Frustration with Postmaster Dejoy

I tried to mail a package in a post office a few towns away from my home last week. The postal agent told me I was the first customer to purchase under a new computer system. As she tried diligently to navigate through it, I could see it was cumbersome and time consuming.

The agent also was timed by the system so after about 15 or 20 minutes she was shut out of the sale process and would have to start over. I had an appointment so I had to leave without my package being mailed.

I later went to another post office and while the agent there was more proficient on the new system it still involved more screens (and more time) to tap on the customer side.

I learned this stemmed from Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, who has recently raised rates again just prior to the holiday season. He also uses a “mystery shopper” program to time the desk agents’ ability to complete a sale in so many minutes. If they do not, they fail.

Going back to the first post office agent, she told me she is ready to retire after trying to work this cumbersome system. And that is exactly the point.

In a further tightening of the stranglehold on the postal system, Dejoy wants to eliminate by pressure even more union workers. Many of us have encountered in our business lives adapting to a new computer system. But this system is not only more cumbersome to the customer, it is designed to create frustration and place blame on the employees and indeed the post office itself, in Dejoy’s malicious scheme to privatize this institution that we have relied on for over 200 years.

I urge the public not to blame the postal agents when trying to mail a package or are waiting for one during the holiday season. Place the blame where it belongs, on this sham of a postmaster.

Contact your U.S. congressional representative or U.S. senator (202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121) if you agree.

Pat Devlin, Bantam