??? Post Office Lobby Closed Nights and Weekends

[Lakewood90712]

Our main P O lobby has been open 24/7 from the day it opened in the early 60's Now closed nights and weekends. so no way to use the automated post machine or mail packages after counter hours.

I don't think it's a crime issue. The P. O. is 75 feet from a large sheriff substation.

Anyone else have this change ?

 

[harley]

That happened at our local POs years ago. Another change down where we live in FL is the post offices being closed on Saturdays. The mail gets delivered, but no lobby service. I think it's just cost cutting.

 

[Texas Proud]

Unless closing it has happened in the last few weeks, ours is open 24/7....

 

[VaCollector]

My local PO quit opening on Saturdays a little over a year ago...there is still access to the PO boxes and saturday delivery...but no one manning the main counters and that section is locked up tight.

 

[Amethyst]

Our local PO closed several years ago. It was in a leased building, and when the owners raised the rent, the USPS said "bye-bye." Now we have to travel ~13 miles on overcrowded roads to get to a post office. Also, we are an "add-on" route for that post office, which has led to spotty service.

 

[Murf2]

My local PO is closed for 1.75 hours for lunch during the week and open for 1.75 hours on Saturday. Cost savings, yeah right.

Need to keep a schedule just to know when I can pick up a package.

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[MRG]

That happened at our local POs years ago. Another change down where we live in FL is the post offices being closed on Saturdays. The mail gets delivered, but no lobby service. I think it's just cost cutting.

Ours is closed for lunch on Saturday. I asked the postmaster she said it saved Zero dollars but she was told to do it as a cost savings measure. Go figure.

 

[FUEGO]

Weird, ours says lobby is open 24/6 but closed all day Sunday. Anyone want to place odds on whether someone is actually there at midnight on Saturday to lock up and at midnight on Sunday to reopen?

I also thought our local PO was only open something like 10 am to noon on Saturday but the website says 9a-4:30p all day Mon-Sat. Guess we got an upgrade...

edit: elsewhere it says there is a self service kiosk available 24/7 at the same post office. The kiosk is inside so there's obviously some mismatch between the post office's stated hours vs the self service kiosk's stated hours. Won't be the first time the USPS screwed something up. I did notice our post office location received 1.5 stars on the google reviews/ratings. Honestly shocked that anyone gave them over 1 star given the slow, surly service, long waits, and general lack of customer service. Maybe once in a while they squeeze out some 2 or 3 star service by accident (out of 5 stars max).

 

[Murf2]

Might want to check. Web info is wrong for ours.

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[harley]

Need to keep a schedule just to know when I can pick up a package.

They just leave ours on the front porch.

 

[Murf2]

Some of mine are just too big for the poor guy to handle. I don't know how the FedEx gal does it.

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[Lakewood90712]

It's the unmanned part, with the PO box and automated machines. Absolutly 0 labor or employees involved. The place is packed with customers during normal hours. m-sat.

 

[braumeister]

I have seen a small post office start closing its lobby (nothing in it but the PO boxes) at night when a homeless guy started using it as his regular sleeping quarters. After he was helped out with some professional assistance, they kept locking the place at night anyway.

 

[harley]

I have seen a small post office start closing its lobby (nothing in it but the PO boxes) at night when a homeless guy started using it as his regular sleeping quarters. After he was helped out with some professional assistance, they kept locking the place at night anyway.

I think that's why they started doing it in my former city too.

 

[Sojourner]

My local post office has recently been closing every day between 1:30 and 2:45 for "lunch", which I guess means it's only staffed by one person most days. Based on other posts in this thread, local hours of operation seem to be all over the place, with no consistency across regions, large or small. It seems like there should be some minimal set of standards imposed across the board by the USPS so that the public isn't left wondering whether a particular PO will be open at a certain time of the week.

 

[Lakewood90712]

More wacky stuff at my local PO. Went to mail 2 packages. 1st one in my box $3.90 1st class. 2nd package,returning an e-bay item. Tried to use a flat rate envelope $6.45 with a large item barely stuffed inside , just like it was mailed to me last week. Clerk says:" Oh no, you can't do that, if you try, it will be returned and you will have to pay return postage" with her supervisor breathing down her neck. "you must use a box $13.50. No thanks on the second one.........Then stopped a a post office near mom's house. Not only did they accept it in the envelope, they helped me stuff the item in and close the flap. I guess mail regulations now vary from post office to post office

 

[FUEGO]

2nd post office must have had better packing tape to secure the package.

 

[harley]

More wacky stuff at my local PO. Went to mail 2 packages. 1st one in my box $3.90 1st class. 2nd package,returning an e-bay item. Tried to use a flat rate envelope $6.45 with a large item barely stuffed inside , just like it was mailed to me last week. Clerk says:" Oh no, you can't do that, if you try, it will be returned and you will have to pay return postage" with her supervisor breathing down her neck. "you must use a box $13.50. No thanks on the second one.........Then stopped a a post office near mom's house. Not only did they accept it in the envelope, they helped me stuff the item in and close the flap. I guess mail regulations now vary from post office to post office

I guess. I've been mailing envelopes with pre-printed addresses like utility bills and tax bills and such without a return address for, oh, 40 years or so. Never once has one been returned. But I went into the local post office recently to mail something that needed postage and also tossed a couple of bills in the counter to go into the mail too. The clerk flat out refused to accept them unless I wrote a return address on them. So I took them back, walked around the corner to the mail slot, and dropped them in.

I figure since the USPS is losing so much money and so many employees are in such danger or being RIFed or outsourced, they must think the solution is to make their sterling service reputation even worse. It makes no sense to me.

 

[target2019]

Some of these comments make me think there is a program in usps something like employee ownership. Everyone interprets rules to po customers. Then build a case for bigger raise.
Usps driver handed me a package and asked if he was on the right street. That probably goes on self review as "building lasting relationships with existing customers."

 

[Lakewood90712]

I figure since the USPS is losing so much money and so many employees are in such danger or being RIFed or outsourced, they must think the solution is to make their sterling service reputation even worse. It makes no sense to me.

Reminds me of the inside joke at one of the large electric utility companies :

" We are not happy until you are unhappy "

 

[ziggy29]

I figure since the USPS is losing so much money....

Only because they are being forced by Congress to pay more than $5 billion a year to prefund retiree health insurance costs for 75 years. This is something no other public or private enterprise has to do. And the money just goes back to the general fund, not set aside for retiree health insurance. Eliminate that burden -- treat them the same as any other federal agency -- and the USPS has recently been turning a profit.

 

[travelover]

Only because they are being forced by Congress to pay more than $5 billion a year to prefund retiree health insurance costs for 75 years. This is something no other public or private enterprise has to do. And the money just goes back to the general fund, not set aside for retiree health insurance. Eliminate that burden -- treat them the same as any other federal agency -- and the USPS has recently been turning a profit.

And they were recently forced to lower the price of a first class stamp.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The 3 closest to us all still have 24/7 access to the lobby. Since I set up the online account and ordered a bunch of different flat rate boxes (there is no charge for them, btw), I just have the carrier pick them up from the front porch.

I haven't stood in the no-service customer line in several years.

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[FUEGO]

The 3 closest to us all still have 24/7 access to the lobby. Since I set up the online account and ordered a bunch of different flat rate boxes (there is no charge for them, btw), I just have the carrier pick them up from the front porch.

I haven't stood in the no-service customer line in several years.

Great point to mention for those that mail stuff occasionally. You can get the priority mail boxes for free, print shipping labels (paypal lets you do this at cost IIRC - check out "multiorder shipping" on the left hand side of your paypal page), then leave them in the mailbox or leave a note on your mailbox telling the mailman to pick up an oversized item from your front porch (if you don't want to leave it on the road).

You might have to buy a postal scale if you mail stuff from home. $20 or so was what I paid for a 75 lb max scale that I use in the kitchen (5 gm / 0.2 oz minimum weight increments), for auto repair and other DIY tasks, for mailing, weighing luggage, and general science projects, and out of curiosity.

 

[Amethyst]

Also, Postal Service health care benefits are more generous than regular Federal government health insurance.

Only because they are being forced by Congress to pay more than $5 billion a year to prefund retiree health insurance costs for 75 years. This is something no other public or private enterprise has to do. And the money just goes back to the general fund, not set aside for retiree health insurance. Eliminate that burden -- treat them the same as any other federal agency -- and the USPS has recently been turning a profit.