To Tip or Not to Tip?

[Junkman]

I was told that she met someone through the INTERNET and did a job transfer from the Midwest to come to CT to live with him. The latest is that it didn't work out and she transfered to one of the Southern States.... Glad to hear that she is gone. A woman like that needs to be shared so everyone appreciates her.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

Garry, when we bought our last new house in the city (1977), the mail carriers had quit walking and delivering the mail to a box on the house by the door. We had to set a box at the curb so they could deliver the mail without getting out of their vehicle. There was just one small problem. On that street, it was legal to park vehicles at the curb on our side of the street, but "No Parking" signs on the other side of the street. So we soon discovered that our mail was frequently not delivered, and a note came telling us it wasn't delivered because the "mailbox was blocked." They said if a car was parked there, they just skipped that box. So, I wrote a letter to my congressman explaining that there was no legal way I could prevent anyone from parking there and that I had installed the box in accordance with the instructions provided by the Post Office.

Guess what? That postman found that he actually could get out of that post office vehicle when necessary and I had no more problems with mail delivery.

 

[MidMichigan]

Sorry, you guys have had some crappy carriers along the way but I think most of the carriers are pretty good. As far as a blocked mailbox I don't know if you have a city carrier or a rural carrier. If its a city carrier they get paid hourly and the rural carriers are paid according to an evaluation. Which means that once a year for between 2 and 4 weeks we have mail count where every thing we do and every piece of mail we deliver is counted and a time value is figured out which tells us the average amount of time it should take to do our jobs. For the next year we get paid whatever that evaluation is. If our evaluation figures 8 hours and we put in 10 hours we still only get paid for 8, if we have a light day and finish in 7 we still get paid for 8. Right now when figuring the evaluation we are allowed 2 minutes per box per week. Which means we have 20 seconds per day to stop and put the mail in your box. If most of the time your box is blocked and we have to get out that eats into that 20 seconds pretty fast. Also consider I have 445 boxes I deliver to in a day if I had to get out at very many in a day I would never get the mail delivered. Regulations say that on occassion when the box is blocked we are to get out and put the mail in the box if we can do it safely. If the blocked box is a continual problem mail service can be stopped and other arrangements for the mail will have to be made. I'm not venting or complaining just trying to explain how things work for us. What makes me upset is in the area I deliver to there is alot of new housing going up, and the big trucks will park in front of someones box when there is lot of parking right across the street or down the street just a few feet were it wouldn't block a box. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Lisa

 

[BRIGUY]

Patrick_Bocce,
To answer your original question.

Tip the mail man & have the Kubota guy leave your tractor in the mail box.

This should work out fine as long as he doesn't have to get out of the truck.

 

[Bird]

I understand, Lisa. I was a temporary sub city carrier myself in '57-'58 in a small town, then a full time clerk in Dallas in '59-'64. I never had a problem with my rural carrier; it was in the city where the problem occurred. Way back in the days when I worked for the Post Office, the city carriers walked, and went up to a mailbox by the door at each house. I'm not sure just when the change was, but by '77, in new developments, they required rural type mailboxes at the curb; one house would have theirs on the front left corner of the lot and one next door on the front right corner so the boxes were in sets of two. That was where the problem occurred because the Post Office did not take into consideration state and local traffic laws. In my case, it was perfectly legal for anyone to park, blocking the mailbox, at any time as long as the vehicle did not remain unmoved for more than 24 hours and the hard heads at the Post Office at that time offered no solution at all; just said they wouldn't deliver the mail if the box was blocked by a parked vehicle. So the letter I wrote to the congressman simply asked if there was any solution other than my renting a P. O. Box at the Post Office.

Of course, there have been more changes in recent years. In the new city developments now, they only put up one box, with mutiple locked compartments, per city block. So, depending on where your house is located in that block, it may be right in front of your house, or it may be down at the other end of the block. And of course, the carrier has to get out of his/her vehicle to put the mail in the boxes, but only once each block.

 

[Golfgar4]

Lisa,

Please don't take my comments wrong. My FIL retired as a postal carrier, and I've always respected and liked all of our carriers. Well, at least until this gal came along. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Every carrier we had ever had before and after her has been great. They're friendly, dependable, and seem to believe in taking care of the customers. That's why I always do as much as I can to make their jobs a little easier.

Parking is allowed in front of our home, but sometimes one of my wife's new clients is not really thinking and will park right in front of the box. Now I know that the carrier has every right not to deliver in that situation, but every carrier we've had, save this one, would park and walk the mail up to the door. And if we recieve some kind of package just a little too large for the box, all of the mail is brought up with it to the door.

As a result of this kind of consideration, I make it a point to make sure that when we have a big snowfall, I've cleaned out the area along the curb to make it easier for the carrier to get to the box. If I happen to be out in the front yard when the truck pulls up, I'll walk out to chat with the carrier for a moment. I won't ask for the mail to be handed to me, because I believe that "technically" they can't do that, right? I'll let them put it in the box or offer it to me while I'm standing there. And we always leave the carrier a Christmas bonus that includes some nice baked goods and a little cash.

My example was just one of those instances where you realize that every organization will get the occassional bad apple.

And as Junkman mentioned, CT should be glad that she's gone, although I doubt that it was the same one. I'm only sorry to hear that she headed south. Overseas would have been better! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I won't ask for the mail to be handed to me, because I believe that "technically" they can't do that, right? )</font>

I never heard of that technicality before. I've never asked a mail carrier to hand me the mail instead of putting it in the box, but they've certainly done it on numerous occasions, including once last week.

 

[MidMichigan]

I don't know what is technically said about handing mail to the customer at their box but I do it all the time. Also if they come into the office in the morning and I know who they are I will give them their mail. Makes them happier and makes me one less stop. As far as packages are concerned our rules say that if the package doesn't fit in the box we are suppose to take it to the house and honk the horn, if someone doesn't come out then we are to get out and walk it to the door. Then if they aren't home most of the time I will leave it on the porch for them. The only time I won't get out is if when I honk a dog comes out. Then this gal just sits in the truck I won't take the chance of getting bit. I know in this job just like all jobs there are some bad apples, I also know that some of the regulations we have aren't made for keeping the customers happy. Sometimes we have to follow them even when we would just as soon not.
One winter I realized how our customers look out for us, I was coming down a country road half blocked with drifted snow. When I got stuck I was a ways down the road from the house but in just a few minutes I looked up and here comes the farmer in his big tractor (he was watching for me from the house) he hauled me out into the field that was clear then when the field became blocked he hauled me back out into the road, we were pass the snow drifts so I was able to travel down the road again.
Lisa

 

[Inspector507]

<font color="blue"> ( I won't ask for the mail to be handed to me, because I believe that "technically" they can't do that, right? ) </font>

If I'm out in the yard, it's too far to run to the box just to get it handed to me. But if they pull in with a package...etc, I always drive the tractor over to the drive and retrieve my mail through the window. Now if I could just stop the individual that STILL has mail coming to MY house and sorting through it to get HERS before I get home.

Boy this post really got hijacked, didn't it?

 

[Bird]

Yep, Lisa, things are different in small towns, especially when everyone knows everyone else. When I first bought my place in the country, I went to the little Post Office, and filled out a little form that I guess is used everywhere listing the names of all the individuals who would be getting mail at my address. And then they asked me if I had a package too big for the box and no one home, did I want them to leave a notice and me pick it up, or did I want them to leave it on the front steps (I chose the latter). And when my brother-in-law and his wife went out of town, he'd just call the Post Office and ask them to hold his mail until he returned or to give his mail to me (which they did on several occasions). No paperwork required.