USPS Rant

[Gadsden]

That’s the new USPS meet your neighbor plan

Well it works, unfortunately there are a couple of them I'd rather not even see let alone talk to.

 

[Okie4570]

Informed delivery clearly states when you sign up it may not be the actual mail piece being delivered today since it is fed by the pieces upstream hitting automation equipment. I was Postmaster in Ada in the early 90’s for a couple of years. Fired 2 carriers while I was there and a couple more were on the way out the door when I left to go to Shawnee. Some good people but a few lazy ones as well. I liked the town of Ada for the most part except on food stamp day when they were lined up around the block. Most of them appeared able bodied to me but not a lot of them applied when I had a vacancy.

So the system allows it to show delivered when it isn't? And the employees will go look for it even though it may not be there? Out of all the times I've looked for missing mail, not one person has ever explained that to me. Thanks.

 

[Pstmstr]

While you old farts are sitting around waiting for the mail watch The Postman movie. Good show that reminds me how mail used to be important and how people banded together instead of sitting around posting me too me too on the internet. Things ain’t like they used to be and stuff ain’t getting better every day. I’m glad I’m retired.

 

[Pstmstr]

So the system allows it to show delivered when it isn't? And the employees will go look for it even though it may not be there? Out of all the times I've looked for missing mail, not one person has ever explained that to me. Thanks.

Obviously it was an improper scan by an employee or it was delivered to the wrong address but was “delivered”. I’m sure you’ll consider this just an excuse but I can tell you many times a delivered mail piece was delivered but someone in the house or business didn’t tell the person actually looking for it. In 34 years I only had a couple of times a piece of mail was actually lost. It’s always somewhere, just maybe not the place it’s expected to be. No one ever complains about the 98% of stuff delivered on time and mistakes do happen. In reading this thread you’d think it was every day to everyone. I’m sure things have changed a bunch since I left and I can only imagine trying to manage todays snowflakes. The times they are a changing.

 

[BobbyV]

Informed delivery clearly states when you sign up it may not be the actual mail piece being delivered today since it is fed by the pieces upstream hitting automation equipment. I was Postmaster in Ada in the early 90’s for a couple of years. Fired 2 carriers while I was there and a couple more were on the way out the door when I left to go to Shawnee. Some good people but a few lazy ones as well. I liked the town of Ada for the most part except on food stamp day when they were lined up around the block. Most of them appeared able bodied to me but not a lot of them applied when I had a vacancy.

My uncle ultimately retired after working at the PO in Konawa.

 

[Okie4570]

Obviously it was an improper scan by an employee or it was delivered to the wrong address but was “delivered”. I’m sure you’ll consider this just an excuse but I can tell you many times a delivered mail piece was delivered but someone in the house or business didn’t tell the person actually looking for it. In 34 years I only had a couple of times a piece of mail was actually lost. It’s always somewhere, just maybe not the place it’s expected to be. No one ever complains about the 98% of stuff delivered on time and mistakes do happen. In reading this thread you’d think it was every day to everyone. I’m sure things have changed a bunch since I left and I can only imagine trying to manage todays snowflakes. The times they are a changing.

It's obviously area specific I would say, just like any other service, some good some bad.

 

[DRC458]

At least on a rural route, your carrier makes all the difference in the world. When we moved into this place almost 27 years ago, our carrier had been on the job and on this route for many, many years. We could not have asked for better. Went out of his way to take care of us, and became a true friend. I'll never forget one day, he came to the front door with a piece of outgoing mail the wife had put in our box. He asked, "Ma'am, did you want this mail to go out today?" She gave him a funny look and said, "Yes." He replied, " Would you mind putting a stamp on it?" I think he loved our dog about as much as we do. And, she loved to see him. He worked well into his 70's, long after he could have retired. He loved his job and it showed. When he retired, his full-time replacement was worthless. She got fired (I heard for stealing mail). Her replacement, and our current carrier, is a young man, a go-getter, and we are back to being very pleased with our service. Yep, I'm counting my blessings. Sorry for you folks who have constant issues.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

My mail service in Olustee was stellar. My mailman lived two doors down from me. Whenever I needed anything it was a simple matter of asking him and it would get done. He retired and his daughter took over the route. She was just as good but lived in Altus (I think), so it wasn't quite as convenient.

We're paying for having good service in Altus now. The universe is trying to balance out all that good service with absolutely horrendous service.

 

[OkieJoe72]

Update to my original rant: Our local post office employee called me this morning and said that the mail was not delivered yet again today. She is frustrated just as much as the customers because she can’t get any kind of definite answer as to what is going on. Now, a few of the customers are getting very upset and taking out their frustration on her. Our postmaster for the area is based in Lawton so I decided to call and see what is going on. I dialed the local number, and after about 20 minutes of pressing buttons, the automated voice said that somebody would call me back. About an hour later, I received another automated call with more buttons to press. The last statement was that the wait time which was approximately 10 minutes, and it asked what kind of music that I wanted to hear while waiting. Needless to say my frustration level was pretty high, I almost threw my phone out the window when I heard that question. I finally heard a live voice come over the line, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was somebody from a call center that I can only assume was somewhere in India or Pakistan. It took the lady three tries to understand the zip code coming out of my Okie mouth. The whole process was a complete waste of time!

 

[OkieJoe72]

Nah, I’m retired and my last decent contact retired last month too. If it was up to me there wouldn’t be a post office in small towns like Medicine Park. I’m hoping Trump gets elected and brings me back as PMG. I’ve got some great ideas.

So you would expect people to drive an hour or more round trip simply to get their mail? Doing away with rural post offices is a ridiculous statement.