Mail Problems in Ft. Greene Improving??

nathan · October 2006

Here's my report.

I met for 45 minutes this morning with Archie Warner USPS Area Manager and Ms. Robinson, manager of Pratt Station.

1. Mr. Warner seems genuinely interested in improving service in his area and also seems to "get it".

2. Ms. Robinson is a relatively new manager at Pratt who was brought in specifically to improve that station. She also seems to get it.

3. To those of you in my neighborhood (Adelphi near Dekalb), one of our biggest problems has been that we are not a regularly assigned route. Each day, whichever carrier returned from their morning rounds first was assigned our route (with an eye toward avoiding paying overtime). Well GOOD NEWS. Mr. Warner has approved overtime and THE SAME PERSON will be assigned our route each day.

4. When I related the recurring problem of not being able to pick up packages for lovers, partners, wives keeping maiden names, etc., he got genuinely pissed off. He says he's been trying to drum into his people that when the delivery notice is signed by the person it's intended for and the person trying to pick up has ID with the VERY SAME ADDRESS on it, odds are that they're not dealing with a random thief. He says he'll keep pounding until the message gets through.

5 Good News / Bad News:
The bad news is that Adelphi Station is not one of his.
The good news is that Adelphi Station is KNOWN to be a problem and it
will be the target of special attention to try to improve it. In fact,
they're brining in a new manager from Queens with a directive to
FIX IT. I gave Mr. Warner a printout of the first thread talking about
problems as well as the emails I recieved and he said he'll get a copy
to the Area Manager who's responsible for Adelphi Station.

If you continue to have problems (at least in Pratt delivery area):
Ms. Robinson 718-622-4617
Archie Warner 718-348-3206

bifteck · October 2006

AWESOME! Way to be!

sweet tea · October 2006

thanks!

young hovacraft · October 2006

Nice work. Thanks.

I had to cancel a magazine subscription last year after they refused to re-send issues that I never received. After the 6th time, they told me enough was enough and asked me to cancel.

boygabriel · October 2006

Thanks a lot for the great info. Good work.

I have two significant things to contribute to the conversation. Good friends of mine who have lived in the Pratt area for about 5 years told me the following:

- The Pratt Post Office is a training post office. IE we get all the newbies. My friend found this out a few years ago when trying desperately to track down a package that the p.o. blatantly lost.

- A few years ago my friend moved out of the nabe (he had since moved back). When he moved out the Pratt office said they didn't do new-address-mail-forwarding.

Man I hope this stuff isn't true, however these people are good friends of mine have no reason to lie/exaggerate.

bifteck · October 2006

I just filed a change-of-address form in person at the Pratt office on Saturday, and they accepted it with no explanation or excuses, so I don't believe the latter point is true.

boygabriel · October 2006

bifteck wrote: I just filed a change-of-address form in person at the Pratt office on Saturday, and they accepted it with no explanation or excuses, so I don't believe the latter point is true.

Very glad to hear it.

nathan · November 2006

for queencallipygos's info.

anonymous · November 2006

I was on Fulton Street near the post office parking lot and could hear one employee yelling at another about being a slacker and telling the alleged slacker that the new manager coming from Queens won't put up with such behavior (though the choice of words relating to this anecdote were a bit different :roll: )

queencallipygos · December 2006

Bumping with a question --

Nathan, when you met with a supervisor, did you meet with someone concerning the post office on Myrtle Avenue? Because that's the one my roommate has a couple horror stories about --

1. Friends in Queens told her they had a card they sent her returned for "improper address." They re-mailed the card to THE VERY SAME ADDRESS and it got delivered.

2. She left early to mail some packages yesterday morning, based on the fact that the posted hours are 8 am to 5 pm. However, when she got there, she found that the building itself opens at 8, but the windows do not open until 9:30. No one she spoke to could explain sufficiently why the building itself opened an hour and a half before the windows service did.

To whom should we speak? To the post masters whose number you mention?

boygabriel · December 2006

More fun with the Pratt Station:

Earlier this month my girlfriend's grandfather sends her a package from National Geographic. It never arrives. Grandfather calls NG, they say delivery was attemped and left a slip. We never got a slip.

My gf goes to the post office to find out where the package is. The guy at the package window looks around for a while, can't find anything, then tells her he needs a tracking number. My gf calls her grandfather and gets a tracking number. My gf goes back to Pratt Station with the tracking number. The guy at the package window says he can't find the package even though his records show they receieved it.

That's it. No explanation. Nothing resembling competence. Just a "we can't find it, buh-bye"

What a total hell-hole. I wish pestilience upon that building.

queencallipygos · December 2006

Uh-oh, Boygabriel, that does not bode well -- she got a package slip for a package she knows is from a close friend in Australia, and tried to pick that up while she was there at 8 -- she wouldn't be able to get it after hours, and is leaving town today. So we've made me her agent, and I'm going to be trying to get it this afternoon or tomorrow morning. We're a little worried about it getting sent back to Australia.

Now I'm a little worried -- we filled out the slip correctly naming me as her agent, but now I'm worried that that'll just confuse people.

boygabriel · December 2006

Packages get sent back after 10 days, I think.

But that's only if the stupid post office can even find it to begin with.

God I hate that place

queencallipygos · December 2006

Boygabriel wrote: Packages get sent back after 10 days, I think.

No, I know, that's precisely what we're worried about. She wouldn't get back until after the ten days are over, and I'm now worried that I'm going to go in there and they'll say "sorry, we can't give it to you because you're not her."

boygabriel · December 2006

Or they'll say, "sorry we can't give it to you because we don't want to"

or "sorry, we can't give it to you because we lost it"

nathan · December 2006

Yes, Queen,

Pratt Station is the one on Myrtle near the Associated. If you're having heinous problems, you should call Mr. Warner (phone listed above) and feel free to reference my meeting with him.

On second thought give Ms. Robinson a chance to resolve it before calling Warner, but if she isn't helpful, don't hesitate to call him.

queencallipygos · December 2006

The latest:

Well, I had my photo ID, and I had the package slip signed by my roommate officially designating me as an agent of the package addressee.

And they wouldn't give it to me, because I did not also have HER photo ID.

It's an international package, and they swear they hold international packages for 30 days. The soonest she can get it is on the 6th. So we shall see.

nathan · December 2006

You should DEFINITELY call Mr. Warner. This is one of the specific topics I discussed with him. He acknowledged that under the circumstances you're describing, you should have been given the package.

There's no reasonable reason for them to expect you to have HER photo ID.

queencallipygos · December 2006

Nathan,

Should I reference your name at all?

And should I mention that my roommate said that she's thinking of going "to the media" because she's so fed up with this whole situation?

nathan · December 2006

No problem with you referencing my name and reminding him of our meeting on October 26th.

I don't imagine the "media" angle will be very productive. They know there's already been media and say they're working on it.

Just my humble opinion.

ev965 · December 2006

I have never been given a package even when the original recipient signs the form and I have my ID--in Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, Upper East Side Manhattan, etc. They always say I must present the recipient's ID. The USPS employee in Manhattan explained they need proof that the signature on the card belongs to the recipient. Otherwise, how do they know I didn't just sign his name? Well, okay, then the form is badly designed and they shouldn't give us incorrect instructions, I said. He agreed, and he shrugged. --E.

boygabriel · December 2006

Nathan wrote: No problem with you referencing my name and reminding him of our meeting on October 26th.

I don't imagine the "media" angle will be very productive. They know there's already been media and say they're working on it.

Just my humble opinion.

I also don't think people respond well to threats. At least, not a the beginning of a "discussion"

just my humble opinion, too

nathan · December 2006

To ev965,

Just to clarify, both the area manager and the Pratt station manager agreed that when you show up with a signed slip and your photo ID has the EXACT SAME ADDRESS including apartment number, the post office should give you the package. The odds that you're stealing your roommate/spouse/partner's packages are remote.

queencallipygos · December 2006

Nathan wrote: To ev965,

Just to clarify, both the area manager and the Pratt station manager agreed that when you show up with a signed slip and your photo ID has the EXACT SAME ADDRESS including apartment number, the post office should give you the package. The odds that you're stealing your roommate/spouse/partner's packages are remote.

And my address was exactly the same as hers. So I still should have gotten it.

I'll probably call tomorrow.

bklyntransplant · January 2007

I feel a bit bad resurrecting this thread, but......this afternoon, when I got home, there was so much mail shoved into my mailbox that the door wouldn't shut. Basically, the carrier just stuck an entire bundle of random mail (entire bundle = more than 2 dozen pieces of mail, in the giant USPS rubber band) straight from his cart into my mailbox. Most of the mail wasn't even for my street and none of it was for anyone who lives in this building.

WTF.

queencallipygos · January 2007

...why feel bad for resurrecting it?

Over at clintonhillblog.com, there are a couple posts about wanting to do something about the state of the mail here. (My own story ended with my roommate finally getting her package a week ago; she's going to handle calling in the complaint, she said.) Maybe we ALL need to call Mr. Warner, whom Nathan spoke to.

bklyntransplant · January 2007

I don't mind bringing the odd letter or magazine next door or downstairs, but I live n Fulton Street and should not be getting mail destined for Myrtle. I have started having a few things (magazines, some bills) delivered to my office because the carrier has been so unreliable.

I left a message for Mr Warner this afternoon. :-(

bolletje · January 2007

Once again, I had a package returned to sender without ever having received a package slip. Grr...

bklyntransplant · January 2007

An English friend of mine finds it extraordinarily funny that mail delivery is being foiled by something called Prat(t) Station.

Today, rather than shoving the random bundle of mail into my mailbox, the postal carrier simply threw it on the floor in a heap. The only item in there even remotely mine was a "Current Occupant" postcard.

boygabriel · January 2007

BklynTransplant wrote: Most of the mail wasn't even for my street and none of it was for anyone who lives in this building.

WTF.

The employees as this post office are so lazy and incompetent it's unreal.

My friends moved out of the neighborhood a few months ago. They told me that about 10% of their mail has been forwarded (to their new place in p-heights). They still reguarly go back to see their landlord at their old place on St. James to pick up the other 90% of the mail.

Unbelievable. The Pratt Post Office simply does not do mail forwarding.

I expect as much goverment incompetence as the next guy, but this is truly above and beyond.

We should start referring to the Pratt P.O. as the FEMA P.O.

queencallipygos · January 2007

Boygabriel wrote:
I expect as much goverment incompetence as the next guy, but this is truly above and beyond.

To get serious for a moment -- yes, it is above and beyond. So let's do something about it.

Nathan, have you heard anything more from Mr. Warner about the situation? Should people at the Pratt Station be complaining to Ms. Robinson, or Mr. Warner? (More in the saga of our mail -- remember the roommate who had the packages that I couldn't pick up? She has a new issue now -- she is now at Kings County courthouse because she received a summons for "ignoring two jury duty summons." She never actually GOT either jury duty summons. So Pratt post office is so bad it is actually causing its patrons LEGAL difficulties.)

Seriously -- let's do something. Call the managers? Call 311? Nathan led the charge, but it looks like it's still got a ways to go -- let's all move from speaking up in here to speaking up to the powers that be. Ideas?

Mail Problems in Ft. Greene Improving??

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories