US Post Office

Here’s the thing about the Interbay Carrier Annex… it’s really a no-​frills place to drop your mail off. I have never had any issues when it has come to receiving packages, and I have an eBay business where I pretty much send packages out everyday. Every time I have gone to the annex, the workers have been extremely polite or non-​existent and I just drop my packages off with labels I have already printed out. If you need to buy stamps or need to do anything beyond the scope of dropping packages off to be sent, it’s probably truthfully, a terrible place to go. If you really just want people to leave you the hell alone and make sure your mail gets delivered in a timely manner, this is the spot for you. It’s true that they don’t pick up the telephone when you call, and it’s true that they don’t do anything above and beyond for the customers that live in the surrounding area, but I have lived here a year and this place is close and convenient. Before this, I was going to the Ballard Post Office where I had to deal with a rude asian guy telling me I didn’t know how to send packages. Anything is a step up from that.

I just discovered that ANOTHER piece of my mail wasn’t delivered, three months after I put it in the Magnolia Post Office slot. This time it was a rebate request sent to Kansas. Once it was to my auto insurance company and I was within less than a day of having my insurance canceled because my check didn’t show up. If I hadn’t called the company on another matter, I wouldn’t have known the check wasn’t there until my insurance lapsed. I had to pay by credit card over the phone. It’s taken over a month to get a letter from Chicago. A monthly publication I pay for first class delivery takes nearly two weeks. A payment to a business in Maine was never delivered. I deliberately take my mail into the Post Office in Magnolia rather than put it in the outside boxes but it doesn’t seem to help. I assume my payments are delivered until I receive dunning notices of overdue payment and wonder if I need to contact everyone to whom I mail a check to see if it got there. This is really frustrating and no, I’m not able to pay my bills online, which has its own set of dangers to personal credit.

Whatever you do, don’t call them; their posted number on the USPS site just rings and rings during business hours. After about twenty rings, someone picks the phone up and slams it back down, because you must be interrupting something important, like losing your mail.

I just wanted to take some time out to let people know that Dwayne Thomas is the best mail carrier we have ever had. He makes sure everything’s delivered on time and always with a smile. The best thing, is he always makes time for the kids. They love him. They wait for the truck when he comes, and he honks and they wave before he leaves. Thank you Mr. Thomas, and thank you United States Post Office for hiring him.
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I’m not sure what good writing a review for the Post Office will do. But, if you happen to have a house or apartment that is serviced by this Post Office, be prepared to have your mail go missing now and then.
I have packages held here from time to time and they are nice enough when I come to collect.
If you need to complain about mail service or the Annex, here is the link:

To be fair, the people working at the annex have been very nice, especially when I’ve had to complain about the regular route carrier. It is because of the regular carrier that I’ve had to go the annex at all. I’ve gone three times in the past year, all three because I had «signature required» parcels. Even though I stayed home all day waiting. Carrier told me that she doesn’t know how to use an intercom, and that I should just fill out the card and wait until the next day. «Because there are more people in the world than just you, you know.» Like I said, her supervisor at the Annex was very nice.

I have lived in the area covered by this branch for close to 25 years. They provide the worst service of any postal branch I’ve ever used (yes, I’m old enough to have used a few branches as my home base).
Mail holds? They had a smarmy punk working there a few years ago who advised me to drop my mail hold on the floor, acting as though there was a box behind the mail slot to catch it. There wasn’t, and I saw that after looking over the counter after observing the smart-​ass smirk on his face.
The result of that mail hold for 30 days? A box stuffed full and a note that, because I had not put a hold on my mail, they were now holding it until I came down to pick it up.
Then, there was the time my mail carrier got back from cancer treatment and decided I now had to put an A in front of my unit number, even though the A wasn’t supposed to be part of the legal address. He spent weeks returning paychecks and bills. My customers would call and ask if I had moved when they got the checks returned as undeliverable. After 7 years. How’d I know the reason for his malfeasance? Another carrier told me he was doing that stuff everywhere on the route.
Most recently, they are refusing to leave packages at the secure management office in the main building. Rather, they are just dropping the packages in the hallways by the entrances. Guess what? Amazon boxes? Stolen or ripped open to see if anything of value was inside. I called and asked why the packages couldn’t be left at the office as FedEx and UPS drivers. It’s about 50 steps from the boxes at the main unit. All I got was a lot of b.s. about how much better they were than UPS or FedEx, and they had no responsibility to ensure our mail is delivered safely. Filed a formal complaint.
We’ll see, but it still won’t change the attitude of this branch. It’s been that way for 25 years.

Hmmm… I’ve had my mail forwarded to a temporary local address for a few weeks now, but after noticing that I haven’t gotten a particular bill or magazine in a while, I go back to the old (empty) house to find a pile of mail in the mailbox.
Also, mail keeps getting returned to sender as No Such Address.
Very frustrating!

don’t expect any smiles or common courtesy from this particular branch of the USPS.
The older gentleman who «helped» me today was less than pleasant. I accepted two boxes from a relative that looked like they had been through a clothes dryer. I questioned their condition and the response was a shrug and «I hope they bought insurance» with a sarcastic smirk. The boxes were rather heavy so said employee wheels the boxes out to the loading dock and leaves them on the floor. As he walks away– no thank you, no goodbye– just surly.
People wonder why the USPS is going broke. If they showed an ounce of customer service– things might be different.

Worst experience ever. I had a package sent to my home recently. I was extremely excited for this package and was at home when it was suppose to be delivered. I saw the mailman put the mail in my mailbox and went out to retrieve my package, but it wasn’t there. Strange, but maybe it would be delivered the next day. Nope! I checked the tracking number and they had listed it as delivered! At the exact time I saw him leaving the mail the day before. With no package. I tried and tried to talk to them, put in inquiries that I never got a response to. They even hung up on me a couple of times before I could even get one word in! The mailman told me to talk to the post office, the post office said they would ask the mailman! I’m not sure what is going on here, but it is the worst customer service I have ever experienced.

Like another poster… if I could give ZERO stars for this place, I certainly would.
I had ordered a few items online (from different retailers), with delivery confirmation, but never received them. I was HOME the time their site showed the packages as being delivered. However, there were NO notices, NO packages, and no one knocked, rang a doorbell, or made any attempt to actually deliver the packages to me (I saw the scheduled delivery and was home waiting for them). I called the USPS the NEXT DAY. Thus began an almost 2-​week run around that involved the USPS, Interbay Annex, and USPS Consumer Affairs. It ultimately ended with the Interbay Annex telling me that the postal carrier leaves packages if they feel it is safe to do so and that I «should’ve had insurance on them» (them being the packages).
I have NEVER had an issue like this with any other USPS office. EVER. And I have lived all over the US! I have never received such horrible customer service. NO ONE could tell me anything about what happened to my packages — where they were left, or why the postal worker didn’t knock or leave a notice (since I was at home at the time, I know he/​she did not). The only thing they seem to be adept at doing is telling people they should’ve paid for insurance or only purchased items online through retailers that offer it (really?). Their answer to the issue was pretty much: Not our problem if you don’t get insurance.
Since this incident, I have started having packages shipped to my work (that does NOT use Interbay Annex) and… surprise, have received EVERY SINGLE package I’ve shipped there regardless of delivery confirmation, insurance, ect.
A USPS office that makes people forego having things mailed to their home address, because of the unreliability of their service and lack of accountability when issues arise, are the reason for this review.

Good luck with these idiots doing anything right. twice I’ve taken a hold the mail card directly to them and the mail just keeps coming while we are on vacation. Is it any wonder the USPS is going down? Incompetent morons!

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. I’m not really sure what a Unilocal rating will do for a postal annex, but it will help me vent my anger. My frustration is far more with USPS in general, but this operation does not impress me in the slightest.
I’ve had several packages end up here within the last couple of weeks because I moved and the addresses were mixed up. I had postage due on a few of them. The first time I went, they turned me away because they only take CASH. I looked – nowhere on the little delivery slip did it say they were cash only. Unfortunately their hours are PERFECTLY within everyone else’s business hours (8:30−5), so I couldn’t return that day after work. Instead I left cash and the slip in my mailbox. I paid OVER what was due, but there was not a penny worth of change returned to me.
HOWEVER, today, I went to retrieve another package and was SEVEN CENTS short of what was due and the lady told me I would have to come back with more money. This after she was SO INCREDIBLY RUDE to me. She spoke to me with more condescension that I’ve received in years. Because I didn’t have my tracking slip with me she spoke to me like I was stupid: «Is this coming from a FOREIGN COUNTRY? Is it Express, Priority, or STANDARD shipping? I don’t know WHERE to look for it if I don’t have the tracking number.» She walked around for 10 minutes looking for it then came back and told me she really needed the tracking number. What the?! Does USPS seriously not have a way to track packages by name? So then she says, «Is there postage due on it?» Umm, «yes. That’s why they didn’t deliver it,» I say. She says, «oh.» Steps over one foot and sees my package in a stack next to the window.
All of this just my experience with Interbay Annex. In my adventures with tracking my packages, I have spoken with several USPS employees on the phone. One of them literally said to me, «You’ve gotta make it quick miss, I’ve got lots of people to help.» Then he cut me off as I was explaining my situation with his short and easy answer to my problem.
I have not been more dissatisfied with any business’ service, maybe ever. I don’t care that this is a government operation – TREAT PEOPLE LIKE PEOPLE!

Wow, this place is awful. I have had my packages end up here a few times now, and this morning was the icing on the cake. Since today is Saturday their hours were 8:30 am — 12pm. I rang the bell on the pick-​up window around 9 am. I heard a shrill voice yell, «YESSSSS?» but did not see anyone so I just waited. Then an obviously disgruntled woman popped her head up and said it again, «YESSSSS?» I said simply, «I am here to pick up my package» and handed her the little slip with all of the information on it. She gave a weird audible sigh/​groan hybrid as I stood there waiting. «I’ll need ID!» She yelled again as she went off to get my package. I placed my ID on the counter. She came back with my box, which for some reason was open… the tape on top had been removed. This paled in comparison to her horrible service though. She slapped the box down on the counter without even looking at my ID and then walked off. Damn, girl! Guess you don’t have to worry about any standards of customer service when you work at a postal annex. I will always wonder how she was in such a bad mood when they had only been open for 30 minutes anyway.

They close at 5 PM… time your visit.
Hard to find if traffic is heavy. You spot the Brown Bear car wash and then SLOW DOWN… the turn is coming up fast.

WARNING: This is not actually a Post Office. This is a sorting and routing center so don’t stop by unless you have a piece of paper telling you to do so! You can’t ship stuff or buy stamps or anything like that!
One day last summer I got a notice telling me I had to go pick up a package that couldn’t be delivered. I’d never noticed a post office on 15^th so I called beforehand. The guy who answered was super nice and gave me directions and told me what landmarks to look for (ie Brown Bear Car Wash). I got off the bus I wandered around for a bit, first not finding a building that was an obvious post office, then after finally seeing the sign, not finding an obvious entrance. I went up a little walkway, but the door it led to was locked. I went to the business next door to see if there was an alternate entrance. I went around the corner and only saw an «official looking» parking lot and loading dock. Frustrated, I called again and the same nice guy answered and said I had to go through the parking lot and up onto the loading dock. Well OK, I wouldn’t have guessed that! I felt like I was trespassing, but went past the mail trucks, up onto the dock, and then saw a sign that said «Customers.» I rang the bell for service and the guys promptly came over to help me. After all that, I had my package within a minute.
Though tempting to dock a Star cause it’s nearly impossible to find how to get into the place, the Interbay Annex isn’t open to the public, so I can’t really fault them. The guys working were friendly and helpful and must get tired of people calling to find out how to get their mail. I don’t know why mail isn’t held at the Queen Anne Post Office, but if you have to pick up something here, keep your eyes open and be prepared to enter what appears to be an employees only area.

I was a bit annoyed that they don’t tell you where to pick up your mail. I just assumed it was the post office on 1^st Ave. Of course, I was turned away and told to go to the Interbay station on 15^th.
I’ve passed by that location multiple times, but I never would have known what to do unless I had read Elle’s review. It felt like a freight truck was going to pull in at any moment and block my car in; then everyone would yell at me for being in the wrong place.
Fortunately, they produced my mail pretty quickly and regular service resumed pretty much the next business day.
A couple years ago, I moved just one block over to an apartment that was on the same mail route. For the past couple years they’ve auto-​corrected any mail that was sent to the old address (the stragglers). For that, I give them high marks.