US Post Office

have a Po box there…
went in the first
week to pick up my mail in my box.
notice inside telling
me
to look in another larger box for a
package and given a
key.
got
the (1) one small
box and left.
then returned
an hour
later after researching a shipment I was told that was delivered 3 days
prior. I confirmed the info with the sender.
when I explained to the agent, she went
in the back and returned a minute later with another small box.
when I asked why I haven’t been given it my first trip, making a special trip back, she abruptly told me they probably didn’t see it.
I asked what I should next time to be sure
I am given all my mail, she rudely said I don’t know???
what???
no surprise Post Office is Bankrupt.
no accountability or proper customer service. obviously, not interested in losing their customers…

I just want to give a two thumbs up to the woman who dealt with a rude elderly couple today while I was waiting in line to return a package. I’m not exactly sure what the context of the argument was, but it had something to do with the couple needing to give the post office identification that they were legal residents of Mercer Island. The woman who was helping them kindly told them that the paper that they were using to identify themselves as legal residents was not a valid form of identification. By this time the man was getting riled up and telling the employee that it WAS valid and started shoving papers at her. The woman then replied, yet again in a very calm voice, that there was no reason to throw things at her, that she was going to take care of them and she was only following policy and needed valid identification. Guess what his argument was?
«Do you allow dogs in here?»
«Only service dogs.»
«Well the woman before me brought in a non-​service dog and no one said anything.»
First of all, this employee who came to the counter to help these people was NOT THERE to see this dog come in. She proceeded to tell them that their issue was unrelated to their policies on pets, and the man then replied that he was only telling her about her stringency on policy. Sir, if you are reading this, I just want to say that anything that has to do with picking up mail or doing something that requires identification as a legal resident IS WAY MORE SERIOUS than someone bringing in a dog and getting away with it.
After a couple more minutes of raising his voice at this woman and attempting to convince her that the print out page was valid enough as proof, the woman accompanying this man threw her phone down on the counter top, angrily ripped out a card from her wallet and slammed it on the countertop for the woman to look at. She then proceeded to yell at the employee saying this was the second time that they had to come to the post office to deal with whatever issue they were dealing with. Whatever she gave the woman must have been valid proof because the employee then said, yet again in a calm voice, «Ma’am, if you had this identification all along then why did you allow this argument to continue as long as it did?»
Of course this couple probably left the place thinking the employee was in the wrong. I hope they know that the only people they made fools out of were themselves by raising their voices and disrespecting the person that was attempting to communicate respectfully with them. Seriously, shame on people like these who think they know someone else’s job better than the person who works it and are so full of themselves that they can’t see clearly who is in the wrong. Yes, USPS can be slow at times, but the people who work there certainly DO NOT deserve the ill treatment that this couple showed them.

Purchased a box here to ship something light. Staff seemed friendly but not very knowledgeable about the size of their flat rate priority mail items. After I prepared the shipment in my car, I was assisted by a different clerk who wanted to charge me again for the box.
Even after I showed the receipt, which she acknowledged, she kept the charge on my tab. She indicated that she would also charge me for the tape that I used. She couldn’t explain though how I had used heavier tape than the post office sells made by Scotch which I had purchased at Target and had brought with me but not into the post office building. After I explained that I had used my own tape and did not prepare the package at the post office, she repeated that she was going to charge me for tape. They have a video surveillance camera. At my second response that I did not use USPS tape she admitted that she could not charge me for something I had already purchased elsewhere.
She did explain that USPS had recently changed its shipping rates. For a non-​standard large box (any dimension over 12″), there is a surcharge. This surcharge does NOT show up on the receipt however. What they do is double the weight of the package. Very confusing.
If you go to the USPS website and print your postage there, the difference between the online and in-​store price used to be 10 or 15% perhaps. With the recent price change, the difference for my 2-​day priority mail package of just under 5lb was now 67%, or a whopping $ 25 (without signature confirmation or tracking) vs. $ 15 (with tracking) online.

For a post office, they get the job done. Granted, don’t expect to see the most cheerful or informative staff. Usually feel like I’m irritating them when I ask questions. Bottom line, we need them.

I come here after hours to use the automatic post office machine. I like how the building is always open and there is a good supply of the slips that you may need to mail your item (delivery confirmation etc). There is also the free priority mail boxes as well.
I haven’t been to the counter yet so I don’t know how customer service is. I just like that this lobby is open ²⁴⁄₇.

What can you say; a post office is a post office. They’re not terrible (at least most aren’t) and they will most likely never be great. This location is no exception. Though it might not get as busy as other locations (say the lower Queenanne location by the space needle) it can still take awhile to get your packages sent. Why? The elderly. I love them to death, but, to no fault of their own, they’re just a bit slow when it comes to shipping packages and having a grasp on what to do. Which can make it so that one person can take up to 10 – 15 minutes of the post office workers’ time. My solution? If at all possible, pre-​print your package slip. Go in. Skip the line. Place it on the counter. And leave.