Instead of showing up, our post office is apparently “mailing it in.”
How many of you have received a call from a creditor asking you about the payment you mailed to them at a local address over 15 days ago? On the flip, how many of you are small business owners who are waiting, sometimes for over two weeks, for payments that your customers have long since mailed to you? Jill and I have been on a mission to determine what is going on regarding the untimely delivery of our magazines, payments we have sent and payments that have been sent to us. What we have found is pretty shocking.
It appears that our local United States Post Office operation is in dire straits. It is almost impossible to get someone on the phone to investigate issues we’ve brought before them. And, when that person appears, they are an overworked member of the understaffed counter clerks, not someone in a supervisory capacity. There doesn’t appear to be a single Chief in the place. Just a gaggle of mopey Indians. On a recent attempt to get to the bottom of this horrific mail service, Jill was told that there are multiple large mail carts at the facility on 12th Street in downtown Columbus that “we haven’t had time to box.”
Yes, you heard me right. My mail, your mail and every other damn thing you can think of is being held up on its mission to get delivered. All this mail, likely thousands of pounds of it, is sitting in bins getting old and dusty while the poor, understaffed postal system is apparently throwing up its collective hands and giving up. When we pressed the desk clerk — in earshot of a long line of people waiting for that single on-duty clerk — she said she was going to file a complaint on our behalf with the Consumer Affairs Department and that we would be contacted within “48 to 72 hours.” We have been waiting for that call now for over a week. Someone else we got on the phone suggested that the only way we might get relief is to “call your congressman.” We have paid the USPS dearly IN ADVANCE for on-time delivery of our magazines and mail. They gladly took our money and are squandering it daily in a big, dusty warehouse along with our business’s reputation.
Sitting by, being quiet and letting this happen isn’t an option for me any more. It is time to get this big, ugly situation out in the open and hope something can be done about it. By the way, here is a link to the applicable congressmen for you to contact. It is time for some cages to get rattled.
Bebe Bahnsen says
I have heard other people complain about the mail service. You are correct that it affects many others.
Craig DuPriest says
I think Ben Franklin would turn over in his grave if he knew the state of the USPS today. I get nervous every month when I drop payments in the mail. That’s why I use our bank’s payment service as much as possible. I’ll be interested to see what you find out. Please lt us know.
Leah Edwards says
Wow. I’m glad I’m not imagining things. I have so many problems with the Milgen Rd. office it is insane. Just Wednesday we had a box of live insects being shipped with “Hold at post office” stamped and stickered all over it. The mailman realized this when he went to put it in the mail box so he sent it back to the post office. We received a call from after speaking with the mailman saying the box was at the office (which we already knew). It was after hours and we had to wait until yesterday to go pick it up. We get there and it is no where to be found and Mr. Hill apparently now doesn’t know where the box is and won’t return phone calls. We called again today and as soon as we said who was calling he hung up. CLICK! Now the counter person “hopes it will turn up eventually”. Did I mention we are dealing with LIVE CREATURES?!?!?! I wish I could say this is the first run in I’ve had, but it’s not. Any chance I get, I choose another provider because the postal service in this town is unreliable and that’s an understatement. I don’t know what to do now. Nobody will answer the phone, if you call the 800 number you get someone in another state who will “make a report”… sadly our shipment will probably be dead on arrival…. if it ever arrives.
MikeV says
I feel your pain, Leah. Just curious, why are you receiving a shipment of live insects? Don’t we already have enough bugs down here?
Margie says
I, too, have horror stories about USPS. A couple of years ago it took me about four months of repeated calls, visits, doctors notes,etc., to get porch delivery for my disabled in-laws. Finally, after home visits, more calls…it happened, only to stop suddenly when a new carrier took over. So we started over. Then when they moved to assisted living, it took more calls, visits, etc., to get the mail moved even tho I filed the address change in person. Every visit to the post office is frustrating with long lines due to understaffing. Recently, our carrier was on vacation. We didn’t receive mail for a few days. When the carrier returned, he told our neighbor that he found a big pile of mail that the sub never delivered.
Joseph gunnels says
My record for time from my house to another address in Columbus is 31 days. Yes, Ii did just write 31 days local Columbus Georgia.
Thomas says
Frustrating, for sure. And how long have you been a Libertarian?
Dave Eversman says
OMG!
Thank you so much for this exposure of our pitiful USPS. It is so frustrating dealing with them. Milgen Rd location is the worst. All their supervisors and upper management hide from the public like the Wizard of Oz.
Thinking of filing a written complaint? Forget about ever hearing anything back from them.
They need to stop wasting money advertising and spend it on employee customer service.
Hope you get resolution from them.
Cathy Alford says
Mike, oh how I have come to depend on you to expose this sort of nonsense. You have a voice and the ability to articulate it well. I can only shake my head and say I’m not surprised. Although an independent agency of the Federal Government, it looks, smells and acts like very other government run program I’ve seen. Interesting note: The USPS lost US$5.5 billion in fiscal 2014, and its revenue was US$67.8 billion.
I hope you can get someone to help.
Cathy
Connie Jackson says
The USPS is bad here in Louisiana, too. I sent a time sensitive article to a magazine in NYC. It had to be postmarked by 21 Sept and it had to arrive by 28 Sept. I sent it certified to be sure it made it in time. Piece of cake, right? Nooo – tracking shows that the legal sized envelope was processed in Baton Rouge on the 22nd, then went to Gonzales (small community south of town) on the 23rd. Unfortunately, it also shows that the envelope was delivered on the 22nd. Huh? Delivered to NYC before it was processed in Gonzales – I don’t think so. They’re just not paying any attention even when we pay them extra for special service!
Neil says
What about the other 99.99% of the time when mail arrives correctly, right at your front door.
Donna K says
We’ve had problems with the USPS delivering our mail for a long time now. I’m happy to know I haven’t been imagining things. It takes forever to receive mail that you know should have arrived weeks earlier. When we put outgoing mail in the mailbox the mail carrier drives on by the house!!! I’ve stood on the porch and watched it happen. We live on a hill. Not a big hill. Our mailbox is at the front door. My mother has some physical issues and cannot walk up and down the driveway. This is her home. The post office gave her permission to place her mailbox at her front door. I’ve noticed that on Fridays we dont get our mail. I have notified the USPS about it with NO reply. If there was a different way to send mail I would use it. I use UPS and FedEx as much as possible.