Saturday at the Post Office

This past weekend I went to the post office to mail a few packages for my wife. I live in the Oakland – Berkeley CA area. I went to one of the smaller post offices to avoid some of the crowds that typically build up on Saturdays. When I arrived, I dutifully got my number (number 75, currently serving number 66). I thought going to the post office on Saturday would take a little more time than usual, so I had planned for a wait. What I had not planned on was the glacial pace that the staff of the USPS was working. There were at least 12 people waiting for assistance, yet only one customer window open. There appeared to be 4 or 5 USPS employees wandering the back office.

After waiting 10 minutes for the USPS person to service one customer (The employee could not find $.84 airmail stamps), I decided to do a little experiment. There was a UPS store 1/2 mile down the road from the post office. I decided to see if I could walk down to the UPS store, mail my packages, buy a soda at the convenience store, and walk back to the Post Office before my number was called. I did not attempt to move any faster than my normal gait.

Needless to say, I made it back with three numbers to spare (they were servicing number 72, I was number 75). Now I know Saturday is a busy day at the Post Office. If fact, I am pretty sure EVERYBODY knows Saturday is a pretty busy day at the Post Office.

So my questions are simple. If everybody knows that Saturday is a busy day at the Post Office, why do they only staff one window? Why are the other employees not opening another window when there is a backup? The most infuriating part of this experience was the absolute absence of ANY customer orientation. While the employees are the symptom, the management needs to be accountable for not promoting a more customer centric philosophy throughout the organization.

The Post Office, which once was a critical piece of our country’s infrastructure, is continuing to marginalize themselves into oblivion.