United States Post Office

I have a love/​hate relationship with this particular post office. It’s the central post office, located right on St. Paul in downtown Milwaukee. Because it’s so centrally located, I would expect there to be more staff available throughout the day, especially around high mail/​peek times, but that is often not the case.
This is one of the places you can register and submit paperwork for your passport, but it’s hard to make an appointment since they hardly ever answer their phone, and because you still have to wait in whatever line is present even WITH an appointment.
I know it’s not the fault with the workers. I really appreciate all of the work they do, especially since there have been so many cuts in funding. The work they do is absolutely important. I just wish the higher ups would hire more people so that their current employees weren’t so stressed with juggling multiple tasks plus taking care of customers in line!

A post office, 5 starts? Yes I’ve been here a few times and never had to wait long, compared to other post offices.
Friendly staff and quick service. The way it should be everywhere.

No lines
This post office gets four stars because they have one the Automated Postal Centers. Many others don’t. This makes is very convenient to print postage if I didn’t do it at home. They also keep free packaging materials for Priority Mail well stocked. The APC can also print out sheets of stamps, yay!
If you’re dropping mail on deadline you get the latest pickup in the town at this spot.

Location: 4 out of 5
This is the main Post Office in Milwaukee, and luckily for me, it’s an easy 10 minute walk from where I live now that the St. Paul bridge is open again.
Automated Services: 5 out of 5
Commensurate with what you’d find at any other kiosk: buy stamps, buy shipping labels, etc. It’d be neat if they could somehow dispense money orders from these machines, but that might have some logistical difficulties. I’ve never had to wait for the APC in a queue, and whatever software updates they’ve made in the last several months makes it easier to mail letters, as the 4 digit locator number after the zip code can now be included on the shipping label. Luckily, I’ve never run into a situation where they’ve been low on supplies, but the majority of what I need comes in the form of the priority mail flat rate or priority mail express flat rate envelopes.
Customer Service: 4 out of 5
Decidedly friendly for a post office, considering that postal workers can carry a stigma stereotype. The ladies that work the night shift are always really friend (8pm is the cutoff to get stuff out overnight, and I like taking my stuff in person to get it scanned to ensure that there is a record of me mailing on time). Scott (the gentleman who is hard of hearing) is actually my favorite employee. Since I am capable of typing almost as quickly as I speak, communicating is not an issue via his type pad. Some people may be wary or nervous or put off by his condition, but how is the process any different than ordering food online? Anyway — he’s quick and efficient (and especially so with the pedestrian requests like first class mail), and always mouths «Thank you» as I leave. Remember, a little bit goes a long way, and greeting him and saying goodbye to him or making small talk in a way that you would to a friend probably makes his work day feel less… I dunno… isolated.
Ambiance and Décor: 3 out of 5
Your typical old school type post office setting. Somewhat dank, somewhat dark, somewhat «this would be a cool setting for a scary movie.»
Overall: 4 out of 5

This is the main Post Office and has some services available 24 hours. They have an Automated Postal Center that which I used a lot when I used to work 2^nd shift. For the most part the Automated Postal Center was functioning. However, I didn’t like that they did not stock up on all of the Priority Mailing Boxes and other mailing supplies. If you have a PO Box, you can get your packages anytime of night which is very convenient.

I mail a lot of of packages for my business and especially international ones. The staff at this location is very helpful and friendly. The service is always fast and efficient. By far worth the trip downtown. It also is extremely helpful that it is open until 8 pm.