This letter concerns what I feel is gross inefficiency at the Evans post office.
Recently my next-door neighbors went on vacation. Before they left, they submitted an electronic "hold mail" request to the U.S. Postal Service for that period with a resume date of Oct. 3. During the week they were gone, I noticed I was not getting my mail as I should have been. I was expecting several checks and a bill.
When my neighbors returned home, they found a stack of mail addressed to me in their mailbox, which included the two checks and my bill. All the mail there was for me and none for them.
On the following Monday, I went to the Evans post office and talked with both the supervisor and the postmaster. Even though the postmaster apologized for a mix-up, neither would accept the fact that someone there had made a big mistake. That afternoon after going to the post office, my neighbors received what they felt was the held mail that was supposed to have been delivered two days earlier.
Whether this mistake was deliberate or not, it shows an unusually high level of inefficiency because of the total lack of oversight by the supervisor. This prompts two questions: (1) How did some of my mail get put on hold and then delivered to my neighbor's mailbox on the exact day they wanted their held mail to resume? (2) Why was their held mail not delivered on the resume date, but two days later, which was the same day that I talked with the post office?
Even President Obama said it publicly that Federal Express and United Parcel Service are more efficient that the U.S. Postal Service. Maybe he has had the same problem as me.
If any other Evans residents have had the same problem, let the post office know about it.
Walter Nail
Evans
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As a courtesy to their carrier (and as a precaution for themselves) did the neighbor also leave a note in their box? In a contest between email and snail mail, the race is not always to the swift.
Sure dashiel leave that note in the box so that anyone could find out that you are on vacation. That way they will know just when to burglarize you.
Overburdened, If I ever get that paranoid I probably won't worry about mail deliveries.
Paranoid has nothing to do with it. Apparently you haven't noticed the rise in those kinds of crimes. With all the unemployment some people are desperate and are looking at ways to supplement whatever income they may have. If you want to make yourself a target go right ahead.
Heck, I can't even get the mail person to close my mail box all the way. Notes to them, letters to the postmaster, calls, emails. I still get soggy mail when it rains.
THere have been plenty of Saturdays I don't get any mail but come Monday My box is full. WOnder?
Walter, this is symbolic of the great service our Federal government provides. I can see why millions want it in charge of our healthcare now.
The Evans Post Office has always had problems. There are a couple of good employees on the front windows and also one at the "shop" who is rude. I've talked with the postmaster regarding this and, of course, nothing was done.
I have to agree with Walter on this one. I work at a local store and conduct sales on Ebay. There is a certain location in the store where mail is picked up. Numerous times the mail carrier has come in dropped of a letter and left my package sitting there. He also was complaining about it on the way out the door. He does this all the time. He knows the procedure but is intentionally leaving the packages because he is lazy. Don't have that problem with UPS or FEDEX.
As a postal employee, I can answer Mr. Nail's questions. Grouse and 3M3T1B have it totally right: Postal managers simply do not care. They are answerable only to their superiors and are not measured by service quality at all. Indeed, my own office once stacked nearly a million pieces of first-class mail for six months, and the perpetrators were REWARDED, not punished. The postmaster general has acknowledged that the Postal Service's managerial compensation system has caused serious breakdowns in mail delivery but has done nothing to correct that system, even with the Postal Service on the brink of bankruptcy: http://www.naps.org/Legislative_News/LegUpdate_06-01-07.doc. If you are truly concerned about your mail service, you need to contact your congressional representatives and INSIST that they do something about the failures of the Postal Service, which are massive. Indeed, as southernguy08 wrote, it isn't just the Postal Service that is failing. We all need to rise up and tell Congress to put a stop to the rot! Failure to do so is our own failure.
Mr. Nail asks, "How did some of my mail get put on hold and then delivered to my neighbor's mailbox?" I think he is mistaken. His mail was not "held" and then delivered all at one time. I think the mailman's mind was on autopilot all week and delivered Mr. Nail's mail to the neighbor's box each day.
Little Lamb is correct. And the neighbor's house comes before Mr. Nail's on the delivery route, which is why Mr. Nail's mail ended up in that mailbox -- every day. The neighbor's mail wasn't delivered to the box, because a block had been inserted in the cell for that address in the carrier's sortation case at the post office. So the carrier didn't completely screw up and may well have been a substitute -- or two, one who sorted the mail (properly) and another who delivered it (improperly). The neighbor's mail wasn't delivered on the resume date because the sorting carrier (a third substitute?) forgot to check for hold resumes. And all this happened because postal management does not regard such matters, including the disappearance of Mr. Nail's mail, as important. But the point, again, is that if postal customers do nothing but complain to postal managers or employees (or vent on web sites), NOTHING will change. The carrier USSOCOM described does what he does because he thinks USSOCOM won't do anything about the situation, and the latter will prove the carrier correct if s/he does nothing. There is only one way to fix the problems described above: Go to Congress!
It pays to show your carrier some courtesy and appreciation.
How does dashiel's response flow from ANY of the above? ISN'T that the problem reflected in Mr. Nail's letter and USSOCOM's comment: "[The carrier] knows the procedure but is intentionally leaving the packages because he is lazy"? It is dashiel's responsibility to know his/her job, which includes case blocks and carrier warning cards, NOT "courtesy to their carrier (and as a precaution for themselves) did the neighbor also leave a note in their box?" Obviously, dashiel is totally untrained -- YET ANOTHER failing of postal management. NO ONE owes dashiel ONE IOTA of "courtesy and appreciation," which assertion reeks of blackmail -- more reason to go to Congress! Failure to do so means MORE dashiel! NO ONE needs that!
I don't know why the post office is providing this service for free anyway. Their job is to deliver mail period. And by the way I don't see FEDX and UPS going up my street daily delivering letters. Until I see them doing what the USPS does on a daily basis it would be inappropriate to classify the in the same league. I appreciate my mail delivery person and yes she makes a mistake every once in a great while, she is after all human. But again no wonder the USPS is going broke, if they are providing such free services.
WHAT free services? You mean hold mail? Yeah, but the issue was Mr. Nail's mail going to his neighbor's house -- for a whole week. Fedex and UPS also make mistakes, which means you complain or take your business elsewhere. Mr. Nail stated no manager at his post office cared about the mess his mail became -- not as a result of free service to him. Only the Postal Service provides mail delivery, not Fedex and UPS, so there is no choice there. You clearly are VERY confused. Please pay attention!
Evans doesn't have this problem all by themselves. It's Nationwide. I live in SC and on several occasions it appears the carrier would put my neighbors mail in my box, my neighbor below me would get my mail, and the one below them would get their mail and on and on. Ideally I would suggest going to the PO and filling out a form they have, get them to initial, and get you a copy.
Some advice. I always fill out two cards at the post office. Leave one there, put another in the mailbox, and also use e-mail. So far it has worked for me.
I live in Martinez and a couple of years ago had a problem (like a lot of others in Martinez) with my mail going to Martin, GA. The Martinez post office manager explained there was a snafu with the zip code national data base. He told me they didn't know how it had happened or how it was going to be fixed or how it would take. His solution was that I should know what mail I was expecting and therefore could call anyone that I didn't receive mail from to let them know I didn't get it so they could send it again. Sounded like a government answer to me! I changed my address to my parents in South Augusta for about 6 months. Eventually the problem resolved. Some things never were re-directed back to Martinez!
Does the term "going postal" ring a bell?
I stopped using the Evans Post Office several years ago. The clerks are rude, service is horrible with only one or two clerks working at peak hours. It's off to Appling for me. Nicest, courteous clerks and never a line.
Grovetown the same way clerks are nice and very helpful. I guess the small post office has the best service and workers.
Is running to other offices the answer? What about the people who receive mail delivery out of Evans? MUST they move? Are ALL of you content to have dashiel "go postal" on you? S/he does what s/he does because s/he thinks that none of you will do what you must -- report your problems to Congress. Prove him/her wrong! Otherwise, do as s/he wrote: "It pays to show your carrier some courtesy and appreciation." In other words, "Take it and like it!"