It seems that the boundaries between my cyber life and my real life have basically disappeared. I mean, I used to be able to keep them separate and tidy and nice. Now, not so much.
So eager am I to find shortcuts online, that I have forgot how to do the simplest of real-life tasks, like use the phone. OK, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point. I love that you can reserve books at the Champaign Public Library online, and that they send you reminders of when your books are due (otherwise we would owe a fortune in fines). Online bill pay has saved us plenty a late fee. It’s nice to not have to wait in line at the movie theater to buy tickets these days. There’s even a couple of restaurants in town that will take online dinner reservations.
Online shortcuts seem to be great … only when they’re not. Case in point: I’m a stickler for holding our mail and newspapers when we go out of town. I inherited that gene from my paranoid Jewish mother (love you, mom). On a trip to the post office recently I discovered that you no longer need to show up there in person to put in a hold order. It’s now possible to do this online. Hooray! I silently shouted. Another errand off the list.
So imagine my surprise when my mail was in the mailbox upon our return, two days before I had asked for it to be delivered. Lovely. Grand. I called the toll free number to complain, and I guess they forward the complaints to the local post office (they even gave me a confirmation number). Would this request have been executed correctly if I had done it in person? We’ll never know for sure.
8 responses so far ↓
Teresa // October 15, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Odds are not. I’ve had my mail held a total of 3 times, and 2 of those the mail didn’t get started back up on the date it was scheduled for. I had to call the local post office. The way my carrier explained it, there’s some sort of issue at the sorting area. The carriers just never get the notices. I can’t say the News-Gazette was much better, either (you can stop and start that online, as well). They screwed up my start date twice, too. It’s not like I live in some remote corner of CU, either. Main drag -Prospect Ave.
Leeanthro // October 15, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I know…
I have 2 checks left in my check book and absolutely no idea where the full box of checks is. I pay all my bills online and use my debit card. Heaven forbid I actually go to my real bank.
I think it’s crazy that my husband still pays his bills with a check, envelope, and stamp. And he even balances his checkbook by hand.
So 20th century!
Mrs. Chicken // October 15, 2007 at 4:01 pm
No. No matter how I do it - in person or online - it is never delivered on the right day. The last time the explanation was “your carrier forgot.”
Niiiiiice.
Snmnstrz21 // October 15, 2007 at 7:23 pm
I seem to remember when you had to go to the post office in person to pick up your held mail and tell them to restart delivery.
Mate'man // October 15, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Yep, Snmnstrz21 is right — that’s how it works in my town. Seems to me that trying to graft sophisticated systems onto a basically primitive one like the Post Office is an exercise in futility. Too many ‘lifers’ still around. BTW — ever try to track a package mailed with the Postal Service’s special Priority Mail? Zero, Zip, Nada. Trying to act or look like UPS or FedEx isn’t enough. Look at it this way — Peanut may someday be able to stop and start her mail delivery sometime in the early 2030s! Maybe!
prairie biker // October 16, 2007 at 6:55 am
Our carrier is an awesome fellow and I just talk to him directly and let him know after I file the paperwork. I’ve never had a problem.
lbotp // October 16, 2007 at 9:07 am
Mateman — I’m sure they offer the online service in your bigcity suburb. I also found out when I went to complain that you could put in a hold mail request over the phone.
Last night we got a call back from the local post office giving us instructions to call another person there to complain again. Ugh.
Teresa // October 16, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I’ve got a great mail carrier, too, prairie biker -but he seems to have a lot of days off. Which always seem to fall on my start up or stop date. Actually, my carrier is the same one I have at my office so I see him a couple of times a day. That is when the mail isn’t running 6 hours behind, which it does now and again. My regular delivery time is about 3:30pm, but it’s been delivered as late as 7pm on a consistent basis. Grumble grumble
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