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Thenewguy
Citizen
Username: Thenewguy
Post Number: 95
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 11:05 am: |     |
So I went to the Springfield Ave post office this morning, thinking it may be open. It was not. So at 10:17 at the one in the village there was one person behind the counter and about 12 people on line, many with packages. And I heard that they ran out of 2 cent stamps earlier in the week. You would think they would be able to adequately staff the post office, especially when they raise rates causing people to come in for new stamps. Unbelievable (or sadly, it would seem, believable) |
Morrisa da Silva
Citizen
Username: Mod
Post Number: 326
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 12:01 pm: | |
I was at the Maplewood Ave post office earlier in the week and sadly spent over 1/2 hour waiting on line to buy stamps and mail some neccessary letters. What I can't figure out is why they didn't pre-supply the stamp machine with 1 and 2 cent stamps ahead of time as well as the new 39 cent stamps.
They certainly could have planned better for the onslaught once postage went up. |
Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 794
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 12:20 pm: | |
I was also at the Maplewood Post office earlier in the week. I really feel bad for those employees there. It appears there is added business coupled with them being very shorthanded. It was almost 5:00pm and I overheard one of the men behind the counter say that he had been there since 5:30 in the morning. (And he looked like it)
I was in line almost 25 minutes, but to make matters worse, some crazy lady in line was called up and just started screaming at these poor guys. She demanded a pen and paper, was given the pen and then snatched the paper out of the man's hand. He in turn grabbed it back and said "You don't snatch things out of people's hands." This drove the woman up a wall, and she demanded his name.
These poor people are understaffed and very overworked. I feel bad for them. I guess other people just don't care that these are humans on the other side of the counter, and feel that they can treat them however badly they want to.
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Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 6910
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 1:52 pm: | |
My husband also waited in line at the post office earlier this week only to be told that they were out of one and two cent stamps. He ended up getting 39 cent stamps instead and wondering if the post office did this intentionally so people would not be as apt to use their left over 37 cent stamps.
Does anyone know when the post office will be getting an additional supply of one and/or two cent stamps? Or, as an alternative, does anyone know of a nearby post office which may still have a supply of these stamps? |
Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 797
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 2:51 pm: | |
I spoke with my mother after returning from the Maplewood Post office. Her response was that I should have gone to Millburn. Apparently things operate much smoother over there. Maybe try giving them a call? |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 6911
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 7:34 pm: | |
Thanks. Will do. |
njphilf
Citizen
Username: Njphilf
Post Number: 188
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 8:21 pm: | |
Maplewood Post Office has always been in complete disarray. Often, Millburn workers would come over to help out for OT and would be shocked as to how disorganized the Maplewood Office was. |
Eire
Citizen
Username: Eire
Post Number: 104
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 8:29 pm: | |
FWIW, you can order stamps at www.usps.com and get them within like 2-3 days. I haven't been to a post office in ages.... |
GSP142
Citizen
Username: Gsp142
Post Number: 67
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 8:51 pm: | |
I tend to avoid the Maplewood post office unless I have "official" business there (like a package to pick up or a certified letter to sign for).
I really enjoy going to the Vauxhall post office in Union, on Springfield Ave. near the Vauxhall Road intersection. The staff is extremely congenial yet professional; it has a neighborhood general store feel, not at all like a bureaucratic government office. Parking can be a little tricky, but if you head further south on Vauxhall and make the next right turn, you'll be on the side street next the Post Office, so if the lot is full, you can usually find parking on the side street.
I also like the new Springfield post office, on Mountain Avenue (sort of across the street from Bagel Chateau--it shares the building with a bank and a couple of other businesses, there's a parking lot in the back). It has some philatelic items, and will sometimes have stamps the other local post offices don't have.
And, as Eire helpfully posted, you can get stamps directly from the Post Office, which doesn't take very much time.
Fortunately, I was aware of the increase for some time and bought 2 cent stamps way back at the beginning of December. I'm also still working on a large supply of 33 and 34 cent stamps, so I have a considerable stash of 1 and 3 cent stamps to work with, too. (Hopefully I'll get the math right adding all the postage up on my mail ! |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 889
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 11:49 pm: | |
Hmm, that's strange.
I was in the Maplewood post office yesterday (Friday). I asked for 2 cent stamps, and the response was, "How many do you need?" I got as many as I needed.
Yes, the line was long. Yes, the post office was understaffed (there were two workers, and then one took off for a little while). But as far as the two cent stamp issue...huh??
The postal workers probably respond in kind to cranky customers who have been waiting way too long. |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 3623
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 11:54 pm: | |
Maplewood Post Office is a ZILLION times better then South Orange!!! |
Director
Citizen
Username: Director
Post Number: 23
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 12:08 am: | |
As far as I am concerned the Maplewood Post Office is terrible.
They said they changed the hours so they could service the public better and be more competitive. It has gone down hill!
I have not been in the post office once since the hours changed when there are no less than 7 to 8 people in line. To make matters worse they never have more than 1 or 2 people working the counters, even with long lines. The clerks will walk away and take their "breaks" when the lines are at the longest. When you do complain all you get is the standard slacking response .... "we deserve our breaks"! (And I do have to say that the woman telling the 10 plus folk sin line had a nasty little attitude!)
I say give me a break form standing in line for 20 minutes or more when ever I need to go in! Update the antiquated post office in Maplewood with better stamp machines and such. I was in a US Post Office in another state where I could weigh my small box and pay for it all with out having to wait in a line or even have to go up the postal clerk! |
Starletta8
Supporter
Username: Starletta8
Post Number: 120
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 2:21 am: | |
Amen, JTA.
I can't count anymore how many times I've been to the SO post office and found the line literally at the door.
It's even worse now that they eliminated the ability of people just picking up packages (which is why I'm there 90% of the time) to go the side door by the PO Boxes. It makes so much sense for me to instead waste 25-60 minutes just to pick up a large envelope that the carrier just didn't feel like pushing my buzzer to let me know it was there (since I'm home most days). Instead, I get to wait a day, then waste my life at the SO post office.
*sigh* |
dave23
Citizen
Username: Dave23
Post Number: 1245
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 10:05 am: | |
Twice in the last week I've found out that items mailed to my house have not arrived. In one instance, the agency that sent out important bulk mail from South Orange said that they've had numerous complaints from Maplewood that their item didn't arrive.
Anyone having similar problems? How do we solve this? |
mjc
Citizen
Username: Mjc
Post Number: 1011
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 10:28 am: | |
South Orange post office has a self-serve machine like the one described by Director.
dave23, as a former mailer of nonprofit mail, I can tell you the bulk or nonprofit service between Mpl and SO is consistently awful. We wound up either using first class or sorting SO vs. Mpl addresses and taking the mail to both p.o.'s.
Have to say, I've always had good service at the SO post office. The lines are long but they usually move along. |
maplewood fan
Citizen
Username: Mplwfan
Post Number: 268
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 1:10 am: | |
Privatize the Post Office! The employees have a do not care "Union" attitude. While I am a staunch supporter of workers rights - the federal employees are the worst of the lot. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the comment that a post office employee had been on the job for almost 12 hours. Give me a break. I worked for the federal government (non-union) and most of the union workers in my office took great advantage of their situation while the rest of us schmucks did their work. I left after a year and a half and went back to the private sector. See all of you right wingers out there - even a left wing liberal can get frustrated with government. Now it's your turn to bare your soul about the demons of the private sector. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 6942
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 7:44 am: | |
Maplewood Fan: The post office was privatized years ago. It is now a public benefit corporation, still in the public sector but not directly under the US government.
Dave23: Bulk mail tends to get low priority in most busy post offices. If the post office is especially busy, the bulk mail waits.
Director: The Maplewood post office on Maplewood Avenue does seem more crowded since the hours were changed possibly because more people can get the the Maplewood Post Office now that they are open Saturday afternoons and have evening hours on weekends.
Hopefully, the post office management will soon discover that this additional demand exists and that peak hours have changed somewhat and be able to adjust staffing at the counter accordingly.
Providing feedback to the person in charge of the Maplewood post office could help bring these problems to management's attention. |
maplewood fan
Citizen
Username: Mplwfan
Post Number: 269
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 3:55 pm: | |
USPS Governing Board: As the governing body of the U.S. Postal Service, the 11-member Board of Governors has responsibilities comparable to a board of directors of a publicly held corporation. The board is composed of nine governors appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. The other two members of the board are the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General. The governors appoint the Postmaster General, who serves at their pleasure without a specific term of office. The governors, together with the Postmaster General, appoint the Deputy Postmaster General (39 USC 202).
Joan - smells like government involvement to me? I'm not too savy about the private sector but what other corporations out there have boards appointed by the President of the US? |
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1295
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 8:46 pm: | |
Ugghhh I am so fed up this week! Our regular postman is great but he has so much time off that we only see him occasionally. This past week we've received so much of our neighbors mail and had so much of our mail go missing that I called to complain on Friday. I spoke to a woman who identified herself as a manager and she really had little to say to my complaints or offered much hope that they would be rectified.
The next day we received a letter for a neighbor for 2 blocks away as well as someone's unmailed mail (i.e. that the postman had picked up from someone's mailbox to be mailed but instead dropped it in our box).
I (usually)receive daily trade newspaper and I haven't seen it for a week.
I'm SO frustrated with this! |
The Soulful Mr T
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1316
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 7:57 am: | |
The new hours at Maplewood make no sense at all. It's become a real nuisance to go there. We should organize a petition and send it to someone! |
Smarty Jones
Citizen
Username: Birdstone
Post Number: 192
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 8:30 am: | |
ess, did they offer you a hot cup of tea and biscuits to go with those 2 cent stamps? Did they even charge you? This isn't the first time I've seen you profess to get service/help where others failed, and you seem to imply that it's because you were kind and gentle, while the other poster was clearly cranky and mean.
I no longer believe that you 'happened' to be in these places you claim to be, and 'happened' to get what the other person failed to get. I think you are making this up because you are convinced that cranky rude people should and will get what's coming to them.
Regardless of whether you were kind or cranky, if they had 2 cent stamps, they should have sold them to the cranky people waiting in line. |
meluga
Citizen
Username: Meluga
Post Number: 59
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 9:16 am: | |
I went to the MPO last week in search of .02 cent stamps. There were approximately 15 people ahead of me. I asked if they had any contraband available and they said " Maybe 100." I thought this was a little odd. Certainly it should come as no surprise to the USPS that .02 cent stamps would be in demand. They also were not available in the machines. Someone kindly gave me 2 stamps and I was able to move on. |
Buttercup
Citizen
Username: Buttercup
Post Number: 29
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 9:37 am: | |
This seems to be a chronic problem. I always expect the worst when I go to the post office-- that I'll have to wait in line forever and that customers will throw a fit and curse employees. Post offices around here are, believe it or not, 1,000 times better than, for example, those in Brooklyn (where I lived). There, you'd have one employee staffed and probably an hour to an hour and a half waiting time to get to the counter (on top of all the screaming). Post offices in this country are just bad news for everyone involved. Thankfully, many have installed self-post machines where you can weigh your own packages, stamp them, and send them off. It's like EZ Pass for frequent mailers. Still, the postal system needs to be revamped. |
Smarty Jones
Citizen
Username: Birdstone
Post Number: 197
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 9:45 am: | |
any hope/future in the relocation of Maplewood Postoffice (leaving a post office sales window/boxes) and devoloping that plot of land for more town stuff?
Or is that a total fantasy idea? |
Zoesky1
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 1348
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:01 am: | |
For the record, post offices in Manhattan were running out of 2-cent stamps last week, too. Apparently the underpublicized move to 39-cent postage caught a lot of people off guard...I had to traipse around to three PO's before I could find them, and I even tried hitting up newsstands, but they were sold out too. |
Smarty Jones
Citizen
Username: Birdstone
Post Number: 198
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:04 am: | |
Further, can't we use Supreme Court authorized Eminent Domain to kick the post office out of town, for construction of Hotels/Condos/Shopping Malls? |
maplewood fan
Citizen
Username: Mplwfan
Post Number: 272
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:05 am: | |
I've always thought a good gym/daycare in the Post Office Space would be great for commuters.
I don't use the Maplewood Post Office - I use the one near my office and there are never any lines and the representatives behind the counter are always friendly and helpful. However I work in a rural county where for the most part I find people in general are friendlier. |
dave23
Citizen
Username: Dave23
Post Number: 1264
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:37 am: | |
Joan & mjc,
I am assuming they sent it bulk mail, but I may be wrong. That said, I understand that bulk mail takes longer to deliver. But we never received what was sent to us. The person at Sharey Tefilo (one of the senders) said they had numerous similar calls from Maplewood. The other came from the Short Hills Arboretum. |
sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 2275
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:42 am: | |
How late is the Maplewood post office open during the week? |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3048
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 6:03 pm: | |
I think that the main office is open until 7:00 PM now.
When they "remodeled" the main po a few months ago (maybe longer, but sometime in the not too distant past), they removed the scales. I think this is ridiculous, since it eliminated one way that customers could serve themselves and avoid lengthening the lines for others. One of the employees told me that the postmaster thought it was too "cluttered" with the scales there. Makes NO sense to me. |
Starletta8
Supporter
Username: Starletta8
Post Number: 131
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 6:09 pm: | |
Why is Maplewood's PO open so much later than SO's? It closes at 4:30- a real pain for those working regular hours. |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 924
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 10:21 pm: | |
Smarty -- no, I am not making this up, and no, I did not imply that it was my attitude that got me the stamps. All I said was that I asked for the stamps and got them (when others had reported that the post office claimed to be out of them).
I was not disagreeing with long lines, which there were, nor with bad service, as I mentioned that one of the sales associates disappeared for a while. Further, people tend to get cranky when forced to wait in long lines and get bad service.
Other than that, "Smarty", if I believed that rude people should and do get what's coming to them, then you would not be allowed to post on this board. |
las
Citizen
Username: Las
Post Number: 841
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 11:24 pm: | |
Smarty, meow! I was on line behind ESS and when I asked for two cent stamps the clerk said, 'Sorry, I just sold her the last ones.' As far as I could tell she was not offered a biscuit or tea. Also as far as I could tell in her post she did not imply that anyone was cranky or mean. Maybe ESS really is that lovely? |
The Soulful Mr T
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1322
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 7:08 am: | |
I've only met her once but I'd give her MY last 2 cent stamps - in a heartbeat! |
Smarty Jones
Citizen
Username: Birdstone
Post Number: 216
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 8:41 am: | |
Far be it from me to take a Happy-go-lucky person and turn them into a crank (I've done that before...my significant-other used to be delightful)....I didn't mean to come off as being mean or rude, and honestly, I have to appoligize, because I actually confused Ess with another poster altogether...
Again, I didn't mean to go "postal"  on you here, and I'm sorry. 
|
mjh
Supporter
Username: Mjh
Post Number: 350
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 9:41 am: | |
and the plastic flowers in front of the Maplewood Ave post office are really tacky
love the new late closing. Thank you thank you thank you |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 925
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 1:07 pm: | |
Awww...Soulful Mr. T, you have made my day!
Smarty, apology accepted. In return, I apologize for my snarkiness.
|
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 12027
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 1:20 pm: | |
All this trouble for two cents! There must be a better way. Maybe the post office should accept 37 stamps on one-ounce letters until it has sold a sufficient quantity of 39 cent stamps. Or something. This must be the stupidest way to hike rates, maximizing trouble for post office and customers alike.
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The Soulful Mr T
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1327
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 1:51 pm: | |
Lousy two cents? Yes, Tom, but if you multiply that by the millions of letters that don't get delivered, that money goes right to the bottom line.
I was at the Maplewood PO today and man, it sucks. However, I guess if you compare it to the one I went to when I lived in Jersey City, this one's Nordstroms.
ess, <wink wink, nudge nudge> |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 12030
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 2:55 pm: | |
I realize the two cents is a lot of money in the aggregate. After all, it's a 5.4% rate hike. But the effort to buy and sell the stamps is outrageous, by the stories I'm reading here.
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