Madness at the post office

[sockmonkeydave]

When I was in the PO today there must have been a dozen people.

Half of them did not have their packages ready to go.

or even labels on them, their number was called.

And they would trot up to the counter with a box open on each end.

And expect the PO to do their packing for them.

Amatures

[authentic*vintage]

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@tealt wrote:

Only a dozen people in line?

At this time of year my busy branch PO usually has 20+ people waiting.

There is a drop off area, but nothing is scanned at the branch PO.  Everything is trucked across town to the main PO.  Priority packages are scanned before midnight.  First class gets scanned before midnight...maybe, or maybe not.  Ground services and international usually aren't scanned until they reach a sorting center after midnight.

i really want (need?) a same day acceptance scan, so I've gone with carrier pick-up for the last year or so.  I'm lucky that that option is available to me.

Last year, convincing sub/new hire/temp carriers to scan on pick up was very painful indeed, involving multiple phone calls, gritted-teeth conversations with the postmaster, and online complaints.  This year, so far so good. 

I just don't have to time be at home every day and to stand in line at the PO whenever I need to ship something.

If it works as it should and is a viable option, carrier pick up is great! 

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I have spent the previous three years complaining to the local postmaster, then the last year, I decided to help out my carrier as much as I could. It is my fault for not using a scan sheet all of that time, so when i put my first one in the box, I wrote my carrier a note on it, apologizing for my ignorance and for not being more considerate of her time along with my wishes that the scan sheet will help her out. It has been going great ever since. (KNOCKING ON WOOD)

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@turq-n-elvis wrote:

The crazy part is when someone wants to apply for a passport and have their picture taken.

To complete this process takes a minimum 30mins. The line is out the door, people are steaming and plotting how to get even with the Passport applicant, it's funny to watch although frustrating.

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My PO does passports by appointment only, with a big sign over the counter saying so 😉

The "duck tape" story upstream reminded me of something ... I had a PMEI package that needed to be accepted before 11, so I brought it to the PO.

In front of me was a young couple with one of those flimsy 36" cube moving/storage boxes. It took both of them to put it on the counter. The poor box looked like it was going to rip apart any second.  The clerk told them that the packaging was not acceptable for shipping, so the young man took a roll of duck tape out of his pocket and went to start "shoring up" the box.

The clerk told him "no way ... take it home and find a better box. We cannot accept that".

I felt bad for them, but seriously ... what are people thinking?

[tealt]

Having a scan sheet, even for one (1) package, was one of the compromises I reached with my unco-operative postmaster.  I can get that sheet using eBay label printing, so that part was easy.

Getting the sub/new hire/temp carriers to learn what a scan sheet was *for* was the hard part. 

Some insisted that the sheet be returned to the PO (it says right on the sheet that it should be returned to the customer).  How to properly use a hand held scanner was also a problem.  Last holiday season I personally showed 7 carriers how to use the thing to scan on pick up.  I even had to convince one of them that, really, yes, packages could be scanned on occasions besides delivery.

[mg152]

Lucky for me, 0 sales means no shipping. No chance of going to the PO. Lol! 😂

I dont  ever go to the PO anyway. Just had to complain.

[keziak]

Lucky here, we have a tiny old-time "Old Town" P.O. which at the peak had maybe 10 people in the little lobby but not much in the way of packing at the counter. I would not go near the main post office which has 30 or more in line at the worst. Not even the loading dock. Just out of control back there. 

[2756anderson]

They were supposed to begin charging people $3.00 if they used the old forms because (thanks, Customs Canada, you LEECHES) they (the postal people) are forced to type all the information in by hand instead of just scanning a bar-code or taking the package because it has a pre-paid label.  Also, it's been TWO YEARS and some postal employees are not 100% sure of how the system works.  You declare $300 but only want $100 insurance, they have trouble with it, some claim you have to buy $300 insurance, which isn't the case. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

Christmas in July resurrection?

[dhbookds]

thread from 2016

alan@ebay

[tarpedge]

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@thegroroom wrote:

It's "amateurs", not "amatures".

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You don't understand: Monkey deals with engines, and is indiscriminately familiar with armatures.

[tarpedge]

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@dhbookds wrote:

thread from 2016

alan@ebay

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promise from January

On Jan 13, 2017, alan@ebay wrote: Meanwhile, in the backend, we've started work on bulk locking and archiving old threads.

[z50com]

Take a number?

I have only seen one post office with a "take a number" roll

It has chairs and benches for the customer to wait for their turn.

It's in Seal Beach Ca. right next to Leisure World. . .

[kh-gary]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!