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East End post office may be on chopping block
07/29/2011 9:34 AM by John M
The United States Postal Service announced recently it is reviewing 3,700 retail locations across the country for possible closure, including the East End location on 25th Street.
I stopped going there about a year and a half ago. I now drive to 2nd St. or the one on E. Main St. by 7th. I love the women who work at the one on 25th, they have always been so nice, but they have been getting screwed by the USPS for years, they are totally understaffed and are forced to serve a very busy and pretty densely populated area with just a bare-bones crew of people. They also took out all the stamp vending machines a few years back, which just made their situation worse. I could no longer justify waiting a half an hour to post a package when the lone clerk was swamped with people buying a single stamp (or a money order).
I’ve got mixed feelings on this one.
On one hand, this is the worst post office I’ve ever had servicing me and the building looks like a jail. I’ve had about five pieces of mail get lost in the last year, including one or two with very valuable content. I’ve also had a steady stream of incorrectly addressed mail and my mail delivery person refuses to pull out mail from the previous residents even after we’ve pointed out that they no longer live here.
On the other hand, I suspect service will still be abyssmal even if it comes from another office. I also will hate having to drive to mail a package instead of being able to walk.
As much as I would hate losing a post office on the Hill, it might be for the best. That branch is ugly looking, poorly maintained and not well run. Heck, if they got rid of it and routed our mail through a neighboring branch, our mail service might become MORE efficient and reliable!
I absolutely don’t want the post office on 25th to close! Despite its multiple problems, I have no reason to believe that rerouting our mail somewhere else (and possibly overloading THAT office) would improve the mail service in our neighborhood. I think our neighborhood post office needs MORE resources, not less.
I will echo what poster 1 said – the ladies at the counter at the East End PO are actually really nice. Both of them have been very helpful when I’ve been mailing packages and are always very friendly.
Hope this office goes…they have been screwing up my mail service for years. The carriers don’t pay attention to addresses on the mail. I regularly get other people’s mail and I can only guess where half my mail goes! Maybe if the carriers paid more attention to the addresses than talking on their Bluetooth headsets more mail might get delivered correctly.
True, that little post office has seen better days. If it does close I hope the sweet ladies at the counter transition to a new station or are taken care of appropriately.
I have complained to post office leadership about this branch for years. The supervision was in need of change based on poor performance.- countless examples. Finally, they’re taking action but for the wrong reasons. I recommended firing everyone in there many times. I won’t be sad to see them go.
We are at a disadvantage as one of the things USPS is reviewing is stamp sales. No stamp machines and limited hours really hinder that aspect for our little battle worn office. I must speak on the positive for the mail carriers we have had in my part of CH, Mike was wonderful for the first few years when we moved here. Thomas, a Georgia Tech man, has been our person for the last few years and he is Stellar. He knows his customers and he knows what is happening in our neighborhoods. He is always polite, friendly and engaging to speak with. I get lots of mail and have an odd address, he is always on point. Even the fill-ins when he is on vacation have been pleasant.
These folks are worked very hard and do a great job in what can be considered less than ideal conditions. Most of them do not even have time to break for lunch, if anything they eat on the fly. How many of us have to work 8 or more hours a day, six days a week? When someone is out they often have to divide up the route amongst those that are working. Does mail get screwed up or lost sometimes? Sure it does, but what job is 100% correct all the time. Doctors misdiagnose or even kill patients, the server gives you the wrong order, juries convict the wrong person, Shit happens. Overall I feel, again I say I feel, our crew does a wonderful job. Those at the bunker on 25th and the individual foot soldiers are for the most part dy-no-mite. Ask any postal person in the city and they will tell you that Church Hill is one of the most challenging areas to work in the tri-cities. Mike hope you are well, Thomas you the bombdiggity. Yeah I ain’t hip in my lingo but I do respect hard working folks. I am grateful for the job our postal people do day in and day out. To quote KC and the Sunshine band “keep it coming love.”
Church Hill, not only a food desert but now potentially a mail desert.
#1 Clay Street, you need to read the entire list of offices that are being looked at. The one on 2nd Street is also in danger of closing, as is something on Main Street (I’m not sure which one), as is apparently the one on Brook Road.
I don’t like the bullet proof glass at the 25th Street location, but better something than nothing, in my book. However, I don’t think we get any say in this, from my reading of the entire article.
Fast forward 5 years and substitute “USPS” with “ObamaCare”.
I agree that that is one ugly post office, but it sure is busy!
If one tries to rent a post office box, chances are you will be told there is a waiting list.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they could move to a LARGER, revamped location somewhere on the 25th St. corridor as part of the revitalization efforts?
Petition Bobby Scott, with the help of our Mayor, anyone?
I put a new post office as part of the 25 Street/Nine Mile corridor on the list myself during the charrette. Whether or not it happens will be determined by just the sort of lobbying ‘kaykay’ suggests.
Good riddance.
We’ve actually been getting serviced out of the Montrose post office station for a while now. I found this out when I went to 25th Street to put a hold on my mail in June while I went on vacation. When I went to pick it up, I was told my mail comes out of the Montrose Station now and I would have to get it there. Don’t know where Montrose Station is? I didn’t either. It’s off Williamsburg Road near Laburnum. Also, I hadn’t been receiving the 4 magazines I subscribe to for months. Went to Montrose to complain. They have great customer service and I’ve started to receive my magazines and catalogs again. Don’t know what the problem was. Just glad it’s fixed.
Well, you have to look at this closing in several ways including a history of being in at one time a high crime area (hence the bullet proof glass). I am sure vandalism and theft prevailed over the stamp machines.
I am not keen on them closing either but do wish a closer location was available. The one on Main Street people are referring to is close to 8th and Main and considered the Capitol station. They too quit delivering mail a while back and that now comes out of the Sandston station for downtown business mail.
I did note for an entire week our mail was left at the front door rather than placed in the mailbox which has been in the same place for at least 30 years. With the weather we had it could have gotten soaked or blown away let alone someone simply walking up and grabbing it! I complained but it continues and I called the 25th Street station. The woman who answered said she would talk to the carrier which lead me to believe at least N 27th delivery is still coming from them… but guess not?
Eric
Eric H, I’m near 26th and East Broad, and my delivery (at least so far) is still coming from the 25th Street post office. I had a problem with delivery and had to actually go over there last fall, so I can confirm that at least some of us are still getting delivery from there. I don’t like the service there, and I still have problems with delivery, but it’s better than nothing, and I really feel for the people on the hill who don’t have a car. The place out off of Williamsburg Road is not walkable from here.
crd… that is what I mean. We need something closer. I know the post office building on 25th is leased from someone, not owned by the government and not well kept. Wonder what they will put there when they vacate?
They do need something along the 25th Street corridor.
Did anyone else see this commentary about the Post Office in yesterday’s Times-Dispatch?
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/commentary/2011/jul/31/tdcomm03-post-office-delivers-but-for-how-much-lon-ar-1206558/
Here is the part that I find most astonishing:
“The average postal worker now makes more than $63,000 a year and has excellent disability insurance, 401(k) plans, vacation and retirement benefits, and almost total job security. More than 80 percent of the USPS’s budget goes to fund these generous workforce payments.”
#20 Yea it sounds pretty high, but on top of that they were ordered by a congressional mandate to pre-fund their pension program. What the article does not point out, and I happened to have caught elsewhere, is that they were ordered to pre-fund it for SEVENTY FIVE YEARS IN ADVANCE. That alone is enough to do them in, and the article does point out that they are on track to miss a payment this fall.
Eric #19 I think we’re in agreement, they need somethign within walking distance. I don’t know if that will be taken into account or not. I just think of some of the folks I see in the 25th St. post office, and they are on foot to mail something, or pick up certified mail or a package, and there’s no way they can walk all the way to Williamsburg Road’s office. We’ll just have to see what happens.
The post office on Main between 8th and 7th moved into much smaller quarters sometime in the last year, I guess to cut the rent down.
I echo many of these comments. I often get mail for other folks and have had a few issues with delivery/pick-up at my house. My complaints were always addressed timely and well, but I’ve had many issues since moving here four years ago. I also stopped going to the 25th St post office and go instead to one on Nine Mile in Highland Springs. The wait is much shorter, I hate having to talk through bullet-proof glass, and it’s much cleaner. I won’t be sad to see this one close. It may mean better service at another branch.
Urban Pioneer, Postal Workers have the largest and strongest union. They have a toally different pay scale than other federal workers, a cheaper, and better insurance plan than other federal workers, and a more generous benefits package.
It’s pretty sickening.
* the largest and strongest union in the federal government, perhaps in the United States. Regarding insurance, I meant health insurance.
Also, it is almost impossible to fire ANY federal worker, once they have passed thier probationary period.
I am a former federal government worker, and although the pay was great, I finally quit in disgust at the waste of my tax dollars.
If the average tax payer only knew…
I mentioned this on a previous blog, but the building is leased, it is not owned by the federal government. I reported the condition of the building’s exterior and was told by CAPs that they could not do anything against a federally owned building. Well I explained it was not owned, but leased. He said he would look into what could be done, so this was at least 18-24 months ago. The branch manager told me it leaks inside the building every time it rains. The place is an eyesore.
I was also told that we could not have one of the self-service machines because they were only placed in areas of real need. Like a line of 12 people doesn’t qualify us. You are right the ladies are nice, but the service is horrible. If you own a business in Church Hill as we do and need to get these things done on a regular basis it makes it tough to be in line for a person desiring to buy one stamp and three money orders. ALL of the complaints listed within this blog, from no mail, wrong mail, long lines, building condition and so on have been reported up the chain to the regional person and I can still see zero improvement-frustrating.