I have family members that retired from the post office. There's a lot of good, bad, and the ugly going on, but it's mostly because of government cut backs and regulations that don't give postal employees the freedom to actually do their jobs. My uncle worked with them for more than 30 years and in some locations he absolutely loved his job and the people he worked with. They worked as a team to get their jobs done. However, in another location he was transferred to, it was like night and day. The supervisor wanted everything done in half the time even though the post office was short on everything from employees to supplies. The US Post office is like any other working environment, you've got your good times and you're not so good times. I personally like going to the post office. I like being able to work with people face to face when I need to mail something. UPS is face to face, but oh so expensive. The USPS can be pricey too, but the locations and services are much broader than UPS. My post office in my town even works with FedEx, which just makes shipping things a lot more convenient. Perhaps the Post office workers are the unsung heroes of the communications world?!
Here in South Africa I use the post office quite a bit. I have found them to be quite reliable and have never had a problem. Ordinary domestic mail takes 3-5 days (6 days at the most) to reach anywhere in South Africa. They do have a more expensive service called Speed Service that takes 1-2 days (3 days max). All in all the service is quite efficient and I have never had a parcel go missing.
I agree with some of you that said it depends on where you live. I have moved around so much in my life and of course they have always given great service, until now. The final place we chose to reside in and build a family has terrible postal service. I will give you a few examples. I can not believe some of the things we have gone through here. My husband and I share a car. He works at home and I work away from the house. I can not count the number of times the lady driving the little post box car as I like to call it has had a package for us but did not see our car so she didn't even knock on the door. When your husband is at home and opens the door to see her drive away, this is not a good thing. It's very disappointing actually. Now he has no car to chase her down, I don't get off of work until night time and of course they close at 4:00 pm in this town. What a great day of service from the post office. NOT! Here's another example. We expected a few packages to come in with signature requirements on them. Some were even from the government due to my husband working for himself. The post office will either throw it in your mailbox if it fits or just lay it at your doorstep. She never knocks or even rings the doorbell. I've become so angry about this that I am debating getting a camera and getting her fired. I mean this is horrible, lazy service. Would you agree?
I used to work for the postal service and it was one of the best paying jobs that I ever had. Although at times the job could be frustrating especially during holidays when the mail load was so increased due to Christmas cards and packages all in all it was a great job. We tried to get the mail out as quickly as possible. When something was lost we truly did do our best to find that package for the customer. Sadly I lost my job in the post office closings that have happened over the years as more and more people move to online bill pay and such.
Stop and think what we would do without the post office-they really do work hard and they deserve our respect. Even though they are a government entity, they are one of the most efficient I've seen. But I don't agree with their pension policy- I don't think they should get huge pensions-I'm of the mind that they deserve something, but what they're getting needs to be cut back some. Other than that, I love the Post Office.
By and large, the USPS does a pretty good job of getting things where they are supposed to go. And most of the staff is pretty good. Yes, there are some rotten folks and places - like anywhere. When you do have specific problems with the front desk or delivery, you can call the Postmaster at that location and let them know - it can make a difference, if the Postmaster isn't the problem. There's even a form you can fill out to specify how to handle package deliveries to your home (at least in the US - don't know about their counterparts overseas). Surprisingly, the Post Office actually has Mystery Shoppers who come in and evaluate the clerks - I don't know how some of them keep their jobs! Parcel shipping is often dicey. Most of our parcels go through the Atlanta sort facility, and a lot of them get rough handling. I can ship crystal overseas with no problem, but 100 miles away, and it gets broken! If it has any weight to it, I like UPS - their parcels come with an automatic $100 insurance at no extra charge, and they are even a little easier to file a claim. If you get good service, it doesn't hurt to leave your carrier a little tip around the holidays, just to let them know you really appreciate them dragging out in the rain and getting out to delivery parcels. I ship a lot of packages and receive a lot - and my carriers know I appreciate them. It is a heavy, hard, dirty job sometimes, with bad dogs and bad weather and even bad customers sometimes; a little goodwill their way can brighten their day, too.
