This afternoon I had the misfortune of dealing with the United States Postal Service. As the granddaughter of a postal inspector, and a general fan of being polite and personable, I’ve always attempted to give the post office the benefit of the doubt but no more. Since living in Chicago, my mail has been lost, taken mysterious vacations where it doesn’t appear for a week, my magazines arrive well thumbed.
But household delivery of mail says nothing of the mind-numbing ineptitude of actually going to the post office. Today was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back and enraged me to the point of posting the following review to Yelp.com:
Why, oh why, does Yelp not allow for negative star ratings?
I have never in my life encountered the staggering level occupational incompetence on display at Loop Post Office. Chicago reportedly has the worst postal service in the country and I’m convinced the Loop Station is at the very bottom of that sad barrel.
Packages marked priority mail never arrive on time. Don’t be tempted by the person masquerading as a customer service agent by walking up and down the line. They will try and persuade you into using their automated shipping center (on both occasions where I did use the machine, packages marked priority 3-5 day shipping didn’t arrive for 2 weeks). Additionally, if you’re looking for stamps, you’ll need to wait in line because the vending machines themselves are never stocked.
And speaking of the line, it’s simply a marvel of the world. At peak times, a handful of windows have tellers available. These tellers will answer you question but if you pay to have a package shipped and the teller, for example, has to retrieve something (e.g. a stamp to stamp your delivery confirmation slip), they will take at least 15 minutes to return. During trips to this post office, while waiting for a task to be completed, I have heard conversations about All My Children plot lines, fruit salad and which decal to have applied during a scheduled pedicure (the daisy or the heart?).
Last but not least is the process of picking up a package. You will wait in line until the teller is ready to acknowledge you. You might want to bring an iPod or a web-enabled mobile phone because this can take some time. When you politely tell her that you’d like to pick up your package, you will be berated and demeaned for your stupidity. Why would you dare trust anything the person on the phone told you? Well you should never call and ask a question because the people on the phone have no idea what they’re talking about and, by the way, you’re an idiot for not bringing me their name.
The Loop Postal Station continuously fails to meet even the lowest level expectations and should be avoided at all costs. I would rather pay my taxes, have a root canal or bathe in a vat of asphalt before using them. That I’m willing to drive 15+ miles to Rosemont for a pleasant post office experience is a sad statement indeed.
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