Grumble...I Don't Do "No" Well - Particularly Around Kilts

**longhuntr74** · 14th July 12, 08:53 PM

Sorry to hear your frustration, Ron! I made it to the post office in time to pick up my brass cantle this morning!!!

**islandkilt** · 14th July 12, 11:24 PM

I answer outcome...

but I always end up working for people who want compliance...

**Riverkilt** · 15th July 12, 12:17 AM

Outcome for sure...!!

**MikeS** · 15th July 12, 08:51 AM

As a 14 year employee of the USPS I feel a need to respond:

1. Service is considered a 4-letter word by postal management.
2. Customers are a nusiance that is getting in the way of cutting costs.
3. Congress is stealing $5.5 Billion dollars a year from the post office and the Postmaster General's response is to reduce hours and close offices.

Riverkilt should be glad that he only has to go back on Monday. If management gets their way he might find his office closed permanently and the nearest one 80 miles away. Its come to a point where we are almost forced to treat customers badly.

**Riverkilt** · 15th July 12, 09:14 AM

Thanks Mike. Knew there'd be someone out there. And the USPS won't let you wear kilts either.

I marvel that the lunch rush is usually only staffed by one clerk. USPS doesn't deliver anything in our little town. We have to go pick it up. Just makes sense to me (hah!) that when everyone was stopping by the post office on their lunch hour that the USPS would staff for that rush and have staff eat their lunch before or after when its slow.

I just want my dang kilt...tomorrow....please....

**MikeS** · 15th July 12, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

Thanks Mike. Knew there'd be someone out there. And the USPS won't let you wear kilts either.

I'd love to wear a kilt on my route...Tired of hearing, "Hot enough for ya?" 500 times a day.

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

I marvel that the lunch rush is usually only staffed by one clerk. USPS doesn't deliver anything in our little town. We have to go pick it up. Just makes sense to me (hah!) that when everyone was stopping by the post office on their lunch hour that the USPS would staff for that rush and have staff eat their lunch before or after when its slow.

Here's a little bit of postal logic for ya... Most stores staff according to the number of customers; the post office staffs according to revenue. So for instance, lets say your office handles 30 customers from noon to 1pm. If 28 are there just to pick up mail, ask a question, or fill out a form and the other 2 actually spend money, the official count for that hour is 2. Certainly 1 clerk can handle 2 customers an hour right? As far as management is concerned the other 28 people did not exist. In postal logic, we should probably have that clerk go to lunch from 12:30 to 1pm.
This logic permeates management at every level and employees that try to "fix" things are usually met with resistance, hostility, or even discipline. The post office employs "mystery shoppers" to evaluate the retail clerks and make sure they are following procedures, including not giving out mail while the office is closed. Additionally, there are management types that read reports about the activites of the offices they supervise. If the clerk in your case had scanned the barcode on your package and gave it to you it would have shown up on a report that this mail was 'delivered' while the office was closed and would have been warned/disciplined for it.

**opositive** · 15th July 12, 02:44 PM

the usps works efficiently in my area for mail delivery. i am pleasantly surprised how quickly packages and post get delivered within the nearby parishes--often the next day. when i have to go to the post office itself, the clerks are obviously trying their best, but i always get the feeling they are constrained in their conversations and are being watched. i have a feeling that middle management is bloated with mindless bureaucrats.

**Father Bill** · 15th July 12, 03:39 PM

Is "mindless bureaucrat" a redundant term... or only from 12:30 to 1:00?

**SeumasA** · 15th July 12, 04:28 PM

Actually the staffing is according to transactions. And picking up vacation mail or a package counts as a transaction, just like selling stamps or mailing a package. The problem is getting the clerks to properly record those transactions on their terminals. If they don't punch the button saying that they're retrieving a parcel or picking up mail, they don't get credit for the time and the system shows that they were just standing there with nothing to do. So, when you review the staffing, you're going show that you're over-staffed for the number of transactions you've recorded.
And, none of my clerks would be disciplined for having scanned that package as 'delivered' after we closed the window, and actually providing a little extra customer service.

Originally Posted by MikeS

Here's a little bit of postal logic for ya... Most stores staff according to the number of customers; the post office staffs according to revenue. So for instance, lets say your office handles 30 customers from noon to 1pm. If 28 are there just to pick up mail, ask a question, or fill out a form and the other 2 actually spend money, the official count for that hour is 2. Certainly 1 clerk can handle 2 customers an hour right? As far as management is concerned the other 28 people did not exist. In postal logic, we should probably have that clerk go to lunch from 12:30 to 1pm.
This logic permeates management at every level and employees that try to "fix" things are usually met with resistance, hostility, or even discipline. The post office employs "mystery shoppers" to evaluate the retail clerks and make sure they are following procedures, including not giving out mail while the office is closed. Additionally, there are management types that read reports about the activites of the offices they supervise. If the clerk in your case had scanned the barcode on your package and gave it to you it would have shown up on a report that this mail was 'delivered' while the office was closed and would have been warned/disciplined for it.

**MikeS** · 15th July 12, 06:32 PM

My comments are based on my experiences in my office and from what I've read and been told. I may have explained it differently than you but the results are the same. Transactions vs. revenue. The current management team I work under is more interested in following regulations than providing customer service and they are going out of their way to make sure they enforce every rule, including a few they've made up themselves.