Really there is a bigger difference than just that one letter in the acronym. And other than to put a letter in my mailbox (does anyone really do that anymore???) the US Postal "Service" doesn't provide me any "service" worth my time to utilize. Before we left Bellingham I stopped at the downtown post office to mail a box to Brian in Utah. Let me just say that I absolutely DREAD going into the post office. And this visit only solidified that I will NEVER set foot in a United States Postal Service Office again. Mostly because there is truly no "service" in what they do. In fact if they were not a government entity, they would be bankrupt and out of business. But I digress...
Soooo, I stepped inside the door and immediately counted the 12 people in line in front of me. I then evaluated the 2 employees working behind a counter built with 8 stations (and I have never seen more than 2 people working behind that counter in all 10 years I lived there). At that point I contemplated walking out knowing that it would be AT LEAST 15 minutes before I got to the counter. But also knowing from experience that there was never a "better time" to go to the post office, I decided to stick it out. Promptly after making this decision I see one of the employees finish with a customer and rather than taking the next person in line, she puts up her closed sign and walks away. At this point there are at least 5 more people in line behind me! Floored, I think there MUST be someone else coming to take her place. But to no avail. The only other person who came to the front counter to help was a male who announced he could only help people who were there to pick up packages. Not kidding you, 25 minutes later, I am the next one to be helped and this employee returns from what I assume to be a break. She removes her closed sign and calls me up. Without so much as a smile or how can I help you, I hand her the package I am attempting to mail. Our conversation went something like this...
me: How are you today?
employee: Fine (with a funny smirk on her face)
me: How was your break?
employee: Fine (with a quizacle look)
me: That's good. I spent your entire break standing in this line.
employee: Oh, really. (notice not even so much as a hint of care or apology)
me: See this is the only place on earth that can stay in business and have this kind of customer service. If you worked anywhere else and provided this type of service, the company would be out of business and you'd be out a job.
employee: (no reply so I continue)
me: Not to mention that my time is worth money too, so I will be sure to send the Postal SERVICE a bill for MY time spent in their line. Oh and by the way I do have other options for mailing things and I WILL NEVER send another package through you guys and you will continue to have cuts in staff and eventually you won't have a job anymore, because people are starting to figure it out.
At this point I am done and leave.
But today I am going to mail a box to my brother in San Diego and I will be sending it UPS! Because when they ask "What can Brown do for you?" I know the answer will NOT be standing in line for 25 minutes to mail a package! And when I need to pay a bill...I will use on-line bill pay! And when I need to send a letter or thank you...I will send it via email. And so at this point in my life the US Postal "Service" could quit their "service" altogether and then I wouldn't have to keep recycling all the CRAP they leave in my mailbox! But that's a rant for another day.
3 comments:
I use online bill pay and it has CHANGED my life!(for the better)
You go girl!
Joanna
By the way my trip into UPS took me less then 5 minutes. No line. The lady who helped me was a pleasure and polite and even smiled! She even taped my box FOR ME!!! Now THAT is customer service. I can completely recommend UPS!
wow. your sense of entitlement is really, um, ugly. you must be just a peach to wait on in restaurants. waiting in line at the post office is just one of those things in life. like traffic jams. or being caught in the rain without an umbrella. just because you don't like something doesn't mean you have to find someone to blame. i'm positive that the poor postal service worker has no control over how many people are scheduled to work, when she takes a break, or how many people are in line. so OF COURSE she didn't apologize. she had nothing to apologize for. i say, good riddance. we don't need people like you in the bellingham post office. have fun at ups. since they're corporately owned, they MUST be good at pasting on those fake "customer service" smiles for people who need them feel good about themselves.
christina
(a long-time bellingham resident)
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