When I lived in Newton Falls area of Ohio . . . zip 44444, I had constant problems with my mail.
I would often get mail posted to a totally different name, on a totally(very non-similar), road and with an address that in no way shape or form could be confused with mine.
These problems were constant and to top it off, my mail was often delivered to other places in a similar manner.
I tried to make complaints to the postal supervisor but was always told "we don't have a supervisor" . . . what?
Anyway, I kinda just gave up partly because I don't trust waiting a few months to hear back from an internet complaint . . . if I ever hear back again.
So I moved to Akron.
Last November I mailed a final bill for a partially finished survey(owner decided he didn't need the survey completed).
Now, this guy lives on a county road and the county's official name for this road is Newton Falls Tomlinson Road. The name of this road has been the same since it was petitioned back in the early 1800's. Maps reflect the road's name(although in some parts of the road . . . not mine . . . some maps show Newton Tomlinson).
I got my bill back with
RETURN TO SENDER
NO SUCH NUMBER
UNABLE TO FORWARD
Well, I called the guy and asked him for his address.
EVERYTHING was the same except the road was Newton Tomlinson Road, which BTW, is NOT the official name of this road.
EVIDENTLY the postal service, for some reason has "renamed" this road for their purposes. This has happened in other parts of the county with county roads.
When I worked for the county(on county roads), this "renaming" of roads by the post office sometimes became an issue with getting letters to property owners to inform them about road closings and such.
I remember one road(a township line road which intersected another township line road), where the post office had a few different names for the road depending on what side of the road one lived on. To top it off, the P.O. actually had a number of "sets" of different houses(often a mile from one another), with the same address and even on different sides of the road(one post office had the odds/evens reversed).
We actually have one township(built up) where every other street beginning from the main road begins with an address of about 100, while the next street(every other of the same main road), begins about about 2500, with a further smattering of a couple road(off the main street) with completely different set of numbers . . . it's absolutely ridiculous.
This is such a problem in this county that when 9-1-1 began in this county, people who called 9-1-1 had to actually give instructions to the 9-1-1 operator as to "where" they lived, beyond giving their address.
ANYWAY . . . I'm sitting here, looking at this envelope . . . and steaming.
I don't understand why a citizen who puts a correct address on a letter cannot expect that letter to be delivers properly, or why a citizen now needs to pay postage a second time because of some unreal idiosyncracies of bureacratic(sp) ineptitude.
No help here, I surveyed the wrong property the other day. :pinch:
edit: I wonder if you could run an envelope through your printer with a background aerial, or map, condensed for the envelope size ??
Don't forget we have gone to the wonder of computers sorting packages. I would bet some of the programs quirks are that long road names need truncated. The if the match is not exact the item gets kicked out.
Second all the old farts (like many of us) that knew the alternate road names are retiring. Ask some kid with GPS/GIS enabled cell phone navigation to find the address. Again no exact match will result in BLANK STARE & "Are you sure that is the right name."
I went several rounds with the local post office when they were changing over to the 9-1-1 responder address.
In the course of 2mos they changed my address to a different number along the highway 3 times.
Recently, I got so disgusted that when I would go to mail something to a client, the local post offices would not have the right envelope or packaging to send it in that I made an order from Quill to have it in-house.
It is true that someone out of this area can mail me something and I will receive it in a reasonable amount of time. When I mail something to someone out of this area, it takes a minimum of twice as long for them to receive it unless I go with UPS or FEDEX.
Even with UPS or FEDEX, there is no next day delivery from here to anywhere.
:'(
^%#@&%!#%$% John's back to normal
I agree that this can be ridiculous. The post office has created all sorts of ridiculous inefficiencies in the name of simplification. Say I want to send a Christmas card to my neighbor whose mailbox is 700 feet from mine and next in line on the mailman's route. He is subject to being fired if he notes that the letter simply goes to the next stop on his route, and then delivers it. No. It must go in the regular mail bag, to the local post office, to a massive mail center 140 miles distant, then back to the local post office the next morning, the along the first 145 stops (including mine) to the neighbor's mail box.
For over 20 years I lived in a section that was split mail-wise. A letter from my mail box to my neighbor's mailbox would first travel over 200 miles one way to a massive mail center, then shuffled 150 miles to a different massive mail center, then travel roughly 140 miles to get to my neighbor' mailbox.
Maybe the exact match requirement is becoming the norm, but I still occasionally get stuff addressed to me at the wrong house number on my street or with a slightly misspelled street name.
It's been a few years, but when my sister moved within a town of 1500, she started getting mail at the new address before she made it to the post office to fill out the form. Word gets around a small town.
^%#@&%!#%$% John's back to normal
Generally speaking, Government agencies and common sense do not mix.
This summer we were at Sleeping Bear National Park. I filled out a slip of paper, wrote a check and dropped it in their box at the parking lot to purchase my annual parking pass. It came with a stub of paper that is good for one week to show I bought the pass. Two days later I got my annual pass via a FedEX next day envelope. The NPS spent over $7 to send me a pass that I paid $20 for that they could have mailed for 45 cents and I would have gotten it just as fast. I thought my $20 was going to help support this beautiful park, not FedEX. To top it all off, the same day in the news the USPS was crying about how much money they where losing and that the cost of stamps has to increase. May be one Government agency should use the services of the other????
^%#@&%!#%$% John's back to normal
The people behind the counter must be required to ask the same long litany of questions every time you go to mail an item.
I'd say I'm 99.5% satisfied with my local PO- great customer service. The one 12 NE of here is populated w/ a bunch of chi&%@#S*?@ @^^$%^&S....
Is this your mail man.......
[flash width=420 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/6xP75qj3nTU?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]
MY STREET IS WEST ROAD NAMED AFTER MR. WEST AND THE WEST "CLAN" WHO HAD A LARGE FARM IN THE AREA.
GOOGLE SHORTENED IT TO W.RD. WHY WAS IT TO LONG?
THE SHORTENED NAME MAKES OUR MAIL LOOK LIKE I LIVE IN A CONDO.
I COMPLAINED AND, YESTERDAY SAW THEY HAD IT SPELLED OUT (ALL 4 LETTERS).
KEN PUDELER
A few years ago they found that a local mail man was loading up the mail and taking it to his home and throwing it in his garage for safe keeping. This went on for quite a while before he was caught. With that being said, I am generally impressed with the mail service here. Packages are generally delivered faster than anticipated.
> A few years ago they found that a local mail man was loading up the mail and taking it to his home and throwing it in his garage for safe keeping. This went on for quite a while before he was caught. With that being said, I am generally impressed with the mail service here. Packages are generally delivered faster than anticipated.
Me too but I want to know why they have to close between 11 AM and Noon every day.
> Me too but I want to know why they have to close between 11 AM and Noon every day.
Probably because charging less the 50 cents to send someone to my front door, pick up an envelope, and hand deliver it across country in 3-5 days isn't really a business model that generates a lot of operating capital.
And they wonder why they are spewing red ink...
> > Me too but I want to know why they have to close between 11 AM and Noon every day.
>
> Probably because charging less the 50 cents to send someone to my front door, pick up an envelope, and hand deliver it across country in 3-5 days isn't really a business model that generates a lot of operating capital.
I was not complaining about the cost. Just questioning a business model that closes up shop from 11 AM to Noon every day. It certainly makes UPS and FEDeX look more attractive to me.
Don't Like Postal Service? How about gov't Med. Care
That's going to be fantastic......NOT!!!
For God's sake, if they have difficulty delivering postcards why in the sam hill is this country stupid enough to want them in our medical care? I guess it's all about "free" stuff now, what a joke.
Don't Like Postal Service? How about gov't Med. Care
> That's going to be fantastic......NOT!!!
>
> For God's sake, if they have difficulty delivering postcards why in the sam hill is this country stupid enough to want them in our medical care? I guess it's all about "free" stuff now, what a joke.
I like the subtle shift into P&R... some people can't help themselves
Ralph
Don't Like Postal Service? How about gov't Med. Care
Everybody say "bye bye" to the nice man.
Don't Like Postal Service? How about gov't Med. Care
or is it "aloha"
