[Christina]

What's up with the mail service?
Either I get everything stuffed, torn, or in case of Netflix DVDs broken -
or I get zip.
So in order to avoid the s/t/b (take that, USPS) scenario I had my mail held for 2 weeks while I was out of town, but although everything should have been delivered days ago I haven't received a single thing yet. This is the 3rd time it happened and it's p!@$ing me off!!! I have also investigated this problem with USPS for the 3rd time now - only to be told that I would get a call back within 24 hours which of course I never received. WTF????

Ok...rant over.

Thank you.

[daahookup21]

Yes it does stink this USPS around here. The Post Office they are so under staffed and slow in there. If the normal mail carrier is on vacation, we get others who sometimes just throw the mail in the hall instead of putting it in the people mailboxes. Also when its a big package they just leave it there and don't ring the bell letting you know there is something for you.

my rant is over too lol

[armchair_warrior]

with usps it happens all the time near the holiday season or when the regular one is on vaction. they just chuck or throw your stuff or delivery to the wrong person. i always get my neighbors mail all the time from a block a way!!!
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[steve]

I just want to say that Paul The Postman is the best there is. You cannot do a better job than he does.
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[erikka]

I get mail intended for Bushwick fairly often and an abnormally high number of my magazines go missing or are several days late. If s/he starts doing the crossword in the back then we'll have a problem.

[jennitrixie]

Glad to know I'm not taking crazy pills.

Some days it's like the carrier doesn't even try. S/he just dumps all the mail for the building on the "overflow" table. (Doesn't help that we have the world's teeniest mailboxes, either.) I can understand leaving packages because most buildings are empty in the afternoon--my building doesn't have any mommies. Am I going to get my New Yorker on Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday? A week and a half late? Place your bets!

I complained about the inconsistencey of mail delivery to the USPS, and my magazines put something called PubTracker on my magazines, to figure out where the delivery breakdown is. (Also extended my subscriptions. Squeaky wheels, people.)

I don't think it's a PS specific issue. What kind of service can I expect to get from people who have a very low chance of consequences for poor performance?

[sweetpea]

We've also been having problems with our mail. For almost a month it's been dumped in one big unsorted pile in our hallway. I called USPS and in a few days someone from the Park Slope office called me back. The last delivery was put in our mailbox, so I think it's definitely worth complaining if you're having a problem.

[Carnivore]

It's amazing to be getting crappy service when the holidays are right around the corner. One would think they'd be on their best behavior in the interest of getting a decent tip.
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[erikka]

Wait...tip? I'm supposed to tip these people?

I had no idea.

[Rose]

I never tip them, because they suck. Most days, I get some of my neighbors' mail and they get some of mine, magazines come late or not at all, Netflix DVDs arrive shattered, and the Van Brunt post office is an absolute disgrace.

[Carnivore]

I always tipped the mailman in a holiday card every year until I moved around here. Then I stopped because the mail service was so crappy. If you don't tip though, expect a lot of things to go missing around Christmas.

[alafairnadia]

more reasons to have everything delivered to your office or a mail delivery service.
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[pitu]

I like my carrier, and things are a disaster when she's not here . . .
thanks for reminding me to give her a box of cookies!
_________________
maar de oesters zijn zo lekker!

[linusvanpelt]

Anybody else have a problem with misdelivered mail? Constantly getting mail for other people, sometimes with an address (or street number) a digit off from mine, sometimes with an entirely unrelated address. Makes me wonder how much of my stuff is being delivered elsewhere. (Fortunately, I rarely get anything important by USPS if I can help it, precisely because USPS sucks.)

Oh, and tipping the freaking mail carrier? I'm sorry, when we feel compelled to do that, the terrorists have won, or something.

[Carnivore]

[erikka]

I'd tip them if they were actually doing it right. Tipping someone for sending my mail to Bushwick is beyond my grasp. I tipped the paper guy last year because he managed to get the paper near my doorstep at least 3 out of 7 days. My standards are not that high.

[Rose]

[armchair_warrior]

[daahookup21]

I was watching my mail man, was not the regular guy that comes around. The regular guy I know his routine and the way he goes. This other guy does something totally different. So I was watching him and he was about 20 minutes getting the mail from the mail box thats on the corner that the trunk stores the mail. So he was talking to a woman as he was doing this and she ended up walking with him someplace. Could be he knew him or who knows.

My mail was stuffed in my little mail box, ripped mail too. Also there a big box package just left there. Now they could have tryied to ring the bell to see if anyone can come down and get it.

I'm still waiting for a package that was mailed out 11/9.

[dw438]

The best letter carrier in my neck of the woods is named Paul.
His territory is near John Jay HS.
One of the best in the business.
The newsmagazines come on the right day.
Bills are on time.
Even the junk mail is timely.
But when he's off ... boy, the mail is off.
And anything bigger than a magazine is sent somewhere else, because the 9th Street post office is a den of horrors.

[Christina]

How do these people keep their jobs? I thought two of the main job tasks of a mailman would be to 1.) be able to read (!) and then find the address on the label 2.) deliver the mail to this address. Ideally in a format that can be identified as a letter/ magazine/package as opposed to paper strips/shattered plastic/ whatever.
Now... I figured that there's also a time element attributed to this.

Am I missing something???

[Flexichick]

One day I was walking towards 7th Ave (from 8th Ave.) on a street I normally walk down (probably 16th, but could have been Windsor or 15th) and there was one of those green mailboxes. I noticed some feet sticking out. The mailman was INSIDE the box taking what looked to be a nap. WTF?! He had to totally contort himself just to get inside the thing. Didn't look too restful.

Now, the UPS guys know how to nap! They park the truck somewhere and stretch out in the back!
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[Christina]

This is great:
After I filed another complaint today I got a phone call back (hallelujah!) and the supervisor of the local post office was yelling at the mail man for not delivering my mail while I was on hold. Errmmm... OK so here's the kicker: his reason for not having delivered my mail recently (this time or overall I wonder?) is that "IT SLIPPED HIS MIND".


WHAT?????


I have no more words

[daahookup21]

That is funny " It Slipped his mind" your a mail main, how could you forget to deliver mail lol.

you Ever notice that sometimes the mail man have mail in there car. I saw one time they park their cars over here take out the mail cart and all the mail from ther trunk.

[armchair_warrior]

i startle a ups guy sleeping once. pulled up in my truck, i walk near a building and he thought i lived there. he pointed, i shake my head. and he went back to sleep.
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[friendlypitbull]

[Guest]

I'm lucky enough to know the person one street up with the same # building, so i get some misdelivered stuff, but the usps is awful!

[brooklyncook]

I'd say that I live in the same building as you, except that I'm up by 5th and Carroll.

The concept of "mail delivery" is freakin RIDICULOUS. We have maybe 40 apartments in our building, each with a small mailbox. There's a table for overflow.

EVERYTHING practically goes into the overflow pile/box. I found two different atm/debit cards of mine in there. Not in the mailbox, where you'd want something like that to be.

Now, getting your mail is not as simple as unlocking your mailbox and taking said mail. Instead, you take five minutes to sort through the mail of 40 people or so, looking for your stuff -- and recognizing the few jackasses who you KNOW have moved but couldn't get their mail forwarded.

Oh, and there's the nights I come home to see people's mailboxes hanging open, with mail in them. This has included my mailbox on one occasion.

As a precaution, I never have packages sent to my home, always to work. I can't even imagine what that'd be like.

[Flexichick]

Cristina, you STAR! You made it on Gawker.com today:

Park Slope Mailman Gives New Meaning to Slacking on the Job
We've given the denizens of Park Slope a bit of grief in the past, but when it comes down to it, they're just trying to make it in this big, bad world, just like the rest of us--which meant we could actually sympathize with the mail woes being discussed on the Park Slope message board:

After I filed another complaint today I got a phone call back (hallelujah!) and the supervisor of the local post office was yelling at the mail man for not delivering my mail while I was on hold. Errmmm... OK so here's the kicker: his reason for not having delivered my mail recently (this time or overall I wonder?) is that "IT SLIPPED HIS MIND".
At least he was honest.

Rant About the Mail [Brooklynian via Brooklyn Record]
Earlier: We'd All Be So Much Better Off If Kids Roamed the Streets Barefoot and Hungry
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[eyesontheslope]

I'm on Carroll between Eighth and the park, and our postal service took a huge and very noticeable nosedive two or three weeks ago. The mail comes in one giant brick held by rubber bands, which then gets unloaded on the overflow table (at best) or on the floor; the New Yorker now reliably comes a week late and torn to shreds. The weird part is that, as I said, things used to be fine until two or three weeks ago. What happened? Are the real carriers on strike and being replaced by grudge-bearing scabs?

[Flexichick]

My New Yorker used to come about 30% of the time on Monday, about 70% on Tuesday. Now I'm lucky if I get it by Thursday (in Windsor Terrace). My mailman (Jack) is pretty good (although mail often doesn't come until 4pm or later), but I think the sorting and delay problems are generally getting worse.
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[BrooklynJack]

It's not just 22125, 11218 sucks too, mail crammed into our BIG boxes, even if it is just 2 envelope you can depend on them being crammed and folded in.


it wasn't always like this. When we lived in the city, 10028, Danny our mailman was great.

As to tipping, it is a federal offense to bride a postal worker. Danny would never accept anything because of this.

[Kennnn]

We sort our mail into 2 piles.. our mail and mail that was delivered to us by mistake. The mistake pile is usually pretty big at the end of the week.

[jennitrixie]

I was reading the articles linked from the Gawker piece and they mentioned something I don't understand. They said the USPS was phasing out "stoop service" because it takes too much time and because of the liability potential of having to climb steps. In my building, you go up the stoop, enter the little foyer and that's where the mailboxes (and table) are. So does the phasing out of "stoop service" mean that in the future carriers won't (in a perfect world) go into the foyer and put the mail into the individual boxes? Or is there a different setup in some buildings that require the carrier to go deeper into the building or to individual apartments? Does that mean landlords are going to have to put mail receptacles on their gates/in their courtyards? I had never heard the term before so I'm having trouble picturing the change and whether it'll affect my building.

Who would have thought that matching mail to addresses and putting them into their respective boxes was sooooo difficult, huh? (Kind of like "America's Next Top Model" has taught us that modeling is totally creative and like hard work.)

[daahookup21]

Went to the post office on 9th street today at Noon and the line was loooooong. Walked in and then walked back out. I needed to get a customs form to send something out, and thought they would just have them in the open on the table there. they have nothing anywhere in there, and didn't want to wait on that long line. Going to try again now, hopefully its not a long line.

[lil]

hi-

just to jump in on this thread- i've had a problem with my mail carrier for about 2 years now.

i live on 6th ave & 3rd street- my regular guy, paul, has been awesome.

but when i have any other carrier (which is more & more often), the delivery sucks!

there are only 3 apartments in the building, and the guy can't be bothered to sort the magazines or junk mail. he leaves it in a pile on the floor, elastic still intact from the post office.

i've found some of my regular mail (bills, checks!, etc.) & my neighbors' mail on the floor as well. it's scary- luckily, my neighbors are awesome, so i don't really have to worry about one of them taking something. but i an't imagine if i had to deal with this in a larger bldg. with people i didn't know.

and when my mail actually makes it into the box, it's usually crushed or ripped. last year most of my xmas cards were torn.

i've complained to the post office a few times, even sending them photos of my crushed & ripped mail, but nothing has improved.

is there a way to even stop this? get some new carriers in the neighborhood?

i'm going nuts. i can't believe these people get paid for doing a job that they don't do.

wtf?

thanks!

[daahookup21]

went back to the post office about 2pm and the line was still long. On 7th Ave is there a post office?

[Cabaki]

yeah, theres one on 7th avenue and 3nd street, but the line is always out the door when i go there (no automated postal machines like Van Brunt either....)

[mrdennis]

Hey! Yesterday, after 3 weeks with no mail I got my cable bill and three letters from my mom, the first and last letters postmarked 8 days apart!

[Anony-mouse]

I lived in Manhattan for about 15 years and I can remember ONCE receiving a letter for a different address. Do most of you live in 11215? I live in 11217 and have exactly the same problem - constantly receiving mail for neighbors and people living in other Brooklyn neighborhoods. Aside from the poor replacement/temp carriers, I think the main problem is at the post office with the coding and sorting. Although the misdelivered letters do not have my address, the bar code placed at the bottom of them IS coded for my address - which is why you have to black this out when you return the letter to the P.O. for redelivery or it will just come back to you.

[erikka]

Has anyone ever gone to the 11215 post office on a Saturday afternoon? I once saw a woman go batshit crazy while standing in line. We had all been waiting over an hour to pick up packages and they decided to close the window an hour early. No reason given, just "closed". This woman ran over to the entrance to the back and started banging on it, screaming at the top of her lungs. Not even screaming words, just this horrible gutteral AIEEEEEG! sort of sound. Everyone else started screaming too---it was a like a room full of angry monkeys getting ready to fling some poo. Sometimes I suspect the people who work there are fucking with our heads. Yeah, it says outside that the window is open until six, but hey....now it's not. And yeah, we said we had your package. We don't. Oh, and that's not your mail. Where is your mail? Shit....look at that. Closing time!

I think that office must be spectacularly mismanaged. Most of my trips to the post office aren't pleasant, but I get things done. And I've never had words with the mailcarrier anywhere else I live, but that's mostly because they never gave me reason to complain. Anytime I need to get stamps or a money order at the 11215 office, I feel like I need to put on riot gear before waiting in line because someone will surely bug out.

[daahookup21]

is there any good time to go to the post office on 9th street where the line doesn't go all the way to the back of the place? I never see more than 2 tellers . Sometimes they have a person outside there looks like they are helping , instead of her there put her back inside as a teller.

[Rose]

There is really no good time, but the less-bad times are mid-morning and mid-afternoon, avoiding the lunchtime rush. But even then, you aren't guaranteed to avoid a long line, because there are never more than two clerks actually working at the windows (as opposed to socializing with each other behind the windows or sitting at the window doing something other than helping customers) and all it takes is one customer with a really complicated postal transaction to slow things way down.

[Carnivore]

They clearly ignore complaints. Maybe a class-action lawsuit would make them pay attention? Of course, you'd have to show there were damages...
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[armchair_warrior]

too bad they cant all be sacked!!!
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