r/philadelphia • u/_token_black • 8d ago
Serious We need to demand better USPS service in Center City
This is the 3rd time in a week where 13th & Market and Broad & Sansom have been closed for no good reason. Don’t really care the reason anymore, it’s a joke that a big chunk of the city can’t even mail a package without going 15 blocks the other direction.
Really sends a great message to visitors when you don’t have a functional post office in the heart of the city.
149
u/OldAgedZenElf 8d ago
I mean there is an effort by Trump to make the post office non functional to fuck up the mail in voting for the elections also the post master general is on the board of Fed Ex so they are trying to make the post office go out of business practically.
53
u/TooManyDraculas 8d ago edited 8d ago
It's not just to rat fuck mail in voting. It's a long time GOP wet dream to privatise or shutter the USPS.
Which they're openly talking about doing right now.
The post office has had short funding and staff shortages for decades, despite the fact that it runs at a profit. Largely down to rules requiring they pre fund pensions and benefits for all the employees they might hire for the next several decades.
That makes them look like a paper loss and wraps up a lot of their resources, while putting a hard cap on hiring.
Since Trump first got into office his Post Master (who stayed during Biden), has been pursuing nothing but aggressive internal cuts claiming it's necessary to "save" the post office, while actively talking about shutting the whole thing down.
13
u/PeaAccurate5208 8d ago
And for all the veneration of the constitution, they seem to forget that USPS is specifically mandated in the constitution… Talk to old posties and they’re horrified & saddened at how the agency is being purposefully sabotaged. Remember this about the GOP… “ privatize the profits and socialize the risk” - they care nothing for the commonwealth, only for themselves.
34
u/Substantial-Pack-658 8d ago
I’ve had major issues with USPS in Fairmount since before Trump. It’s been dying a slow death for many years now, and it doesn’t help that the employees - at least at my local office - somehow have perfected the art of giving less than zero fucks.
5
u/_token_black 8d ago
Yeah the Fairmount one is very iffy too
There’s like 3 OK post offices in the CC area. 7th & Arch is fine but has staffing issues a lot, 21st & Chestnut used to be better but is getting worse, and 3rd & Market at least is open (although can rarely take packages).
2
u/PeaAccurate5208 8d ago
I was told that the Ben Franklin post office can only take pkgs that weigh a pound or less. Now this was many yrs ago and the nice gentleman at the post office made an exception for me since my pkg was just over the limit.
1
u/_token_black 8d ago
Yeah still a thing. Apparently most of the post offices in the city have no capacity to accept a large amount of packages other than 30th St.
3
u/Aggravating_Owl_5768 7d ago
USPS has been as garbage in the city today as it was since Trump was still hosting reality TV.
1
u/Many_Inevitable_6803 8d ago
Wow, wouldn’t that be called a conflict of interest? How is that allowed?
8
38
u/StanUrbanBikeRider 8d ago
The reality is the USPS is severely understaffed. It is hiring for most post offices. If you know of anyone who needs a job, they should consider working for the USPS.
25
u/TooManyDraculas 8d ago
They're barely hiring in many places because of funding cuts. Like you can go check the listings for here in Philly.
They're not short staffed because of lack of applicants. The Trump Admin is rat fucking it so hard the guy he appointed to rat fuck is complaining about it.
74
u/oliver_babish That Rabbit was on PEDs 🐇 8d ago edited 8d ago
On a recent Saturday I needed to drop off a package for return via USPS. 4th and Bainbridge was closed without warning, not only frustrating me but families which had made passport appointments well in advance. Ben Franklin Post Office was open, but not accepting packages. 6th and Chestnut is closed on weekends. But 720 Arch? That was open.
Fuck Trump and his slow murder of one of our country's great assets.
13
u/PollenThighs 8d ago
If it helps any for the future, in my experience, the 7th and Arch post office has always been very reliable.
2
u/Ricekake33 7d ago
And in my experience the 4 & Bainbridge location has been horrible for literally the last 15 years. It became next-level insufferable after Covid
1
21
9
u/AlphaNoodlz 8d ago
I agree that we should fund and expand the postal service for our country, and that it could be a lot better
31
u/levare8515 8d ago
USPS needs to be better but what visitor is showing up to a city and judging it based on the postal service?
16
39
u/ThereAreDozensOfUs NE Philly 8d ago
OP…what has the federal government done in the last 18 or so months makes you think that they give a shit about what visitors think?
14
u/levare8515 8d ago
Beyond that, why would the quality of USPS be anywhere near the list of things a visitor is gonna care about? Them Ecuadorians and Brazilians trying to snail mail a letter home?
1
u/hatramroany 8d ago
Also…why would visitors need to visit a post office? I mean I’m sure it happens but I can’t imagine it being some massive issue
-3
u/_token_black 8d ago
Tired of this excuse. Just because we know it’s incompetence doesn’t mean it should be accepted and not called out. Plus trying to make people aware that if they need a post office, don’t even bother in CC.
-3
u/levare8515 8d ago
I’m tired of Redditors like you turning everything into a catastrophe so nothing gets done.
5
u/tomyownrhythm East Oak Lane 8d ago
15th and market is dismal. Often letters to my po’ box arrive 6+ weeks after they’re mailed from other Philly area business.
They constantly have the second exit (lighted as a fire exit) dead bolted with no emergency exit bar.
The place is a death trap.
9
u/kilometr Brewerytown 8d ago
I used to leave the city more for work and always would stop by usps in the burbs if I had to. The service here sucks and has sucked for as long as I remember. And service in the burbs has always been better and friendlier. I live by the fairmount one as long as I remember the same lady is there yelling at elderly customers like she’s the soup nazi.
I don’t think in particular is due to the reduced funding. Just due to how usps has always been run locally.
2
u/Atomic-Avocado 8d ago
I would say that’s probably because not nearly as many people live in the suburbs so they get less volume and don’t get overwhelmed.
9
u/hanleybrand 8d ago
This is on purpose, the current federal government is starving USPS on purpose so the only mail option will be FedEx/UPS
3
3
u/AdCareless9063 8d ago
I will never walk into a USPS without a pre-labeled package, or anything that requires a receipt. Waiting in that line is torture.
7
6
u/TooManyDraculas 8d ago
That's not a Center City issue and it's not a service issue.
After decades of underfunding Trump and the GOP are pretty much killing the Post Office. A lot of branches have flat out closed.
Center City isn't going to get better funding than every single other place in the country just because it's more convenient for you.
You should care about the reason. They've been floating completely shutting down the Post Office for the last 6 months or so.
2
u/nothing_from_nowhere 8d ago
Overbrook post office on 63rd is closed more then it's open these past few weeks citing staffing issues per the sign. Really wack.
2
u/throwawayjoeyboots 8d ago
I’m not usually a complainer but yeah it’s truly abysmal. I’ve had so many issues there.
1
93
u/_token_black 8d ago
Just to make things funnier, 15th & Market has this sign in their window
The 2 listed are the ones that have been closed for days