Put some outgoing mail in the box. Ended up in the box next door.

A recent article blamed the polar vortex for delayed mail in the Chicago area. It made me think of an avenue of complaint that may have some effect. Apparently enough consitutents in the Chicago area contacted their Congressman who then spoke with the United States Postmaster.

I would suggest this as the next step if there is not a marked improvement. Apparently bureaucrats do respond to their Congressman. At least it seems so.

It’d sure be nice to have a good paying, secure job, with guaranteed benefits, & no chance of getting fired, no matter how inept or lazy you are.

Until we can fire the USPS, there will be no changes.

My mail carrier at the office apologized today. She had a ton of mail for me including mail order medications that showed Delivery attempted on Friday. She asked what time I closed on Friday as she suspected the sub carrier just skipped the complex. She said she would have a talk with him. I am sure it had something to do with making her job harder when you have a ton of mail to deliver on Monday.

My wife's office is in the front of the house. She watched the mailman put the mail in our mailbox.

Later when she went to pick up the mail there was a "Could not deliver, First attempt" slip in there.

She went to the post office the next day and spoke to the Postmaster.

PM: Were you in the basement when he made the attempt?

Wife: No, as I just told you I was sitting at my desk and watched him put the mail in the box.

The funny thing is that our carrier is usually very good.

I've long given up counting on my mail being picked up from my mailbox. my mail carrier simply ignores the flag and stuffs my mail in the box on top of it and leave.

Supposedly they're not required to pick up mail but whatever...

quote:

Originally posted by darkest2000:
Supposedly they're not required to pick up mail but whatever...

This is only true on a walking route, if the person doesn't receive mail that day.
In other words, I'm not walking up to your mailbox everyday if I don't have mail to put in the box. However, I don't know anyone who, if you can see from the street and it's not grossly out of the way (an enclosed front yard for example), that won't take out going mail. I personally reserve this rule for assholes.
If they drive up to your mailbox, they absolutely ARE required to pick it up, even if you don't receive mail that day.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:

quote:

Originally posted by darkest2000:
Supposedly they're not required to pick up mail but whatever...

This is only true on a walking route, if the person doesn't receive mail that day.
In other words, I'm not walking up to your mailbox everyday if I don't have mail to put in the box. However, I don't know anyone who, if you can see from the street and it's not grossly out of the way (an enclosed front yard for example), that won't take out going mail. I personally reserve this rule for assholes.
If they drive up to your mailbox, they absolutely ARE required to pick it up, even if you don't receive mail that day.

Interesting. My mailbox is right by the street and the carrier drives up to it daily. It annoys me to no end to see my mailbox stuffed full of my delivery of the day but the flag remains up with my outgoing mail at the bottom of the stack.

I guess I'll try it a few more times and see if they still ignore it, then file a complaint to the PM.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:

quote:

Originally posted by darkest2000:
Supposedly they're not required to pick up mail but whatever...

This is only true on a walking route, if the person doesn't receive mail that day.
In other words, I'm not walking up to your mailbox everyday if I don't have mail to put in the box. However, I don't know anyone who, if you can see from the street and it's not grossly out of the way (an enclosed front yard for example), that won't take out going mail. I personally reserve this rule for assholes.
If they drive up to your mailbox, they absolutely ARE required to pick it up, even if you don't receive mail that day.

So you don't have to pick up outgoing mail if you don't have mail for that house?

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
So you don't have to pick up outgoing mail if you don't have mail for that house?

If it's a dismounted (walking) route, correct. On a route inspection it is considered a "Time wasting practice".

quote:

If it's a dismounted (walking) route, correct. On a route inspection it is considered a "Time wasting practice".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I love the choice of words, dismounted, as if you are riding a horse. Time wasting practice LOL.
Keeping customers happy is immaterial. The inner workings of the Postal Service are certainly something to behold.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

If it's a dismounted (walking) route, correct. On a route inspection it is considered a "Time wasting practice".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I love the choice of words, dismounted, as if you are riding a horse. Time wasting practice LOL.
Keeping customers happy is immaterial. The inner workings of the Postal Service are certainly something to behold.

So picking up mail on a walking route is time wasting. No wonder they are going belly up.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

If it's a dismounted (walking) route, correct. On a route inspection it is considered a "Time wasting practice".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I love the choice of words, dismounted, as if you are riding a horse. Time wasting practice LOL.
Keeping customers happy is immaterial. The inner workings of the Postal Service are certainly something to behold.

So picking up mail on a walking route is time wasting. No wonder they are going belly up.

So is knocking on someones door to hand them a parcel. I poop you not.

Aw, give them a break, Folks!

They are, after all, a quasi-gubbermint agency!

Recently, we had some snow fall, plows left piles along the sides of the road.

I could drive my car close enough to the mail box the reach out the window and check for mail.

Post office twit could not figure out how to get the mail into the box! I guess actually reaching out the damned car window was too much of a strain!.

As with anything else: I imagine it's where you are and how the local operation is run.

There was a time, when we were still semi-rural, when USPS delivery could be mildly erratic. I think only once did we find it necessary to contact the Postmaster about it, and he quickly addressed the problem. (Turned out we didn't consistently have the same carriers on our route.)

For many years, though, our snailmail and USPS package delivery have been top-notch. Including package delivery to our porch, which is 100' off the road. We know our two mail carriers by name and speak with them often.

Do they never make mistakes? Hardly. Had a piece of snailmail destined for our house number, but on an entirely different street, quite a distance away, a couple weeks ago. I just stuck it back in the box and raised the flag. But that kind of thing is pretty rare for us.

True story:

I got a card from my dentist that was addressed to someone in the next town over. So, I bring it to work and put it in the outgoing mail. Two days later it showed up at my house again.

quote:

Originally posted by BrianC:
True story:

I got a card from my dentist that was addressed to someone in the next town over. So, I bring it to work and put it in the outgoing mail. Two days later it showed up at my house again.

That's because it was keyed wrong, so it had a barcode on it, the barcode is what sorts it if you put it back into the outgoing mail.

Local news in Rich-Vegas, VA had a story on today about USPS failing to deliver and pick up mail in Church Hill. Nice gentrified neighborhood. Next to the poor folks. No response from local PO.

If an agency employs people who do not feel personal shame for a job poorly done, no amount of public shaming will fix the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

If it's a dismounted (walking) route, correct. On a route inspection it is considered a "Time wasting practice".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I love the choice of words, dismounted, as if you are riding a horse. Time wasting practice LOL.
Keeping customers happy is immaterial. The inner workings of the Postal Service are certainly something to behold.

So picking up mail on a walking route is time wasting. No wonder they are going belly up.

So is knocking on someones door to hand them a parcel. I poop you not.

I blame that on both management and the union. Management for even considering it and the union for letting them do it.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
I blame that on both management and the union. Management for even considering it and the union for letting them do it.

It's a business, not a service. If I told you all the in's and out's of what goes on during route inspections you'd understand why people "Go postal".