've been a member of this community for over 10 years, and the post office is only one block from…read moremy house. I've always enjoyed walking there and building great relationships with the staff and clerks. Our former clerk, John, was amazing, absolutely superb, and he is greatly missed.
Unfortunately, since John retired, my experiences with the new clerk have been increasingly negative. I have tried to be extremely patient and understanding, but today's experience was completely unacceptable.
I frequently send packages to my Marine son and his wife, who are stationed in Okinawa. Every time I bring in one of these packages, the clerk (James) openly complains about having to process it. He regularly states, loudly and in front of me, how much he hates dealing with these packages and how frustrating the system is. He has also repeatedly tried to direct me to the main post office, which would require me to drive approximately 25 minutes out of my way.
Today, I arrived about 30 minutes before the post office opened and waited. The clerk arrived approximately five minutes late. When he saw me, he rolled his eyes and commented, "Oh, not another international package."
After spending approximately 15-20 minutes struggling with the system, he stated that he couldn't process the package. I calmly pointed out that this happens nearly every time I come in and suggested that perhaps he could contact the main office and ask for additional training or assistance with the system.
At that point, he became enraged. He began yelling and shouting at me and then took the package intended for my Marine son and threw it down on the table.
I understand that he may have been frustrated with the system, but that is absolutely no way to treat a customer. Nor is it appropriate to handle a customer's package that way. Processing mail is part of the job, and after approximately a year and a half in this position, it seems reasonable to seek assistance or additional training if the system continues to be a problem. I also know that I cannot be the only person in our community mailing international or APO/military packages.
He continued yelling at me as I left the post office crying. I cannot believe that a USPS clerk would treat a customer this way or show such disrespect toward a customer's mail, particularly a package being sent to a Marine stationed overseas.
What makes this especially disappointing is that I genuinely love our small neighborhood post office, and I am grateful that we still have one in our community. I know that smaller post offices are increasingly at risk of being consolidated or phased out, which is one of the reasons I have intentionally refrained from making complaints since John retired. I want to support our local post office and see it remain part of our neighborhood.
However, today's behavior crossed a line. After trying to be patient for a very long time, I can no longer overlook repeated rudeness, hostility toward customers, unwillingness to properly handle routine postal services, and, most importantly, today's yelling and disrespectful handling of my son's package.
Our community deserves a postmaster who cares about the people he serves and takes pride in the responsibility that comes with the position. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience with the current postmaster. Today's incident was an absolute disappointment. Update: Later this afternoon, I spoke in person with the postmaster of Westminster, and he was very kind, supportive, and helpful. Apparently, and unfortunately, my experience is not an outlier. I support the USPS and their services. The majority are lovely, and not like James.
