by Sarah Leah WhitsonÂ
Report on Meeting With Post Office
Officials (Times Plaza Station on Atlantic Ave. between 3rd and 4th Aves.)Â
On Wednesday, June 18, a small of group of Boerum Hill Association representatives (Sarah Leah Whitson, Joel Potischman and Rebecca LaShelle) met with Walter DeBerry, Manager of the Atlantic Avenue post office, and Joe Soto, Acting Area Manager for Brooklyn, to discuss the numerous problems that Boerum Hill residents have been having with the delivery of mail and services at the post office.  (DeBerry has been the manager at this post office for only three months.) Our meeting was an extremely productive one, as DeBerry and Soto were greatly receptive to our concerns, agreed that there was no excuse for most of the issues raised, and promised to address every one. Specifically:Â
1. Misdelivered mail: DeBerry and Soto apologized for the frequently misdelivered mail and promised to address the issue immediately. They will hold a meeting with their staff and review their procedures for mail delivery.Â
2. Nondelivery of Packages: Again, DeBerry and Soto expressed a great deal of concern in connection with the numerous reports of packages that the post office never delivers, and the apparent policy of delivering notice slips with the general mail, or not at all. They explained that post office policies require them to make at least one delivery attempt before leaving a notice slip, and then to make a second attempt if the customer so requests on a notice slip or by phoning. Two notice slips are to be left before packages are returned to sender, 15 days after they arrive at the Post Office. We were very clear that this simply is not what happens, and they have promised to focus on this problem immediately. They also agreed to consider our suggestion that notice slips indicate the time and date at which delivery was attempted.Â
3. Long lines at Post Office: DeBerry said they will make every attempt to have at least 4 clerks at peak hours, and at other times, to monitor closely the length of the line and to assign additional clerks as needed. (They advised us that the least busy time was generally from 9-11am, fyi.) As a direct result of our suggestion, they will also establish a dedicated window for package delivery! Third, they have committed to making sure that the stamp machine works and is fully stocked, and will look into getting a second machine with a wider variety of products (Priority Mail, Express Mail, international, etc.). Â They will also place a poster with the postal rates so that customers can weigh, stamp and mail packages/letters without waiting in line. Â DeBerry explained that they are currently understaffed (have two job openings) and noted that staffing during the summer is particularly more difficult, as many clerks take their vacations.Â
4. Professionalism of Clerks and General Appearance of Lobby: We explained that while residents were largely very happy with the services of their individual postal carriers, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the poor customer service from the clerks at the station. In addition, we noted the often dirty and unkempt appearance of the lobby area and the lack of supplies. (We actually toured the lobby, and the trash strewn all about the floor was a visible embarassment to them.) They committed to working with their staff to improve their performance and courtesy to customers, but also noted that surveys from “mystery shoppers†they used resoundingly gave clerks very high marks for performance. (They also showed us some of the surveys indicating the high marks.) They made a commitment to keeping more supplies available in the lobby, like envelopes and packages for express delivery, and to making sure that the lobby area was better-maintained. Overall, the message we received was extremely positive. DeBerry and Soto were greatly sympathetic to our concerns, showed no defensiveness, and appeared genuinely committed to solving our problems. Where do we go from here?Â
1. Survey of Conditions: Soto will provide us with a copy of a pending PriceWaterhouse customer satisfaction survey that the post office is conducting nationally. We plan to localize the survey, by posting it on the egroup for residents to complete, so that the staff can have a better understanding of residents’ feelings about this specific post office. We will then follow up with a new survey 6 months from now to assess whether there is any improvement in conditions.Â
2. Diary of Complaints: Soto and DeBerry stressed how helpful it would be for them to have specific examples of any of the problems we cited. To that end, we promised to gather for them a compendium of complaints. I would appreciate it folks can email to me at sarahleah.whitson@gs.com their brief, polite, and factually specific problems with the post office, including dates/times, clerk names, etc. (no editorial commentary, please). I will then compile these and deliver them to DeBerry and Soto.Â
3. Communication: We discussed inviting DeBerry and Soto to the BHA’s next general meeting (tba likely in September) so that they can address our community directly. They were both very excited to have such an opportunity. They also urged us to continue to contact them with any concerns. Be patient folks and let’s collectively have a moment of positive thinking as we read this email. Who knows, we might actually see some improvement…
