USPS

Most rude condescending staff I have dealt with. Bald African American guy with glasses was absolutely awful. You guys have secure cushy jobs and should be grateful for them but you certainly don’t act like it. I would rather pay extra and take my business to UPS or FedEx where the staff are always helpful and friendly.

I live in old town and whenever I have gotten a package slip in the past, it has said to pick it up at the Wythe Street location. For the past three years, every time I have gone to do so, I have been abrasively told that my package wasn’t there without anyone bothering to look. When I insist, they invariably look and find it.
This past Friday I got a tracking update that delivery had failed and that my package was available for pickup and a note had been left. There was no note. I went to the post office anyway, tracking info in hand. Big mistake. The postal workers were all rude and I was told that without a slip, I was wasting everyone’s time. One man also attempted to blame the snow, which had fallen a week prior, and informed me that if i hadnt plowed my walk, i couldnt expect packages. I informed him that my sidewalk IS clear and was told i must be lying because then I woyld have received my package. I asked the woman at the counter if she could please just look, and she told me that this wasn’t my post office (?) and I had to leave.
Several baffling tracking updates later («business closed» even though I’m a residential address, «receptacle blocked» even though we got other packages that day and one of us was home the entire day) I called the national line. They confirmed that this absolutely is my post office and are unsure why I am being told otherwise, and opened an investigation into what has happened to my insured, two day shipping package.
I went back to the post office this morning. Unfortunately I ended up with the same lady. I calmly explained that the tracking once again said a slip was left, but I could find no slip. She asked for my ID, I gave it to her, and she went around the corner for less than 3 seconds before telling me it was not there and this wasn’t my post office. I told her the package was insured and that I had paid for two day shipping and am now on day 10 from the date the tracking shows as received. I also told her that the national customer service says this is my post office. She wrote down a phone number without explaining what it was for and said, «we do not serve your zip code» and called the next customer up.
The phone numerous has a local area code and appears to not be connected to anything. I’m still not able to figure out what it was for.

I live in Old Town, Alexandria in a condominium complex. We have not received any mail since Tuesday, January 26, 2016. I understand there was a snowstorm but it has been 4 days since it stopped snowing.

I think people tend to only review this when something bad has happened, so I’d like to provide a counterpoint. I appreciate that this USPS location keeps customer-​friendly hours, and the staff here have always been nice to me. In addition, in the 5 years I’ve lived here, my mail has always arrived on time.

1. Service can be extremely rude. I don’t have experience sending packages and didn’t know what the steps were. I politely asked for assistance; I was berated and sent away. I tried to ask a parting question regarding what form I’d have to fill out, but she refused to answer, saying that her job was just to mail out the packages.
Well blow me over, why is she even here then? Thanks, American Postal Workers Union!
I only got my package mailed out because a fellow customer — who was in a hurry herself — kindly walked me through the process and patiently explained my options. (I was about to go home and just go to the UPS store tomorrow.)
2. No pens. It’s a post office with more forms than an IRS office. Yet there isn’t a single pen, as all of the public-​use pens have been stolen/​broken and haven’t been replaced for years.

Zero fucking stars! The man was rude and was checking my papers like i was tryibg to steal my own damn package! Then they couldnt find my package and gave me the wrong information on how to find it. The old bald guy rocking a earring has the worst customer service ever!

The Asian lady is kind of rude and I don’t like how she talks to customers. Maybe she just doesn’t know any better.

If you have a new build property (such as Potomac Yard) don’t expect to have your mail box installed for two weeks much less have your address recognized in the USPS system for a month after you close (which means no forwarding address and no package delivery). The staff a this post office are a piece of work. I had to call repeatedly for updates on both getting the keys to the new mail box and about getting the address entered into the system.
I eventually had to stalk the mailbox installation guy on a Saturday — who installed the boxes a week later than promised — and demand keys immediately. At the same time I asked when I could start receiving mail and was told the following Monday. Over that weekend I went online to verify the address on USPS’s website and found no record and therefore mail would not be delivered at the address the following Monday. So I called the post office that Monday to ask about this and was told the address would be entered that day and would be recognized in the USPS system within one week. That week and came and went and the address was still not showing up in the system. I called the following Tuesday (Monday was a Federal holiday) only to find out that apparently there is only one person in the entire post office at this location that can enter addresses into the system (no back-​fill staff???) and she was on vacation the previous week so it just didn’t get done. Now I’ve been speaking to the supervisor every time I call so why did she lie to me the previous week? Anyway, I was told the person was back in the office and it would be done that day and would show up in 2 – 3 business days online. Obviously mistrusting of this information since these people are experts in lying and talking in circles I called again today to verify the address was entered yesterday and was conveniently told the supervisor was «in the field.» Which makes no sense. And again, ushered off the phone with a promise the supervisor will call me back. LOL, I won’t hold my breath.
There are at least 10 new residences in this development that have been without mail delivery services since late September. This is just nuts and totally unacceptable. And the worst part about it is there is literally nothing anyone can do about it.

I like that this post office has late hours, like being open until 4pm on Saturday, and 6pm Mon-​Fri. The staff is pretty nice, and there’s usually a woman there who expedites the line by addressing basic questions and handling pick-​ups. Even so, on most days, at 5:45ish pm, expect a fairly long wait because so many people are in line. Come earlier if you can!
I don’t think they have passport service but there are lots of cards and gift wrapping materials, mostly double-​triple retail, but it might be worth it if you don’t have time to shop around. Parking is adequate so, it’s better than the one with no parking on North Washington St, but I might go to the one in Delray on Mt. Vernon Ave if I was in between, because there probably wouldn’t be a line in Delray. Both of those alternatives have more limited hours.

I wish there was a way to give negative points. Holy smokes… If you’re just dropping off mail or have a simple request everything is cool. If you need anything and I mean anything past these simple services may God help you!
I try very hard to avoid this post office if I can and I suggest you do as well.

Is there anything more tragically futile than writing surly internet reviews of the post office? I DON’T EVEN CARE LET’S DO THIS.
– This P.O. LOST a piece of certified mail for which I received a pickup slip at my house (hope it wasn’t important… which is a joke because important stuff is what certified mail is FOR… it’s been over a year and I still have no idea what it was)
– Some old guy behind the counter was incredibly snappish with me when I went in a second time to see if they’d found my certified mail, which they had TOLD ME TO DO. Old guy snarled at me about how my slip was too old and they don’t hold things that long. Which, okay, but, it wasn’t old the first time I went in trying to pick up that item.
– When you go in after hours to use the automated kiosk in the outer lobby, there are almost never any Priority Mail packaging materials in the whole display/​storage thing that is meant to hold them. It just sits there empty. For a while I blamed myself, that I was going too late at night and just everyone beat me to it, so I started trying to go early in the evenings shortly after close, and nope, they just never fill the thing.
– Last straw; today the automated kiosk was broken, so I went inside to buy stamps, but I had my dog with me, and they said «the dog has to go outside,» which amounted me to kicking me out because I was *not* going to tie my dog up and leave her unattended to stand in the 12-​person line – wouldn’t be that bothered by tying her up outside to use the automated kiosk since it’s 5 feet inside the glass front doors where I could keep an eye on her, but nope, sorry, I will not be cooling my heels in a ridiculous line for half an hour while hoping my dog is still where I left her outside. I replied to the guy that none of this would be an issue if they’d fix their kiosk and then left; a man walking out at the same time who heard the exchange told me the kiosk has been broken for days now. And then I walked home with my unsent mail still in my hand.
So basically, I’m not in any way some shifty Tea Party type like the dude who wrote a review of this P.O. all OMG GOVERNMENT IS EVIL AND WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT LET WORKERS TAKE GOVERNMENT BREAKS NOOOOOOO, but nonetheless I am quivering with excitement for the day that the city moves forward with its plan to turn this entire block into a park, and begins demolition on this post office. I will be there with popcorn and Milk Duds.

I don’t know what it is about post offices and other kinds of mailing facilities, but there’s something about them that makes me feel so at home. Maybe I was part of the Pony Express in a past life… It’s literally the only place that I don’t mind the noise, bureaucracy, and endless lines.
Anyway, this is a pretty standard post office. Though the Del Ray USPS is closer, they don’t have a self-​serve kiosk which is super convenient because I can never make the Post Office’s wacky hours (not wacky, but I can almost never drop something off to the counter because I work beyond their hours). The only thing I don’t like about it is that they either 1) don’t scan the packages dropped off in that mailbox or 2) don’t check the mailbox daily. I’ll print labels online and attach them and try to drop them off, but it’s not very punctual. I have dropped things off on a Monday and they won’t be scanned into Dulles until Thursday or so. It really hurts my eBay ratings. :(
The one Saturday I did manage to make it in on time, an older man at the counter helped me. He was really nice (though almost to the point of creepy-​flirty) asking about who these packages were going to. They all were addressed to three different males in three different states, and he joked that I was cheating on all three of them without them knowing. Innocent enough, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable to have anyone look at my mail like that if it’s not their business.
If I need a package scanned in promptly (they scan the label immediately as they accept it at the counter) I’ll send my boyfriend to drop packages off at the counter. Once, he got the same older man helping him and he said he was super rude/​dismissing. He said he was only ever nice to girls, so just a heads up if you’re interested.
This is a larger post office, but it’s never too crowded… Unless you go around the holiday season, then, like every other post office, it’s full of long lines and wait times and people who don’t know how to address their packages. Even the outside kiosk has a line! Though they’ll occasionally send an employee out there to click through the screens and that helps a bit with the lines, but you’re still looking at at least 20 minutes.
Other than those times, it’s a pretty standard post office. Somewhat clean (though the outside with the kiosk always has papers on the tables/​floor) but still has the dinginess of a municipal facility. Not particularly impressed, leaning more towards disappointed, but I remain hopeful.

Magic Mark Words of Wisdom (MMWOW) #2: Government takes whatever the private sector can do better and worsens it.
A visit to the USPS is not expected to be pleasant. Like going to the dentist, you don’t want to go there but sometimes you have to…
Based on the above, I think it’s to be expected that people are going to have negative experiences, perhaps on a random basis. It’s government.
My own experience at this branch — based on approximately 12 visits over a period of perhaps 5 or 6 years through today’s date — has been positive, which contrasts with what I see a lot of other reviews.
The people there are always nice to me (in between government breaks) and helpful.
Parking is fine off-​peak — free street parking in front, and a parking lot to the side.
I have experienced worse. Much worse.

Slow as molasses. Been here 10 mins and already witnessed an African American woman behind the counter scream at a gentleman who clearly did not speak English well, and the old white guy yell at another customer. Really nice.