US Post Office

Understaffed, long lines, and no one EVER to pick up phone to schedule an appointment for passports. I had to go in to do this– even on the wall it says– «need a passport, make an appointment– call ***-****» Don’t call. Go in. Expect to wait at least 20 minutes. What a pain. Also, don’t bother calling any other post office in the surrounding area to make an appointment– you need to just go in– most phones don’t even ring before they cut out.

As others have mentioned, this location is convenient, but if you have any business that requires interaction with a human, make sure to allocate plenty of time, especially while students are on campus.
I have had a PO box here for 20+ years, mainly because unlike some offices, i can collect mail ²⁴⁄₇.
The staff is nice enough, but the front counter never seems to be staffed with more than 2 people, and as there is no stamp machine, scale, automated post office, or any other user accessible services, you are always consigned to standing in line, which is frequently long. The service is universally slow.
The package collection window is rarely open, and the staff gets annoyed if you ring the bell, despite the signage telling you to do exactly that.
Packages arrive (or so the online tracking tell you), but they want you to wait until they drop a slip in your box, which may be a day or more. They may search if they are not busy, which really only happens during summer session, when there are no students around.
My most recent problem is that they placed a call slip in my box, dated the 1^st. I discovered it on the evening of the 2^nd, and appeared with it at the counter on the afternoon of the 3^rd to collect my package.
One problem: They were unable to locate my package.
The clerk xeroxed the slip, took my name and number, and promised to call when they located it.
It is now the 25^th, and I have returned to the counter 3 more times. To date, they are still unable to locate it.
I don’t even know what the package was, as I was not expecting anything.

Completely unprofessional, rude, and generally incompetent.

Worst post office ever. There was no international postal money order at such an international university. So inconvenient and unbelievable.

Miserable service. I get notifications from USPS that a package is there, but it takes them HOURS or days before it is actually available to give to me. If you put in a hold request — don’t expect them to do it on the correct days. It seems totally random — they won’t deliver your mail while you are still on campus and return what was sent to you weeks before they should. The line is always miserably long. What a terrible place.

It’s hard to believe that at a place like Stanford University that even the most simple tasks are done in the most inefficient manner you can imagine.
Prepare to wait in line for 45 min plus, wait two days for them to find your package in the store after it has arrived there, or have one person out of a pretty large staff hunt out your package for 15 minutes in back rooms.
Wish there were better options.

I’ll give it 3 stars for being located in the heart of campus, near the convenient Tressider Student Union facility and buildings that I happen to have class at. If you are in the sciences or located over at the med school, I’d assume that this facility doesn’t really do much for you being out here. Lines can be terrible at lunchtime but if you go during less popular times it’s usually not more than a 5 – 10 minute wait. Brusque staff that spend their time barking at the students. Has boxes and a small selection of greeting cards.
What bothers me about this place is where some things get routed — please note that if you do a move off campus (and possibly from one residence to another in grad housing) you may think putting your mail on hold is a good idea. DO NOT DO IT!!! During a somewhat complicated house move from EV to off-​campus, I requested online to have my mail placed on hold here at Stanford USPS for pickup, thinking I would stop by and get it when I came for class the next week. When I came to pick it up, I was told to call East Palo Alto’s USPS facility (AKA Satan’s Asshole) for pickup and that they don’t do mail holds at this location. What they didn’t tell me was that this would be a long, drawn-​out saga of hell, in which the workers at EPa were always confused, the supervisor had no idea what was going on, the phones never get answered, and in short, you will never end up getting that mail you responsibly put on hold. I’m not sure who was more irresponsible to me as a mail patron: EPa for losing 2 weeks of mail, or Stanford for continuing to route mail holds to that location.
See here for my review (and all the other 1-​star reviews) of the East Palo Alto facility if you would like a better picture of what you will deal with if you place your mail on hold at 94 305:

I am a student at Stanford (the post office is located on Stanford campus) and I visit this USPS location more than I care to admit to.
First off, the service is always SLOW. The feel like clerks are moving under water, taking their sweet time to do anything.
I ship at least a couple of packages every week and recently, two of them (expensive textbooks) have gone missing. I know I dropped hem off in a blue box with a tracking number, but online tracking has no record of my mail. It just dissipated into thin air. Worse yet, I could not file an insurance claim because I had no proof that I shipped anything. Being out $ 300+ dollars I decided to walk every valuable package to this post office and receive a shipping receipt so the next time a package goes missing, I could file an insurance claim.
Now, all the clerks at this location get very upset when I try to obtain a receipt like this. They claim that they can not give it to me because by buying a shipping label on-​line I supposedly forfeit my rights to in-​person service — all NOT TRUE according to usps’s own website.
(Side note — the usps office off University ave in Palo Alto has no problems giving me these receipts)
But the straw that broke the camel’s back was another instance of their idiocy. I had a package for someone who has a PO box at this location. So brought the package to the clerk without buying any postage. Then the clerk REFUSED TO WALK 10 FEET and deliver it without me paying a postage fee, as if I was in another state or something!!! I couldn’t believe my ears when she said that.
If this office was not on campus, I would never set foot in there again. For those who have a choice of locations — AVOID THIS ONE. They will be slow, inefficient, and will charge you for anything and everything.

Located amidst the hustle and bustle of the Stanford Campus, this post office definitely gets the job done and is very convenient for many students and campus employees. A few feet away from the bus stop, the post office is accessible by either the X or Y line to Tressider Student Union. The Stanford post office has normal USPS hours (9a-​5p, but only M-​F), and is fully equipped with all the boxes, supplies, last minute greeting cards, packaging that you need. The only thing that is lacking here is the self-​service postage and drop-​off station.
I have always come right at opening (9a), so the lines are usually not a problem for me. (However, sometimes — as other reviewers mentioned — there are also students with requests regarding their personal PO box, so it may take a while. I can only imagine the longer wait come rush hour time in between classes.)
The wait overall is not too bad; while you wait you can address your cards, boxes etc to save time. The staff is also friendly and helpful, and they get you in and out of the line quickly.

Service might not be the most courteous, but come on, give these guys a break. They’re working hard to make your mail gets delivered on time. It might not be as high-​quality as UPS or FedEx, but you don’t walk into a McDonald’s expecting food from Eleven Madison Park. Where else can you get a letter delivered for just $ 0.46? And don’t forget their first-​class package services (for packages under 13 oz), which can deliver your package to the other side of the country in 3 days for less than $ 4. UPS/​FedEx would charge $ 8 at a minimum.
Now for the negatives. At the start of each quarter, when students have ordered a lot of textbooks from Amazon, there is always a very long wait line at the pickup window. Try to arrive at 9 AM, right when it opens, since college students are generally not willing to wake up that early. Another pet peeve of mine is that they like to scan packages as «delivered» even though it hasn’t actually arrived. It should instead say «held at post office for pickup.» Also, the workers there are quite stoic, but I guess it’s not the most exciting job in the world so I understand.

This post office is always soooooo slow. You can bet the line will be super long, and you will be frustrated by something happening that is obviously inefficient. It’s impossible to predict, too, when the line will be long or shorter– the other day I really lucked out right before noon on Thursday!

Stanford is a giant campus with its own zip code, so having a post office on campus is a great convenience and a practical necessity, especially for students without cars. I never went anywhere else for post office needs, and I would have been upset if I’d had no other choice.
Every Stanford student knows this post office very, very well. It’s in one of the most visible parts of campus, between the bookstore and Tresidder. The building is distinctive and fairly pretty, and there are always students coming in and out. It’s easy to stop by when you’re biking nearby. I had P.O. Box 11 139 here for four years, and I checked my mail with low to moderate frequency.
I usually parked my bike next to the door closest to my P.O. box — the windowed doors and walls meant I didn’t have to worry about locking up my shitty bike. I rarely dealt with post office personnel, but when I did, they were friendly.
I don’t have much more to say, but I thought I’d chime in with my positive feelings, as not too many people bother to Unilocal a post office without a strong negative experience. The Stanford post office is conveniently located and easy to deal with. I had the same P.O. box for four years, and it served me very well.

I am giving this post office a 4 star review, which is VERY rare for post offices. Who likes going to the post office anyways??? I like this location better than any of the other ones I have gone off campus.
This post office is located inside of Stanford campus, next to the campus BOOKSTORE. There is usually always 2 people at their stations, more if it gets really busy.
If you come during lunch hours of course its going to be busy, DUH. If you come during the last week of the semester when kids are trying to mail everything home, its going to be busy. I’ve found them to be pretty empty during the first 2 hours they open.
STAFF: I see them smile more than other post offices hahah. Like all post offices though, they probably are tired of people not knowing the correct procedures of mailing various items.
PICK UP: If you are just coming here to pick up a package, go straight to the doorbell and blue door to the right of the room.
PO BOXES: Yes
PRIORITY PREPAID BOXES: Yes
They also carry mailing accessories and various occasion greeting cards.

Here is the phone number attained at great patience from the 800 mainline. Please use wisely to make appointments to apply for passport:
1−650−321−4239
531 Lausen Mall, Stanford, CA
M-​F 9am-​3pm

Nice people at the counter. I’ve been here several times and never had any trouble.
Reasonably quick work, considering they don’t get a single break in the line throughout the day! Which also means, there is definitely going to be a line considering the daytime population of Stanford, and the amount of postal work going on here — but it aint the post office’s (PO) fault is it? Realize that the postal volume of the University is so high that it has it’s own zipcode! And there is only one PO to serve this huge volume generating community.
Parking is trouble — but again, the main reason for the PO’s location is to serve the students’ staff’s needs. And they don’t need parking. Any one else can do the same thing that students and staff do without complaining — park elsewhere and take the free Marguerite shuttle to the PO. The location is designed to serve this purpose.
For people from outside Stanford — it is not even easy to reach here. Why would anyone want to come to a Stanford PO from, let’s say, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, or Los Altos when there are POs in these cities already?

Like everyone says, this post office kind of sucks — they know that Stanford students are too lazy to drive anywhere else.
Here’s a tip if you do drive to this post office, though — if you’re fast, you can park behind the post office, either in a parking space (if there’s one available, there are only 3 or so), or just park on the sloped area next to the bollards. I’ve done it tons of times and have never gotten a ticket.

I’m not gonna lie — this post office kind of sucks. Though it’s always clean and it’s easy to get to your PO Box once you’re inside, the lines are always incredibly long (no matter what time of day you drop in) and the staff are reluctant to really help you with anything.
Also, there’s no parking super nearby, so you can’t just swing by to pick something up or drop something off even if you get into the 10 minute loading zone in front of Tresidder, you’ll still have to walk about 5 minutes over to the post office.
That being said, props to USPS for having well labeled recycling bins all over the place. I just wish they wouldn’t have replaced the stamp machines with recycling bins and mail drop slots… no way am I waiting in that line for stamps.

Very rude staff! I came here to mail four international letters.
The staff said to me «we ran out of international stamps» and stared back at me.
I was like «huh???» as I just want to pay and mail out those letters and I don’t even intend to buy some international stamps!
She barked back at me saying «Good that we are not busy, so I can use 2 domestics and one 10 cent for your letters.» and slowly she taped those stamps on my envelopes as if I owe her a big favor.
Does it take a genius to do that? Where’s my tax dollars?

No one likes going to the post office but this one is especially bad. During the school year you can count on a 20−25minute line, and during the summer it’s not much better, usually around 15 minutes. There’s typically only one or two windows open and their employees move at glacial speeds. They need to get a self-​service postage machine already.
I will be back due to the convenience of their location but always end up cursing the place on my way out. Bring your phone, a book, or something to entertain yourself.

The USPS on the Stanford campus is not exactly one of my favorite things, so you won’t hear me singing its praises Julie Andrews style, but it’s been there when I needed it most. And what would Christmas be w/​out the long lines and all those bright paper packages tied up with string?
This USPS is centrally located next to the campus bookstore, the Tressider student union, a branch of the Stanford Federal Credit Union, AND the famous Claw Fountain (decked in holiday joy, now that the recent «bearial» is over and forgotten — a gruesome ritual that sees an innocent Oski get impaled on its sharp and spiky metal tip before the Cal/​Stanford football game each fall. Stuffed animal abuse is SO senseless and cruel). It’s easy to come here on a lunch break or if you happen to be touring the campus for fun, as apparently lots of out-​of-​towners tend to do.
I have always received good and timely service here, even if students tend to clog the lines when classes are in session. There are usually two to three counters open, so if one patron seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time getting things squared away, at least the overfill crowds who just need stamps or have letters and packages to mail can funnel through w/​out more than 5 minutes or so of waiting.
No one comes to the post office for fun. Or to have a memorable experience. Let’s face it: it’s never gonna be easy for these folks to earn your top Unilocal rating, and chances are that — sooner rather than later — you will have a distinctively poor time here or somewhere else, esp. during tax or holiday season. But remember this, as you are reaching for that 1 or 2-​star rating: American citizens and permanent residents fund this unsung public service, w/​out which it would cost one HELL of lot more than 40-​something cents to mail a letter 3000+ miles from Nor Cal to upstate NY. And corporate conveyors of parcels like FedEx, DHL, or UPS definitely charge more than $ 11.30 to mail a book to Adelaide, South Australia. These are real-​world, recent examples, not random ones!
Don’t let the USPS become any more privatized than it already is. Suck it up and wait patiently for the lines to thin out and don’t act like a diva when you get to the front of the queue. B/​c the only thing that would really cause me to have a bad time at the post office would be idiotic, immature customers, not stressed-​out, overworked staffers. Help make the USPS all that it can be by smiling and saying thank you — or by registering your criticisms in a civil manner. The USPS has been a public good since the days of Ben Franklin. Keep it that way!