Dear Martha: You are part of the USPS failure.

For two days in a row, USPS failed to make a scheduled Express Mail Pickup.  I wrote to customer service asking for assistance, and this was the reply:

On 2/27/13 2:03 PM, eCustomerCare National wrote:

Dear Crick
I understand your concern that our carriers do not check each mailbox located at the door every day for outgoing mail. However, since 1929, Postal Service policy has required a city delivery carrier to collect mail from a mailbox on the house only when he/she has mail to deliver to that box. Unfortunately, carrier made the mistake and  scanned the wrong pick up slip which could happen as carrier has more than one  pick-up on their routes.   Sorry for the inconvenience.

Martha Quintanilla

Supervisor Customer Service

Palo Alto, CA.  94303

On 2/27/13 3:08 PM, I replied:

Dear Martha,
Either I was not clear in my message, or you did not read it.  I will lend you the benefit of the doubt and assume I was not clear.

    Though it is hard to imagine how one could confuse a question about a specific Pickup Request including confirmation # WEC79698282 with a question to which one would answer, “carriers do not check each mailbox located at the door every day for outgoing mail.“

Follow that by your smarmy remark of, “since 1929, Postal Service policy has required a city delivery carrier to collect mail from a mailbox on the house only when he/she has mail to deliver to that box” makes it just short of impossible for me to give you this benefit of doubt.

Doubt or not, there is no expression of incredulity strong enough to express my reaction to your response.

For your records and use:

I (twice) subscribed for Express Mail pick up at my front door (confirmation e-mails attached).

The first time, I received a notification of pickup complete – obviously false as the package was still at my front door.

The second time, today, I intercepted my carrier who told me that his supervisor is supposed to provide him with a piece of paper with instruction for Express Mail pickup – which, he claims, was not provided to him.  He gladly took the package anyway.

The issue, as I, the customer, experienced it, was that

1. I used the Express Mail pickup scheduling service as instructed

Pickup Details Next Day Pick Up for…CRICK WATERS Confirmation Number Pickup Date WEC79628428 02/26/2013 Total Packages Weight Location 1 1 lbs. Front Door

1. the package, leaning against the front door, was not picked up.
2. i received an incorrect confirmation that the package was picked up

   Thank you for shipping with the U.S. Postal Service.
   This is to confirm that a successful Carrier Pickup was made as requested:
   
   Pickup Date		Pickup Time	Total Packages	Weight	Location
   			1			1		Front_Door 
   
   Carrier Pickup Confirmation Number: WEC79628428

   Yet, here it lay in plain sight at the front door, just as noted in the pickup request(s):

   

3. and the intended recipient of the package received an e-mail indicating that the package was on its way
4. I then, again, scheduled for Express Mail pickup
   

   Pickup Details Next Day Pick Up for…CRICK WATERS Confirmation Number Pickup Date WEC79698282 02/26/2013 Total Packages Weight Location 1 1 lbs. Front Door

   Additional information: SECOND REQUEST. IS THE PACKAGE TAKEN BY MY REGULAR CARRIER? OR IS IT A SEPARATE PICKUP?

5. And then again, my carrier did not pick up the package.

Fortunately, I happened to be home when my carrier dropped today’s mail and was able to speak with him directly.  I cannot come to believe that “Unfortunately, carrier made the mistake and  scanned the wrong pick up slip” — since when I spoke with him, he plainly and clearly stated that he had not received any pickup slips.  So of course, there did not exist for him a “wrong” slip to scan.

Regarding your excuse, “which could happen as carrier has more than one pick-up on their routes” — I just don’t know where to begin.  Everything from “they delivery millions of pieces of mail every day managing more than one mailbox a day” to “so that’s why FedEx, UPS, etc. are eating your lunch.”

My incredulity knows no bounds.

Sincerely,
Crick

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