US Post Office

I came here to ship a package to Germany. First, the line really wasn’t long. Second, the woman who helped me was really super sweet and helpful. She looked up the least expensive way to ship to Europe and gave me a couple options. I ended up shipping it normal mail.
To my surprise it arrived within a week and a half or two!!! She told me it might take a month if customs keeps it. But they didn’t and it arrived in no time. I’m happy because it was a birthday gift and the person was surprised to receive it.
Next time I’ll be prepared with my own box. And I’ll know that it will be about $ 40 in shipping costs to Europe. It’s ~$ 50 for faster delivery but in my experience that’s not necessary.

What a joke. The delivery person from this post office hasn’t been able to figure out our apartment mailboxes (because they’re numerical, you know, and numbers are so damn confusing), so we are having to redistribute mail among ourselves after it’s delivered. While I’ll admit this is a wonderful way to get to know your neighbors, it’s pretty ridiculous.
Not only that, but when I called to complain about it, the supervisor at the post office implied that it was OUR fault for not having our names in the boxes. Somehow I’ve been getting my mail for over a year and a half just by having an address, but this person decided that the we’re suddenly not because of a new carrier/​no name issue. Please.
And they wonder why we think the postal service is such a joke.

HORRIBLE!!! If I ever want to have a complete waste of time of my day, then I would spend it at any U.S. post office. Long ass lines, weird and highly annoyed people, and the world’s slowest cashiers. I also don’t get postal humor — just not my thing and their jokes suck. I just wanna drop off my things and run out of there!

So unfortunately I had a very frustrating experience at this POST office recently. Last weekend, I made homemade valentines sugar cookies that I wanted to send to my boyfriend in Montana for Valentine’s Day. Because I was late in making and sending them, I went big and for the first time ever, I mailed them in one of the Express, Guaranteed Next Day Delivery boxes. However, because it was a Saturday and the following Monday was President’s Day (a holiday), the post office worker said it wouldn’t get there until Tuesday (and the shipping was going to cost $ 34). However, he said if I wanted Guaranteed Sunday or Holiday shipping – ie, it would get there either Sunday or Monday, I would have to pay extra and my total shipping would be $ 47.65. This was a lot of money, but I decided it was worth it because I wanted the cookies to arrive fresh and to surprise my boyfriend.
Thus, I was very disappointed when the box did not arrive in Missoula, Montana until the following Tuesday. I paid extra shipping for the next day delivery, and it took three days – the amount of time he had originally quoted me. The box was stickered with labels that even said «Sunday/​Holiday Delivery Guaranteed.» Seattle to Montana is not very far. I was shocked that it took this long at all.
So, I decided to go back to the Post Office the next weekend to ask for a reimbursement. Unfortunately, in the ensuing week, I somehow misplaced the paper receipt. However, my friend took extensive pictures of the box and the mailing label which included the tracking number, the postal codes, the guaranteed delivery, and all of the information.
When I came back to the Post Office with this data, I first waited in line for 30 minutes. Then, I talked to the same man who had originally shipped the package for me in the first place. He remembered me. However, he said that I had to have the original receipt or he couldn’t do anything. I asked that even though I had all of the tracking numbers, all of the information, and all the picture evidence, that would be enough? And he said no. Then he had me talk to his manager who was quite abrubt and short with me. When I explained my situation and stated that I wanted my $ 13 back that I paid extra for the Sunday/​Holiday shipping, he simply said he couldn’t do anything without the paper receipt because they «have to staple it to the report.» It was the most bureaucratic response I’d ever heard. Not once did either of them show an ounce of empathy or express an apology. Even if one of them had said «Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about that. I can see why you would be frustrated», I would have felt much better, even if they truly couldn’t do anything.
It was the fact that they messed up – that I had paid a TON of money for next day delivery and then they didn’t express any apology or empathy for my frustration. I was also deeply unimpressed with the rigidity and the complete unwillingness to just enter the data I had without having to have the original paper receipt. I had all the info! The only thing the manager told me was that I could come back on Monday and talk to HIS manager. Too bad I have to work on Monday, like most people.
I am deeply unimpressed with the customer service at this particular Post Office and the sincere lack of human empathy with his upper management. I understand that they probably get a lot of angry customers and complaints. But what would have been a simple reimbursement has now left me even more frustrated and upset than I was beforehand. I will not be directing my shipping business with USPS anymore. And they wonder why everyone ships through Amazon…

Okay, nobody really likes going to the post office. It seems like universally there is one person at the front counter no matter what time of day or how long the line is.
I come here once in a while when I need to go inside a post office, as it is the closest to my house. It’s a fairly small branch, compared to the U district. I went in the weekend after Christmas to pick up some stamps and mail a package, hoping it wouldn’t be busy because people would surely be over mailing stuff. Wrong. There was a line out the door, which was probably 6 or 7 people because the lobby is very small. There were 3 people working the front, which was nice. The line moved quickly. All the employees were friendly, helpful and cheerful to the customers they were helping.
They were out of international post card stamps, which is what I wanted, but the employee helping me found me two books of other stamps that make up the same amount so I wouldn’t have to leave empty handed.

Quick, even though it is the Christmas season! Funny & friendly staff, despite how crowded it was. This calmed people down & allowed for laughter, even with the lack of space. Thank you USPS!

seems like everytime the regular carrier has a day off or goes on vacation they stop delivering mail! I called twice today to confirm we would at least get a pick up done and they confirmed they contacted the temp carrier and he would definately stop, no show and its almost 4PM. Hard to rely on USPS to get your packages shipped if they can’t bother to make an effort to stop and pick up our outgoing! We are a small business and don’t have the manpower to run out to the post office during our work day. After being in this location for 2.5 years they should know to stop.
Okay rant off, I know its not going to effect their business becuase what are the alternate choices?

This post office is awesome! I live closest to the University District post office and the people who work there are always grumpy and therefore end up acting kind of mean. I also haven’t ever waited in line for less than 1.5 hours at the U District location. Due to all my bad experiences at that location I looked to see what other locations were nearby and found this post office location. It had a parking lot which is awesome to find in Seattle, and there was a very short line. In addition, the employee who helped me was extremely friendly and helped me figure everything out. I told her up front that I needed help and she made sure to help me find the cheapest option and helped me out with everything along the way. I will definitely be coming here next time I need to mail or ship something!

Working as a postal professional has got to be as thankless a job as looking up cat anuses and cleaning up Belltown’s barf after NYE. We only think of the post office our postal workers when something we expect in the mail doesn’t arrive on time, or when we’re waiting in a longgg line to mail our happy X’mas purchases (which are often not packaged correctly or at all — or we have no idea what level of service we want, because Auntie Marge in Guam won’t be at home to receive any parcels between December 24 to the 31, but we’re going to send it on December 20 anyway and hope she gets it, but if it’s returned, it’s the fault of the postal service and not of our dumbass selves).
The Wallingford location has been my neighborhood post office for over 13 years. We know each other and so… yes, I’m partial to the staff and service. Granted, there are one or two people behind the counter who COULD work a tad faster, and the newbies always want to do everything by the book and take forever to double check stuff, etc. — but for the most part most of the employees there have worked there for many years and know me by name, as well as my marital status… because they incessantly ask. (ProTip = don’t show up with your significant other to the post office and expect them not to notice and crow over him like he’s the latest thing after sliced white bread.)
With the cutbacks in the postal system, things are falling apart — the mail bin inside the post office is broken and has been forever. Instead of delegating different tasks to different workers, one worker is now expected to do all the rounds of being behind the counter, sorting mail, etc. Despite this, the workers at this branch soldier on.

People are so strange when they HATE THIS PLACE WITH A FIERY PASSION because their mail skipped a day or something. That’s not the post office’s fault!
They move the line quickly and efficiently, and are usually quite pleasant and fast. The spunky lady who works here is quite a treat too! How she keeps her humor is very impressive.
I like coming here. they have a parking lot, nice stamps, and fast friendly service. That’s about as much as you can ask from a post office.

Superbly courteous and helpful. even today in midst o fholiday rush juggling box decisions and time.
We are trulu blessed to have this little neighborhood post office here and the wonderful folks who work here.

Our mail man just didn’t deliver our mail today. Monday was Veterans Day. My unemployment check was sent from Olympia on Tuesday, to arrive on Wednesday (today). And not just my check, my boyfriends check as well. (Yes sadly we are both unemployed at the moment.) Elsewhere in the city, all of my friends who collect unemployment, collected their checks that were delivered with the rest of their mail. And I know it’s not the fault of the unemployment office because we just didn’t get mail today. No junk mail, no bank statements, zip.
So I go to my local post office and the staff recommends I leave a note so that my carrier can call me when he returns from his route. After checking my mail slot many times today, in hopes that the mail miraculously appears at some point today, I finally give up and I go run a couple of errands. At about 5:30 I receive a call from the post office saying that the mail should be in my box. I ask, since I had just checked my box 30 – 45 minutes prior, «Did he come back to deliver it?» To which the woman who called responds «Yes.»
“How long ago,” I ask.
«About an hour ago,» she responds.
Joy, rapture. I will have money!!!
I get home at about 6:15. No mail in my mailbox. The center is closed. There is nothing I can do.
I’m hoping that our mailman accidentally put our mail in the wrong box and a neighbor will return our mail to us. I’m hoping that my check arrives tomorrow.
I’m giving my local USPS 1 star because they a) failed to deliver my mail on a Wednesday b) didn’t deliver 2 very important paychecks to two different people that many things were depending on c) flat out lied that they returned to my apartment building to deliver my unemployment checks/​mail and d) lied that they delivered or re-​delivered our mail «about an hour ago», when mail was delivered at noon, and obviously no one returned at 4pm like I was informed.
It’s extremely unfortunate that we have no recourse when the post office doesn’t do their job.

Ubiquitous, taken for granted and rarely used (by me) I thought I’d give a shout out to this government service. Yeah, they lose buckets of money a year (did I say buckets, I meant truckloads). But every workday, except for holidays, they show up at the community mailbox in my neighborhood and deliver… junk mail. ;0)

This is the best post office in the area. At other local post offices the employees are unkempt, disorganized, borderline rude, and s… l…o…w…e…r than watching grass grow. You will still wait in line at this one, but at least the clerk is wearing a clean shirt, and the wait will be less than ½ hour to serve the 3 people in front of you in line.
Also, Sonja works there, and has the best customer service I’ve seen at the USPS in a very loooong time. She is astonishingly good at helping people. I’m not sure whether she is in charge, but if she’s not she should be!