Today was the day that the only customer-facing employee at the branch (this is common, here...as in, I'm not sure if there are any other employees on duty at the same time as the one running the counter) decided to treat every customer who came in as if they should know how to do his job OR if they encountered a problem with the self-service equipment, they were clearly at fault (and not the equipment or the USPS).
Walk in, it's 4:15. Posted signage for counter hours states that closing time is 5. Doors to the office are locked. Staff Dude is trying to help one customer with self-service shipping. A few customers milling about. One says to Staff Dude, perhaps you should post a sign or something on the doors that says you're having technical difficulties and that's why you closed early. He turns on her and launches into a tirade about how he has to do ALL THESE OTHER THINGS TOO, proceeds to itemize all of his outstanding duties, and then says he can't possibly be expected to also post a sign. Customer walks away.
Staff Dude talks to every person using the self-service equipment as if they are completely incompetent and clearly cannot follow directions.
I'm told that I can ship my package using the self-service equipment, and to address my package myself. Every other person walking into the building is just as confused as the next by the locked office doors. Guy who wants a passport application is informed that those are no longer available at the post office. In fact, Staff Dude is not equipped with ANYTHING to help anyone do anything. He is just standing in the foyer like an ill-prepared triage aid.
Customer in front of me in line goes through the EXTRAORDINARILY long process of preparing to ship her package (it's the machine, not her fault). She prints her labels, and discovers that the machine has also printed the label and postage for the preceding person. She gives this to Staff Dude. He barks at someone to put their package in the hamper, PUT THE PACKAGE IN THE HAMPER, PUT THE PACKAGE IN THE HAMPER, over and over again, until the person who obviously had no idea what the PO hamper is finally figures it out, dumps her parcel and runs out of the building while talking to herself.
When I print my postage, I get a printed label and postage for the person who came before me...so clearly, there is something wrong with the machine. But Staff Dude insists to me that my printed material is in dropbox of the machine. I say: no it isn't. He tells me to 'check again.'
That's when I start to get testy. He comes over and says: you got your postage printed, it matches your receipt and WHAT IS THIS? THIS IS SOMEONE ELSE'S POSTAGE!
Staff Dude, I told you that. Why are you stressing ME out?
He barks at me to affix my postage stickers. But the sticker doesn't completely STICK to the box. Staff Dude has disappeared into the back part of the post office behind a door. I can't even ask him for a piece of clear tape to make sure the unstuck portion of the label doesn't cause problems in future handling.
I take the former customer's label, which is just sitting on a random table, to my car. If I can find a pair of scissors in my car, I think, I can cut off a blank part of that label and use it to affix my postage more securely. I neither need nor want to use her label, of course, because that is useless to me. But she is long gone.
Staff Dude appears next to my car in the lot and starts to lecture me about taking someone else's postage. I cannot get a word in edgewise to explain that my postage sticker is not sticking properly. He notices the problem, and starts to bark again: just press it down, JUST PRESS IT DOWN, JUST PRESS IT DOWN. And when it finally becomes clear - to him, because he woudn't trust me to state that it wasn't working - that pressing it does nothing helpful, he says: just give me the package. YOU CAN'T TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S POSTAGE.
And he walks away with my parcel and the unclaimed postage sticker.
I was so stressed by the whole experience I just came home after that.
And I now have no idea if my package will arrive at its destination with an improperly affixed postage sticker.
Look, I don't care if someone is especially nice to me. I just hope that they will do their job and act like they're being paid to be patient with people who come in needing help...because they ARE being paid to be patient with people who need help. Everybody who came into that branch during the 30 minutes I was there needed help, and if they're paying for postage and other services, doesn't it stand to reason that they don't know how to do Staff Dude's job?
And since when is it beyond the pale to ask someone to communicate as effectively as possible with the public, when they SERVE the public?
If you'd like to be barked at as if you are a mentally incompetent 4 year old, just go see that guy at the Chamblee USPS branch. I personally don't know if I'll ever go back. read more