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While some might claim the worst Post Office in Brooklyn is in Park Slope... the Williamsburg USPS worker bees are working the hardest they've ever worked to steal that title away. The South 4th Street outlet is known for slow service and a blatant disregard for customer service... and sometimes technical difficulties! A reader tells us that those on line this past Saturday got the added treat of being told "there was a problem getting the computers started and there would be a delay for the windows."
One woman, in line right now, sends us the above photo and tells us there are no less than 33 people in front of her, and "only two people in the windows. People have been waiting for 45 minutes and longer! People are getting angry. Calling the USPS number to complain." As we go to press our disgruntled tipster updates us, saying, "Ugh. They just split the line. Now there is 1 person handling all the mail/ postage and 1 person doing package pick up. The line is shorter now but only because people got frustrated and left!" Hang in there.
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What else is new. I've counted 30+ in front of me in almost every local post office I've had and have never seen more than two windows open at once. Only way to go is the self-serve kiosks at 34th at, like, one in the morning and never ever having packages delivered.
No different than any post office in Manhattan... If they don't like waiting in line at the post office, maybe they should move back to Oklahoma.
You suck.
You suck. Go back to Oklaholma
Um yeah how is this news?
" If they don't like waiting in line at the post office, can't wait till they experience govt healthcare."
There, I fixed it.
Ever check out the computers in those dumps? They aren't kidding. My branch still uses the same Unisys trash they've had since Pres.Clinton took office. Not that that's any excuse for the impersonal service and customer filtering...
No this post office is different, and possibly the worst in all of New York City. Every cheezeball with an internet business in Williamsburg is in this place clogging up the line, cutting the line. The place smells, is dirty and always over crowded.
Was just there TWICE today due to them losing my god damn pickup.
This one has lines but also DOESN'T have one of those automated computers. Se even if all you need to do is mail an envelope, it takes 45 mins.
I don't know about Brooklyn having the worst USPS office. We have one up here in El Barrio very appropriately named, Hell Gate. They really work not hard to make the place absolutely miserable. So now, I order shit loads of stamps for small things, and I have a Fed Ex account for everything else. I print up the labels and drop it in a box.
I used to live there and use that Post Office and it is BY FAR the worst I have ever been to.
While living there I told everyone to NEVER send me a package via USPS> Doesn't matter what it was, it's not worth going to Hell's Gate PO. It was easier, and quicker, to go up to the Bronx and pick something up at the UPS office.
And the people were dirty and rude- employees and customers alike.
They've all never been great, but they're getting worse. West Village used to have decent one - pretty friendly clerks and the lines moved usually. But as of last week, they had one window open, a line of 15 people, and the world's slowest clerk (serving about 1 customer every 15 minutes, literally.)
It's all part of the USPS master plan. Cut the staff and the service so much that it becomes such a pain to use them that no one goes any more. Then they can justify closing all those branches because "not enough people were using them."
My packages are all going UPS or Fedex from now on.
So the USPS master plan is to chase people to UPS or Fedex?
How brilliant of them!
It actually is brilliant, but they should go the extra step and close all post offices.
Continue with distribution and door to door delivery, which they are brilliant at. But let the collection of mail go to private franchisees.
I lived in Williamsburg for 3 years. In that time span, a done of mail correctly addressed to me was returned to sender(I know this because every time I went to my bank, they handed me a returned statements. Other things that never got delivered included copies of my birth certificate, Netflix, two paychecks ect). When we complained to the Williamsburg post office, they claimed we needed to put out name my name of my mailbox. Good idea, except my name was already clearly marked on it. I also received large amounts of damaged mail. I would also have to trade mail with my neighbors daily because it was put in the wrong box. I complained formally to the post office, which took no action that I can tell other than to tell me there was nothing wrong. I eventually complained to the postmaster general. Other great Williamsburg post office tricks include failing to leave a failed package delivery notice. Thankfully, I moved to Sunnyside where the post office operates like it's supposed to.
All of that could've been solved much easier if you simply stuck a better apartment label on your mailbox. And no, I'm not talking about a condescending, long-winded, passive-aggressive note with convoluted instructions to the mail carrier. I'm talking about a big, simple "J. DOE, APT # 3F" in 72-point type stuck on your mailbox. You can print it out and stick it on with scotch tape.
The best solutions to problems oftentimes doesn't involve calling managers or throwing hissy fits.
The USPS master plan is no secret.
They are overstaffed, losing billions, have no hope of regaining the lost mail volume, workers aren't taking the buyouts and stuck with a costly union contract expiring next year. By setting workers aside today (Hence, the long lines and less service), they will be able to layoff a lot of workers after the union contract expires.
A long line doesn't mean bad service, it just means many people are choosing to send packages at the same time.
US post offices get a bad rep for bad service, but they're really just short staffed. Postal workers, for the most part, have been decent and polite, and this is from using many different post offices. I've only come across a handful with a bad attitude.
Hands down, the best and most organized post office with attentive, busy-body staff and a consistently short line is the Chinatown office on East Broadway. It's noticeably better than the Knickerbocker or Tompkins offices, by far.
Going from Williamsburg to the Essex/Delancey J stop then walking there is probably faster than waiting on that long line. Sure, it stinks outside but it's worth it.
The one on 204th in Inwood is hit or miss. Going in the middle of the day generally means no lines, but if you try and go in the morning, the line will be 15-20 deep with one grumpy lady on the window. The afternoon and evening staff is usually very pleasant and say hello, goodbye, and thank you.
I only go there for package pickup since it's my neighborhood spot. Any mailing, I use the automated machines at Farley, 38th Street, or 181st Street, depending on if I'm at work or home.
Why bother wasting your time in a long line,when you can go to www.usps.com and print out your own postage from home? I've been doing it for years and depending on your area you can get free pick up...or I can just walk the packages over and drop it off at the PO.
Delays at the post office? Unheard of. Pick a location, any location. They all suck. Half of it is understaffing and the other half is due to the dumb customers who go up to window acting like it is their very first time at a post office, ever.
I've dealt with this post office for the last 6 years and it is the worst post office in the the history of our beloved country.
The USPS service needs to be privatized or done away with (don't ask me for a solution because I don't have one and don't care. I just don't want anyone who works at this office to be employed any longer.)
In all seriousness... the people who work at this branch should be put in jail or fined for all of the mail that they've lost, mail they've failed to deliver and for time wasted by customers waiting in line while they are busy being worthless.
Sadly.. they most likely earn more than I do and will have a better pension.
I'm going to watch The Postman.
^f hipst... not found
what? a williamsburg post with no comments blaming the problem on unshowered, trust fund hipsters in tight jeans?
haha i did the same search and found your post
People still use Post Offices?
I just mail my shit using internal work mail. Hipsters suck
I'm with Kojak, I haul my mail to work and mail it... and its free, and they deliver right to my desk. and the mailroom guy even offers you weed... can the USPS beat that?
Williamsburg's post office is indeed bad and getting worse. I've used it off and on for 20 years and it's never been as bad as it is now. Last week I had to go back 3 times for a package, waiting a total of more than 2 hours. On the first day, I waited 45 mins for the package window to open, then another 20 minutes while the clerk tried to find a package for a woman with no delivery slip, only to find out that packages from the previous day wouldn't be available until 1 pm. When I was able to get back to the post office at 5:30, it was already closed, because this idiotic place is only open from 9:30am-5:00pm. And it serves one of the biggest zip codes in Brooklyn! And the next nearest post office, the Lorimer St one, doesn't appear to exist, although they certainly have better hours (8am-7pm).
I remember taking a package to Cooper Square once, which can be bad but not nearly as bad. The clerk looked at the return address and said, "We get a lot of mail in here from your neighborhood".
"We get a lot of mail in here from your neighborhood".
Hahahaha
who can do a damn thing? It's like the DMV, we have no choice. Period. I lived in the Bronx for 25 years, with The same crappola at 3 diff Bronx stations, then PO boxes at Rockeller Center and Grand Central: they all had long lines and few clerks. Now I live in Williamsburg when I got married, and i hear this PO sucks. Who cares if it's Williamsburg or any other neighborhood? It's all the same. Damn you whining pussies. Go to UPS!
There are some fast post offices, and some slow ones. The one near where I live in Harlem, on 116th St between Fred Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell, is generally pretty empty and fast. The Greeley Square Station, on Bway at 32nd, has very fast window service when it opens in the mornings.
The one on 23rd on the east side is pretty slow because it's really busy.
No one up here has any business in a Post Office.
Also, the DMVs in Manhattan are much faster now than back in the day.
One of the Brooklyn post offices is so bad
it has it's own customer run website/blog station that
tells updated horror stories.
In any event bring back the military draft and most won't complain about waiting and poor service at the local P.O. anymore as that conscripted service of mine was a 2 years agony of waiting and inefficient work.
Oh! yes the Greeley square annex is fast and busy it opens at 9:30am and closes at around 5pm,very good suggestion if you work in the area.
Nothing is worse than the main post office in Manhattan at 8th and 31st. The people working there could give a shit about you. The main facial expression is eyes rolling, saying 'I hate my job and I hate you and Im just waiting for my pension.'
The 9th ave and 23rd st PO has ONE Asian woman who actually acts like she is there to do her job efficiently and w/ a smile, and I only go to her. But this is how all government offices are these days. Why do these people get hired and how do they keep thier jobs????
Sorry, but the worst post office is in Bushwick on Wycoff Ave at DeKalb Ave.
Let's put the same federal government in charge of health care, what a great idea!
Let's put the same federal government in charge of defense, what a great idea!
Hipsters love the Post Office
the slow service at this place isn't exactly new. it's been like that for years.
and yes, the bushwick PO is so much worse.
i personally try to avoid lines by using the automated kiosks whenever possible. like the brand new one in dumbo that always has a technical problem that means it CAN'T PRINT POSTAGE, and then i walk up to the main BK post office at cadman plaza, and then the drop box is ALWAYS JAMMED.
williamsburg post office is a nightmare - they don't even bother to play the cheesy video in the lobby anymore. they're at least smart enough to figure out everyone has it memorized and can recite it verbatim by now.
The post office on South 4th is the worst I've ever been too...in my life. This is absolutely true.
The employees are incredible lazy, slow-moving and complacent.
The Park Slope post office is monumentally horrendous, but I think as far as bad post offices go, the Atlantic Avenue one should definitely be listed among the bottom three in New York. I blame the management for not hiring enough staff, and I blame the staff for being slow, stupid, uncivil, uncaring, and incompetent.
I can't wait until this business model spreads to the health care industry.
11211 USPS = FAIL! I've had so many issues with them in the past.
They left me a package slip that they tried to deliver to me while i was at work, which is fine, but then when i waited to go pick up the package the lady said it wasn't there and maybe wait an hour because it may be on the truck right now being delivered. So i went back home and there was no package. I went back to the post office and it was closed! This was at 4:30 pm!! The website mentioned that they closed at 7pm.
So i went back the next day a little earlier and the gates were shut again, and i still haven't received my package. So i check marked on the package delivery notice to leave it at the door, it never came.
I went there one last time to see if the package was there, it was actually open when i got there at 10 minutes to 5, but they told me the same as the first time i went there, that the package may be on the truck.
So in the end i never got my package, it went back to Amazon and i got my refund. I guess i'll just have to pay a little more for shipping the next time to avoid USPS deliveries.
Everyone in NYC knows that the WORST Post Office is in EAST HARLEM at the Hellgate station on 110th street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues. I had to fire off a few letters to higher-ups, because the service is horrible. There are usually 25 to 30 people, usually more, for 2 general service lines, and another 20 for the mail and parcel pick up line. The postal attendees are SLOW. There's only one guy in there, he's a chubby Caucasian with salt n pepper hair and glasses, who is efficient.
No but seriously, this is not an actual post office. It is either a glimpse into Hades itself, or Ukraine in the 1950's, I'm not sure which. It should actually be a tourist destination it is so absurd. Note the dust covered security cameras that haven't operated since the Carter administration.
Really any New Yorker...wait, scratch that...anyone period living in New York will know that there isn't a good post office anywhere. From me working on CPW, to living in Park Slope, Fort Hamilton, Williamsburg, all sorts...not once have I ever seen a short line, more than one or possibly two tellers and rarely great customer service. I have had some wonderful tellers that were funny, witty and patient...but mainly, c'mon who here doesn't know the USPS is complete shit?
Wow, people in Williamsburg bitching about something? That's refreshing.
Glad to see my local post office getting the love it deserves. Illiterate clerks who can't find the name on the pickup slip given twelve hours to look; dazed twentysomethings taking 20 minutes to remember how to properly mail a package; the 5pm contingent who pretends not to speak english when asked why they are trying to cut in line.
I've had a couple of packages returned, one overseas which i was never reimbursed for, & that's failure enough, but i always go to Manhattan or to a bodega to buy stamps.
[& steal package postage from the meter at my job ;) ]
Fedex or UPS. I buy stamps (yeah I still send letters/bills occasionally) at usps.com. The funniest part is that it takes 1-2 weeks to receive the stamps. Go figure.
The best post offices are outside of the city. Especially in rich suburbs... if you're ever heading to the 'burbs take advantage.
One other funny thing... a friend recently sent me a package from London using Royal Mail; it cost her a couple bucks. I tried sending a nearly identical package back to her and they wanted 50 bucks.
I have lived in many different zip codes in NYC. Many of the post offices really REALLY suck. BUT. I have to say that the one in Williamsburg is the worst I have ever had to deal with. And that was 7 years ago. Management always seemed totally out to lunch there. And the workers didn't seem to give a shit. Lethal combination.
I only go here as a total last resort for all the reasons described above. Since it's my zip code though, it's inevitable I get the occasional registered mail or large package to pick up, which I completely dread.
There actually is a good post office nearby on Meserole in Greenpoint. Lines are usually short/fast-moving, window clerks usually friendly/knowledgeable, they have an Automated Postal Center machine and, although the hours aren't great, you can usually still go in after 1pm until about 4pm on Saturdays to use the APC and can even occasionally get a window clerk to assist during that time.
The secret weapon postal alternative is the Polish lady with postal machine at the bodega/pharmacy at 94 Nassau. The hours really can't be beat and she can handle pretty much everything sending related that a post office can (I even sent a package internationally with her once) and at post office prices.
+1 for the spot on Nassau.
From what I remember, she can't do delivery confirmation. Most everything else though.
-10 for mentioning the "secret" weapon & other spot online.stfu - you want a bunch of kooks fillin' up those locations?
-1000 for chuzzlewit who thinks that my calling something "secret" somehow means that it can't easily be found when clicking 'Locate a Post Office' on USPS.com and that Gothamist readers would not have already thought to look for alternatives there.
Welcome to NYC.
Did you just get here? How is this news?
Glad I will be naturally dead from old age soon.
I just cant imagine this overcrowded system and world getting any better,time future ,and yup a baby born today can expect to live to 100 years ,speaking about the future
or lack of it.
Thats quiet a common situation at post offices in India and we in India have got used to it. In fact if we see no ques then there must be something wrong.