority voting to join the US. In the last poll, only 13% of Canadians were in favour of being part of the US.
There are lots of things I like about Canada, but being able to tap into the US Economy is pretty enticing. I've tried to do this already with my eBay sales.
C.
silverstatetreasureboxes
·1 year ago@sin-n-dex
I see your PM stepped down today, now that's newsworthy.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoHe also prorogued parliament. We think that's career suicide (for the rest of his party).
C.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoDepends.
(Please enter 10 or more characters here.)
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoWhere I worked, if there were others waiting a customer that was not ready was directed to a work counter to prep what they wanted to ship unless it was a quick operation.
Rude of the customer to do such as happened to you.
Rude and unprofessional of the employee to do such as happened to you.
I was once chastised by my supervisor for wasting time by offering a customer their choice of which style book of stamps they wanted to purchase
ETA: seldom a wait at the small offices that I go to.
This past year I had an experience the opposite of sin-a-dex
Unusual day. 2 customers ahead of me. (me just dropping a pre-paid that I want a receipt for)
When the 1st lady finished up, the second lady in line suggested that I go ahead of her. She had a 2-wheeled hauler with a few things on it. I thanked her and got my package scan and a receipt, and thanked her again.
tinsoldierunderground
·1 year agoMy local post office is usually a long line affair... they typically put one person on the counter, and that's it.
Things are compounded now because of Helene & Milton, our location has become the go-to for all the gulf beach residents whose POs got wiped out in the storms. 🙄
jbbowers12012
·1 year agoWe here in New Jersey - U.S. always take our packages to our local P.O. & wait on line. This seems to be the ONLY way to be sure that we get our acceptance scan. Our clerks are great. If someones' packages are not prepared properly for mailing they will tell them what needs to be done & send them to the back of the line. Our P.O. IS always pretty busy but they keep things moving along - not much chit-chat all business. Good Luck With Everything - Hope You Are Making Some $$$$. (J.B. From N.J.)
roccotacodad54
·1 year agoUnfortunately they are government employees that have way too much job security which seems to make a few of them feel entitled to act in any way they want.
Department of motor vehicles is another example of this, at least where I live. I've observed an employee there leave the counter after each customer to get coffee, go to the restroom or whatever. Her supervisor took over and helped 3-4 people in the same time the woman with 3 inch fingernails (no exaggeration) took when she was even at the counter in the first place.
I just assume if their paychecks come from taxes not to expect any kind of satisfactory service. Some care, all too many don't.
dbfolks166mt
·1 year agoWaiting in line at USPS depends on several factors. Most Monday mornings are bad and the line is usually rather long, 15-20 people. Pre holiday shipping from about Thanksgiving to a few days before Christmas results in longer lines as does the first few weeks of January when people are returning holiday gifts.
I generally have to wait in line but it's on average only a few, 2-3 people, being ahead of me and the line moves quickly. On occasion however there are people who have nothing ready to ship when they get to the post office. They have to purchase the box, sometimes tape, pack the item and seal the box then get the USPS officer to complete and print the label. There is however a sign in plain sight that states you have to have any customs forms completed when you get to the counter or you will be asked to step out of line, complete the forms and get back in-line and I have seen then enforce this more than once.
fashunu4eeuh
·1 year agoYes, i always wait in line at the PO to get my acceptance scan for eBay packages. It is too risky to simply drop them in the bin because eBay requires proof of when the package entered the mail-stream. Sellers have to meet their stated handling times.
If the PO is slow in scanning the bin packages, or if one doesn’t get scanned, it can hurt my account metrics.
So the acceptance scan receipt may be my only evidence that i have performed my job and met my eBay-required obligations. Late shipping can downgrade a seller’s standing. It is an important rating in one’s selling performance metrics.
onefootflipper
·1 year agoI have never once waited in line at the post office. It is a huge time sink that is completely unpaid, and it also greatly increases your chance of "problems" being found with your packages by the postal employees.
Going to the post office and waiting in line would be a minimum of 1 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you count your labor at $20 an hour then that costs you $5200 a year.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoI only get an hour for lunch (or 30 minutes if I'm working in the office so I can leave half an hour early), so no waiting an hour for service ever. I probably do 10 minutes twice a week if I need the counter for some reason, but if I can get away with giving my letters to the mailroom and letting them hand them off to Canada Post, that's better. I haven't lost a Canada Post letter from giving them to the mailroom, randomly a letter doesn't arrive (untracked) once in a while.
I do have to go to Stallion Express a few times a week, but it's a self-serve thing, I go in with sorted packages and put into the appropriate bins. Any time spent there is making small chat with the person working there, but not too much small chat, lots of people frequent that place, especially if I stop on my way home from work.
C.
aeparts1
·1 year agoI go to a very small local Post Office, they have no outside carriers, just PO boxes, a counter with one clerk & the Postmaster. The clerk is a foul, miserable %^$#@*, so no one wants to talk to her, & she doesn't want to talk to anyone. At most it takes me 5 minutes to get in & out, usually a minute or two. It works for me!
The postmaster works the counter when the miserable one is off & she is the nicest person you can imagine, but she really keeps the customers moving.
The miserable one has some really good online reviews.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoSo you have a PO facility where the one clerk is consistently rude to customers.
However, you describe the Postmistress as the nicest person one can imagine.
Isn't it time to discuss that other employee with that very nice Postmistress?
aeparts1
·1 year agoI'm afraid the foul clerk would be replaced with someone like sin n dex describes, an extremely chatty clerk that slows things down. I can live with foul & rude, just don't slow me down!
soh.maryl
·1 year agoAm I mistaken, or didn't the Canadian postal system just finish a strike?
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoThat was three weeks ago. I wasn't complaining about a long line up, just one customer who took a long time by being unprepared.
C.
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@sin-n-dex,
I suspect that your clerk may have been unhappy about being forced back to work, so she was doing a kind of work-to-rule. Although, the word filibuster came to mind first, and may be a better description. She may have been doing it deliberately to slow the customer down, just like when they do it in the house of commons to slow down a vote.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoShe works for Rexall Drugs and wasn't on strike. Most counter staff are not Canada post union.
C.
lacemaker3
·1 year agoSo what happened with the post office counters in the drug stores during the strike? I had wondered about that. I usually go to a drugstore when I am mailing stuff from my place in Ontario.
sin-n-dex
OP1 year agoTheir buttons to print postage were disabled from the source. They could sell stamps and supplies, but they couldn't post anything requiring a label.
C.
petencharlie
·1 year agoI often have to wait in line at a PO in northwest Indiana, especially in December.
But I do have two other post offices within a short driving distance, but I only visit those locations rarely, if ever at all.
oldwestgold
·1 year agoYou mention the "nut" you had. I had one guy come in every day, six days a week, to buy one stamp. He would always put it on his credit card. Now, there was a nut.
Based on your observations, I suggest you contact your local postmaster or station manager about the wait times and why they are caused. The clerks should be "training" these customers on having their packages ready to go and NOT assist them with tape, paperwork, etc. That is the customer's job. It is a failure of the clerks there. Once people understand the proper process, everyone will be better off. I understand this may seem harsh to some who read this, but it is necessary for everyone else's convenience. There is no free tape, either. Education is the key to a successful operation of any kind. The USPS will mail your items. They are not responsible for wrapping them up and signing it from G'ma.
oldwestgold
·1 year agoNo waits at my PO. I rarely go anyway, as I use the free USPS pickup option. My impression of the Canadian Post Offices has always been a positive one, based on my experience traveling. Their offices seemed way ahead of the US Post Offices with technology available to the public.
I recall being in Canada years ago when faxing was a thing. None of the US POs offered it, yet in Canada, they had the fax machines and computers right in their lobbies for customers to use.
Waiting is normal today, whether physically in line, on the phone, chat, etc. I just tried chatting with my financial institution, and it came back, letting me know that I was number 48 in line. I gave up and went on my day. Most Postal employees go on vacation after the Holidays when they are forced to work. I don't blame them as they deserve a break after putting up with the additional workload and some nasty people.
Good luck, and it's nice to see you made it to 2025!
klhmdg
·1 year agoI always wait in line (USPS) and the USPS will send the person with improper packaging to the back counter to fix the package.
They even do this with paperwork that needs to be done before shipments.