Complaints continue for post office

Complaints continue to come in about the Jamaica Plain Post Office, an ongoing issue for the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the United States Post Office (USPS) is saying that changes have been made, including installing a new manager, to improve service.

USPS made managerial changes last year after numerous complaints, as the Gazette previously reported.

Jeri Levitt called the Gazette on Nov. 12 to say that the post office opened 45 minutes late that morning and also complained about long lines when it is actually opened. She noted that JP has a lot of nonprofits and people working for them can’t be waiting in line all day to get stamps. Levitt said she called the offices of elected officials at the federal level to get them involved.

“What can we all do to get this place more help?” she asked.

JP resident Randy Susan Meyers sent an October email to the Gazette, elected officials and the USPS detailing missed deliveries.

“Along with missed deliveries, people on the route continue to cope with mail delivered to the wrong house, a constant stream of temporary delivery-people, deliveries that are oddly devoid of magazines (torn magazines) and first class deliveries, late-delivered bills and other problems,” she said in the email. “This route needs immediate attention. If the service is so irregular during these, the best weather months, we can’t imagine how we will fare during the winter.”

John Stark, a JP resident, wrote a sarcastic letter to the editor about service at the post office.

“Let’s quit knocking the Jamaica Plain Post Office,” he wrote. “I recently mailed a letter to Quincy, and it only took eight days to get there. I mailed an important document to Melrose last year, and it still hasn’t arrived. So things are definitely improving!”

USPS spokesperson Steve Doherty said in an email that a review of calls at the customer service center did not show an

“uptick in the number or severity of calls.” But, he said, “one complaint is too many,” especially with the approaching holiday season, the busiest time of the year for the post office.

He said that several changes will be taking place at the post office, including a new manager, Audrey Lakes; a change in the supervisory staff; and additional clerks.

“I know that we hear about congestion at our front window and I know this a top priority for Ms. Lakes and her team,” said Doherty. “We are going to be very aggressive about reintroducing our customers to our easy-to-use self-service kiosk in the lobby that is available 24 hours a day. Using a debit or credit card, everything from purchasing books of stamps to sending packages can be done with the push of a few buttons.”

He also said that Lakes plans on reaching out to the community to introduce herself and learn about the needs and concerns of the neighborhood.

 

 

 

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