Mail problems again, but wait there's more

MOD

Subject: Mail problems again, but wait there's more

Everyone knows there's 'issues' with our mail carriers in the slope.
I've had it all:
Lost checks
Mail tossed on floor
Netflix DVD's viewed and taped back together then placed in our box!?!
Wrong mail
No mail
Mail for delivery never picked up
Lost packages

So I emailed the USPS and received a call back today.
The supervisor says my usual postal carrier is on 'limited' work, something about not allowed to work more than a certain amount of hours.
So they have random carriers covering for him. He tells me that recently I've had the same mail carrier for 3 days now and he's talked to the person and I shouldn't have any problems anymore.

Hum, :? so basically my block never has a constant mail carrier. So far I've got some guy regularly for the past 3 days. He'll probably not drop the mail on the floor today, but what about next week when another guy is sent to cover this block? Is this happening on other blocks? No full time, regular assignment postal carriers?

Give it a while and the same problem will happen again. :roll:
It's been going on for as long as I've rented here.

daver

WTF is up with Brooklyn mail? I've never lived anywhere like this. I've had stuff perfectly addressed to me sent back with "NO SUCH ADDRESS" stamps, only to be put in a new envelope TO THE EXACT SAME ADDRESS and arrive. Eventually. I've had zero mail delivery for days, and then stuffed full one day. I can't even count the number of things that have just "disappeared" that I found out about, much less the ones I didn't. Seriously, WTF. I have everything important that I can sent to my work now.

armchair_warrior

im suspecting its the guys who are in charge in your area of brooklyn.

for example my friends mail came late (they arrive though). my friend and the people on the block complain they were getting mail at around 5pm.

they replace him very quickly.

the lines at the post offices here in bensonhurst and gravesend lines are about 5 to 10 mins max.

i had gotten crappy mail when my guy retired. but was quickly replace with a regular within a month.

spidora xplora

Subject: Re: Mail problems again, but wait there's more

...I feel your pain. Anything that remotely looks like a check, gets opened and complaints over the years haven't improved the situation. Often, letter sized mail is shoved inside the pages of one huge pile of magazines (a nice big 10 tenant pile, that we get to sort daily), sometimes never to be seen again. It's been going on as long as I've lived on this block (18 years). Forget the inclement weather - nice sunny days don't seem to ensure better results either.

carmen

if its to anyone's consolation, I live in bedstuy and the mail here sucks sucks sucks. I've had weeks of magazines not come (Time out, most regularly) and packages disappear ALL the time.

Whats worse is that UPS is also horrible- I've had THREE packages that were sent overnight expensive-as-hell by 10-am delivery get totally lost. They make it on the truck then just disappear (not ever delivered or attempted.) UPS's response is to make you wait 5 bus days, start a claim, wait another 2 weeks to then tell you "yep, its lost, contact your shipper." Someone at the warehouse in brooklyn is 5-fingering stuff for sure.

hamilton

Response to Carmen,
I've had the same problem with UPS, if the doorman in my building is not at His post ,they don't ring my bell to deliver,they just jump back on the truck with my package.
Last week I tracked a different package and noticed it was due for delivery that a.m.
I call UPS and told them it was a medication and had to have it delivered first . It worked and the driver told me how difficult it was to locate it in his truck.

[Was he try to get a tip? did he NO! ]

Forget FedX, I've been advised by an employee "A lot of stuff disappears"

mylkshayk

Wow- I live in Ditmas Park, but we have our mail delivery problems too. Mailmen leave packages on the porch in plain sight, and for the last few months or so we have not received mail before 4:30pm. But this past Saturday (10/20) the mailmen were out shortly after 10am!! I thought I was hallucinating! It wasn't just the mailman on my block, but also a mailman several blocks away that I spotted while walking my dog. It was very odd to receive mail in the morning. Anyway, maybe when the original poster here called the Post Office, the Powers That Be decided to beef up service not just in Park Slope, but in surrounding neighborhoods. Thank you!

hamilton

Subject: Van Gogh

Mylkshayk:
Van Goghs real problem was,
everything said to him, went in one ear and stayed there.

daver

Subject: Re: Van Gogh

Hamilton wrote: Mylkshayk:
Van Goghs real problem was,
everything said to him, went in one ear and stayed there.

What?

filmlover44

Subject: Re: Van Gogh

daver wrote: [quote=Hamilton]Mylkshayk:
Van Goghs real problem was,
everything said to him, went in one ear and stayed there.

What?

Van Gogh actually cut off part of his ear, not the whole one but the joke only works if he had one ear.

vanilla

also, forget about brooklyn po boxes -- and why are brooklyn pob's more $$$ than in manhattan? $70/year to lose my mail INSIDE the post office, no thanks. my brother got a pob at jaf station years ago, so now i just share it with him & it's pretty good and open 24/7.

there have been other posts concerning f-d mail service. i know so many of us have made "official" complaints --- what is it going to take? is there something else that we need to do?

hamilton

Subject: Re: Van Gogh

filmlover44 wrote: [quote=daver][quote=Hamilton]Mylkshayk:
Van Goghs real problem was,
everything said to him, went in one ear and stayed there.

What?

Van Gogh actually cut off part of his ear, not the whole one but the joke only works if he had one ear.
***************************
So he only heard 3/4 of what was said.?

hercules q. einstein

Oh boy, I can relate. I'm in Boerum Hill and all of a sudden I realized I haven't gotten mail in about a month (it comes only a couple of times a week anyway and then my crazy landlord hoards it so I didn't notice for a while).

What worked for me was calling the main 800 number for the USPS. They take a complaint and someone from the local post office has to call you back in one or two business days. Of course, my mail carrier lied and said that I told him I was moving so he stopped delivering my mail (I've never even met the man). The next day I had a month's worth of mail delivered!

MOD

HA!
I walk in today and what do I see?? You guessed it, mail on the floor.
I only got one day (friday) of actual mail service.

How are they supposed to pick up out going mail if they don't even open the freekin door!
:x

brooklynpotter

i just wish there was actually something we could do, ebcause i've spoken to tons of people at the "customer service" line and been fed a bunch of lies more times than i can count... my favorite, that my mail carrier never leaves packages in the lobby, only leaves notes.

i've been using my phone to take pictures of the all packages he leaves in my hall, and am about to find a way to send the pics to them.

my brother sent me his wedding invite, to my address. it never arrived and he mailed it from the mail post office in kensington. it came back to him a week later saying there was no such address. because it's not like my other mail arrives

hamilton

brooklynpotter wrote: i just wish there was actually something we could do, ebcause i've spoken to tons of people at the "customer service" line and been fed a bunch of lies more times than i can count... my favorite, that my mail carrier never leaves packages in the lobby, only leaves notes.
******************************************************
i've been using my phone to take pictures of the all packages he leaves in my hall, and am about to find a way to send the pics to them.

my brother sent me his wedding invite, to my address. it never arrived and he mailed it from the mail post office in kensington. it came back to him a week later saying there was no such address. because it's not like my other mail arrives

I would recommend contacting your Assemblyman and Council member, they work for you and s/b able to resolve this problem as it more then likely affects your whole community and it's not to be tolerated...... Make the call.

christina

After my complaints earlier this year I actually started receiving my mail now but what gets me is how much they can still crumple up one small letter and stuff it in my mailbox as if it was full.

brooklynpotter

ok, here is the brooklyn consumer affairs dept #... use it OFTEN!

718-348-3900

mrs. jones is very nice on the phone, and mrs. sweet handles 11215. just KEEP CALLING>

caaahyoko

Just a warning--

If you put in a hold mail request, don't count on them actually honoring it. We came home from vacation to a mail box crammed to the gills. And since I'm not sure if they actually delivered everything, so I have to go over to the post office anyhow.

sigh.

MOD

For anyone who needs it and are in the 11217
Here's the name and number I was given:
Guy named Watson 718-875-2031

opossumqueen

Mamacita wrote: For anyone who needs it and are in the 11217
Here's the name and number I was given:
Guy named Watson 718-875-2031

Is this at Consumer Affairs or a post office?

I went through some really bad problems back in 11216 and when the manager at the post office called, he asked me what I needed then proceeded to place the phone on the desk and have a conversation with a coworker about gifts, etc. I tried to wait him out but after 10 minutes hung up.

Part of my current mail problems are related to having tiny boxes that most mail won't fit in and many never delivered (not even attempted) packages. I've never had a fraction of the mail problems I've had in Brooklyn anywhere else.

One time I saw a mail carriers for our area wait more than an hour (mid-day!) for the truck carrier to put the mail bags in the green mailboxes. Also, we get plenty of no-mail days (with 20 units in the building, it's obvious when no mail has been delivered).

MOD

This was the number to the post office supervisor.
I just started up with Netflix this week, so I hope my DVD's are not stolen :x after all, my block doesn't have a regular carrier, just random dumb asses.

drunken revival

Are you people kidding me? I might catch some heat for this, but why are your expectations for the USPS so high? Consider the logistics behind sending and receiving mail (a letter is dropped in a box, and arrives in another box 2500 miles away is 4 days)... think about the cost to the consumer (under $.50)... then consider that it is a government run "enterprise".... then read this quote.


"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." --Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer

Then cancel all your catalogs, switch everything to automatic bill payment, and then get your friends email addresses. You'll feel better.

michaelkeys

Drunken Revival wrote: ...why are your expectations for the USPS so high? Consider the logistics behind sending and receiving mail (a letter is dropped in a box, and arrives in another box 2500 miles away is 4 days)...

I think you have just made the point of everyone on here with a complaint: how hard can it be? Plus, what's the deal with routinely not paying attention? Two days ago, there are 8 pieces of mail in my mailbox and 7 are not mine; 5 belonged to fellow neighbors from all over my building and 2 were for the building next door! I have even gotten mail--checks, no less--for people not even on my block. (I try to make sure they get THAT correspondence.) These are not random occurences by any measure, btw. And since I'm a freelancer who gets paid by mail, to cancel "catalogs, switch everything to automatic bill payment, and...get [my] friends email addresses..." would do nothing to remedy my situation or make me "feel better" about my paycheck showing up in someone else's mailbox. (It's bad enough that the checks are not cut on time...)

How much of a mental challenge is it to put mail for Michael Keys in Apt 41 in the corresponding #41 box, labelled "Keys"? I can tolerate human error--God knows I have my own share of screw ups--but the same mistakes? 2 or 3 times a week? Every week? Please.

I don't think you can lower your expectations any further than to anticipate finding the right mail in the right mailbox. Once again, how hard can it be?

daver

Drunken Revival wrote: Are you people kidding me? I might catch some heat for this, but why are your expectations for the USPS so high? Consider the logistics behind sending and receiving mail (a letter is dropped in a box, and arrives in another box 2500 miles away is 4 days)... think about the cost to the consumer (under $.50)... then consider that it is a government run "enterprise"....

Two things. First, the USPS is a quasi-private business since the reform in 1970. It is mandated to be revenue neutral, that is, to break even. The only money it gets from the feds now is to provide free mail for the blind and mailing ballots overseas and the like. Thing the second is that I know damn well that the postal service is capable of handling the mail properly. I lived my first 33 years in places other than Brooklyn, including Staten Island, and I _never_ had these sorts of problems I have seen and heard about here.

brooklynpotter

very true.

and the service i had in jersey was topnotch. really.

drunken revival

Ok... I somewhat agree with some of you.

Just kidding. First, mail carriers are federal employees. Quasi nothing - if tax payers are paying the salaries then your a government employee.

Also, my point is exactly the opposite. Delivering mail is inherently difficult. Especially in a transient village like brooklyn. I realize the people on this board have been in their present locales since the early 1990, but you are simple not representative of the general population which is constantly on the move -- this makes it hard for mail carriers.

Secondly, consider the morale of the mail carrier: she is becoming obsolete and the butt of jokes. He is never rewarded for doing a good job... 0% error is the expectation and anything less than that is immediately scorned.

You people do make some valid points, but, as you may know I'm not going to flex on my argument here.

My last point has to do with solving problems of today with, what seems to be, anecdotal evidence of the past...ie your experience with the mail in NJ. You cannot compare the two. Mail carriers are turning over like crazy, population density is out of control, overall population is up, and the volume of mail is up. So stories of postcards in 1978 Coney Island just don't translate to today.

There are fresh circumstances causing today's problems. Your frustrations are simply your inability to separate your expectations and perceptions from the past with the realities of today.

May I suggest weed?

brooklynpotter

i expect a piece of mail to go missing every once in a while.

i do not expect, in one week:

--for the wedding invite my brother sent me from the kensington station, with the correct address on it, to be sent back to him 14 days after sending it.

--for a package of mine to be noted in the computer system as "delivered" at a certain time on a certain day, not to have arrived. then, the next morning, when calling customer service (who said they'd call back and never did) i was told packages are never left without notes. an hour later i walked through my lobby and saw aforementioned package lying in on the floor.

--to get more of my neighbor's mail in my box simply because our last names begin with the same letter.

--to have all of our buildings magazines and catalogs dumped on the floor of the vestibule, unsorted


and this is a good week.

daver

Drunken Revival wrote: Just kidding. First, mail carriers are federal employees. Quasi nothing - if tax payers are paying the salaries then your a government employee.

I agree. Good thing their salaries are 100% NOT TAX dollars. The USPS is self supporting on its own revenues. Look it up.

My last point has to do with solving problems of today with, what seems to be, anecdotal evidence of the past...ie your experience with the mail in NJ. You cannot compare the two. Mail carriers are turning over like crazy, population density is out of control, overall population is up, and the volume of mail is up. So stories of postcards in 1978 Coney Island just don't translate to today.

I handle my mail for my father currently in AZ. This is current. I still receive mail at my wife's place in Staten Island. That is also current. I also receive mail at work in NJ, currently. Guess where I have anything sent to me that is important? Not Brooklyn! Any of the other places I can receive mail will work.

drunken revival

This is an interesting debate. 100% of their salaries are funded by STAMPS. Stamps are simply a form of tax. Stamp rates are determined by the federal government.

The government owns all the post office buildings.

What else? Officially, it is a "quasi- governmental agency". This is semantics. The reason it is called that rather than a government owned corporation (Amtrak) is so that it cannot be sued under Sherman anti trust laws.

What else? The post office has an 11 member board of directors - 9 of which are appointed by the president.

What else? The post office has the power to negotiate agreements with foreign nations. Also, the post office has sovereign immunity and extensive imminent domain powers.

Call it what you want... in reality the post office is a government run organization.

brooklynpotter

Drunken Revival wrote:
The government owns all the post office buildings.

absolutely untrue. i know of several places where they rent their spaces from private owners.

the one thing i can say about the post office, their mail carriers do have better clothing than all other civil servants. that's the only nice thing i can say about them. but the bermuda shorts and pith helmet combo is pretty rockin'.