Stop Staples Taking Over the USPS Offices

[LSSBB]

I use it all the time, ship packages several times a week. I've rarely had problems. I suggest you had an unusual experience or you believe a false stereotype.

It was a personal experience, and it wasn't as much the particular delay as the service I got. I also get the wrong mail delivered to me quite often.

 

[theprestige]

My understanding is, that's not what this is about. Staples would only provide what are essentially retail outlets, thus saving USPS tons of money. Delivery would still be by the USPS and USPS employees.

If it's about retail outlets, I don't see the problem. I've done plenty of business with Mailboxes Etc. and the like. Never had any cause for complaint. It's been the same way for me with Staples.

But Skeptic Ginger seems convinced that Staples is bidding to take over the delivery infrastructure itself. So I think we can safely assume she's identified a real, serious problem that should properly concern us all.

Isn't that right, Skeptic Ginger?

 

[SezMe]

Give Staples a shot. See how they do in the experiment. Then run the numbers to decide whether it would work in other areas. There is nothing to fear here and no reason to poison the well with unfounded fears. Either the Staples experiment will succeed or it will fail - no big deal either way.

This is hugely unrealistic. We're talking about billions of dollars of infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of employees, built up legal and social rules, etc. You don't just "give it a try". The obvious analogy is a super tanker. You don't change course in a minute or two.

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

It's odd that everyone has all these horror stories and I use the post office several times a week with almost no problems.

I've lived places where USPS works too, but when they don't it's absurd, comical and dangerous. Where I live right now if I get too much mail, they send the part that won't fit in my box back to the sender with random messages that include "moved, left no forwarding address". So they are occasionally giving my creditors the impression I'm evading my bills. I've missed jury summons due to this. And my tax attorney temporarily resigned from my service because he thought I moved away without telling him.

In the 90s I lived on a route served by a person who was driven to seizures if they looked at too many numbers. I'm not kidding. The mail went to random locations and the neighborhood organized to redeliver the mail on their own when they couldn't get the USPS to fix it.

 

[Mudcat]

So because you don't write letters no one else should?

I grew up during a time before the Internet began to blossom, and I can count the number of times I written correspondence on one hand. And that was in elementary school as part of the class assignment. I don't write correspondence, I don't know anyone that does, nor do I know of anyone that knows anyone that does.

Do you?

Not everybody owns a computer and uses the internet, you know.

I'm not saying that everyone does, but even amongst people that don't I don't believe they write or reiceive a whole lot of correspondence either. It's not something that's in high demand or has been in high demand.

 

[marplots]

This is hugely unrealistic. We're talking about billions of dollars of infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of employees, built up legal and social rules, etc. You don't just "give it a try". The obvious analogy is a super tanker. You don't change course in a minute or two.

How do you know this? The only document I found about it was heavily redacted and I couldn't find a mention of scale.

 

[Travis]

I've lived places where USPS works too, but when they don't it's absurd, comical and dangerous. Where I live right now if I get too much mail, they send the part that won't fit in my box back to the sender with random messages that include "moved, left no forwarding address". So they are occasionally giving my creditors the impression I'm evading my bills. I've missed jury summons due to this. And my tax attorney temporarily resigned from my service because he thought I moved away without telling him.

In the 90s I lived on a route served by a person who was driven to seizures if they looked at too many numbers. I'm not kidding. The mail went to random locations and the neighborhood organized to redeliver the mail on their own when they couldn't get the USPS to fix it.

How in the world are you getting so much mail?

I am lucky to get a few letters a week in my mail box.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I live in an extremely rural area and all I get is junk mail. I actually cannot receive packages through the USPS because their parcel boxes are so limited in this area. So whenever some idiot online retailer sends a package through the USPS, I have to take time off work to visit the post office during their hours. I wish I could opt out of their services.

That's odd - I, too, live in an extremely rural area, and as noted above, the USPS is the ONLY service that can find and delivers to my door. UPS is not bad, Fed Ex is terrible.

I write letters, do bills, and receive magazines through the mail. Until recently, I had a dial-up internet connection - no option for high-speed - and even now, my 'high-speed' is the lowest rate. I don't want to do everything via computer. My older relatives also expect hand-written thank-you notes and cards, and I certainly appreciate them when I get them.

I doubt Staples would serve my area. The only one I know of is nearly 40 miles away, and there isn't another one for more than 100 miles in any other direction. You really think they're going to run out here (from another state) to deliver mail to the 250 residents of this general area? I don't.

 

[kookbreaker]

I use USPS Priority Mail for about 90-95% of the packages I send from the store.

Their ontime arrival rate is actually very good. I'd say more than 95% of the packages arrive within the 1-3 day promise time, excluding customer absence. UPS and FedEx don't have this high a delivery rate.

If anyone complains too much, please look at how much it costs to send a 1 lb. package to a residential address via UPS.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The USPS doesn't get its funding from the government, as I understand it. It's a business, and a rare one if it doesn't get subsidies.

 

[TragicMonkey]

I'm not saying that everyone does, but even amongst people that don't I don't believe they write or reiceive a whole lot of correspondence either. It's not something that's in high demand or has been in high demand.

Yeah, people without computers don't get bills or have to pay them. Lucky punks!

 

[Ladewig]

Yeah, people without computers don't get bills or have to pay them. Lucky punks!

The most common response I hear to that complaint is that those people can use the computers at the public library. Of course, given that public library funding is becoming more and more limited, those people may not have the option - and very rural folks lack that option as well.

 

[TragicMonkey]

The most common response I hear to that complaint is that those people can use the computers at the public library. Of course, given that public library funding is becoming more and more limited, those people may not have the option - and very rural folks lack that option as well.

Ah, yes. The assumption that everybody's able-bodied and able to leave their house and transport themselves at will to conveniently-located publicly-available free amenities.

Apparently many people are under the impression that we live in a socialist paradise like the future envisioned by "Star Trek", where everyone can access the peak of technology at whim and there's tons of it about, just waiting for anyone who wants to use it, for free.

It makes me quite irritated that so much of the middle class assumes everyone else is middle class, or worse, that only the middle class matters. The crowning irony, of course, is that a great many people who consider themselves middle class aren't--they're lower and dropping like a stone, but can't see it.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The most common response I hear to that complaint is that those people can use the computers at the public library. Of course, given that public library funding is becoming more and more limited, those people may not have the option - and very rural folks lack that option as well.

Well, I'm sure the private sector will step in and take up the slack. We've been promised that by politicians, so it must be true.

 

[marplots]

The most common response I hear to that complaint is that those people can use the computers at the public library. Of course, given that public library funding is becoming more and more limited, those people may not have the option - and very rural folks lack that option as well.

I thought the separation from the herd was a benefit of rural life. No fair complaining about it now. If someone wants the goodies that come with civilization, they ought to live with the civilized, where whining is a much-appreciated art form. "Boo-hoo, I don't have public services." "Well, come live here in concrete land then - you know, where the public hangs out."

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

If it's about retail outlets, I don't see the problem. I've done plenty of business with Mailboxes Etc. and the like. Never had any cause for complaint. It's been the same way for me with Staples.

But Skeptic Ginger seems convinced that Staples is bidding to take over the delivery infrastructure itself. So I think we can safely assume she's identified a real, serious problem that should properly concern us all.

Isn't that right, Skeptic Ginger?

Not only that, but Staples isn't "taking over" USPS offices. The claim made in the thread title is idiotic, of course.

 

[newyorkguy]

Several years ago Amtrak tried something similar. On selected routes -- medium-distance ones without full dining service -- they substituted a Subway menu with Subway food servers for the Amcafe cars (that have a food service attendant and serve pre-made sandwiches, hamburgers, etc.). It didn't work. Besides the fact the Subway sandwiches didn't appeal to enough riders, the Subway workers were not too successful either. The Subway employees came from a job with a very different employee culture than an Amtrak employee. I foresee the same problem at Staples.

Post office employees, the counter employees, actually do a fairly difficult job and they do it pretty well. They have to know tons of stuff, rates, postal regulations, types of service available. They have to have customer skills. They are unionized employees and they probably average over $20-an-hour in pay, often get regular overtime (working Saturdays), have an excellent benefit package and have a career path that includes promotion to supervisory positions (if they want it).

The model for Staples employees is more like the fast food industry. They're not unionized, and they get minimal everything: minimal pay ($10-an-hour), minimal benefits, minimal training and few chances of advancement.

I'd be very surprised if Staples will be able to offer the same quality of service. It's hard to be motivated when you're making ten bucks an hour with no benefits. I use Staples too; I publish a small newsletter and I use the Copy Center regularly. The employees are friendly but the level of professionalism is more like a McDonald's than a post office. The Staples employees are, for the most part, much younger and much less disciplined. It's normal to have to wait to be served while being ignored by several employees chatting among themselves. I've never had that happen in the post office.

 

[marplots]

Post office employees, the counter employees, actually do a fairly difficult job and they do it pretty well. They have to know tons of stuff, rates, postal regulations, types of service available. They have to have customer skills. They are unionized employees and they probably average over $20-an-hour in pay, often get regular overtime (working Saturdays), have an excellent benefit package and have a career path that includes promotion to supervisory positions (if they want it).

The model for Staples employees is more like the fast food industry. They're not unionized, and they get minimal everything: minimal pay ($10-an-hour), minimal benefits, minimal training and few chances of advancement.

I'd be very surprised if Staples will be able to offer the same quality of service. It's hard to be motivated when you're making ten bucks an hour with no benefits. I use Staples too; I publish a small newsletter and I use the Copy Center regularly. The employees are friendly but the level of professionalism is more like a McDonald's than a post office. The Staples employees are, for the most part, much younger and much less disciplined. It's normal to have to wait to be served while being ignored by several employees chatting among themselves. I've never had that happen in the post office.

Great post, and the analogy with fast food is a good one. What remains to be seen is if services can be modified into a simpler, cheaper format and whether this will realize cost savings.

Partially, success relies on how well the public is able to accept the burden of knowledge. For example, in fast food you have a limited menu and customers are expected to know what they want. For FedEx and UPS, I already do this - I do my own "look-ups" and figure out what's needed. At the post office (currently) this is less so (at least in my experience).

I won't dispute that one might get more, but the question is whether or not the "more" is worth the price. We already get discounts for things like pre-sorting by zip code or standardized packaging. The same idea can be taken further with other services. Concomitant with this is an opportunity to pare down the menu - drop some of the less popular services.

So, yes, you have the equivalent of a Staples employee trying to find you the right printer cartridge. But so what? The savvy mailer will learn the ropes and the less savvy will be that same old lady in line ahead of you at Staples - the one that can't figure out where the windows are on her computer.

Can't figure out how to mail that shawl to Bosnia? Well, don't go to the branch office at Staples - go to the main post office instead, the one a couple of towns over. Or call. Or go online and figure it out. Or ask your Serbian neighbor.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I thought the separation from the herd was a benefit of rural life. No fair complaining about it now. If someone wants the goodies that come with civilization, they ought to live with the civilized, where whining is a much-appreciated art form. "Boo-hoo, I don't have public services." "Well, come live here in concrete land then - you know, where the public hangs out."

Mega City I awaits you!

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

How in the world are you getting so much mail?

I am lucky to get a few letters a week in my mail box.

I live in the city and have a shared mailbox like you might see in an apartment building. It's two or three inches square. A few magazines and a pile of junk mail and it's full.