USPS

Service this poor deserves its own dramatization. Note, I am an extremely polite Canadian and will put up with almost any level any poor treatment but this was truly Olympic calibre.
(Setting: USPS, dingy and poorly lit with no signage directing people to lines or forms. Pre-​Christmas lines of 6 people. Two bored and surly clerks. Woman (me) finally gets to front of line after 15 minutes.)
Me: Hello, I’d like to send these two packages to Canada?
She: Where is your customs form?
Me: I didn’t know I needed one.
She: Go out to the hallway, fill out a customs form and then come back.
Me: Do I need to stand in line again?
She: No, just come back.
(Woman goes to a table full of paper, tape, trash and debris. Finds forms marked «customs» and fills them out. Returns to stand behind the customer being served by She. Customer leaves. Woman approaches clerk.)
She: You aren’t supposed to stand right there. You’re supposed to wait until you’re called.
Me: Sorry, I thought I was doing what you told me to do.
She: (Rolls eyes, looks disgusted)
Me: Here’s the customs forms.
She: These are the wrong ones.
Me: They were the only ones at the table.
She: These are still the wrong ones. You need the long forms.
(Goes to cabinet behind desk. Blows dust off a box of «long forms» and hands them to woman.)
Me: You want me to go back again? And fill out another set of forms after I’ve already been here for 40 minutes?
She: If you want those packages to go anywhere, you do.
Me: You’re right. These packages are going somewhere. To the UPS Store across the street where I should have gone in the first place.
She: (Rolls eyes and looks disgusted.
Woman exits.

This Post Office location SHOULD BE CLOSED. Seriously, I’ve never seen SO MUCH INCOMPETENCE and ATTITUDE at the post office before (and I’ve been to many). I work across the street and thought I would spend my 30-​min lunch break by mailing out some personal stuff. One and a half hour later, after endlessly waiting in line (she was the only clerk working) and being treated like **** by that clerk who was clearly lacking experience and knowledge of what needs to be done, I decided to write a review about this horrible experience.
This USPS location is a NIGHTMARE. Advice: AVOID at any cost.

Yes this post office is always busy yet always grossly understaffed. The clerks are friendly enough and they try to get through the line as quickly as they can but never more than one or two clerks. I feel bad for them as they have to take the brunt of unhappy customers but it doesn’t look like the staffing issue will change soon.

This is the busiest USPS in downtown DC. After 11:00 a.m., during the week, what few postal clerks are available, are kept busy taking care of customers, usually some of the many Federal employees who work in the general area.
If you must use this USPS outlet to buy stamps, or mail a package, think about dropping in after 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Slow slow. I have been going to this location for 5 years now. There was one gentleman that was smiling and happy and friendly but sadly he is gone. The rest seem unhappy and do not apoear to want to help their customers. Recently within the last 2 months I have noticed there are all new people and looks like there is a supervisor there also. Seem to be more pleasant especially when they ask us to fill out the survey on the receipt.

Two people to work a long line is the beginning of your problems. The customer service is rude and when asked for a piece of tape to attack a USPS prepaid package label The lady offered me a six dollar roll of tape and a huge attitude

The day before tax day. Long lines, people in a hurry, the works.
I was really impressed by how the employees handled it. there was one guy approaching everyone in line to see if they needed help with the forms… and two people manning both registers efficiently. I heard the employees cracking jokes, being
friendly, and caring about how the other was doing.
job well done, post office!

This post office is quite possibly the unhappiest place on earth. I only go to this location because it is close to my office and I always use the the automated machine out in the lobby to process my transactions. Well today it was out of service. So I sucked up & decided to go deal with one of those sad excuses for employees there.
Much to my surprise & pleasure there was no line but the hoodrat at counter saw me coming and promptly walked away. We actually made eye contact as she walked away. No smile, no gesture as to say «one moment» or «be right back»…just ran away from her seat.
She was the only one working but decided that when she saw a customer walking in, THAT would be the best time to leave the counter completely unattended.
So I stood there for a while & a line developed, with a man immediately behind me. Deciding that I didn’t want to spend my entire lunch break waiting in line after a few minutes, I began to walk off. Just as I got out of the door, guess who magically appeared, grinning like a fat kid on free donut day at a man egregiously out of her league. WTF?!
Seriously, if you can swing it, go somewhere else. Do waste a precious second of your life at this establishment.

This is THE worst post office I have EVER been to in all of my life. If you are mailing something certified mail return receipt, they expect you to know how to mail the envelope, where to put the green return receipt card, and where to put the certified mail sticker. There was NO ONE in line except me and the light-​skin black woman with the blonde wig, skully hat and two arms full of tattoos acted like my asking for assistance was an inconvenience… no… the act of asking her for a bit of customer service was TREASON. She went into a long diatribe about how the forms are out in the hallway for a reason– because its MY job to fill them out and have them properly positioned on my envelopes. Fill them out? Yes. Where they go and how they’re positioned on my envelope? That’s crazy. How would I know that, I asked? I don’t ship certified mail return receipt everyday. I don’t know how to do that. She seemed unreasonable. The person managing this mad house should operate with a bit more logic, right? HA! An older black man was identified as the supervisor. He comes out and ignores me. I had to step up to him. I explain the situation very diplomatically. He cuts me off and says she’s right… its MY responsibility and he adds: Its something every post office is required to have their customers do. I explained its not something I’ve ever seen a post office require their customers to know how to do. He retorted, «Well you’ve never been to Georgetown have you?» To which she, the rude clerk, laughed out loud. I responded, «No… are they the standard for all post offices?» I told him I live in Virginia and due to my small business I’m in the post office mailing packages priority mail on a weekly basis, and I’ve never seen a clerk ask a customer to put their own certified mail return receipt forms on their package. I didn’t argue with him the laws of postal processes, because what do I know. What I did argue was the common sense in it all. If this is a requirement of customers– why not provide some type of instructions or diagram for those novice customers like me who aren’t educated on such things. He agreed something of that sort was needed, but by his response I could tell he would never do it. Even though this post office is a bit convenient for me certain days and hours of the week, I most definitely won’t be back. Save yourself the time and aggravation and go somewhere else.

There is never enough people working at this location. The line is always long, but the postal workers are always friendly and helpful so that makes up for some of the hassle.

2 people working to handle a huge line of customers. Very low on supplies. Not a single working pen. Self-​service machine broken. Rude, unhelpful customer service (but who am I kidding, I would be the same way working here).
So, in conclusion, one of the better USPS locations in the city, but still bad enough to make you reconsider waking up in the morning.

Completely awful experience. Called to find out about stamps, I had to call twice because the first person put me on hold and never answered the phone again. When I called again the 2^nd person answered ‘No’ to every question I asked. She then told me I had already called and had my questions answered and hung up on me… I am looking to buy thousands of dollars worth of stamps for a mass mailing that my company is sending out. Such a shame they were so rude, unhelpful and dis respective.

The only reason to go here is because it’s the closest location when I need to mail something while I’m at work. Even then, I may have to start going somewhere else despite the convenience.
I’ve gone here twice. The first time it wasn’t too bad, but I noticed that it seemed rather understaffed. The line was about 10 people long and there was only one employee. Thankfully, the line moved at something resembling a reasonable pace and the employee was friendly enough.
Then I had to go back yesterday. Once again, there was only one employee, but the line was a little shorter with only about 8 people ahead of me. Unfortunately, this guy had all the time in the world and he took it when helping people.
Did you know that there are actually adults who have never mailed something before in their lives? Well, there are. And they seemed to be having a meeting at this post office. «Oh, I have to put this IN a box before I can mail it? Oh, I have to write the address on a label? Oh, I have to put the label ON the package?»
But all was not lost, the incredibly slow employee decided he was going to let us be entertained with some music. By that, I mean that he let the phone ring. For ten minutes. Some poor person was trying to get someone on the phone and this guy just ignored it — and I mean completely. To this guy, that phone didn’t exist. He didn’t look at it and he didn’t acknowledge it — not even when he had to walk over to the register that the phone was located at. The phone rang for 6 minutes before the caller gave up — and then it started ringing again less than 30 seconds later. Someone couldn’t take the hint that their phone call was just unwanted.
It may save me some travel time going to this post office, but I may have a less excruciating time laying down in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave.

Came here to get my passport renewal photos taken. Do not, under any circumstances, do this.
The first time I came in, the employees actually made some attempts to be helpful. My photo was taken, and I was allowed to gather all of my other documents and renewal application together and then step up again to mail everything without having to go to the back of the line. This is a courtesy I should probably just expect, but this is legitimately the best thing that happened to me at this location. I’m trying to find the positive. Anyway, I wait a week or so and my renewal application is rejected because apparently my photo has been deemed unacceptable. The rejection letter doesn’t list what is wrong with the photo, but it does list everything that it needs to be. Given this information, I assume that the size of my head in the photo is too small.
My supposedly abnormally small head and i go back to the same location to get the photo retaken. I explain the situation to the lady up front, who looks at my picture and wonders aloud what the problem is, but offers to retake the picture. She does, and it comes out looking almost exactly the same as before. Certain that it will again be rejected, I ask the employee if she had a ruler that I can measure the size of my head with in the photo to make sure it’s big enough. She eyeballs the picture and tells me that it is indeed too small, but there’s nothing she can do about it because the camera is preset. I don’t understand why she now, all of the sudden, knew what was wrong with the picture. Anyway, she gives me my money back and tells me to go to CVS. So I make my way over to CVS, all the while contemplating the ridiculousness of this situation. I explain all to the guy who is taking my picture at CVS. His response? «Oh, yeah, we get people from the post office all the time.»
WHAT?! This continuously happens to other people, often enough for the guy at one of the many CVS locations in the city (which did not happen to be near the post office) to say he sees these people come in all of the time? And nobody at the post office bothers to do ANYTHING about it? Ugh.
Anyway, some more about my post office experience: The lines were extremely long and moved at a snail’s pace. I’ve used up my whole lunch hour in there both times. The first time I was in there, the phone rang, and the parties on both sides were apparently very adamant about either getting someone to answer the call or not answering the call. Nobody picked up the phone. It just rang, and rang, and rang, and rang. This stalemate continued for 6 or 7 minutes until the caller finally hung up. I get that the two employees out front are busy with customers, but there are definitely more people in the back and others just meandering around the building. Maybe one of them could answer the phone? I would love to call this location and ask to speak with the manager just to make sure that they’re aware of the passport thing. But I’m fairly certain nobody would answer.

The positives are 1) if you work downtown it is convenient 2) they have the automated machine in the front. The negatives are 1) if you have to go inside the line moves the slowest of any post office I’ve ever encountered, which is quite an accomplishment 2) employees can be surly at times.
It’s close by and serviceable but plan on a lunchtime trip taking much longer than expected. Use the automated machine if possible.

Typical DC post office. The line moved very slow, and despite having several postal clerks walking about the office, for some reason only two were working the counter. When I got to the counter, the clerk was totally unfriendly and clearly not enthused to be at work, but actually apologized to me for her grumpiness, telling me that it was because she hadn’t had her coffee yet. Oh, and the carpet smelled like urine.

I seriously wish I could give 0 stars to this place. I have never in my life made an official complaint with a company until now. The rudeness I encountered here made me doubt my faith in humanity.
I have just recently been accepted into the Peace Corps and I came to the post office to get my «no-​fee» passport. The lady who «helped» me was so incredibly rude. As an adult, I have never been spoken to like that without provocation in my life. I come up to the counter and she tells me «You need a copy of yo license.»
Me «Oh, really? I didn’t see that on the list…»
Her «Yo NEED a copy of YO license. In da back. 20 cents per page.»
After making my copies of my license the «lady» informs me that she has to have my passport. I was under the impression that I could keep my current passport if I applied in person for the second one. I politely ask her if she was sure and I thought I read something differently. She gives me this look like «you idiot» and then tells me «Yo NEED to give me YO PASSPORT.» I asked to speak to her manager and she walked away muttering loudly «tryin’ to tell me how to do my job.»
I looked through my list and I realized she was right about having to give her my passport or birth certificate, so when the manager came over I simply told him «Sir, I understand that I need to give you my birth cert or passport, but I just don’t understand why this lady was so rude to me. The way she was speaking to me was just unacceptable. I have been very polite and I was just asking a question.»
His response: «Oh…well…she’s trained by the State Department…»
UH. That doesn’t explain why she is so rude! As I was speaking with her manager, she came out and was muttering very loudly behind him «tellin’ me I’m rude… pshhh» The manager doesn’t say anything to her even though he can obviously hear her. He doesn’t even bother to apologize.
I left her so unhappy and dissatisfied. I called the 1 800 number and made an official complaint. Luckily, the woman I spoke to on the phone and the man who later contacted me about the complaint were very nice. All I can say is, do NOT go here if you want somebody to speak to you like a human being.

This post office has a convenient location and, unlike most places I go, a friendly staff (even when I shuffled in fifteen minutes before closing).
My only gripe is that the physical plant is really small and very poorly arranged. Case in point, I needed to get some of those padded mailing envelopes to send out my parcels. Well, the padded envelopes are at the far end of the building, but are otherwise walled off from you unless you wait in the line of winding ropes and, upon getting to the very front, cross the counter and walk to the far end of the room to get the envelopes. But by that time, you’ve lost your place in line and, even if some kind soul is benevolent enough to let you keep your place, you haven’t even addresssed the envelopes yet! This whole set-​up makes no sense at all!

As of today (09 July 2010) this Post Office is open again.
I don’t know why people complain so much about the lines and service at the post office. 95% of everything that anyone needs to do at the post office can be done at the automated kiosk in under 60 seconds.
Location is super convenient to downtown federal offices and it’s in a pretty building.

Head’s up all: This location is temporarily closed until sometime in May 2010. According to the message there is some mobile postal unit for stamps and other minor services on 12^th and Pennsylvania… I have not verified this.
This location is a pain in the ass even when they’re open. Now I have to try to find another location at which to wait in line for what feels like forever to be served by a person who it seems would rather walk barefoot across the surface of the sun than offer me any sort of helpful service. I have seen very normal people lose it here because the folks that work here just like to screw with people. May God help you if you pull any sort of attitude or raise your voice in frustration over the way the employees here will treat you! I have seen what happens, and it ain’t pretty folks! My advice? Pop a Prozac before stopping by.