The United States Postal

[Lady's Human]

I agree that mailing a notice out to a residence that doesn't receive mail at the moment is lame.

But, really, if there is a washout, don't you just presume things won't be business as usual? If we got a foot of snow, I would presume the mail wouldn't be delivered. If my street was closed off for some reason...no mail, no trash, no deliveries, etc.

Where you expecting a lottery check or something?

1) The washout really isn't that big. If they wanted to deliver they could. There's a small gully in front of the mailbox, nothing I can't negotiate. There are small areas all over the road which were washed out, but the road is still passable.

2) A foot of snow? "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." If snow is delaying your mail, you need to call the postmaster and complain, especially living in the snow belt.

3) The street wasn't closed. It's a rural area, you can get up and down the street just fine.

4) In your line of work, you should realize that certain documents have deadlines for delivery and return to the sender.

It embarrasses me to no end that the United States Postal cannot deliver on their promise and charter, which is delivery to every address, every day. This was hardly Katrina.

All I would expect is a phone call, even a robocall, saying that mail couldn't be delivered because ________ fill in the blank.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

"Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

that was never an official Post Office slogan. Back in the 1890's the architect who designed the New York City General Post Office included it in the building design, but the PO never claimed it.

It was originally said by the Greek historian Herodotus about 2500 years ago and referred to the Persian mounted postal couriers during the war between the Greeks and Persians about 500 B.C.

[Lady's Human]

Of that I'm well aware, however the Postal SERVICE is a delivery SERVICE which is required by law to provide certain services to every address in the US every........single.......day. Excluding natural disasters, which this wasn't, they (we) have an obligation to the public to meet their expectations.

I work for them, and it embarrasses me when they fail to meet their legal requirements, and then give lame answers and excuses when customers inquire about the poor service they receive.

[Cataholic]

There are deadlines in many of the things I do. BUT, there is usually a civil rule that addresses the oddities of life, "usual", "as practical", etc.

I would never call the postal service, trash pick up, newspaper deliverer, utility company, etc., over issues such as non-delivery. And, yeah, that extends to utility companies. We had a huge power outage 1.5 years ago, and many, many, many were without power for days and weeks. Lost a ton of frozen food (for which I did put in a claim through insurance, LOL). I figured they knew we were out of power, and were working on it.

But, when it comes to the mail? Nah...outside of the several magazines I subscribe to, I don't get hung up on what is in the mail. That doesn't mean others don't...I know plenty of people that know the dates they get things delivered, and heaven forbid if the thing is delayed a few days.

We are all allowed to have our 'hot topics', mine just isn't the mail.

[Lady's Human]

If you were working with another professional who was absolutely incompetent, yet was the front of the firm you worked for, would you quietly stand by and watch, or would you address the situation?

I don't do much of anything quietly. The management of the Postal has absolutely destroyed the service, and while I truly enjoy what I do for them, it is an extremely embarrassing situation when someone complains to me about the service they get from my employer.

[pomtzu]

"Neither rain, nor sleet", etc - all well and good within reason.

But when the State Highway Department throws snow a couple of feet high in front of your mailbox, is it the obligation of the U.S. Postal Service to clear it away so they can put a bunch of advertising circulars in your box? Or is it the obligation of the homeowner to clear it away if they want their mail delivered safely??

Neither the post office or the homeowner has any obligation to keep the area by the mailbox cleaned out at all times. I sure wouldn't want to see my mail carrier stuck in the snow in front of my house because she felt it was her obligation to deliver the mail to me everyday, regardless of whether it was safe to do so, or not.

[Lady's Human]

"Neither rain, nor sleet", etc - all well and good within reason.

But when the State Highway Department throws snow a couple of feet high in front of your mailbox, is it the obligation of the U.S. Postal Service to clear it away so they can put a bunch of advertising circulars in your box? Or is it the obligation of the homeowner to clear it away if they want their mail delivered safely??

Neither the post office or the homeowner has any obligation to keep the area by the mailbox cleaned out at all times. I sure wouldn't want to see my mail carrier stuck in the snow in front of my house because she felt it was her obligation to deliver the mail to me everyday, regardless of whether it was safe to do so, or not.

It is the obligation of the homeowner to keep the area in front of the mailbox cleared in case of snow. That's not even an argument, and the USP has made that clear to the customers, in the flier which is supposed to be sent to customers when there's an issue with delivery. (Your mailbox was blocked yesterday, we were unable to deliver, please keep XXX amount of clearance around the box when clearing your driveway.....ad nauseum)

Snow happens.

Carriers are also obligated to ensure that they are safe while doing their job.

POSTMASTERS are supposed to make sure their carriers are being safe, and if there is an issue with delivery at an address, they are supposed to follow up on it with the carrier, and if need be, the customer. In this case, where there were probably several boxes with similar issues in the area, the USP should have either notified customers via the media or taken the time to call affected customers. It's a town of about 2,000 people, which equates to roughly 500-600 homes, of which probably 50-75 were affected by washouts, if that many. It isn't that hard to pick up the phone and call, especially considering the density of management to employees in the USP.

[Cataholic]

If you were working with another professional who was absolutely incompetent, yet was the front of the firm you worked for, would you quietly stand by and watch, or would you address the situation?

The professional rules of conduct apply here, and I would be guided by them.

But, if it were like what you are discussing, a temporarly 'glitch' in delivery, I would sit and wait it out.

Maybe I get too many bills and would welcome a stoppage in service? At least I would have a ready defense for non-payment, "I didn't get your bill until yesterday".