First, The Pismo Beach post office is one block from Arroyo Grande! For those who live in Shell Beach it's a 6 mile drive to the southern border of Pismo, while it's less than 8 miles to the Madonna Rd post office in San Luis Obispo. It's frustrating when you get notices to pick up a package, then go through that long slow line to show them your notice. Cluster mailboxes are the worst. You get neighbors mail and they get yours. Last month I didn't receive my Directv bill. We used to have a Shell Beach post office on Shell Beach Rd. It's still there, but offers hardly any service. "Just stick it in the mailbox outside" was the comment when I last walked in. My solution? I opened a P.O. Box on Marsh Street in downtown San Luis. read more

Another example of government employees being paid to do nothing. Don't bother with a forwarding request, they will ignore it. They won't call you back. They will deliver your package to the wrong place. Rene, the "postmaster" is pretty useless as well. No wonder the postal service is on the brink of death. read more

I had recently moved and had not put a change of address in with the USPS yet. I phoned the Pismo Beach location and explained that a package was delivered to my old address by accident. They offered to get in touch with the new tenant and see if they could retrieve the package for me. They did and all was well. I cannot say I expected that service from the postal service or even the private companies. They truly went above and beyond. read more

I have had countless items that say "Do Not Bend" folded in half and put in the mailbox, most significantly my Bachelor's diploma; the carrier constantly puts mail in the box and then crumples it behind a small parcel that is crammed in so tightly that the extraction process is difficult; and most recently, the carrier threw my package down the stairs and dared me to call in to complain about his service, because he stated the supervisors don't care what the carriers do. Sure enough, the supervisor suggested I have packages delivered by UPS or FedEx. Unbelievable. read more

Just got off the phone with Tim from the post office. I work in a pharmacy and was having trouble with a package that was mistakenly marked as invalid address. He took the time to find the package in the office and get it sent out the same day! Was super surprised since most of the post offices I have to deal with are either really rude, lazy or both! I appreciate you Tim! Thank you for your excellent customer service! read more

Mail is not delivered at the same time every day. We have a different carrier every day. Some days we get mail at 9AM some days at 6:30PM and some days not at all. Some days we get 1 piece of mail, some days we get 20 pieces of mail. SLOPPY!! SLOPPY! The supervisor, Lonnie, does not care about the quality of service. The postmaster, Renee, does nothing to correct the situation read more

Do you want to know why the USPS is going bankrupt? Head over to the Post Office on Crest Dr. in Pismo Beach, watch the people behind the counter for 5 minutes and you'll find out why. I've never seen employees move at a slower pace. I've been there several dozen times to mail packages, pick up stamps, etc. and am blown away at how slow and inept they are. During my last visit I came in to renew my passport. All I needed was to get a new photo taken, put my already completed passport renewal form in an envelope and mail it. The lady at the counter told me that the person in charge of taking the passport photo was already working with someone else and that I could go to CVS and get a photo done for cheaper. I thanked her and told her I'd be happy to wait. As I waited another gentleman (who always seems the slowest of the bunch) asked what I was waiting for. I explained that I just needed a passport photo taken. He was standing right next to the camera. He explained that the person who takes the pictures is busy at the moment and that I could go to CVS to have it done. I asked him if he or anyone other than the one lady who handles passports could take a simple picture. He told he wasn't qualified to do so! Can you believe it??!!! He couldn't take a picture because apparently neither he or anyone other than that one lady has been trained to take a picture. Amazing. I looked at him astonished and walked out the door. Needless to say I left, went to CVS where a teenager took my picture, processed it and charged me less than what the post office did. The post office on Crest Dr is Pismo Beach is a joke and is a perfect example of why our government is in shambles. read more

Okay, so now I find out my mail is being sent back! I have a business post office box that was handed over by the previous business owners under a court-ordered receivership takeover. Spoke with a couple of employees at the counter and they told me if that previous owner did not add my name to the box that they would keep sending my mail back. The supervisor then came out and I spoke with him. He said because it was a business box, that I could receive mail there regardless. His two employees at the counter weren't aware of that. Go figure. I then attempted to locate where an expected package was, and the sender told me that he received it back. Obviously, no one at this post office is on the same page. I would love to get a box through the UPS Store, because not only has USPS not been of any help, but they're actually hurting. Also, spoke with another postal employee last week who said she was never aware of the awful smell in the lobby. What planet are these guys on? Maybe that's where they're ratholing all my mail. read more

This Post Office was awful with on-time processing of mail until earlier this year - I could never trust that my packages would be handled the day I dropped them off, and they were sometimes not processed for up to 3 days. I ship using 1st class packages with tracking, and the merchant outlet I sell through gives me bad ratings and charges an extra fee if I ship "late" - meaning the package is not scanned that day. I work, so I would drop packages off either in the outside boxes or the drop inside early in the day and they wouldn't be scanned for at least 24 hours, sometimes even 2-3 days, so I started getting up an hour earlier and driving to SLO on Madonna Rd to drop off my packages - NEVER a late one from SLO. Pismo got their act together earlier this year for regular shipping days so I started using them regularly again - BUT - on the Tuesday after a 3-day weekend the packages are NEVER scanned that day, always at least Wednesday. If you want quick processing of your mail, take it to SLO. read more

I recently moved to Pismo Beach a few months ago and every time I go in to this Pismo Beach Post Office and am served by that older lady (short gray hair, can't remember her name) I get some sort of flack or snippy comment. Like yesterday, I left work early to come in and mail a package. I asked her for a little bit of tape to make sure my package was sealed and she looks at me (while she's trying to close up her till), and says "I'll give you this tape if you promise to come in earlier next time". I was shocked! I mean, are you kidding me? I left work early, came in at 5:15pm with plenty of time to mail my package. But she was too interested in closing up shop and going home. I am appalled, completed appalled. Last week, I got the same nasty lady, and I handed her that yellow card to pick up a package. She took it (without a word) then came back and said it's not ready yet. Huh? Not ready? I asked her "Why did I get the yellow card in my mailbox then?" She looks at me in a huff and says, "Well, it's here but it's piled up on a crate a mile high. I would take me all day to find it." I was like "WHAT?" Is this grump for real?? I mean, seriously. It's like she completely HATES her job and only wants to do the bare minimum. I could go on and on about every experience I've had with this lady but there's just not enough room. And don't get me started about when I came in to get my passport photo/renewal. Of course, I get the same nasty lady who is unwilling or uninterested to help. I really wonder if the manager (or whoever her boss is) knows what she's like to customers. Because while waiting in line, I've heard her treat other people the same way, if not WORSE! I am really disgusted with this local Pismo Beach Post Office (on 100 Crest Dr.) but specifically this lady. Someone, please give her a stern talking to or fire her grumpy a** already. read more