USPS rant

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Periodically leave town and send yourself something fairly foul smelling or somewhat leaky. Then to get rid of it they'd have to bring it to your house...maybe with the rest of your mail!

Isnt there a postmaster general, colonel or major you can complain to a lot further up the food chain? You need to get above the rotting head in your immediate vicinity.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Periodically leave town and send yourself something fairly foul smelling or somewhat leaky. Then to get rid of it they'd have to bring it to your house...maybe with the rest of your mail!

You mean something like a frozen chicken?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Isnt there a postmaster general, colonel or major you can complain to a lot further up the food chain? You need to get above the rotting head in your immediate vicinity.

One of the most frustrating things about this entire episode has been the lack of transparency of the USPS organization. It is almost impossible to root out a chain of command, and the org chart for that $500B monopoly is apparently a classified document. The "customer service" system conveniently routes all complaints directly back to the local Post Office, out of sight (and mind) of anyone higher up in the organization.

The only glimmer of hope is that one of the unhappy postal patrons in attendance at last night's meeting is a retired postal inspector. He and Director Dufuss got into it and I got the feeling he's going to be calling in some favors from some of his old working buddies. Well, that plus the fact that someone posted a large sign at the front of the room with the name and phone numbers of our two US Senators and our US Representative...

The retired USPS guy said repeated complaints to our elected officials could create some real hassles for the two incompetent USPS doofi responsible for our problems. I got the distinct feeling Senators Hutchison and Cornin plus Rep Rodriguez would be hearing from their loyal constituents.

[Nords]

Looks like those two have decided to go down defending their troops performance ratings pensions whatever they think it's worth getting defensive about. I wonder if your next batch of mail is going to be delivered by Bob Nardelli or Jeff Skilling?

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Where's the Maalox...

This should be a Business Week case study on marketing. Where's the cell-phone video posted on YouTube?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo You mean something like a frozen chicken?

Stuffed with dog poo.

Now, the one downside to the situation is that I think mailing stuff like that is illegal. The upside to that is eventually someone will come to your house to arrest you, and maybe they'll bring your mail with them.

Did you try calling 1-800-275-8777 to register your complaint?

Any possibility of using one of the 'mail store and forward' outfits that the RV and boat folks use, perhaps one that uses ups or fedex to collect and forward your mail?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Did you try calling 1-800-275-8777 to register your complaint?

Yep, along with several other people who attended last night's meeting. ALL complaints to that number plus ALL complaints sent via email to USPS.gov are routed to none other than the local postmaster. Complaining to the fox about the fox in the hen house....

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Any possibility of using one of the 'mail store and forward' outfits that the RV and boat folks use, perhaps one that uses ups or fedex to collect and forward your mail?

I'm considering renting a box at the closest Mailboxes-R-Us if the situation doesn't improve soon. Added cost, inconvenient, and a pain in the butt to change our address with everyone, but it might end up being the only solution.

Oh, one more story from last night...

A resident from the newest subdivision in our area described how totally uncooperative the postmaster had been in working with the developer in their new subdivision. She said it had taken 11 months to get mail boxes installed in the subdivision since the postmaster did not like the concrete slabs the developer had poured for the mailboxes, saying they didn't meet postal regulations and were improperly located. The developer said he followed the same requirements he'd followed in other developments and the dispute drug on for almost a year. Even made the news when someone called to complain to the "Channel 4 Troubleshooters" about it. During that time mail was not delivered to anyone in the subdivision, but was held at the main PO located in a small town 18 miles away. Since most people in the subdivision work in San Antonio, they could only pick up their mail in the small town on Saturdays. And the PO is open on Saturdays from 10 to 11 AM. Yep, they had a one hour window to get their weekly mail or were SOL for another week.

The developer finally gave in and poured new slabs for the mailboxes. The PO then installed them...on the old "non-regulation" slabs.

How about that for taking care of your paying customers...

BTW, I am NOT turning into a bitter old man. But I am learning to truly appreciate the term "going postal".

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You may just have better luck going the "channel x BS-busters" route...but in volume.

When GE refused to replace my fridge, thats the only thing that made them budge. I dug up every radio, television, local, county and state outfit, private and government, and complained at full blast. Most of them have an online form you can fill in quickly via cut and paste.

Two of the few things that bureaucracies hate and will respond to is a) bad press and b) lots of bad press.


By the way, shouldnt that "USPS" scoreboard be moving a little higher than 3?

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

"Channel 4 Troubleshooters"

Have you tried a cleverly written press release about the current situation that might be picked up by the press?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl Have you tried a cleverly written press release about the current situation that might be picked up by the press?

Me? Clever?

[bright eyed]

have you notified your elected officials? aren't they essentially the "board of directors" for the post office...? in an area like yours, i would bet they may be responsive if they do get a number of complaints...

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bright eyed have you notified your elected officials? aren't they essentially the "board of directors" for the post office...? in an area like yours, i would bet they may be responsive if they do get a number of complaints...

Yep, apparently several of us already have and it's likely several more will do so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo ... someone posted a large sign at the front of the room with the name and phone numbers of our two US Senators and our US Representative... The retired USPS guy said repeated complaints to our elected officials could create some real hassles for the two incompetent USPS doofi responsible for our problems. I got the distinct feeling Senators Hutchison and Cornin plus Rep Rodriguez would be hearing from their loyal constituents.

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Yep, apparently several of us already have and it's likely several more will do so.

tee hee, must have missed that part in the mini-saga

[Brat]

Ah yes, the Postmaster,"I don't care what you think the regulations say, the only thing that matters is what I say!" attitude. Seen that before.

The TV problem solver would be an absolute gas... and the station would be delighted to have an issue that everyone can understand that fills time. They could even interview your local Representative in a follow-up. Try to find a station with the biggest audience in the area. Then link us to the broadcast...

[TromboneAl]

It's been a few weeks now, have you gotten any mail?

PressRelease.jpg

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl It's been a few weeks now, have you gotten any mail?

We are getting mail daily now, although very late in the day. No one in the are is confident we're getting everything delivered daily as it should be.

Mail at the Wahoo house was nonexistent for a three day period (thus the USPS scorecard entry below), followed by 2 days where we received only 1-3 First Class letters. Delivery on those two days occurred at approximately 8PM.

After those 5 days it was catch-up time on magazines, etc. and our box was crammed completely full of everything but advertising. According to the USPS Director of Mismanagement who spoke to us Monday night, the PO has postponed the deliver any "junk" mail (my term, not his) until the route returns to normal, whatever that means. You would think people wouldn't have a problem with that, but one meeting participant was a local businessman who paid to have ads sent to all area residents. He seemed a little upset that he wasn't getting what he paid for.

BTW Al, nice copy. Do you ghost write for anyone?

[HFWR]

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Originally Posted by REWahoo BTW Al, nice copy. Do you ghost write for anyone?

Ghost writer in ... the sky...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR Vida Guerra for President

I'm glad this is catching on. Imagine looking forward to the state of the union address. Hell, I'd make popcorn!

[Nords]

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Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Imagine looking forward to the state of the union address.

To say nothing of the state of the union... dress.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Well for what its worth, they zinged me this week.

Had a 60lb package coming from Amazon, to be delivered by that "dhl@home" service where DHL uses their planes for the long haul part, but the USPS picks up and delivers the package at each end.

Package doesnt show up, no notice. In looking up the tracking info, it says the post office attempted to deliver the package the requisite two times...one minute apart from each other. And I wasnt home. Although the "deliveries" were at 10:59 and 11:00am, and I was not only home I was sitting in a chair next to the front door at the time.

So basically the USPS guy saw the long steep driveway and entry steps, logged two 'attempts' and then drove away so I'd get to go to the PO and pick it up myself.

Nice.

So REW...does that count as 1 for the post office, 2 because they said they tried twice and didnt try at all, or 3 because they also got me to go get it myself?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny So REW...does that count as 1 for the post office, 2 because they said they tried twice and didnt try at all, or 3 because they also got me to go get it myself?

I gave up trying to keep score, so I'm not sure. I think they should change their official motto to "There is nothing more consistent than consistent inconsistency."

Do you think it's just a coincidence USPS service went to Hell about the same time Cliff Claven left Cheers?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

They no longer had the high standard to measure up to...