USPS-Surprise,AZ-new Gotcha

[remoandiris]

17 hours ago, pjstough said:

Also, about 13 years ago the USPS changed how it did mail forwarding. Before the change, all mail that was to be forwarded was sent to the post office and route it was originally to be delivered, and the carrier was responsible for holding out the mail that was to be forwarded, give it to a clerk where the clerk added the new address, and he mailpiece was put back into the mail stream, however, since the change and automation, a piece of mail that is to be forwarded is caught when it is first scanned into the USPS system, the new address placed on it, and then goes directly to the new address which saves quite a bit of time, and makes forwarding more efficient.

I wonder if some zip codes were never notified of this change from 13 years ago.  When I FINALLY got the number for my town's main post office, the unhelpful person on the other end of the phone told me she would be sure to notify the carrier, even though the forwarding instructions were in the computer.  So if the carrier is not supposed to even see the mail, that process failed.   

[Kirk W]

On 4/5/2019 at 12:16 AM, pjstough said:

I think it would be great if the USPS gave tours so people could see how things work, and what it is like to be a carrier.

It would also be very helpful if our Congress would allow them to make management decisions based on efficiency and cost control, rather then political effect and re-election. 

 

Edited April 6, 2019 by Kirk W

[pjstough]

18 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

" In addition, my local postmistress told me that all mail now comes to the local post office sorted by route and that carriers no longer do any of their own sorting, except when one happens to notice that some mail is sorted wrong. "

Delivery Point Sequencing came out not long before I retired 13 years ago.  It does save mail "casing" time, but takes a lot more time out on the route as the carrier has a tray with most of the letter sized mail, DPS, a smaller amount of letter sized mail that was not in the DPS mail, a tub of "flats" which is newspapers, magazines, and catalogs. In addition there are parcels.  So at each stop the carrier has to check the tray o DPS mail, the smaller bundle of letter size mail that is not DPS, check for "flats" for the customer, and then check for parcels.  In addition, the carrier may have "boxholders" for each customer. When I worked we may have as many as three "boxholders" on any given day, so a lot of time saved in the office with DPS is lost on the route.  Also, there is the safety factor.  When I was working I figured for every second your eyes were not watching your surroundings, it took that long to reaquainte yourself with your surroundings before you could move on to the next stop.

 

 

[pjstough]

58 minutes ago, remoandiris said:

I wonder if some zip codes were never notified of this change from 13 years ago.  When I FINALLY got the number for my town's main post office, the unhelpful person on the other end of the phone told me she would be sure to notify the carrier, even though the forwarding instructions were in the computer.  So if the carrier is not supposed to even see the mail, that process failed.   

The "new" forwarding system was implemented nationwide.  When a customer moved and put in a Change of Address, whether electronically, or on the USPS form, which was then entered electronically, that customers mail no longer went to that address, but to the new address. Before the customer fills out a Change of Address form, they need to contact the post office where they will live to tell them they want mail service and get their new mailing address.  Then they should fill out the Change of Address form.  If online, there is no need to go to the post office that you are moving from, and if on the USPS form, that needs to be taken to the post office you are leaving, or mailed to them.  Then there should be no issue with getting your mail at the new office.

Also, there is the issue that not all mail is forwardable.

Edited April 5, 2019 by pjstough

[remoandiris]

23 hours ago, pjstough said:

The "new" forwarding system was implemented nationwide.  When a customer moved and put in a Change of Address, whether electronically, or on the USPS form, which was then entered electronically, that customers mail no longer went to that address, but to the new address. Before the customer fills out a Change of Address form, they need to contact the post office where they will live to tell them they want mail service and get their new mailing address.  Then they should fill out the Change of Address form.  If online, there is no need to go to the post office that you are moving from, and if on the USPS form, that needs to be taken to the post office you are leaving, or mailed to them.  Then there should be no issue with getting your mail at the new office.

Also, there is the issue that not all mail is forwardable.

Yeah, you made my point for me.  After 13 years of this new process you have thoroughly described, the main post office in my town STILL screwed the pooch.

A hard copy change of address was hand delivered to them.  They updated it in the computer system.  After the effective date, none of my mail to the old address should have landed in the carrier's bin, but it did.  The carrier delivered my mail to my neighbor, because he can't leave mail at a vacant house.  When I called the post office, the unhelpful lady confirmed the address change was, indeed, entered into the computer with the correct effective date.  The unhelpful lady also said she would notify the carrier.  According to you, the latter is not required, but the former did not put the new address on my in-transit mail.  So, the 13 yr old process failed.  

Sunrise isn't the only place with USPS problems.  Not by a LONG shot.

[Kirk W]

On 4/5/2019 at 12:16 AM, pjstough said:

I think it would be great if the USPS gave tours so people could see how things work, and what it is like to be a carrier.

You have to realize that the postal service, like the weather bureau, is now a "target of opportunity" and is pretty much considered to be politically safe to attack. Right or wrong, you will never win the argument with everyone. 

[SWharton]

For what the post office does they generally do well, I have no complaints. Human errors occur. What bothers me is the lack of consistency from post office to post office. Each postmaster can make or break their own rules.  Many postmasters have been in the same position for decades and don't buy into modern technology making everyone's lives miserable.

 

[hemsteadc]

On 4/4/2019 at 4:34 PM, 2gypsies said:

When you think of the thousands and thousands of mail handled daily, personally, I think the post office does a great job!  

Given the volume they do, and by humans, yes they do a good job.  The part that bothers me is how backward it is to be transporting pieces of paper around the country.  Nobody is interested in the piece of paper, just the information printed on it.

Edited April 6, 2019 by hemsteadc

[pjstough]

3 hours ago, SWharton said:

For what the post office does they generally do well, I have no complaints. Human errors occur. What bothers me is the lack of consistency from post office to post office. Each postmaster can make or break their own rules.  Many postmasters have been in the same position for decades and don't buy into modern technology making everyone's lives miserable.

 

I totally having seen it a few times during my career.  Ultimately, the problem lies with the postmaster's supervisor who doesnt do their job! another failure of management.

[craftyfox]

On 4/2/2019 at 6:12 PM, mptjelgin said:

I've had one instance where the tiny Post Office in Medina, Texas required me to fill out a form requesting General Delivery, and questioned me closely regarding how long I'd be in the area, how many parcels I intended to receive, etc. When I asked the reason for the questions I was told that I'd be required to rent a PO Box after a certain amount of time/number of parcels. 

Long story short, this particular Postmaster was a known "hard case" and once she was gone the questions stopped as did the requirement to fill out the form.  It appears that individual PO's can impose requirements based on the wishes of their management. 

Medina is our home post office and yes, she went strictly " by the book".  For years the post office would hold our mail and then send it to us when requested in prepaid flat rate envelopes that we had left with them.  When she took over that came to an abrupt halt 2 days before we were to leave for the summer which left us scrambling for a way to handle our mail for the next 6 months!  She did retire but sadly  passed away at an early age.  The post office is MUCH easier to work with now..if you need help, ask for Julie...she is a GEM!

[SnowGypsy]

It looks like individual Postmasters do have control over certain elements of General Delivery:https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-is-General-Delivery 

Maybe being a little educated on how it works will help some be less critical of the USPS.  I think overall they do a great job!

Edited April 10, 2019 by SnowGypsy

[mptjelgin]

59 minutes ago, craftyfox said:

Medina is our home post office and yes, she went strictly " by the book".  For years the post office would hold our mail and then send it to us when requested in prepaid flat rate envelopes that we had left with them.  When she took over that came to an abrupt halt 2 days before we were to leave for the summer which left us scrambling for a way to handle our mail for the next 6 months!  She did retire but sadly  passed away at an early age.  The post office is MUCH easier to work with now..if you need help, ask for Julie...she is a GEM!

I love Julie.  She recognizes me on sight even if she hasn't seen me in a year. And she's done it since the second time I went in!!  Blows my mind!

[craftyfox]

I was so disappointed when they passed her over for Post Mistress.  She is the glue that has held that P.O. together forever.  When the "hard case" gave us such a hard time about the office holding and forwarding our mail, Julie offered to pick it up herself, take it home and forward it when we called. We were able to make other arrangements but the offer was very much appreciated.  Just curious, were are ya'll located when you are off the road and in Medina?  We are on Mesa Verde Rd across from the Children's Home.

 

[Randyretired]

Often times the differences between post offices are startling.   We have a PO Box at a place we frequent and had a problem with Amazon packages.  After taking to them about it they told me about a new service we could sign up for.  This service allows us to receive shipments from multiple carriers at the post office.  This included a new address (the post office address) along with some additional numbers that identified our PO Box.  It's  great.  However I was in another post office a couple of days ago and overheard the counter person tell a customer that service isn't available.  When the customer inquired about Amazon deliveries the counter person suggested adding their PO Box number as an apartment number after their street address.  She said maybe the carrier would figure it out.  After all of the trouble we encountered when the post office took over the local part of some deliveries this certainly sounds like a wreck waiting to happen.

[SWharton]

Yes, it is so dependent on each post office. We stayed for 3 months in one place this summer. I went to the post office to see if they would accept General Delivery delivered by UPS or Fedex. Answer was "Why not?", if it was addressed to General Delivery they would accept the package.

Here is a question that concerns many of us. Last year we went to Escapade in Sedalia. Stopped at the PO to pick up our mail  and was asked what was going on, they had been overwhelmed with General Delivery mail. Now if this had been Surprise, all the mail would have been returned because none of us had filled out a form..........Something to think about for the future Escapades. I assume that Escapees warns the local PO to expect additional GD mail but I don't know what would happen if the PO required a form for GD mail.

[Solo18]

I think you got the same post office employee I had many years ago.  I had three boxes of stuff to send bulk mail so sent a young intern from our office to the post office to drop it off.  She came back in tears because the lady employee grilled her on the paperwork.  First, the intern had to wait an hour because the woman was at lunch and everyone knows when she takes her lunch hour!  Then she chewed out this young girl for not having the forms signed properly.

I ended up having to take the stuff back to the post office myself. 

[Matthew]

My parents (when dad was alive) wintered in Spring, Florida.  Twice mom took a package to their Post Office, P.O. weighted it and calculated the postage.   Packages arrived in Indiana with "postage due"!

We were building a new house and wife wanted to included our new address with her Christmas Card mailings.  I stopped at the P.O. that is three miles from our new home to ask.  "New Paris, Indiana" we were told.  Christmas cards were mailed.   We moved in and soon discovered that "we" had a mail problem.  "Syracuse" was the correct city!  New Paris Postmaster said the computer made an error.  No apology. 

[pjstough]

On 4/11/2019 at 9:47 AM, SWharton said:

Yes, it is so dependent on each post office. We stayed for 3 months in one place this summer. I went to the post office to see if they would accept General Delivery delivered by UPS or Fedex. Answer was "Why not?", if it was addressed to General Delivery they would accept the package.

 

That is a very generous Postmaster who is violating policy.  If items were sent UPS or FedEx, that means no postage was paid for the service provided.  It would be the same if I took a package to a post office where the delivery address was the same post office  and the Postmaster didnt charge for delivering that package.

[SWharton]

We have found that it is about a 50/50 mix as to which USPS PO would accept Geneal Delivery from UPS or FEDEX.

[packnrat]

On 4/2/2019 at 6:30 PM, pjstough said:

I know of a post office that will accept FedEX and USPS, and I dont understand why they do it as the USPS gets no income from these parcels unless they are "last mile" deliveries.

sure they get nothing out of it, but here in calaveras county, ca. the post office does accept ups, fed-up, fed-x, even amazon.

we are a rural delivery county. not every street is on any maps, or just a problem getting any low ground clearance car/truck on to even try to find the address. i have found it to be great my mail is safe in a fed building, not in my box at the ditch. but larger boxed go to my door step, then there are some shippers that refuse to ship to a po box.

i have not had the pleasure of using general delivery...yet,  but the post office here has a spot for such.

[pjstough]

58 minutes ago, packnrat said:

sure they get nothing out of it, but here in calaveras county, ca. the post office does accept ups, fed-up, fed-x, even amazon.

we are a rural delivery county. not every street is on any maps, or just a problem getting any low ground clearance car/truck on to even try to find the address. i have found it to be great my mail is safe in a fed building, not in my box at the ditch. but larger boxed go to my door step, then there are some shippers that refuse to ship to a po box.

i have not had the pleasure of using general delivery...yet,  but the post office here has a spot for such.

So you dont mind the USPS delivering parcels for free?  Think of all the revenue they are losing.

[sandsys]

1 hour ago, pjstough said:

So you dont mind the USPS delivering parcels for free?  Think of all the revenue they are losing.

Think of all the goodwill they are creating.

 

[Randyretired]

The post office has a service  to accept deliveries from UPS and FedEx for PO Box holders without charge.  This was started to remedy a problem when Amazon deliveries were shipped by UPS but the post office completed the local delivery.  If we used our street address the post office couldn't deliver it and if we used the PO Box the others couldn't complete the delivery.  We encountered this a couple of times and there wasn't a way to know what shipper would complete the delivery.  So we were able to sign up for the post to accept all of our shipments, regardless of the retailer.  Np charge.  We use it often.  Accepting General Delivery from UPS and others seems to be a lot the same.  Sometimes company goodwill can payoff more in the long run.  

[pjstough]

1 hour ago, Randyretired said:

The post office has a service  to accept deliveries from UPS and FedEx for PO Box holders without charge.  This was started to remedy a problem when Amazon deliveries were shipped by UPS but the post office completed the local delivery.  If we used our street address the post office couldn't deliver it and if we used the PO Box the others couldn't complete the delivery.  We encountered this a couple of times and there wasn't a way to know what shipper would complete the delivery.  So we were able to sign up for the post to accept all of our shipments, regardless of the retailer.  Np charge.  We use it often.  Accepting General Delivery from UPS and others seems to be a lot the same.  Sometimes company goodwill can payoff more in the long run.  

The USPS has a service that is called "last mile service" where the shipper, UPS, FedEx and others handle the shipping until getting to the destination city, at which time the shipper decides whether it is cheaper to deliver the parcel themselves, or pay the USPS for final delivery.  This is not the same as a shipper sending a parcel to a post office where the shipper has not paid for "last mile" delivery.

[packnrat]

i do not know how this last mile is handled. but for me i go to the post office to pick up my mail, and packages.

so all the post office is doing for me (and many others in this county) is just hold them, but then i do rent a po box there, some do not. (and/or other reasons?).

i just know every thing is safe and secure. but then a couple months back, i went a little crazy on flea-bay. so if delivered to my front door, it would have been a nightmare for the contract delivery car, or a "special" one stop delivery thing. a lot of boxes came same day.

the sellers packed them great, so most boxes were larger than "item inside". think med u-haul box times so many.

 

and the crazy thing is i can see the post office from my front door, it's just down street a short half block away.