confusedSo, I'm carrying a big box filled with mainly books, but also a few vinyl records. I haven't sealed it, since I didn't have any packing tape. I wait in line, no problem, and get served by a lady at the end of the counters.
I put the box down and tell her it's mostly books, and did she have some tape I could use? She gestures to some tape but stops me when I reach for it. "That's for priority mail only", she said.
"Cool, because that's how this baby's going!" I said jovially. She gives me a weird look, like I just said I was from Mars and proved it by growing two extra heads.
"But that's so EXPENSIVE for just BOOKS. Priority's for IMPORTANT stuff. Media mail is great for books, it'll get there in one to two weeks, and it's CHEAP!".
Um. Okay....? I already said I want to use priority, and how are books not important? "I want it to get there by Monday or Tuesday, I'll use priority" I said.
"Well, let me just see, okay?" she said, taking my box and placing it on her scale before I could protest. "Where's it going?"
"Um, Oklahoma." She giggled. GIGGLED. But didn't say anything. But... what's so funny about Oklahoma?
"Okay. Oklahoma." she says. I tell her the zip code, and she tells me how much it will be. It's fine to me.
"Are you SURE? Media mail will be SO much cheaper!". I once again tell her no, I want priority.
"It's a big box for just books." she says, still holding onto my box. "For 12 dollars, you can use one of our boxes!". I try to tell her I just want to tape my box up and send it, but she's already gone and rummaging in the back of the office, and comes back with a very small USPS box. I know there's no way everything will fit in it. She starts to unload my box and try to put it all into the small box, and it clearly isn't working.
"Look, can I please just use my regular box?" I ask, itching to get the stuff out of her hands. Then she pulls out the vinyl records.
"What are these?" she asks.
"Vinyl records." I say, trying to grab them back.
"They can go on top!" she says, and then tries to JAM AND BEND VINYL RECORDS TO STUFF INTO A BOX THAT IS SMALLER THAN THEY ARE. I freak and hurriedly grab them back, telling her I don't think the box will work, putting all the items back in my original box. She huffs at me.
"Okay, okay. Well, why don't I get you paid now. That way, you can go off to the side, tape the box up, and then just set it on the counter and go." she says, typing into the computer. I tell her fine, since I'm eager to get out of there. I pay for priority, and she finally hands over the tape and shoves my box back at me. I shove the receipt in my coat pocket and go off to one of the little tables where you can assemble your mail. I re-pack everything, tape the box up securely and stick on the address label. When I pick it back up to give to her, I notice a line has started to form.
I try to wait for my postal worker to be free, but she see's me waiting and tells the two women she's helping to wait and move! I felt so embarrised. I could have waited. The women both give me confused looks, and I put my box down on her counter. She told me she'd "handle everything" and when I started to ask her if she knew if it would arrive on Monday or Tuesday, she said "it's taken care of. You can go now. I have a line." and told the two women to come back over.
I was just shocked. I've never really been treated that way at the post office. I just wanted to send a box, ffs! And I've never had a postal worker who got my money first, and then sent me away before attaching anything to the box. Once I was in my car, I dug out my receipt to make sure she did priority, and that it was to the right zip code. I then called the number for the post office, and told the bewildered woman on the line that I had just been there, and I had dropped off a box to go to Oklahoma, and could she check to make sure everything was okay with it, and all the right stuff was on it? She asked me what the box looked like and what clerk I had. She then put me on hold while she looked.
When she came back, she said it was all fine, it would get there no problem. I'm still a little worried, but we'll see.
Not so much BAD service, as really bizarre service...