BHA Acts on Times Plaza Post Office Service Problem

by Sarah Leah Whitson

Report on Meeting With Post Office
Officials (Times Plaza Station on Atlantic Ave. between 3rd and 4th
Aves.)

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:

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.

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.


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.).
They will also place a poster with the postal rates so that customers
can weigh, stamp and mail packages/letters without waiting in line.
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.

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?

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.

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.

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...