Dear TLS, I am using this podium to air my frustration about the following issue, and hope maybe this will somehow help bring about change. Recently the Post Office on Clifton Ave. was closed. The reason given was in order to save money, since most of the space in Clifton was not being utilized. One would think that this cutting of costs would help the actual service get better and more efficient, making the sale worthwhile, in spite of the extra bother involved in schlepping down to Swarthmore Ave. for postal services.
I was therefore extremely surprised to discover that the opposite is true. The service in Swarthmore has totally disappointed me. Remember the not-more-than-5-minute-wait rule that was effectively put into place in Clifton? Well, no more. In Swarthmore you can easily wait 10 of 15 minutes. The service there is considerably slower.
I was there this morning, there were about 10 people and counting waiting in the line (as I turned around and left I saw a few more people heading in), and there was only one clerk servicing the customers! There are only two counters for clerk vs. three that they had in Clifton. Where is the postmaster that was so widely praised for keeping the wait time at a minimum? Why does everything move so much slower there? Besides for spending the extra time driving sown there, you now have to spend more time waiting impatiently for your turn to arrive. Can anyone do anything to facilitate a change for the better?
A Frustrated Taxpayer
(TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected])
Sorry for your disappointment, but the fact is they don’t (moderated) about you, although they need your business to save them-due to the fact that they know that they are the only service that can help you with your mailing issue. they therefore don’t care about you.
i.e. if you were the only plumber around, then you wouldn’t rush faster to help your customers cause you know that no matter what you-the plumber-will not be losing any customers no matter how slow you work.
that’s how supply & demand go & that’s the situation with the USPS no matter how much they need your support & money.
sorry for your upset situation, im not happy about it either, but I see the other side of the story.
Hmmmm! Ive been there several times since they relocated and never waited more than five mins. Maybe it was just an off day – sick call out???? That would leave them shorthanded. Try it another time and see
I mailed letters on Friday form the post office and they were received the following Thursday. Hard to explain…
This post office (and postmaster) is a total failure.
Government entities view increased customer frustration as progress, because long-term it results in diminished expectations.
I had this a few weeks ago in friday with about 15-20 ppl on line and ONE clerk!!! This is a total disaster.
I was at the new post office last week and it is a disgrace. Yes, only 2 spaces for workers to take your money etc. I asked to speak with the postmaster and a stranger came out after waiting about 10 minutes and my constant complaining as to where was this person and why am I waiting . I asked him if he was the postmaster in Lakewood before and he said no. Now I see that they have new personnel working at the new location. I am just waiting for the next bomb to fal and we find out that our old post office will become a school?????????? don’t tell me that I am wrong. Only time will tell except that I heard that it is a done deal for a school………..
I hope you print everything that I wrote…….
USPS has also been given the additional burden of delivering our UPS packages without additional help! This is how G_d teaches us patience I think. 🙂
I don’t know why anyone would go to the post office. You can get post office service on County line in Jackson, as well as on Clifton Ave.
there is an alternative on clifton ave at Beepers Plus 428 clifton ave , they sell stamps and do shipping!
Been to the new location a couple times the last few weeks (usually go to Brick).
Found the wait to be very short and the people at the counter very helpful.
And the guy in the back treats me like an animal when I drop of packages. That’s what you get when government runs a business. Look what happened in communist Russia. Go to fedex or UPS, they treat you like gold. They WANT your business. Post office couldn’t care less. They are not getting fired.
i was just there last week and the service was fine and the clerks very nice.
Like all buisnesses it depends when you go. in general i find my wait and based on my discussion with others theirs as well has been shorter than it was on clifton.
Very long lines, the workers are nice and helpful but they get frustrated and complaint about the situation themselves. Also, why do they lock the back exit door of the PO boxes room? People exit that way anyways, why lock it and make people walk all around it? There is noone to talk to there.
Shame on you post office! Waited 30 minutes. One clerk there. She was doing her job well. Just overburdened with work. It’s the lack of management and oversight.
Was there recently, besides the long wait the attitude from the woman was very surprising.
She had a mini xmas tree on her counter that my package touched and she had a fit about it as if I tried breaking it purposely…..
After that it took a week and a half till my package left the post office……
Suspicious…..
I went there a few weeks ago to mail three packages via priority mail. Spent $45. They were suppose to get there in two days, took a week. The people behind the counter were outright rude and obnxious. I will be using ups from now! And really noone cares. There is noone to complain to
Yes, simply outrageous… TWO counters vs. three in the “old” place…
ALWAYS a wait….
It’s MUCH faster to me to drive to HOWELL to the PO there, where even if five people are in front of me I never wait more the two minutes!!!
Being that I live near the Howell border, I go to the Howell P.O. and never have any issues there. It probably is faster for me to go north on Rte. 9 than to go to Swarthmore Ave. and fight local traffic.
I’ve visited the Swarthmore branch several times times and on a few occasions the lines were so long and without adequate postal personnel servicing the customers that I after waiting several minutes I simply was forced to leave and come back when I had more time to just stand around for a long period of time. In general, I am displeased with the length of time necessary to get my postal business done at this new location.
I also don’t see how any non-government-protected entity would ever get away with continually raising our postage/delivery costs while at the same time providing us with less clerks and giving us much slower service..
The post office is a loosing business and cannot afford the service its offers. They just can’t afford to hire more personel. Every time they try to institute something sensible like caneling staurday delivery the republicans yes the republicans stop them.
I had a piece of registered mail that the notice said I was supposed to pick up at the swarthmore post office. I droove there and saw two clerks and a line that was easily 20 minutes. I turned right around and drove away. let the package go back to the sender. I’m not waiting 20 minutes for the privelege of picking it up.
I also had a very upsetting experience. I sent a very important document priority overnight mail and it was signed five days later by recipient. I presently use the Howell post office with much better service. How unfortunate.
I remember reading an article stating that Lakewood’s new postmaster said that he is committed to short lines, and invited anyone to contact him if they have a problem. I believe that his name is Balvinder Singh-Minhas. I think that contacting someone about a problem in a respectful way can have positive results. If he his made aware of a problem, he then has the opportunity to fix it. If our public officials are not contacted and made aware of a problem, then how could change happen?
There was a problem with long lines in the post offices previous location on Clifton. Did anyone ever contact the Post Office to complain? I did. And they heard me, and responded to my letter. Perhaps if more people would have spoken or written to them, it would have made more of an impression. Perhaps if our community would have developed a line of communication with them about the service, and communicated to them that good service on Clifton is important to us, then we would have had an effective line of communication with them, and possibly been able to dissuade them from closing the Clifton location before they decided to close it. After all, if people do not complain about a problem, then it’s probably not such a big problem.
Effectively making an official aware about a problem means speaking to them about the problem in a respectful way. They don’t want there to be problems with service, but they could only provide good service and make improvements when people from the community communicate with them. Just standing on the line and saying begrieved gruntled comments doesn’t help. How does venting on the scoop help make any improvement?
The is a new storefront post-office on Clifton ave. utilize it and stop complaining.
The federal government stinks, and always will as long as the Liberals occupy office.
The is a new storefront post-office on Clifton ave. They do money order too.
Another problem is that I get mail for people at other addresses all the time. I wonder if my mail is also going to other addresses. I’ve gotten mail for out of town, Toms River, other streets in Lakewood etc. How does the mail get sorted anyway?
I was told by the clerk that my package wasn’t there and must be on a vehicle for delivery. He couldn’t verify it nor was he willing to make an effort. I went home, 12 minutes away, only to get a phone call from the same post office saying that they have the package! I drove back and waited again for over 10 minutes to get the package. The clerk made some excuse that one of the workers must have been holding it when he checked. Yeah right.
Dismal experience.
Don’t waste your time. UPS or Fedex any day.
Stop funding the fat postal pensions so the USPS can have enough money to stop eliminating the clerk positions, so they can properly serve the american people.
Had the worst experience at the post office, stemming from an order for medication that was shipped with a 90 day supply, Dec.14th .
Called everyother day, traced it was delivered they could NOT FIND IT!
IT!S JAN 17th, no medication, called
Co that ships meds, no can do, too soon, ifnlost you must get. New script, pay out of your pocket.
Go down to post office, guaranteed it!s there, not sorted will get it next day! What a real excuse,it!s jan 21st
Thry still make no effort, come in and file a loss, i was told theyhsve too much?mail coming in and can!t get thru the days! Dear Me!!!
I predict that a school will soon occupy our old post office. why it was closed is ridiculous. Actually, Why was it closed????? Does someone have a true and honest answer??????
The people at the counter are snobs.
They skip Saturday delivery when ever they want.
Dont leave a pick up in your box cause if you dont have mail it wont get picked up.
Friends send me party invites and I never get them.
I applied for a Sunoco card I received it 10 weeks after Sunoco told me it was shipped.
They dont have enough carriers for this route so they only deliver when they want.
I will be calling the 800 # not that they will care either.
I will be contacting the main post master and no I dont mean the Lakewood one either.