Community Chat

[pinkskates4]

I was in line to pick up mail and the man in front of me picked up passport renewal forms. A woman came out of her office and handed him the forms. When I got to the counter, I asked if I could also have two renewal forms. The clerk informed me I would have to make an appointment to see the Passport Officer. I said I didn't need help, just the forms. She again said I needed an appointment to do that (I guess the man had had one). She told me I should call and make one (apparently I couldn't do that in line either.)

Not only did I find this unbelievable - and rude - but I later found out the forms are online and printable - which the clerk couldn't be bothered to tell me either (now maybe if I had called to make an appointment.....)

[RedTop]

I seldom go to the post office for anything, but within the last month, I have mailed 2 packages for my daughter from different locations. The first package was mailed from the "big" post office in town; only 1 clerk was working, and I was #8 in line. Spent 1/2 an hour of my life I'll never get back, in line there. Package #2 was mailed from a small rural post office on our route to the VA Medical Center. There were no other cars in the parking lot, so I walked right to the window, mailed the package and left. Both clerks were very efficient and friendly, both asked if I needed stamps, or could assist me with anything else. I order all stamps online these days, but wouldn't hesitate to stop at the small rural post office again on our way to and from our VA appointments.

[Puppy Lips]

On 7/23/2014 Sooner said:

My pet peeve is retired and non-working folks who show up at the Post Office during the normal lunch hour for working people then COMPLAIN loudly about the crowds!

Yes that happens at my post office too. We have a lot of retired people in our town and they do go to the post office, and then the bank, around lunch time. It seems they would get faster service if they wend mid morning or mid afternoon.

[Clover29]

Mine's awesome. I just moved from a city where the post office was like everyone else's (ie terrible). My new city post office only has one clerk, but there was no line at all and the clerk was friendly and efficient. I was shocked.

[Peaches McPhee]

Wow. My post office has an automatic machine (like an ATM), from which you can buy stamps, and mail packages. I have not been in the window part of the post office in years.

[happycat]

On 7/24/2014 Peaches McPhee said:

Wow. My post office has an automatic machine (like an ATM), from which you can buy stamps, and mail packages. I have not been in the window part of the post office in years.

Ours use to have one of those, but for some reason they took it out. I went today to buy stamps and to my surprise they now close at 4:00. Give me a break.

[MikafromTopeka]

On 7/23/2014 happy housewife said:

We use a po box in the summers so if we get a package delivered - which is fairly often as I get CPAP supplies delivered and we get some meds, plus I order clothing while we are here because of no tax on clothing in Pa. Anyway, we know when the packages arrive at the PO because of the online tracking but often they are not out for delivery to us for 3 to 4 days.

I'm just wondering how you manage this? Do you just pay for the box all year or open a new one each season?

I have been paying for a PO Box since our mailbox got hit by a snowplow a few years back. At first I just had mail forwarded to it but after a year they won't allow forwarding. I didn't want to permanently change our address to a POB for SS reasons so I eventually just let everything flow back to our mailbox. Now the POB has come in handy for handling my deceased mother's mail but I'm contemplating whether or not I want to hang on the box to use when we retire.

[Sooner]

On 7/25/2014 kaybee said:

On 7/23/2014 happy housewife said:

We use a po box in the summers so if we get a package delivered - which is fairly often as I get CPAP supplies delivered and we get some meds, plus I order clothing while we are here because of no tax on clothing in Pa. Anyway, we know when the packages arrive at the PO because of the online tracking but often they are not out for delivery to us for 3 to 4 days.

I'm just wondering how you manage this? Do you just pay for the box all year or open a new one each season?

I have been paying for a PO Box since our mailbox got hit by a snowplow a few years back. At first I just had mail forwarded to it but after a year they won't allow forwarding. I didn't want to permanently change our address to a POB for SS reasons so I eventually just let everything flow back to our mailbox. Now the POB has come in handy for handling my deceased mother's mail but I'm contemplating whether or not I want to hang on the box to use when we retire.

How much are POB's these days? I have been thinking about one.

[MikafromTopeka]

On 7/25/2014 Sooner said:

On 7/25/2014 kaybee said:

On 7/23/2014 happy housewife said:

We use a po box in the summers so if we get a package delivered - which is fairly often as I get CPAP supplies delivered and we get some meds, plus I order clothing while we are here because of no tax on clothing in Pa. Anyway, we know when the packages arrive at the PO because of the online tracking but often they are not out for delivery to us for 3 to 4 days.

I'm just wondering how you manage this? Do you just pay for the box all year or open a new one each season?

I have been paying for a PO Box since our mailbox got hit by a snowplow a few years back. At first I just had mail forwarded to it but after a year they won't allow forwarding. I didn't want to permanently change our address to a POB for SS reasons so I eventually just let everything flow back to our mailbox. Now the POB has come in handy for handling my deceased mother's mail but I'm contemplating whether or not I want to hang on the box to use when we retire.

How much are POB's these days? I have been thinking about one.

I'm paying $32 per 6 months for a small po box.