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United States Post Office- Ravenswood
Rating Details »
Category: Post Offices [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Lincoln Square, Ravenswood2522 W Lawrence Ave
(between Artesian Ave & Western Ave)
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 561-8633
- Nearest Transit:
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Rockwell (Brown)
70 reviews for United States Post Office- Ravenswood
You know, there's a lot of lengthy poor reviews for this post office but I have to say, I see a real change in this branch over the last few months. There must be some kind of management revamp here, because recently the staff has really stepped up their game with customer service and professionalism. It's easy to dog on the USPS, but remember that this staff deals with some of the rudest, craziest, worst customers all day long - and the only people that post reviews are the ones with bad service.
Well, I'd like to throw my review in the ring to say that this USPS is doing a good job. Remember, if you mistreat the staff here, you won't get #$#@$#. But with a little politeness and kindness, you might be pleasantly surprised.
I know - a three start review for this post office is unheard of - I am just as shocked as you are....but I have really had a good experience with them over the past few days.
After living at the same address for 2.5 years, my mail was suddenly being sent back to senders as undeliverable (yes my name was still on the box, yes other people were getting mail, and yes I had 4 separate people tell me that mail to me had been returned). oh and if I did get mail, it would only show up on the weekends. So I called the post office to see what the deal was - expecting the same customer service that I get when I go there in person. To my delight, Leah was very personable and helpful. She has been calling me to let me know if the status of my mail each day and has confirmed that I do indeed have a new carrier.
I am hopeful that my mail delivery will return to normal - but if not, I know I can call Leah and she will help me out!
In the 5 years I've lived in Lincoln Square I've found the staff at this branch, on multiple trips, to be rude, ignorant, lazy, inflammatory, looking to fight, and on one horrible occasion, racist. (belittled an Asian woman for her faint grasp of English in front of everyone in a VERY UN PC manner) Everyone there seems pissed off.
Don't go there on a Saturday morning and expect to be in and out relatively quickly.
Also, when they are busy, don't expect any sympathy or anyone to "pick up the pace". Everyone that works there seems to be on the path of least resistance. Often times you will find a very long line of customers, one person at the counter, and 3-5 people walking back and forth doing not much. They are there collecting a pay check and get paid the same whether they do anything or not.
Is it a coincidence that this particular USPS branch has the LOWEST rating on Yelp. I think not! I've mentioned in my previous reviews that I adamantly refuse to go back into this branch of laziness. Unfortunately I had a prepaid package that needed to be returned, and the label was for USPS use only. Yay! Grudgingly, out of convenience via location, I walk into this pig pen. Today, the staff consisted of La Fonda & Sheniqua. Hmmm, expeditious service awaits:)
I was next in line, and once again, I was amazed at the display of ignorance. No, actually, I'm not amazed. I've come to expect this blatant form of "FUCK THE CUSTOMER" demeanor from the barn yard animals they employ here at this SECTION 8 ghetto!
Seeing as though I was next in line, for a good 15 minutes, 1 of the 2 employees that was pretending to work today, yelled this at me. Let me set this up for you:
La Fonda {Chocolate momma with fluorescent yellow hair}: Hey, youz realize that you cants use that's grey tape on yours package honey.
ME: Well, why not?
La Fonda: Youz gots ta use our 1st class, or Priority tape.
ME: Well, this is a prepaid package. Since it's prepaid, masking tape was all I had. I didn't get the USPS memo that masking tape wasn't allowed?
La Fonda: {Perplexed, don't you smart off to me white boy look with hand on hips} Uhh, well, you need to use clear tape.
ME: I proceed to rip off the masking tape from the box, and ask her to please provide me with some "clear" tape.
La Fonda: Uhh, we don't have any of that; wez all out.
ME: {I will not repeat the verbal lashing I laid upon this lazy cunt}
Seriously, I know for a fact that there have been numerous complaints filed against this branch. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. No matter how time consuming it may be, I will gladly do whatever it takes to assist in correcting this problem.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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7/10/2009
ZERO STARS! Listen, I honestly try to avoid this place at all costs. Unfortunately, there are times… Read more »
After waiting in line for 40 minutes, I finally made it to the second person in line. The person in front of me was (as I'm sure you could have guessed), having issues. She was told by whoever was at the counter that there was no manager on site, so I came up with a game plan.
After another 20 minutes, I was finally up to the counter and I began gushing about how difficult it must be for them to deal with surly people all day. After finally getting a positive response, I told her I'd like to tell her supervisor what a good job she was doing. Alas, there was a manager on site. After he emerged from the depths of what I can only assume is the 7th Gate, he was utterly shocked to find out that I had an issue with the service. Apparently, he had never heard of one. I pointed out that I wasn't getting any packages, and he said that they were probably too large to carry. I made an educated guess and told him I was waiting for a package (I wasn't) and gave my name. He returned with a shoebox sized package weighing about 1 pound.
The manager was then further amazed when he was trying to assure me that it was an 'isolated incident' that the 50 people in line behind me all started speaking up that they had issues as well.
We were told a few days ago that the postman working our route was fired and we should start getting packages delivered to us. I have since received 3 slips, and one package shows online as having been delivered, but I have not received it, nor have I received a slip for it - it's just missing (my guess is retribution for the above stunt).
I submitted a compliant online, however have not heard back from the USPS.
Avoid this place at ALL costs.
And I thought it was me.....
I have never been treated so rudely, over and over again. Additionally, the racist treatment of the non-english speakers is embarrassing and shameful. I am sick and tired of going in there, waiting forever, and listening to the Postal Workers admonish the customers.
When others here say this is the post office from hell they are not lying. I moved to Chicago 2 years ago and before that I used to complain about a 10 minute wait. Not anymore. Thank God for the Automated Postal Machine. Unfortunately I can't use that to send international packages, which I do quite frequently for my business. So if I can swing it, I go to the Graceland Station. That location has been my saving grace. But the bad part is I have to travel all the way down Ashland which is a huge traffic trap in the afternoon.
Just a quick anecdote to convey Ravenswood's incompetence. Most reviewers here complain about the clerks but here's two more things they just do to screw over the customer. Their posted time for passport service was incorrect for months. Every day that I would be in there in the morning several families would come in and the clerk would tell them they couldn't get it done at that time. You would think ONE, JUST ONE, employee at that location would have the common sense and courtesy for the customers to go and change the sign to the correct hours. Second thing, for at least one week the debit card payment option was not available. After the first day common sense would tell you put up a sign saying we're sorry but debit cards cannot be processed at this time. They never did.
Stay away. Go to the Graceland station. It's a bitch to travel to if you're in Ravenswood but the location once you are there is convenient. There's a Jewel, Office Depot, & Dunkin Donuts all in the area.
Is it too much to ask to get my mail delivered 6 days per week?
Am I entitled to get my mail delivered 6 days per week?
Is there a logical explanation as to why I have to call the Ravenswood Post Office (aka Hades, Hell, House of Asshats) every month or two and beg someone to please have my mail delivered?
Is there a logical explanation as to why a substitute carrier is not given the critical info whereby he/she can deliver the mail on a route he/she is covering for an absent regular carrier, i.e., keys to the bldg/security code to the front door, etc.
Tomorrow I will be once again calling these dickwads to beg them to deliver our mail as we have not received any since Saturday
The irony in all this is that a few weeks ago I received a letter from a USPS VP & Consumer Advocate in Wash DC, asking me (and many others, I am sure) "for assistance on a volunteer panel to measure the timeliness of First-Class Mail...and serve as a Test Mail Reporter..."
The description of this job:
- you typically receive 3-6 pieces of First Class mail per week
- you will report the date of delivery via a toll-free # or via the internet.
- you collect and open your mail every day - Monday thru Saturday
MONDAY THRU SATURDAY? Honey, we don't GET our mail six days per week. You mean that's an option!?!?!?
Oh, I cannot WAIT to participate in this.........what a joke.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/12/2008
I absolutely without a shadow of a doubt, from the core of my being, from the depths of my soul,… Read more »
Today I HAD to go back in this hell-hole.
I had an international package, but all I had was a domestic mailer, so I waited in line because I needed further instruction on how to label it, etc. So, I stood in line. There were two people working. The one lady that has always been sweet was busy with a foreign family taking care of a passport issue, I knew I was out of luck with her. I had to wait for the lady who works in the far left booth, that had already been horrible to my husband. (Think happy thoughts, I told myself).
First of all, the gal who was right before me and her had a five minute chat after her transaction, even though she was the only available teller and there was a line of 20 people.
When it was finally my turn, I walked up with a smile on my face and asked "I only had a domestic mailer, do you have an International one?". She looked at it briefly said "you don't need one" - even though my mailer clearly said "domestic use ONLY". She then told me to do one thing, when that didn't make sense I asked her if she had a sticker i was supposed to put on the mailer and she yells "YOU DON'T HAVE THE ADDRESS?". Iwas like I have the address on my own sticker, I didn't want to put it in the way of something you needed to put on there, like the green customs tag I filled out - she starts yelling at me that "YOU HEARD ME PROPERLY. YOU'RE JUST BEING ARROGANT!"
WHAT?
I think to myself - "I'm unable to understand your Mumbles McGee speech with your head looking towards the floor - and I'M the jerk?" She walks out of the room. Just leaves. I stand there. Waiting. The 20 people behind me glare into my back for incensing the BEAST and making their wait even longer.
She comes back and doesn't look at me and just starts typing stuff into her computer. She tells me the total "$13.98" and I lay my debit card on her machine. She Mumbles McGee's something else and I said "pardon me?". She just glares at me with all her might. So, she won't say anything, she won't take my card and I'm at a loss. I start over. "I heard you say $13.98, I then laid my debit card down, then you said something I couldn't make out and I asked you what you said?".
She just glares at me
I said "you said $13.98, i handed you my card, you said something else and I couldn't understand you."
She starts off again "I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE HAVING A BAD DAY YOU DON'T BE COMING IN HERE TAKING IT OUT ON ME! YOU HEARD EXACTLY WHAT I SAID AND YOU'RE BEING ARROGANT TO ME!"
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?
"I TOLD YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR ID!!"
Was that so hard? She picks up my id and starts yelling "Miss REGAL or WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS, I WALKED ALL THE WAY BACK THERE SO I WOULDN'T YELL AT YOU AND YOU JUST WANT TO BE STARTING UP WITH ME AGAIN."
I told her I was not having a bad day until I came in here. But, then, she seems to be having a bad day everyday. I told her I had seen the way she treated people in the past. Her response was "YOU AIN'T NEVER SEEN ME BEFORE!" Uh, yeah, I have. You and the tiny, mean woman are the reason I don't come in here anymore. How hysterical, after coming in there for 11 years she couldn't pick me out of a line up of 20 girls that look like me, but put her in a crowd of 100 and I could pick her out in about 5 seconds. Evil stands out.
Evil, thine name is Nancy.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/24/2008
Is there something less than 1 star you give a review?
Man, I hate this place. I stopped selling… Read more »
Okay, so I haven't been here in a while, even though I live right across the street. And I remember them being slow and rude with me two years ago when I was trying to renew my passport, but at the time, I didn't see it as out of the ordinary post office sluggishness and dickitry. But after reading all these reviews...wow. I knew our post office sucked, but not this hard. I have to admit, I kind of want to go there soon just to witness this for myself. And when I go through with this rogue, post office sting operation, my precious yelpsters will be the first to know!
To be continued...
You know, I've lived in a few really poor third-world countries, where the post offices are about as well-funded and well-run as a garage sale on Skid Row, where queuing is a foreign concept and mail is tied up with twine and takes about five months to arrive . . . and I can recall getting better customer service there.
Maybe the whole thing is really one long, drawn out episode of Punk'd.
This is the worst post office in the history of post officedom.
What, I ask you in a rhetorical fashion, is the purpose of a post office?
1 - To deliver the correct mail to the correct address in a timely manner.
Does this post office succeed? While I have enjoyed a healthy 85% success rate in receiving mail addressed to me, not a week goes by that at least one misfiled letter goes atop my apartment building's mail boxes. I tremble in fear that my bills go awry. Though I do appreciate the occasional issue of The Economist that finds its way to me, nevermind the actual recipient lives several blocks west.
2 - Smiling, at least semi-efficient service when I must mail something larger than 13oz.
While the clerks are typically friendly(ish), they are so slow that it might make more sense to put your package down outside the building and let continental drift take care of the delivery. One fine day, I was the very next person in line... for 20 full minutes. MOVE IT.
3 - Mailing and packaging materials easily available for purchase.
God in his/her/its heaven help you if you want to buy or use one of the flat fee boxes. Not only must you wait in the aforementioned eternal line, you must know AND communicate to the clerk which size you want. You may have to communicate this more than once.
4 - Easy pick up of packages
Oh, there is a pick-up window. Not that there's ever anyone there.
Unless you have no other choice, do yourself a favor and avoid this post office like it is ground zero for avian bubonic syphilitic swine sars.
And spare a pitying thought for those of us whose mail goes through here.
Like so many others here I wish I could rate this hell hole with something less than 1 star. Visiting this post office is like a preview of hell. I wish everyone who worked here would lose their job and be on the skids for years... yes years. I'm not a mean person and hate to think of other people suffering but I say that because they are so mean here that I think that might be the only thing that makes them re-think what it means to have a job and treat people with respect.
I actually stopped using the postal service because of this place. I don't care what it is, if I need to send something I go to the UPS store on Lincoln by the Jewel.
WHOA.......... YIKES................. After going here I needed to see a therapist! What a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!! The clerk even threw my small 5x7 box directly on the floor right in front of me and yelled NEXT!
Every time I go here to mail anything there is like ten people in line and two VERY slow workers behind the counter.
The past two times I have been here I have left out of disgust and utter madness. The Post Office on Kedzie, just south of Irving Park is much better for speed, yet the employees are just as crazy...the guy at this one was rocking out to rumpshaker on his ipod!
It is super nice that the US government (and you and I) are giving these troglodytes a place to work. Why can't we fire them? There are lots of smart people out of work that could do a better job. Let me save you an hour - go to the UPS store. Avoid this place. A fistfight between an older postal employee and a customer almost broke out last time I was here.
Also, if I want to get a priority mail shipping box or envelope, why do I have to wait in line for an hour (or suffer the scrutiny of all the wretched souls I walk past on my way to the front counter). Restock the shipping supplies once in a while. Or don't. I'm not coming back anyway.
Great. Now I don't even need to set foot in this shitty, fucky place to be impacted by their craptitude. Now the mail carriers that issue forth from this pit are bringing their special brand of horror to the outer world. For the past month or so (possibly longer, as I was away for 5 weeks before that) my mail has consistently arrived all crumpled or crushed. I loved the previous delivery person, Ruby. Not only was she efficient, she was just a lovely person. Her replacements have all been utterly useless.
I can't believe that such lousy 'service' can exist in a country that's not experiencing simultaneous famine, drought, war, pestilence, floods, fire, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hail, hurricanes, typhoons, killer monkeys, cyclones, earthquakes, plague... It just doesn't seem possible.
Hang on, I just noticed that the overall rating for this shitpit is 1+ stars. HUH??? There's someone out there who actually gave it more than 1 lousy star?!? IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM POSSIBLE.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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8/16/2008
OK, I was several months into my plan never to set foot in this post office again and things were… Read more »
So it's not just me, huh?
I needed a new passport and looked online to get the hours they were open for passport services (10am-3pm). It took several visits because the lines were so long and so slow moving that I would get frustrated and leave after 20-30 minutes. Finally, I lucked out on a day when there were only a couple of people in line. And guess what? The passport person was at lunch -- for an hour. The freaking passport service is only open for 5 hours a day and now you're telling me it's not actually available during one of those hours? I won't even bother with the rest of the story but it is filled with rudeness (the clerk), near tears (me) and a vow that I will drive over state borders if necessary to avoid this post office.
rude rude rude. I wish I could give the heavy set women a negative 4 billion stars because I hate her. I am a super nice person so it takes a lot for me to get this mad. My worst experience (in life, not just a post office) happened just over a year ago when I went with my mom to get my passport and she went to renew hers. This terrible, terrible twinkie eating woman.....(breathe, zoe)...okay, we waited in line for...eh, almonst an hour, not bad for the post office. When we got there, we were missing one of the 19 forms required, shit, so we got the end of the line and filled out the form. Second time around of course something else wasn't right, "Can we just quickly take 20 seconds to fill in the missing info and keep our place in line" Fat lady, "no, step aside". Fucking fine! Back to the line we go, I'm going to hit someone. Third time, how the hell do we keep getting this woman? Oh right, because there are only two people working here and the sweet (in her own world type of way) Korean woman has been chit chatting with same person for the past 2 hours since we got there. "You're missing a signature, please go back to the end of the line" - "No, I'll sign here, can I have your pen?" - "No, there are pens at the end of the line" - "I'm not moving" - "You must go to the end of line, I need to take the next customer (victim)" So I step aside, which isn't good enough for the fat lady, but too bad, I waited right there until she gave me a pen.
Now I don't usually smoke around my mom, but the second I left the place I lit it up. I went back once with a friend and stared the fat lady down the entire time. I hater her.
I cringe when I get registered mail. I don't put mail on vacation hold. I request packages to be sent UPS or Fed Ex. Anything, ANYTHING to not cross the threshold of this building. The line is always 20 people long and not sure how this happens, but it doesn't move. It's like time stands still here. And it is not just the workers, it is also the customers. Each one of them must be big on eBay, or getting married, or have relatives in strange and distant lands requiring them to be laden with at least 100 unstamped and unaddressed envelopes, 20 to 30 different sized boxes wrapped in unsanctioned paper and not for post office use tape, and slips of paper for various, random, little known post office services -- all requiring detailed step by step instructions in various languages by a window worker. Each customer is greeted by an equally, land of slow worker. There are usually two people working windows, and several additional workers that mill around, or occasionally come out to ask if anyone is turning in a pink slip. Can they help someone in line if there are not pink slips? Apparently not. Is vacation mail and packages on hold hidden by elves each night in various crevices and odd places? Apparently so as each time you need something, you see the worker looking in random bins, cross this way and that, and pulling open random drawers.
If I must use the postal service, I go to the Haymarket station downtown. It is a magical place that I will also review and give 5 stars.
If I could give negative stars I would. Clearly I am not the only one who feels this way. Though the Ravenswood office is closer, I will gladly go a little farther to the Montrose office just to avoid witnessing yelling matches, waiting in line for 35 minutes, and being chagrined by postal workers.
This place is in fact hell, and the people running this office seem to be aware of the fact and not care. When making a formal complaint I was met with indifference.
I may now spend the rest of my life on the straight and narrow simply to avoid spending the afterlife in the Ravenswood post office.
Have you ever watched MTV's show Boiling Point? If not, it's a show that is kind of like a Candid Camera of sorts. They try to piss people off in a certain amount of time.
I always think they must be filming this show when I visit this Post Office. By far, this is probably one of the worst Chicago Post Offices EVER!!
The employees move in slow motion. They are very rude, and can't even speak properly. They all act like they just got the job 20 minutes ago and everything is brand new to them. Also, everything that happens at this post office is your fault. They aren't afraid to tell you either. I have seen many examples of this the dozen or so times I have walked into this location. Tonight there was another and I promised myself I would never step foot in there again.
After waiting in line tonight for 40 minutes to mail 1 package, and for the record there were only 4 people in front of me. I was already at my boiling point. The poor girl in front of me, now was at the counter and she was being berated by the not so friendly employee Nancy because she was paying with cash and didn't have the exact change. Nancy started yelling at her about it. this went on for 5 long minutes. Finally I reached into my wallet and basically dumped all the change I had on the counter so Nancy could keep the line moving. She didn't move any faster, instead Nancy decided to yell at the customer more for not saying thank you to me!!! Are you kidding me?
Dear Nancy,
get another job that doesn't involve communicating with the human race.
Yours Truly,
The girl who reached her boiling point today.
You would think that in these hard times the people that work at this post office would at least find some kind of happiness in the fact that they have jobs! There is a contagious pestilence of laziness, rudeness and ill manners running through this place...I have never encountered such lack of customer service or concern for customer satisfaction. We watched today as one of the many disgruntled employees had a hard time scanning a pre-stamped package that was dropped off by a cut in line customer, she eventually said out loud so that all in the long waiting line could hear "screw it, I hope it gets there" then she carelessly threw the package into the delivery container. We are currently dealing with a lost package that we are 99% sure was stolen by an employee there! Too bad we had the misfortune of having this post office be our postal station. We from now on will warn our family and friends to send us packages through either UPS or FED EX! You would think the manager would fire these disgruntled employees and stop the spread of their negativity or the government would monitor their actions...They truly do not care...shame on them!!! This Government Post Office should be investigated for tampering and stealing, U.S.P.S should be a Trusted and Helpful institution!
I get a ticket in my mailbox telling me to go to the Post Office and pick up a package. I go. I wait in line. I give the little old man my ID and the ticket and he shuffles off. A few minutes later he shuffles (this man was a downright shuffler, tiny little feet, baby steps, stooped over...) out of his little room and into the back of the post office. I see him through the door aimlessly shuffling back and forth for ten more minutes and then he comes back with my package. This was the best experience I had at this Post Office. It was all downhill from there.
If you live in the 60625 area code, move.
Should be -1 stars... I just complained via email to the Inspector General for "Significant cases of mismanagement" under their "What to Report" section:
http://www.uspsoig.gov...
I went in yesterday around noon to try and get a passport - Line out the door with 1 person behind the counter.
Went back today around 1pm and there were 2 people behind the counter! Unfortunately I waited 10 minutes, and one of the USPS employees behind the counter finished helping 1 person and left. So that left a line out the door with one person working behind the counter. I waited 15 more minutes and the line didn't move. The one employee left behind the counter didn't even finish helping the one person at her station in the 25 minutes I was waiting. WOW. It's even worse than I remember!
1. Picture of the line on 12/30/08 at 1:18pm
http://tinyurl.com/a3jza4
2. Picture of the empty counter (with a line of customers out the door) on 12/30/08 at 1:19pm:
http://tinyurl.com/6tchck
So far the only bright spot of my day has been reading the other horrible reviews of what might be the only post office to give the Wicker Park branch a run for it's money.
You know those Comcast commercials with the turtles who prefer to live the 'slow' life? They would love this place. These women move like they're wearing molasses bikinis in a pool full of Jell-O. I think I actually saw cobwebs on someone's arm. Zing! But seriously, folks. . . I understand that these women couldn't care less about the fact that I actually do have better things to do with my time than stand in line for an HOUR. I sure don't want to make any of them break a sweat or move at anything more than a snail's pace. I mean really, it's my fault for having shipping needs in the first place. Who do I think I am, a citizen of a country which provides safe delivery of packages and letters? Go back to Russia!
It must be really nice to have a job where the toughest part of your day is putting on a polyester vest. Imagine how much better your life would be if you didn't have the stress of pleasing customers and working quickly. Every day would be like a fluorescent-lit vacation!
I do feel bad abut making fun of little old ladies. But then I remember that they just stole an hour of my day during which I almost tore out all of my ever-greying hair. I also think about the millions of non-government employees who actually work very hard without the promise of sweet benefits and pension plans. But of course, we don't get the vests. So I guess it's a fair trade.
Do we really have to give a star to this black hole of ineptitude and attitude?
There are SO many things here that pisses me off about this post office - but my biggest gripe is that they make no attempt to really deliver packages in the first place (I work from home and they never ring the bell/knock on door), nor do they man the package pick-up window at the P.O. You MUST call in advance to let them know you're coming over and then you're given the 3rd degree as if you're some impostor who loves to suffer through 3rd world officiousness and bureaucracy. Catch them on a bad day - who can tell?- and you'll see the employees in bitter cat fights with each other.
Outside the post office, my carrier is delivering the mail from the next street over to me with such frequency that I run into him as I try to deliver mail back to the right address. It's a farce but not a very funny one - worth moving to another neighborhood to avoid the experience! The button underneath my review says "Post" and the very word is enough to send me into a tantrum. OK, here goes...
Lasciate Ogni Speranza Voi Ch'Entrate
Translation: All hope abandon, ye who enter in.
- From Dante's Inferno, Canto III: The Gate of Hell
Black hole of shit. A scarring experience.
12/12:
Not only a shitty black hole of scarring, but a surefire way to be certain your important mail is either 1) delivered late, 2) not at all, or most awesomely 3) sent back to you in the exact condition in which you mailed it out. This place is beyond third world.
Negative 50 Stars ~ Quite Possibly the WORST Post Office in the entire United States !
Here's a hint - if you live in the neighborhood and by some horrible accident or mistake have a package delivered through the Post Office, think and prepare carefully before entereing this branch.
Have a meal and use the bathroom, carry bottled water.
Plan to wait in line, even in the most "off hours" times, for about an hour. Bring multiple forms of picture ID, at least 3x more tht you might reasonably need.
Be very carful in the parking lot, and around the building, everyone coming out is going to be seething mad, and the employees themselves, well, I honestly would not trust them not to steal my purse if given the slightest opportunity. Do not leave children, valuables, or foodstuffs unattended. Lock you car, and watch out.
Ideally bring a friend with a notebook and camera, to document the exchange - you probably will not get your package, and whatever record you made of your attempt will be all you'll have to convince whomever sent it to try again, USING UPS or FEDEX. Failing that, you will have a document of the whole bleak little Kafka-esque circus that is the Post Office. Maybe it will seem funny later, on YouTube.
Count on being treated with sneering hatred, racism, and general loathing, whatever your ethnicity - this branch staff is diverse, but spiteful, stupid, angry, and viciously hateful of all humanity. Kind of like orcs. Be polite or nasty, it makes little difference at this point; you were stupid enough to allow someone to send you a package via the USPS, you now must suffer. (or sometimes, creepilly, they will be fawningly butt-kissingly friendly to you, or to someone else in line, slowing things down even more to discuss the weather in Kualalampoor or some such facinating thing in a sexy, conspiratorial whisper, for like 20 minutes)
Having a friend can help at this point too, sometimes that can be disconcerting, as can the aroma of crack cocaine occasionally being smoked in the back, and the other strange party sounds sometimes heard. (To be fair, I have only personally noticed an obvious crack-being-smoked-right-now-on-the-premises smell at this branch two times.) And of course unsurprizingly, any derranged homeless folks that wander in will be left to the customers to deal with, as they see fit. So...watch your belongings, watch your back.
You might even want to make a cheklist - with check boxes for buying stamps, and then one for getting your change from the stamps. Yes, they are that petty and triffling. Yes indeedy.
If you have a delivery slip, and they refuse to give you the package (they probably will, for the most made-up reasons imaginable too) MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SLIP BACK.
In fact, conside making a photocopy and only giving them the copy until you get the package. I have had them blatently refuse to give back my slip, saying I never gave them a slip, then saying they already gave it back, then going back to claiming I never gave them a slip. Short of jumping over the counter and forceably taking it back, what's to do? try calling the complaint line, what a farce that is.
This is their little game, they want to do this so they can steal and/or destory your package, and then you have no recourse. I'm serious, be careful. I know it sounds paranoid, but go and see for yourself. I have lived in some really "bad" neighborhoods too, and in some half-assed foreign countries, and seen some wacky postal Hi-Jinx (some of the greek ones pretend to go "on strike" a couple of times a day, so they can stand around smoking cigs & drinking coffee, etc.) but nothing anywhere near this icky - it's like crappy horror movie based on Dante's Inferno - the staff must have done some pretty naughty things to get assigned to that dank, musty, boiler-room of a branch.
It doesn't hurt to mentally prepare; pretend you are going into a scary 3rd world hellhole as depicted in a bad expolitation film, or some horrid corrupt eastern bloc checkpoint, or something similarly nightmarish and doomed. Keep your wits about you so you don't get hurt, and don't assume for a second that you will get your own legal property that someone paid good money to send to you: that's not the way they do things at the US Post Office.
Here's what I wrote to the Postmaster General:
"Enclosed please find 14 pages of complaints from http://Yelp.com about the US Post Office located at 2522 W. Lawrence Avenue in the Lincoln Square/Ravenswood neighborhood. To these I add my own: my wife had to wait 45 minutes to be served, only to be denied the option to pick up a parcel that was addressed to both of our names.
The ghastly quality of service and the poor attitudes exhibited by the counter staff at that post office are a blight on the whole community and reflect very poorly on the US Postal Service. I have experienced post office services in many states of the United States, and several other countries. This Lincoln Square/Ravenswood post office is, in my experience, by far the worst in any measure of customer service. I strongly recommend that the counter staff and counter staff manager be replaced IMMEDIATELY!
Please let me know what you have done to fulfill this recommendation. "
with copies going to:
Alderman Gene Schulter
The Honorable Representative Rahm Emanuel
The Honorable Senator Barack Obama
The Honorable Senator Richard Durbin
Manager, USPS Ravenswood Station
USPS Vice President and Consumer Advocate
USPS Consumer Affairs
USPS Board of Governors
the latter three all having an address of:
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Washington DC 20260-2200
I encourage everyone to start writing protest letters. It is time to make the USPS work for us!
12/19/07 - Update: I've received a letter from Congressman Emanuel who has assigned a staffer to look into this and get back to me in 30 business days. I'll keep you posted on that. I also received a call from someone at USPS Customer Service and will return that call and report back here.
12/21/07 - I talked with the USPS Customer Relations guy and asked him for two things:
1. Put up a sign to indicate when the package window is staffed/not staffed.
2. Put more staff at the counter so we don't have to wait so long.
1/9/08 - Received a letter from my good buddy Rahm with a copy of the letter his office received from the USPS. Excerpts:
"Anthony Huntley, Manager, Customer Services, Ravenswood Station was notified...there is simply no excuse for rude and discourteous behavior....Mr. Huntley will closely monitor our window service performance to ensure courtesy and customer service expectation is in compliance....You (Rahm's staffer) may contact Mr. Huntley...at (773) 561-3330 if you require any further assistance in this matter. [I] will receive a follow up letter to survey [my] level of service."
...and subtract one star from that rating you see there.
I have lived in 60625 for 27 out of the 39 years I've lived in Chicago, and the postal service has deteriorated steadily in all those years. (Though I swear, it's not my fault.) Most days my mail doesn't arrive until after 6:00 p.m. Once it actually was delivered after 8:30!
Perhaps the recent study showing that Chicago's postal service stinks in general will motivate somebody to correct the problems we all have with this local post office. And maybe magical dragons will deliver our mail.
I despise this post office with a passion. I hate this office so much that I actually dread getting packages. The idea of moving, just to get away from this branch of the USPS is rather appealing. When I need to mail anything, I usually go to a different post office, even though this one is just 3 blocks away from me. I also drop letters in the drop boxes of other zip codes, just so they can avoid this post office.
So, let me recount my experiences with this abysmal hell-hole.
The lines are always very, very long. There is usually only one person working at the counter and they are slow and impolite. It is messy. Whenever I step into this post office, I feel myself becoming angry. I've actually left a couple times because of this.
They don't stock nice stamps. Probably because the idea of anything beautiful in this pit of feces is reprehensible. The building is ugly and squat....and it's just horrible.
Let's move on to the residential delivery service this post office sometimes offers.
Getting mail is great, particularly bills because that means I can pay them and keep my credit from getting any worse. In the past 10 months I've lived here, I think that we've gone through several mail carriers and most have been pretty damn bad. Often we'll go days without getting any mail in our box. That usually means that our mail is going into our neighbor's box, even though ours is clearly marked. Once I went two weeks without getting any mail, even junk mail. I had been expecting something for a week and went in to complain (the horror!!) and they just said that I must not have gotten any mail.
Oh yes, I have had mail be returned to the sender because the post office was unable to delivery to my door (three blocks away). When my mom sent me a registered lettered to ensure it got to me, even that took about three weeks for me to get, even though I had a tracking number. When I finally went in to try to get my letter that I knew was in the office, the manager himself was unpleasant and mean, though he did manage to find my letter after 20 minutes (with a tracking number). He gave me a very hard time because I didn't have a delivery slip that my incompetent mail carrier never delivered.
Okay, there is my spilled vitriol. I'm happy to have this off my chest. Phew...
A 1 star rating is far too generous. The rating should a negative number that steadily gets worse. Here's a nice little tidbit: Chicago was recently rated as being the worst city in the US for postal delivery. No Joke: Ravenswood Post Office is the worst in the city. So some quick applied logic tells us that this is LITERALLY the WORST post office in the ENTIRE UNITED STATES!!
I could fill a couple pages with ranting about this place, but here's the long & short of it: everything you've heard or read in these reviews is true. Mail (if it actually shows up at all & isn't thrown away) arrives damaged or burnt (yes burnt). Cards have been opened in hopes of cash included within. Wait times include an hour + , and usually despite there being multiple "workers" there, there is only one person actually "waiting" on people.
I use the term "waiting" loosely. It's really more like attitude-fest. The counter workers are the laziest, surliest people you'll ever have the misfortune of meeting. They're like goddamn Patty & Selma from the Simpsons, but a thousand times worse. DO NOT let them jerk your chain with their red tape - you'll have to struggle to get anywhere with these idiots, but don't back down. If this were not a government agency where incompetence is not only tolerated but seemingly rewarded but rather a small business, it would have gone belly up years ago.
My deepest and sincerest regrets and condolences go out to everyone else in my neighborhood who is forced to use this Hell's Waiting Room incarnate here on earth. All I can say is I share your pain.
I HATE this post office and firmly believe there should be a sign out front reading: "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here". If you are not forced to use this branch, run away!!
Seriously.....somebody shoot me.
How many times do I have to request that the mail be sent to my house and not sit in their bins waiting for me to pick it up before it gets sent abck to the sender.
WTF?????
Idiots.
Update 6/16/06 The package I was looking for arrived......
broken into 6 pieces.
I hate the office.....if it weren't for my mailman,who's awesome, I'd scream.
Oh god, I hate this place. I feel rage welling up every time I pass it. I pride myself on being nice to people in the service industry (I'm a waitress -- it's good karma), but holy fucking christ, the employees here put me over the edge. Not only are they rude and incompetent, last time I was in there I witnessed them yelling at (and throughly humiliating) an older lady while I was waiting for a half an hour in the line.
Not to mention the fact that they have lost at least three of my packages, and several, several letters since I moved here in July. In fact, I'm now on the third try for a gift I originally bought online in November, they lost the first two packages. Or perhaps just delivered it to someone else, a completely realistic possibility considering the fact that we get other peoples mail every single day.
Amazingly, amazingly horrible.
Edit: Make that five packages that they have lost. Mhm.
I am truly baffled that the average rating for this post office has an additional half star. I can only imagine that those who rated above one star have merely dealt with damaged and/or non-existent mail delivery and have not yet had the displeasure of walking inside this hell-hole of an establishment.
I know that we all complain about the post office in general... and yes, Chicago as a whole is pretty crappy... but NO, I repeat NO post office in this city or the next can break your will to live as quickly and harshly as that in 60625.
The following is a short list of issues we will not even dwell on at this juncture, but merely mention:
- our mail is consistently delivered after 6 p.m.
... if it even comes on a daily basis
- If we are lucky, we will only have to visit 2 neighbors a day on average to re-distribute the wrongly distributed mail (on the upside... I have gotten to know some great people this way...)
- Generally, letters of all varieties arrive slightly damaged
- The same letters, often arrive 2 - 3 weeks late
... which is better than the handful that NEVER arrive... EVER
- Magazines often arrive the month after issuance... and they have clearly been pre-read for your inconvenience
- Most of us have learned to save a copy of any letters picked up/mailed by the Lawrence ave postal employees... you will be resending them later
But all of this, while sad, heartbreaking and just plain shitty, is not even the real problem. The big issues occur when you are forced to encounter the evil shrews who run this dungeon on their own turf. See, to corner a mailman/woman out on their rounds is a completely separate experience than walking into their domain and actually expecting service. Whatever it is, asking for help brings the evil out in all postal employees at Lawrence ave.
First of all, it's not just about waiting in line. Even in the college town I lived in, population 33, I always prepared to wait at the post office b/c lots of people have shit to send and well, let's just say that postal staff across the board doesn't give a shit about speediness. But the staff at Lawrence Ave has actually perfected bad service. They are experts in how NOT to be helpful, how NOT to do your job, and how NOT to give a shit about ANYTHING... and basically how to be all around bitches.
If you have to go here (which you never should... walk a few blocks up to montrose, walk or hop on the bus to damen and montrose and avoid a complete breakdown), just prepare to have your day ruined. Will you wait? Yes. But it's genuinely the least of your problems. Try not to ask questions because: a. they don't know the answer and b. it's not worth the hell and attitude they will put you through to answer it.
The worst part about all of this is complaining to managers at this location will make no difference... they are the same as everyone "working" ( I just don't know a short term for: sitting on your ass giving everyone attitude and literally sucking at life on the tax-payer's dime). Furthermore... when was that last time ANYONE was fired from the post office...?
Zero stars.
Avoid this location like the plague.
Ever visit this place and you WISH you had the flesh-eating virus to end your misery faster.
Avoid - avoid - avoid.
Spread the word!
What is it about post offices that brews such rage in me? I hate going to any post office, but this one takes the cake if I'm feeling seriously masochistic. Be prepared to spend at least a half hour fuming in line, because the machine where you can print the label for your own package (aka a sanity saver) is always, always out of order. Bring a book.
The staff is RUDE and has no concept of good customer service. Management isn't any better. I've made the drive to other post offices and back rather than waste my time rotting in this hellhole. Try the one on Kedzie and Grace.
They lose mail all the time, mail comes at 7 pm IF AT ALL (forget it if it's raining or snowing), and good luck changing your address.
Zero stars.
If I could give a negative star rating for this post office, I would.
I have a hard time finding the words to describe this abysmal hole, so I will use the words of a fellow waiter-in-line that I met the other day. "The third world of post offices" just about describes it.
If you are turned on by lost mail (both incoming and outgoing), long, long lines, inept customer service reps, zero passport services (despite what is advertised), dirty surroundings and just an overall feeling of ineptitude, this is nirvana for you.
And don't bother trying to complain to any 'supervisor' there. The line I got was "What do you want me to do about it?" in response to mail stolen out of my po box.
On overhearing my complaints to the "manager" no less than three other patrons left the lines, and came to tell me about the terrible problems they have had there too.
This is barely scratching the surface. On any given day at this post office location you will see people leave the long lines in disgust at the length of the wait. And here's a hint: avoid Teresita's line, she will repeat questions ad nauseum and she has a very fragile grasp on the English language.
All in all, you couldn't lure me in this place for anything.
