For the past year, I have made several trips per week to the local post office. It's amazing how for the past 15 years I counted on the nice route carrier picking up our mail every afternoon, or on someone else carrying it to the nearest drop box! Now that I am the sole user of mailing services, that little job has fallen to me again.
I discovered in the first two weeks that I did not want to go to the window. I don't know if the clerks are "working to the rule" of if they are just incredibly slow, but the worst customer service in town is at the postal window. I have been in there on afternoons when there are more than 10 people standing in line and only one clerk - with no apparent plans for calling someone to the front to clear out the back up.
Many moons ago I switched to using the Automatic Postal Center machine. I can purchase stamps and mail large envelopes in literally seconds and be out of the post office, in less time than the clerk could wait on one person.
There is a down side to the machines if you just want a stamp. The machines only sell sheets of stamps and one must use a credit or debit card, but doing it yourself is definitely faster and you don't have to deal with a rude clerk. All of the PO's in our area have replaced their older style stamp machines with the APC's, so I may never again see a clerk.
Wonder if I can pay for my Hallmark card at the machine?
Oh, but you should come to our post office -- the lines are long, but the clerks are wonderful. They even remember most people's names. We understand that the powers that be are planning to close our local post office due to budget constraints and we are devastated.
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