Our friends over at the Galen Institute provide the latest in “Stupid Postal Office Tricks.”
Seems the post office where they maintain the organizations PO box was relocated down the street. But rather than number all the PO boxes in the new building the same as all the PO boxes in the old building, the geniuses decided that every PO box customer had to get an entirely new PO box number. Thus, because the post office decided to move a few blocks up the street, all of the PO box customers now must suffer the expense of printing up all new business cards, stationary, brochures, etc.
And some people think the same bureaucratic mindset that runs the postal monopoly should run the nation’s health care system?
Posted on December 12th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
The USPS knows best, RIGHT?
1) In 1995, our law firm occupied an entire floor of an office building. Our firm, in turn, subletted small amounts of office space to four other entities. When we left that building, the P.O. decided it could only forward mail addressed to someone previously located in our office suite to whichever single address we designated–but there could only be one forwarding address and the other four tenants were out of luck.
2) Our law firm moved into a new building and our name–along with the names of our individual lawyers–was posted on the “menue board” in the building lobby. We soon learned that mail, iincluding highly importatn court papers, were being returned as “unknown” or “unable to deliver” because the sender did not include our suite number as part of our address. When we tried to explain how there was no way to force a clour tclerk to write our address in a particular way, were were told that the mail deliverer to our building was following the P.O. regulations and that was that.
My friends, we have a serious problem. Those witty folks that we elect to represent us know well the problems we have with government involvement in public business e.g., Education, Post Office anti U.S. disUnited Nations, et.al.
After these witty people are elected they seem to automatically become cretins. The electorate can count on having their priorities ignored.
I feel so much better now that I have heard I am not alone. A car crashed into the front of my small town post office, ending up against the back wall of the lobby and wiping out a number of P O Boxes, including my business mail box. After several months, the USPS reopened the lobby, during which time I had to call for my mail during their limited business hours. They renumbered the boxes. You guessed it….my large size box was now one digit different. Besides all of my office supplies and advertising, I am having to deal with 31 states agencies, where I am licensed, to change my address. Each state has different procedures, of course, and limited time whithin which I have to file my change. I was lucky though. The box with my old number is the smallest size and located next to my new numbered box, so I rented it over the protests of the local Postmaster who could not see the need for me to rent 2 boxes. They couldn’t prevent me from having two boxes, I guess, or they would have done that, but they wouldn’t put my original number on the larger box that I originally had.
Yeah working for government means that once you pass probation as long as you appear you don’t actually have to do any work and can be a mean sob about it!
Twenty plus years ago I had an IRS lien against me. More than a year after I paid it off I was refused a VA home loan because I was listed as having an IRS lien. When I inquired about this to the IRS I was informed that I must SUBMIT A REQUEST TO HAVE THE LIEN REMOVED! Simply paying it off wasn’t enough. I guess there are some people who want to keep them.
I wonder how long those ‘Forever Stamps’ will be good for….
Whether you believe it or not, we don’t just do “nothing” all day after probation. Getting your mail to you is a lot of work. No one knows whats going on behind the walls of those postal boxes in your office.
First of all, the mail for all carrier routes and post office boxes has to be sequenced. The clerk who does that comes in at 2:30 in the morning where I’m from. Parcels are tossed to the carriers hampers while flats, which are magazines, parcels and all those damn manila folders people send, are sorted out of tubs into new tubs and then passed to the carriers case.
It’s a lot of grunt work, believe it or not. Just because you see those clerks at the desk standing around, talking and joking doesn’t mean there aren’t many people hard at work in the back. And most of those window clerks went through years of the stuff we’re doing in back before they were promoted to the window.
Don’t think just because the office hours read 10-5 that it means that’s all we work. There’s just about someone always there at the office in back. Sorting and passing out your crappy catalogues and bulk spam mail you accidentally order when screwing around online.
As for the guy complaining about the four tenants in one suite. That mail carrier is saving his ass. He could get fired if something ends up in the wrong hands. And don’t think you wouldn’t be screaming your ass off if some document ended up in some goofball’s hands. Have the letters addressed correctly and fully or you’re not gonna get them period. Return to sender, UTF. Ha!