By Lauren Dorsey, Staff Writer
Unannounced closures, irregular hours, and missed or delayed deliveries have plagued some of our local post offices, according to residents who have dealt with a variety of post office woes over the last year. In order to address staffing difficulties, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is holding a statewide hiring fair on Saturday, Oct. 21.
No Woodstock, Barnard, or South Woodstock USPS staff were available for comment when the Standard inquired, per USPS policy.
Bethel and Barnard Postmaster Renee Turgeon has taken to posting the days and hours the post office will be open on the Barnard listserv, often going herself to open the post office window to distribute packages to residents for a few hours in the afternoons or evenings. “I think people are very appreciative of her efforts,” said Barnard resident Judy Manes.
Over the past week, the Barnard post office has been fully open once, on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The office was open for package pick-up for three hours on Oct. 10, 11, and 14. “It’s been kind of scattered,” said Manes, “but at least people know now when it will be open.”
In Woodstock, residents have been complaining about delivery delays. “I’ve lived here for 33 years and have always had really great service. I’ve never had any problems. But in the last year or so, it has been really sporadic. It can be four days, sometimes, without getting a delivery,” said Woodstock resident Ginny Eames.
While slow or unpredictable deliveries can be a mere inconvenience for some, it can be highly stressful for others. Last year, Woodstock resident Richard Simpson had just gotten out of the hospital when several long delays occurred.
“Getting [medical] supplies and medications through the mail was extremely important to me, and there would be times that I wouldn’t get mail for a week. It was concerning,” said Simpson. When days had gone by without receiving anything, Simpson inquired. “I was told that the delivery person was on vacation or ill. But I’m 70 years old, and in all my years of living, I’ve never heard that before. Usually, they’ll send somebody else in to deliver the mail.”
Medical supplies are just one of the time-sensitive deliveries people depend on. “I get some payments through the mail, some of those have been delayed by just days and days,” said Eames.
In South Woodstock, residents report that they struggle with even less clarity. “There are times when I have gone in during posted hours and the window is closed, with no notice or explanation,” said South Woodstock resident Janice Prindle.
Even the USPS apps and notifications have proven misleading. “[The post office] says that they are open, and I have the USPS app, which says I have something available for pickup. I go there, and I try to pick it up, but there’s no one around,” said South Woodstock resident Amy Woodman, “I’ve ordered medication through the mail, and just want to know where it is. I can’t blame the staff, but this is a real problem.”
Residents claim they have also experienced a surge in packages delivered to the wrong address. “These misdeliveries, one employee explained to me, are because of staffing issues. With turnover, split shifts or absences, often whoever is assigned to our post office is not familiar with the names connected to the box numbers,” said Prindle, “That’s important for box holders, because sometimes, for example, a third-party seller on Amazon (which normally ships by UPS) will ship by mail using the street address instead of the PO Box.”
In an email to the Standard, Stephen Doherty, the USPS Corporate Communications Specialist for Eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, said, “Recruitment is a challenge in Vermont today, with an unemployment rate below 2%. Because of the incredible dedication and flexibility of our workforce, we’re typically able to move personnel and resources from a neighboring community to backfill for short-term vacancies. Although, during the summer vacation season, this flexibility can sometimes be stretched to its limits, and we have experienced some pockets of delays.”
When asked about the particular staffing problems in the Woodstock area, Doherty responded, “It is my understanding from speaking with the operations manager who covers that area that recent closures were not due to staffing issues necessarily, but more employee availability issues. In other words, people who don’t show up for work. It’s not something that the hiring could have fixed, because there aren’t actually vacant positions to hire people into.”
Going forward, Doherty said that residents can reach out to the USPS for help if they repeatedly run into a closed office. “If there’s a problem, first contact a local postmaster, but if the office isn’t open, that’s obviously difficult to do. You can also reach out to our Customer Service Center [by either going through] the website usps.com or calling them at 800-275-8777.”
While Doherty can’t speak to any long-term plans to help mitigate the delivery issues, he did say that the USPS is hoping to fill their vacancies before the holidays with the upcoming hiring fair. “We’re hoping to get a good portion of new staff from the events that we have coming up this Saturday and put our staffing where it needs to be for the holidays. It is difficult because in Vermont right now, I think it’s like 1.7 or 1.8% unemployment,” said Doherty. “It’s a great market to be unemployed in because there are all kinds of opportunities. And it’s a difficult market to be looking for help in because you get a lot of competition looking for the same people.”
Despite the recent issues, Doherty says that the official USPS shipping deadlines, released on Oct.10, that tell customers when to mail packages to ensure their delivery by December 25 are still accurate. The deadline for a Christmas delivery in Vermont is Dec. 16 for USPS Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail, Dec. 18 for Priority Mail, and Dec. 20 for Priority Mail Express.