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It seems the mail at our abode goes through phases, occasionally we get everything in a timely manner and other times we receive our last three issues of The Week all at one time. Our mail is delivered by a sweet lady, so we tend to let things slide, even though our entire building has to sort out the mail that isn't theirs and drop it in front of doors. If anything, the post office has brought us all closer together. But, as the Sun Times reports, Chicago has the worst overnight mail delivery percentage in the nation. That explains why Netflix doesn't really work for me.
At 91 percent, we slightly beat out Philadelphia for the honor. The 35th ward staffers indicated they receive at least 10 complaints a day from residents and aldermen are finally taking notice. Ald. Rey Colon was campaigning last month and a resident stopped him to give him his mail that was incorrectly delivered to her.
In the early 90's Chicago received national attention when burning mail and a truckload of undelivered mail was found during an audit. A postal workers apartment was also found to have 2,300 pounds of mail in it. By 2005 the city had finally gotten the rate up to 95 percent. It started declining in 2006.
Chicago postmaster Gloria E. Tyson is showing signs that she wants change, she took the job 4 months ago. The postmaster at the Ravenswood branch, in an article by News Star, indicated that they have been experiencing difficulties because of staffing issues. Tyson said they are addressing staffing issues at the branches. We know, at least at our post office, that organization is probably one of the biggest issues. Almost every time we've had to mail or pick up something it is running slightly different. It also looks like it's 1960 in there. Maybe it's our naivety, but we do feel like it will get better before it gets worse.
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The folks at my post office are the slowest moving people on earth. They also can't read. I have had mail that I have written "not at this address; return to sender" on the envelope with a Sharpie redelivered to my house. And now they are going to raise the price of stamps again.
even though our entire building has to sort out the mail that isn't theirs and drop it in front of doors.
Such has been the case at every single place I've lived at in Chicago. Often get the mail of people a few doors down or entire blocks down the street or same address next block over. Magazines, letters destroyed because the carrier has tried to force all the mail through the slot at once.
What I don't understand is why they refuse to deliver our mail if there isn't our apartment number on it. But if the name is wrong, and the apartment number ours, we can get that mail. Makes no f'ing sense.
I've lived in the far south suburbs, Wisconsin, Las Vegas, California, and New Mexico. And no where, at any given point, have I EVER had a problem with the postal delivery (post office lines aside, they suck everywhere you go).
But then I move to the big city here, and it's been a comedy of errors. One time I didn't get a check I was waiting on for weeks because my landlord didn't shovel one inch of snow behind my mail slots. Let me ask you... if you have a problem with snow, why on earth would you be a mail carrier in Chicago? I guess that whole "Neither sleet nor snow nor black of night will keep these couriers from their appointed rounds" stuff is all BS here.
And in my new apartment, I'm totally convinced my lazy ass mail person just randomly selects one slot to cram everyone's mail in and let us sort it out. So this is mainly a Chicago thing, I think.
That said, come on... the USPS still has the lowest postal rates in the world (2 Euros for a Berlin to Stuttgart Letter? Germany is so much smaller and less populated than the US!) and they have to constantly battle with FedEx and UPS, so I cut them some slack... but the service in this city is insane.
What gets me is that they're driving around in white vans with no license plates - I kid you not. There's just a cardboard strip that says "Leased to USPS" or something to that effect, in tiny print. How are you supposed to get the license plate of the schmoe that hit you? I guess you'd better leave a body part skewered on the bumper if you want to prove they drive like shit.
I had to go to both the California post office in Logan Square and the Fullerton branch near DePaul at different times last week. Both times, while I was waiting on the long ass lines, people walked away from the counters and said, "This is the worst post office in Chicago!" It's a real race to the bottom with the USPS around here.
You know, I really want to love the USPS. I love that for just a few cents, I can mail a letter to my granny, who can't and won't use email and has a hard time hearing on the phone. But holy fuck I've had some problems in Chicago. I, too, have never received some checks, tax forms and packages, and don't even get me started on the mail forwarding fiascoes I've had to go through. And I used to have a mail carrier who was stealing my Netflix for about a month straight.
It's bullshit that in my tiny hometown, both the library system and the post offices operate about 15 times more efficiently than they do in Chicago.
good to hear i'm not the only apartment dweller that has to sort through a pile of mail on the ground in front of our mailboxes. Mail is consistently placed in the wrong box, or everything is crammed into one. Our carrier is terrible...but as a result we've at least gotten to know our neighbors pretty well.
yeah, i have to sort all the mail for everyone in my building, too. maybe we all have the same carrier! im in logan square.
Maybe that is why they are coming out with the Forever Stamp because it takes forever for you to get your mail.
The reason why Netflix doesn't work for you has little to do with USPS but everything with the fact that Netflix is throttling the number of dvds you can get. They've lost a class-action lawsuit re. this matter last year.
Netflix was faster than I thought humanly possible at first but now after a couple months they've slowed down. I thought it was the USPS fault as usual but it looks like this is common and part of their plan to punish you for actually getting the good deal they supposedly offer. Since the suits mentioned above they've sealed up their terms so it looks like the only way to hurt them is by public shaming.
Delivery and Return of Rented DVDs
We reserve the right to allocate and ship DVDs to you in any manner that we, in our sole and absolute discretion, determine.
In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service.
I assumed that I receive "The Week" in irregular intervals because of their screwy publication schedule. But maybe it IS the postal service's fault. Hmmm ...
Gees you guys! I bet you were hugging your postman when UPS went on strike at CHRISTMAS! Keep this in mind, the USPS is the only gov't agency that does not operate on taxpayer dollars. It is the only gov't agency that generates it's own revenue! I would love to invite you to try the job once before complaining about it. Apartments are a postman's worst nightmmare!! Tenants move constantly usually to avoid their mounting bills. Mail slots are too low or too small to feed your mail through. If you'd get a house with a real mailbox in a nice little suburb you might find better service. by the way, you can lodge a formal complaint to your congressman if you even know who that is!
Well, it's been a few months since all of the media coverage surrounding this issue. Does it seem like Gloria Tyson was able to improve the problem? Not by my accounts. There are nights when the mailman is out delivering in the dark. At least one day a week where my building doesn't get mail. Weeks of missing magazine issues. My building constantly gets other people's mail...and of course, the junk mail seems to make it through without a hitch. Someone please help us Chicagoans!!!!