Service escapes USPS
No wonder the United States Postal Service has such a shabby reputation. It's 11 a.m. at my local post office, prime time on a Saturday morning. There are five stations for clerks behind the counter, but only one person is on duty. Not just for a minute or so, but for 10 long minutes. The line of customers, many with quizzical looks to go along with their small packages in hand, grew to more than 20 before a second clerk appeared. "May I help the next person, please,'' she called. "If you want to buy stamps or mail a package, you can use the Automated Postal Center in the lobby.''
I know it was a Saturday, but even weekend time is precious. The automated center is fine unless you want to talk to a real person about something that's beyond the computer's scope.
You'd think that the USPS could take some of its wasted advertising money and hire a few more counter clerks - or supervisors who know how to schedule enough personnel to meet peak customer demand. Maybe then the Postal Service can live up to its name. Or am I expecting too much?
I know it was a Saturday, but even weekend time is precious. The automated center is fine unless you want to talk to a real person about something that's beyond the computer's scope.
You'd think that the USPS could take some of its wasted advertising money and hire a few more counter clerks - or supervisors who know how to schedule enough personnel to meet peak customer demand. Maybe then the Postal Service can live up to its name. Or am I expecting too much?
posted by Larry Benjamin at 9:43 AM
3 Comments:
I, too, have encountered the US Postal Service's lack of efficiency first-hand.
Here's my solution: each time the Post Master General increases the price of stamps, he should also be required to increase the number of employees staffing our nation's post offices. After all, we are paying for it.
Maybe if we hired some of those people on the wall with mug shots things would move faster.
People used to think carrying mail couldn't be done by anyone other than the government. Then along came FedEx, AirEx, DHL, etc. It's just a matter of time before those companies start delivering regular letters for 39 cents. Then goodbye Post Office!!
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