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March 4, 2008
Brooklyn Post Offices: Endless Bummer?
Is every single post office in Brooklyn a nightmare? Seems like it. There's consistent bitching (that we hear, anyway) about three in particular. Here's the latest on the most-loathed po's:
Kensington: Councilmember Bill De Blasio continues to work toward building a new post office for the neighborhood, which gained Internet fame via a You Tube vid last year. "We have been working closely with the Brooklyn Postmaster, Community Board 12 and the community," says De Blasio. "There are still complaints regarding postal service in 11218 but I have also heard some positive feedback.We would love to see a new post office in the neighborhood or a commercial postal unit in one of the local retail stores. This community is growing at a rapid pace and business owners and residents at the very least deserve a functioning postal facility."
Park Slope, 9th Street: The Brooklynian folks have a thread devoted to this place's suckitude. Comments range from this observation, "The line to pick up a package that you missed because they can't ring the correct bell is miles long. Usually 50 people waiting in the pick up line every weekend. Then it takes an average of 5-15 minutes for them to locate the package at the post office. How hard is it to have two people or more working the pick up line on Saturday's." to this one, "What do you expect from people who smoke too much crack (as i learned when i went to a party held by people who worked for the Brooklyn Post Office)?"
Boerum Hill, Atlantic near 4th Ave.: This is another neighborhood where there's noise about replacing the post office. GL reported the latest complaints about the facility yesterday, with one person saying they "had a horrendous, Third World experience at the Times Plaza" and another writing, "I have never had a package or letter that needed to be signed for delivered by them!"
So. Are there any halfway decent post offices in this borough?
A Drive to Replace the Post Office [Brownstoner]
Return to the Times Plaza Post Office: Not Fixed [Gowanus Lounge]
9th St Post Office [Brooklynian]
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Comments
The line at the Times Plaza Post Office last Tuesday at around 1:00 p.m. was horrible. I walked right out.
Posted by: faithful at March 4, 2008 10:05 AM
Hooray! Let's complain!
Posted by: madison_st at March 4, 2008 10:05 AM
Add the Red Hook Post Office at 615 Clinton to this list, it is miserable - always long, slow lines. Not too bad for picking up packages though.
Tip for PSers picking up packages on Saturday - don't go on Saturday! Or get your packages delivered to your office, assuming that you can't pick them up during the week because you are at work.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:07 AM
This is what happens when you get a fat, lazy, unionized workforce. A few weeks ago, I went to a P.O. in Chelsea, Manhattan, where the post offices are supposedly well-run. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I was yelled at by some 250-pound female P.O. employee who looked like she was undergoing opioid withdrawal.
I promptly exited the building and walked 1/2 block to a UPS store, where I was served immediately and treated with courtesy and respect. Sure, it cost more, but it was worth every penny.
DiBlasio et al are powerless to stop the incompetence that is endemic to the post office. The best way to deal with this problem is to take your business elsewhere.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:09 AM
The idea that adding another building is going to solve the issue is laughable. Its not the building that is the problem - its the people who work inside it!! There are many hardworking personable postal workers, can't they bring a few to these post offices?
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 4, 2008 10:18 AM
They need to be able to fire useless employees. They really can't. Thats the main problem.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:21 AM
The main post office is a nightmare, too. They decided to stop delivering my mail for no apparent reason, returning everything to senders as undeliverable (conveniently immediately after I had a baby). When I complained (several times) I eventually talked to some Post Office official outside of NYC who claimed they were shocked and would make sure my case was reviewed "above the level of your post office." Well the person who called me was from the main post office and told me there was nothing they could do about it. Thanks! I already figured that! I have also had insured packages stolen because they were left on my stoop. The post office never paid the claim because the Brooklyn PO investigates itself and just circulates the claims forever. The manager even admitted that postal workers did leave things all over stoops and doorways and so on, against orders, but "there was nothing he could do." So there. I use UPS, too. That said, my regular first class mail carrier is awesome.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:21 AM
I went to get my passport renewed to the Park Slope P.O. last Saturday.
They had 1 employee helping about 10 people ahead of me. After about 30 minutes she had finished helping 2 of the 10 people. I walked out and did it by mail, much less of a headache.
The Post office is such a drain on the national budget. They are a money losing entity that serves no real purpose anymore. Let private industry take over already. Why do we keep feeding money into this dilapidated and antiquated system?
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:21 AM
My story with 9th street was the passport application for my baby-daughter. All three of use (baby, mother, father) arrived at the post office around 9:30am - the time they start taking passport applications. We went to the window asked gave a lady our forms - we never saw her again - except on the outside when she was getting her breakfast. We inquired what was going on. After 15min the 'manager' posted a sign that today passport application can handling starting at 10:30am. We asked why? No explanation whatsoever!!
I dread ever packages notice I find coming home!
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:22 AM
The Bay Ridge post office on 5th around 88th street sucks as well.
HUGE lines always and the postal workers apparently do not know how to ring the door bell. Every time I have had a package out for delivery, the bell never rings and then sometime later I find a note that I have to go pick it up. They close so early (5PM I think) on weekdays I can only pick them up Saturday mornings. It literally takes hours since the line is so long, all the way to the door, and as the original post says, it takes them forver to get each package.
I never use the post office anyway, I always ship UPS now or else it costs me almost my entire Saturday morning.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:24 AM
I have been dissatisfied with my own local post office(Times Plaza) for some years. The only salvation was our regular postman Stanley who unfortunately retired. When I order anything by mail I know opt for an additional expense and request UPS or even FedEx. I think that privatizing the postal system may be the answer. Perhaps the rates will be higher but the service has got to be better.
Posted by: bergenbabe at March 4, 2008 10:24 AM
The Clinton Hill (Adelphi) PO is bad also for outrageously long lines at any time, but people deal and move on.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:26 AM
I heard that urban post offices suck hard because of e-mail and the fact that people don't use stamps any more, so revenue is down. So the post office cuts where they can, and they can't cut service in more outlying areas. Don't know if that's true or not, but it seems plausible.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:26 AM
I heard it sucks because its full of people like 10.05 and 10.26 who put up with mediocrity and crap, and keep dutifully quiet.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:32 AM
It's not email, it's the staff an poor management. Many are lazy and could care less aboutdoing their jobs properly or with any sense of self respect. The Adelphi Station on Fulton Street in Clinton Hill is especially bad.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:33 AM
The Brooklyn postal system is underfunded to make up for losses elsewhere. Got to a rural area -- no lines, no waiting.
Postal employment is down hugely over the years, largely because of the use of automatic sorting machines. But they don't always work, and the mail is continually delivered to the wrong address. It is now common for us to now get our mail. That never happened until perhaps a decade ago. Ever.
Meanwhile, I haven't mailed a letter from Brooklyn since some invitations to a party I sent back in the 1980s were never received. It turns out employees at 9th Street were thowing away mail so it wouldn't have to be sorted. I mail from Manhattan instead.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:33 AM
I live in Murray Hill and work near Wall Street, and both of those post offices are decent enough for picking up packages, as well as delivering 1st class mail.
I still refuse to wait in line to mail packages tho. That's why I love the newish machines that let you buy exact postage.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:34 AM
The one closest to my apartment, the Bushwick P.O. is about as bad as any others mentioned.
However, the Williamsburg P.O. isn't bad. It's one of a few in NYC where you can be in and out in under fifteen minutes.
I will also sometimes take the train over to the main P.O., which is open 24 hours.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:35 AM
I live in Boerum Hill & I don't have any problems unless something needs to be signed for. I have the key box outside my front door & the USPS just leaves the package between the two doors.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:36 AM
Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the number of Post Office employees in NYC, from www.bls.gov.
Series Id: SMU3693561909191201
Not Seasonally Adjusted
State: New York
Area: New York City, NY
Supersector: Government
Industry: Postal Service
Data Type: All Employees, In Thousands
Year Annual
1990 38.0
1991 36.3
1992 34.8
1993 32.1
1994 32.0
1995 32.5
1996 32.3
1997 31.8
1998 31.3
1999 31.4
2000 30.7
2001 30.1
2002 28.9
2003 27.4
2004 25.9
2005 25.1
2006 24.4
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:36 AM
I remember using the Wall Street post office at 73 Pine Street. I was in and out in five minutes and - shocking - the staff was courteous. Even bigger shocker is that a post office would be so efficiently run near Wall Street in Manhattan as opposed to outer burrough Brooklyn. Same unionized workforce.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:37 AM
City workers are bitter and disgruntle in every area they all hate their job.
The majority are all just buying time for their "cushy" retirement crumbs in the end.
Bring back the pony express
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 10:49 AM
The Pine Street PO was great. It is now closed but replaced by a small one at the end of Exchange Place just south of Wall, which is equally good for speed and customer service.
My old local PO was the main one at Cadman Plaza, and it always amazed me that the main PO, servicing Brooklyn Heights, all the courts and surrounding businesses and foot traffic, usually had two or at most three clerks working. Or there would be a line 40 people long for mailing packages and they'd have a clerk working the non-existent line at the 'stamps only' desk. I went in to pick up some held mail at 8:30AM and was told the ONLY clerk who could help me was on break, go get a coffee and come back in half an hour.
I hated that place.
Posted by: zeebee_in_bklyn at March 4, 2008 10:50 AM
The little P.O. on Prospect Park West in Windsor Terrace used to be a terrific alternative to the time-sucker on 7th Ave. in Park Slope...until they put up the Lexan partitions. Overnight, the pleasant and efficient staff turned into sullen zombies. Then, of course, for the complete Stalinist-Russia meets Third-World experience, check out the Church Ave. P.O. near Bedford Avenue, where sorrowful immigrants wait for hours to mail drums of stuff back to the islands while one or two slab-faced figures move as slowly as drugged cows behind the few open windows. (The others may sport a variety of idiotic hand-lettered signs affixed with tape, explaining various reasons to lose hope.)
However, for a really wonderful, Mayberry-esque P.O. experience, I heartily recommend the P.O. in Sherman, Connecticut. It is next door to a very nice pie bakery and restaurant, too.
Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at March 4, 2008 10:55 AM
Cool your jets, 10:12. While this UPS office may have been well-run, unionized workforces are generally less-efficient, bloated, and overpaid for what they do. They're a big reason why so many jobs have moved overseas.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:02 AM
Also, not all UPS employees are unionized. From "Labor Notes":
"UPS’s heavyweight status in the economy and U.S. labor movement underscore the significance of these negotiations. UPS is one of the nation’s biggest employers, with 407,000 union and **non-union** employees, and one of the world’s leading companies in three related industries: delivery, logistics, and freight."
http://www.labornotes.org/node/661
I'd bet a million dollars that the UPS employee who served 10:09 was NOT a union member and that the P.O. employee who was rude to him/her was a union member.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:07 AM
Brevoort Station (Atlantic Ave/Bedford) sucks too, for all of the reasons listed above. It serves Bed Stuy and Crown Hts.
When I think of the phrase "go postal", I think about the people on the lines snapping and killing every postal worker in sight. There are days.....
On the bright side, the woman who delivers packages in the truck is the only delivery person from the PO who ever understood the concept that no one is standing by the door when they ring. She actually waits until someone can get down the stairs, a whole 5 minutes or so. She's usually not smiling, but who cares, she's not leaving those dreaded notices.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 4, 2008 11:08 AM
10:12 said...
"FYI, UPS is a unionized workforce. They're TEAMSTERS, you big fat pussy."
However the UPS stores are franchises, and the workers are not unionized.
And 10:21, the PO is not a drain on the nat'l budget. It is self-supporting.
And all the Brooklyn POs suck.
Posted by: denton at March 4, 2008 11:10 AM
The GPO service at Cadman Plaza is still terrible, even after the renovation. I'll take UPS or Fedex any day over dealing with those lazy jerks.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:10 AM
I lived on 3rd ST. between 6th and 7th ave for 11 years and our mailman, Paul, was great. He really knew everybody on the block and when things went to a wrong address was careful enough to get it to you.
when we finally broke down and moved to the burbs he held all of our mail and forwarded when the change of address finally went through. He even emailed us to check on it.
He's the best.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:13 AM
10:12 you don't know what you're talking about.
Sure UPS itself is unionized - but the UPS stores are independently owned business franchises. The employees there are not unionized. However, depending on the owner, the staff can be great. I use them all the time near my office in Jersey City and the people there are the best.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:14 AM
omg Brenda, I was wondering if anyone would mention that PO on church ave. I was just there on saturday after managing to avoid it for years. it is the absolute worse. I guess its safe to assume that all the POs suck royally.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:22 AM
I once went to the post office on Fulton (I thinks it's the Adelphi one) and handed the lady my slip for two packages. She brought one and then disappeared. After 15 minutes another post office worker asked me if I needed anything. I told her I was waiting on my second package, and she called to the first lady to ask if she was getting my second package. "What package?" Then she waddled over, looked at my slip and said, "oh, he does have a second package."
I'm from New Orleans though, where I can assure you that EVERYTHING in government (local, state, fed) is run this way, so it just seemed like I was back home.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:30 AM
The reason why the PO sucks is because the workers suck, its that simple.
Unfortunatly their is a segment of our society that is virtually un-hireable, use Fed-Ex (UPS is okay but what kind of service doesnt deliver on Sat) and think of the Post Office as a WPA project for the 21st century.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:31 AM
Brooklyn PO's are no different than anywhere else in the city or country for that matter.
except for Tucson; no lines there- you take a deli counter style number when you walk in and then take a seat and wait.
-J$
http://velvet-sea.blogspot.com
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:39 AM
yea, UPS has useless delivery hours if you actually work for a living.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:42 AM
Nice to see "Bergenbabe" mention Stanley. We lived in the Times Plaza Station area for 18 years and the only good thing I can say about that station is "Stanley". You got to know when he was on vacation - the mail either stopped or got totally screwed up. Now we are in the Empire Blvd. Station area (PLG) and that station is a horror. The longest lines at all times. If they only had a line for pink package slips it would speed up most peoples visit to the office. Or lines for money orders only - that's what most people are going there for.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:44 AM
I think something that is not being remembered here is that the postal service is a national monopoly set up by the U.S. government. It is constitutionally mandated that the U.S. handle most of the internal mail in the U.S. (See Arcticle I, Section 8 but there is a carve out for express mail and packages of a certain size). To privatize it would essentially require an amendment to the constitution.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:46 AM
the Sheepshead Bay branch usually isn't too bad...
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 11:46 AM
The PO closest tto PLG [on Empire Blvd. & Nostrand Ave. in Crown Heights] is possibly a little better than the one on 9th Street, but not much, although IMO it has improved, while 9th St. has deteriorated.
Whenever possible I use the small PO on PPW in WT which is pretty good. The branch on Nostrand Ave. a couple of blocks south of the Flatbush Junction is also quite good. However, the best PO I ever used in NYC was the small branch in the basement of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens--it reminded me of a small town PO in Vermont, even after they removed the beautiful oak-grained woodwork [which was actually metal] and replaced it with Lexan crap. It was one of the few things that made working in Queens bearable.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 4, 2008 12:04 PM
We live in Lefferts Manor and are serviced by the Crown Heights post office on Empire Blvd.
Awful. Huge lines all the time. The women at the counters are rude for no reason whatsoever. The package drop box for pre-paid labeled packages is tiny. So unlike the Manhattan post offices which have large package drop boxes, you have to stand in line 30 minutes just to drop off a package even if it has a pre-paid label on it. Explanation? There's a sign on the teeny package drop slot saying it's for security. Apparently the terrorists only want to bomb Crown Heights, not Manhattan. Go figure that logic.
However, we have the best delivery people either one of us have ever had anywhere we've lived. Intelligent, courteous; they make an effort to deliver packages to neighbors if recipients are not home.
By the way, you can request redelivery for another day including Saturday when you get one of those package slips in the mail. The request form is a bit hidden on the USPS website (of course) but click on "Receiving Mail" category on the main page, then on that page scroll down to "Redelivery Service". Then fill out the form using the number under the bar code on your form. You also have to enter the date you received the notice. Then you pick the date for redelivery. It's a lifesaver.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:04 PM
The post office sucks because you need to press 1 for english. What do you expect from people with a minimal command of the english language. Not sure about your mail, but mine is addressed in english. Now go vote for Obama and stop your complaints.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:12 PM
Some guy wrote about privatizing the USPS in the National Review. Check it out:
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/ryan200503070740.asp
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:14 PM
Actually, every postal worker I've ever encountered anywhere I have ever lived speaks English very well, 12:12. It's a requirement to work in any government related office. You don't have a clue what you're talking about. Not EVERYthing can be blamed on immigrants. I know that's hard to swallow but you're going to have to accept it. I'm not a USPS fan but let's at least put the blame where the blame really lies.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:31 PM
Oh, man... what a bunch of lightweights! Try dealing with the 11212 PO over in East Flatbush. I'd rather cut off my left arm and eat it than go into that place.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:37 PM
It can't JUST be about unionized workers, because some of the Post Office Branches are quite efficient (at least in Manhattan.) And CERTAINLY in the suburbs.
It seems that each branch has its own "culture". Some of the branches have management that is on the ball, and when there is a huge line forming, will send someone out to the line to make sure forms are filled out in advance, etc. They troubleshoot and deal with the chaos.
And you can't ignore understaffing as a big contribution to the problem.
The one on East 14th Street is notorious. Lines of 50 people are not unusual and I suspect management is hiding in the back when there are near riots.
Carroll Gardens and Cobble don't even have a satellite post office (except for one with limited hours on Columbia). This has been brought up for YEARS, but the USPS doesn't want to spend money to open a real branch, and being a contract PO is not worth the trouble for stores.
One option is that now you can buy and print out postage online and request a pickup. This only works if you can be at home when they come by...but it IS kinda cool
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:38 PM
A new building could help.
A lot of post offices are run down and dirty- that is going to effect the people working in them.
They need more automated tellers for the basic stuff, and they need better signage to teach people how to mail a package before they hold up a line with things they should have done before theu got to the teller.
My biggest problem is the mail delivery is unreliable- I get a lot of mail for other addresses and if you try to black it out and return to sender it it just comes back to you.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 12:39 PM
12:31, you may be right. I am sure the USPS workers born here do not have any better command of the english language than do the foriegnors. They all speak english "goodly". As for your "It's a requirement" and "every postal worker I've ever encountered anywhere I have ever lived" facts, you are impressing the hell out me with your knowledge of governmental requirements and confirmation relating to their full compliance. You have now convinced me that they have full and adequate comprehension. It must be the buildings they work in instead.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 1:27 PM
I swear I saw someone tryin gto mail three chickens and a goat "bok ohm" in the P.O. on Church and Bedford but the P.O. on East 16th and Newkirk is actually not bad.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 1:52 PM
Do postal employees need the bulletproof shields that are installed in the Red Hook post office?
Renovating and updating could help alot with attitude. plus all those barriers slow down exchanges.
Posted by: mojosexton at March 4, 2008 1:56 PM
It is easier to fire a city or Federal employee than you think and many of these jobs require employees to just fall in lock step. Independent thinking is discouraged and many of the working environments are hostile (welfare, jail, police, etc...) The pensions of civilian municipal workers are not much better than what is recieved by those employed in the private sector, must live in NYC where they can't afford to buy homes and job security isn't even any longer a given. Of course their salaries are not comparable to salaries of those performing similar jobs in the private sector. I guess we get what we pay for.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 2:10 PM
This is patently false: "The pensions of civilian municipal workers are not much better than what is recieved by those employed in the private sector". Pensions barely exist in the private sector anymore. Do you have any idea what kind of portfolio you would have to hold to replicate a cop's or a teacher's pension?
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 2:21 PM
Yeah, it's called a 401K with an employer contribution. There is a reason the term "Going Postal" was coined and 2:10 is only scratching the surface on the working environment there.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 2:28 PM
"Yeah, it's called a 401K with an employer contribution."
A 401k is an retirement account based on the value of mutual funds and securities purchased in part (or wholly) through employee contributions. It's value can easily decrease. A pension is post-retirement income source typically made in the form of a guaranteed annuity. As 2:21 intimated, in many respects, a pension is a far more secure post-retirement benefit than a 401K.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 2:47 PM
2:28 look up the definition of a pension.
I worked at the post office during summers in college. This consisted of sitting in restaurants for 3 to 4 hours of an 8 hour shift with all the lifers or finding some place to park the truck and sleep after finishing the work in the ridiculous amount of time allotted.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 2:57 PM
Wow, Bob, really -- the Post Office on Empire Blvd. has improved? I wouldn't know, really, as I haven't been back there in over a year, when I waited in line for thirty minutes before walking out, as there was a manager at the head of the line who seemed to be making up rules as she went along. She actually went up to one man and told him he couldn't send a registered letter there that day because the federal govenrment was changing the rates for registered mail and he'd have to come back when they'd been told the new prices! As each person got to he head of the line she came up with a new and inventive reason they couldn't do what they'd come there for. Truly surreal.
For a few years this PO was knocked over repreatedly, and alsways apparently an inside job -- theives entered through an unlocked gate. I don't think they did it in 2007, but they sure did in the previous two years (and maybe more).
I buy stamps from a machine and use the internet, FedEx, UPS, whatever whenever possible.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 3:00 PM
Most private sector employers do not contribute to employees 401k and those that do it is a relatively nominal amount. Additionally 401k's have a contribution limit and do not come with extras - like health care that many municipal pensions do.
Make any claim you want but absent what is given to a few CEO types, no private employers provide retirement benefits even close to those given to the municipal workforce and the unionized workforce are even better taken care of.
The horrible attitude and bad performance has ZERO to do with pay or working conditions and everything to do with who is hired and the resulting culture within the organization. 90% of postal employees could not work in ANY legitimate private sector (or even a decent municipal) workforce.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 3:17 PM
If it's any comfort at all, the abysmal PO service we get here in Brooklyn is not unique to this geographical area. In my youth I worked my high school holidays over the pre-Christmas period as a temporary mail sorter and deliverer at the post office in the market town local to where I grew up in England. The regular employees used to constantly harangue and intimidate we temps, telling us to go slower because we were highlighting their pathetic production rates.
I put the majority of the blame for our plight here in Brooklyn on the post office managers. There is clearly no impetus from the top for efficiency. A few years ago, at the Park Slope post office, I was standing in an enormous line, gazing at totally unmanned counters, while from the back you could hear there was a meeting going on where the manager was appraising the performance of the staff who were gathered there. The best-performing delivery guy had an unreturned delivery rate of something like 60%, for which he receive effusive praise from the manager and loud applause from his co-workers.
Posted by: johnife at March 4, 2008 3:49 PM
Hey 1:56,
The bulletproof shields are for the customer's protection, not the employees!
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 3:49 PM
1:27 said:
"As for your "It's a requirement" and "every postal worker I've ever encountered anywhere I have ever lived" facts, you are impressing the hell out me with your knowledge of governmental requirements and confirmation relating to their full compliance."
Dude, try looking at their website. All the exams required of applicants are in ENGLISH. Took oh, about 10 seconds research to see that.
The USPS has tons of problems but non-English speaking employees isn't one of them. People don't have to be recently emigrated to be dumb. Plenty white English speaking Americans are really really really stupid with no communication skills whatsoever.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 4:09 PM
Because you haven't funded your 401K from day one and didn't max your contribution every year (Idiot) doesn't mean a pension is better than a 401K. It just means you are sheep and will either find someone to blame or believe someone else should fund your old wrinkled ass.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 4:17 PM
Adelphi post office sends us our neighbors' mail every day and our neighbors receive ours. Mail stopped online for a vacation was delivered anyway and piled up, announcing our absence to all and sundry. Forwarded mail was never forwarded - just lost. Packages that don't fit in our mailbox are regularly thrown in the dirt, including my tax returns last year. Talking of mailboxes, our mailman refuses to put mail through our door, insisting our mail slot is too low, though I regularly see him using others'. Adelphi PO 'closes' on Saturdays for no apparent reason despite there being staff on duty. You can pick up a package but you can't mail one during this time. Calls to complain about our mail carrier have never been returned.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 4:27 PM
It's nearly impossible to fire any postal worker. In addition, veterans (who get a preference for postal jobs) get additional protections.
As a result, it is impossible to fire them. I knew a vet who just stopped going to work for a year. Eventually, they stopped paying him so he protested his "firing."
Because they did not "fire" him in an appropriate manner, e got his job back and back pay.
Posted by: slick at March 4, 2008 4:39 PM
4:17 - are you retarded? - if I fund my 401k - then the money is coming out of my PAYCHECK; a pension is generally a form of deffered COMPENSATION that the EMPLOYER is paying for.
No matter how much I fund my 401k and even if I manage 90% annual returns on the investments and end up a billionaire - a pension is still "better" because the EMPLOYER pays - (I can still make all the 90% return investments I want with MY $)
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 4:43 PM
LOL 3:00 PM--"improvement" is always relative--you should have seen the Empire Blvd. PO 20 years ago. :-)
Actually the last time a went there, a couple of weeks ago, there was NO ONE ahead of me and I was out in 90 seconds--THAT was very unusual.
I used to favor the Van Brunt branch on 9th Street, but the degree of rudeness there in the last couple of years has become unbelievable--I've heard the clerks at 9th Street scream at customers on a number of occasions and it's the only PO branch where I've been lied to and over charged on rates.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 4, 2008 4:45 PM
4:17 A pension is better because when your union under funds it you can just go hat in hand to your local pols and stick the taxpayers with the bill.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 4:49 PM
4:43 Nope, not retarded, just planning to retire by 50 and on no one else's back but my own. I'll take the SS check if it is still around but not planning for it. "Comes out of my paycheck" what a concept! You must work for the Post Office. You are sheep. Bahh! You represent the dumbing down of America. Go do as your told now.
Posted by: guest at March 4, 2008 6:54 PM
No 6:54 you are retarded, you can't even follow the progression of a simple discussion, nor figure out who supports your stated positions or not. Luckily for all of us you will be out of the workforce soon
Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 10:30 AM
There is not enough space here to compile all of the complaints on Adelphi Station. Like that time I received a package slip a MONTH after a package arrived me for me at the PO, and they had, of course, sent it back because it was unclaimed for a month. Guess I didn't receive that telepathic message they sent initially.
Posted by: lesterhead at March 5, 2008 11:35 AM
At the Post Office in Bushwick on Debevoise, there definitely were workers who only had a rudimentary grasp of English. The service levels were mixed but the line was long all day long and moved incredibly slowly.
The much maligned Red Hook office was like Heaven in comparison.
Having recently moved out of NYC, I can tell you Post Offices in other cities feel like tranquil spas in comparison.
Posted by: guest at March 5, 2008 2:01 PM
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