USPS Short Staffed or Proving a Point?

Doesn't that mean they left a notice in your box on 3/6 at 12:41?

What time were you at the post office? Our post office closes at 12:00. I imagine yours on STT does too??

Sounds OK to me. Probably the sorter looked in the computer, yes it was there, but that doesn't mean he actually had it in his hands. They have to go through paperwork before releasing a box, it needs to be scanned into the system, etc. I think she just didn't explain it well.

Juanita,

I was at the USPS at about 11:30AM. They put the notice in the box after they closed at noon. Go figure

The sorter woman was definitely IMHO trying to make a point. About what I don't know.

In the past when I've taken in proof my package is there, the clerks have gone to get it.

2 days to put the slip in the box once it arrives at STT? My box is at the main PO no excuse there.

The question is should I call and make the complaint or blow it off? We get a lot of packages and this was a first for us. I wonder if because it was a flat rate box? The sorter made a point to say it is flat rate box what do you expect?

Tippi

We are on stx, but have had ongoing problems with packages and express mails over the last 5 years or so, ever since they took our favorite mailman off our route. The local postmaster doesn't care, and we never get a response from USPS when we file a complaint. Local folks just don't care...and if you hassle them, they retaliate in various ways...
We have house delivery of mail. Their sop is to fill out the "attempted delivery" slip and on the USPS website the day the package arrives at the post office. The following day the carrier takes the orange/pink slip and puts it in our mailbox. The third day is when they want us to go all the way into the postoffice and pick up the package.
I've been told at the post office not to come in with the tracking page from the USPS internet site, that I have to wait for them to put the slip in our box. So, extra three day minimum for a priority mail.
Previously, our mailman would carry the box out and leave it at the house.

We use the Richmond PO on STX. We usually get delivery slips in our mail box 1 day after the web tracking says it arrived. That makes sense because the package cannot go straight from the incoming truck to the outoing mail carrier's vehicle. It needs to be sorted, etc.

The PO told us that if the delivery slip doesn't appear soon after tracking says it arrived, then we should inquire with our carrier who will look for the package. Our carriers are reasonably responsive in that way.

The PO also told us that for Express Mail only, we can go to the PO without waiting for the delivery slip to appear.

Take cookies to the PO just before Christmas. They get slammed that time of year and really seem to appreciate it.
They now address us by our first names and are very helpful.

Had a Priority mail box tracked to STT, here for 3 days.
I went to the PO & they said it was here, but not sorted yet, let alone delivered.(the final delivery address was within sight I think, very close).

Since I had to install this item as a job, They had me return the next morning before it was loaded into the truck as the address was the last stop on the route.

When I arrived the next morning @ the PO, they informed me they still haven't finished sorting it.
Since I was in the area, I checked my mail where it was to be delivered & there it was!
When I asked the mail/message service how long it was there, they said since yesterday, around 11 AM!

Had a UPS OVERNIGHT arrive in STT 17 hours from the US west coast, took 2 days to get delivered, but that's another story!

We use the Richmond PO on STX. We usually get delivery slips in our mail box 1 day after the web tracking says it arrived. That makes sense because the package cannot go straight from the incoming truck to the outoing mail carrier's vehicle. It needs to be sorted, etc.

We disagree. If the PO can scan the delivery at 7 or 7:30 am, and the letter carriers don't leave the premises till 9 or so (and we are usually told to try to reach them by phone between 8 and 9) someone could reconcile the package/slip with the carrier. It happens in the rest of the system...the box comes in and goes out for delivery on the same day. it is supposed to be "Priority", after all.

 

Beachy: Oops, you're right. For the last Priority Mail package I got, the delivery slip might have arrived in my mailbox the same day, although I don't recall. Usually it's the next day. Maybe that's the case if the truck arrives later in the day.

Here's the tracking from NY to STX. Feb 22 is when I actually picked it up at the PO.

Detailed Results:
Delivered, February 22, 2010, 9:16 am, CHRISTIANSTED, VI 00820
Notice Left, February 19, 2010, 12:07 pm, CHRISTIANSTED, VI 00820
Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, February 19, 2010, 10:24 am, CHRISTIANSTED, VI 00820
Sorting Complete, February 19, 2010, 9:54 am, CHRISTIANSTED, VI 00820
Arrival at Post Office, February 19, 2010, 6:25 am, CHRISTIANSTED, VI 00820
Electronic Shipping Info Received, February 16, 2010

I went this AM. Got the same clerk as Saturday. The sorter woman was no where in sight. The clerk said the sorter woman was pushing for everyone to make complaints. The short story is they laid people off and making people work harder by not having as many people in the PO.
Delay the people's packages, people complain the PO hires!

What a vicious circle! We've all been down this road before.

PS: I don't just do cookies before Christmas, we take stuff in all year long. They know us by name as well. Personally, I don't think that makes a difference. If you have lived here for any length of time and get packages on regular basis, the clerks know you.

We've been getting packages at the Richmond PO for 3 years. Packages come addressed to me, my husband, Casita Properties and occasionally to a tenant, either c/o Casita or just to the tenant's name. I know the clerks recognize us. There's always that "recognition" and exchanged greeting when we run into them at the grocery, Kmart or wherever. Well, last week a package came addressed to me, and they didn't want to give it to my husband, just out of the blue. They gave him a hassle, and finally gave him the package, along with a signature card for the PO box. We BOTH signed when we got the box 3 years ago. He hasn't bothered to sign and return the card and has picked up at least 2 more packages, addressed to me, since then...no problem!

Juanita, he must have had the same clerk I had last year. We get packages several times a week. One time hubby was off island and a package came with just his name on it. The clerk refused to give it to me. I pointed at the other clerks and said that they all knew us and she told me in a very loud voice, "I DON'T KNOW YOU". Boy did I see red. I had to turn away and take a few deep breaths before smiling at her and explaining how important it was that I receive the package. She finally gave it to me. I walked out of there calling her every name I could think of in my head. I hate being forced to butt kiss. Everytime I walk into the post office now I mutter under my breath, "I don't know you", it makes me laugh and I put on my butt kiss face and greet everyone. It is a standard joke in my house now. If hubby or I are going to the post office the other one shouts, I DON'T KNOW YOU".

I avoid the Post Office as much as possible; we pick up our mail & packages at Mailboxes Etc., much less traumatic than the PO!

~Jill~

The VI post office is a real issue for me...I can deal with the VI government nonsense, because what choice do you have, but the USPS has rules and standards that are supposed to be uniform in all areas....we've had that garbage about claiming mail and parcels from Richmond as well...

From the USPS website the rule is :
Who can accept mail? (Accountable mail is something that has to be signed for)

The United States Postal Service regulations allow for other residents than the addressee to sign for a mailpiece. Requirements to accept or pick up Accountable Mail include:

Residential Mail:
The addressee may accept or pickup their own Accountable Mail (proof of identification may still be required).
For home deliveries, any adult in the home (and, in some cases other residents at the discretion of the letter carrier) may sign for Accountable Mail, unless it is marked "Restricted Delivery".
Mail for minors or persons under guardianship may be accepted or picked up by their parents or guardians.
At the retail window, any adult with a photo ID that shows the same last name or the same address may pick up the mailpiece unless it is marked "Restricted Delivery".
An individual may pick up mail for someone else (including restricted delivery) if it has been indicated on a Standing Delivery Order (Form 3801) or if the individual has written authorization from the addressee.
Authorization can be written directly on the delivery notice (PS Form 3849 - Peach colored) or plain paper.

Richmond has given me all sorts of stories why they won't release mail/boxes with my husband's name to me..."people could be getting a divorce, husbands don't always want wives to know what they are getting, etc, etc"...but what they are doing is against their own rules/procedures.
These are the same counter clerks who have told me not to come to the post office with the internet tracking printout showing that our Priority package arrived, but instead wait the two days to come pick it up after they leave the slip, because they can't be expected to go look for a box...and they are paid a higher salary than the stateside postal workers...was something like a 20% differential last I knew...

I've only had one package go "missing" while on island. It was shipped from the NE mainland and that's where the online tracking ended. It just disappeared into the void. Then 4 or 5 weeks later, it appeared on the radar again - leaving Frederiksted as unclaimed mail. It had never been scanned into the system in F'sted and, of course, no notice had been left for me.

Beachy, where online did you find those regulations about who can accept mail? I searched for some of the text you quoted and couldn't find it.

I could use those rules once in a while. Mail is sometimes addressed to me as Bob + last name, but none of my ID says Bob, since that's my nickname. Once, they gave me a hard time about my ID not matching the sull name on the package, but apparently they should have allowed it since the last name matched.

For this specific issue, if you go to the usps.com site, at the bottom of the home page you see customer service...click on that, go to FAQ, then "receiving mail" , then select " items requiring a signature". Lots of detail through this general FAQ area, and you can do a search to look for a certain issue. There are actually more detailed usps procedural manuals on the internet as well, basically the manuals for the post office itself.
Our delivery issues have been a sufficient-enough problem for us in recent years that we have done alot of research in what is and is not allowed or required on both the postal service and the patron..no point in complaining about something that might be within their allowable procedures, etc...

We've had generally good luck with USPS. One big exception, my wife had a broken IPOD returned to her Parents (because Apple sucks and won't ship here) who then forwarded it down here. They didn't insure it, and it never made it. $300 down the tubes.

But if we had to UPS everything we've sent here over the years I guess we would've probably spent about $5000 more in postage so we're still ahead of the game.

I guess I'm just never that much in a rush to get my packages here, I just assume that it will get here when it makes it and am surprised when my expectations are exceeded. It's silly and infuriating that you can't rely on the tracking info but I don't think anything is going to change. Just remember how subsidized the mail is here, this is surely a money losing operation for USPS and with that likely comes a lower set of expectations.

One exception to the rule is if you send something Express Mail it should be there quickly....and in my experience it always has.

Sean