Automated Postal Center at Cleveland Heights, Ohio post office

The website of the U.S.P.S. says of the Automated Postal Center (APC) installed in many post offices, "...because it's self service, you can skip the line..." I don’t know how they can say this with a straight face.

Today at the Cleveland Heights, Ohio post office, I used an APC to send an envelope by Priority Mail. My intent was to save time by avoiding the long line at the counter. I was nearly finished with the transaction when the APC screen instructed me to place a Priority Mail sticker on each side of the envelope. The APC neither furnished me with any such stickers, nor did it tell me where to get the stickers. I did not see the stickers in any of the office's form areas. So I had to get in line to go to the counter! About 15 minutes later, the employee at the counter (who provided the uninterested service I'm accustomed to at the post office) was able to give me the stickers I needed. When I asked her if the stickers were normally available somewhere in the form areas for quick and easy pickup, she said no, you have to get them at the counter.

I’d like to know how the U.S.P.S can say the APC allows customers to "skip the line" when this is not true, at least not if you're sending Priority Mail, which I would think a lot of people use the APC for. I would've spent less time at the post office this morning if I had gotten in line at the start instead of starting my transaction at the APC.

And what about customers who use an APC when the post office is closed? How do such customers get Priority Mail stickers in that situation? Are they supposed to wait until a day and time when the office is open so they can get in line to obtain the stickers?

So I’d like to know, how does an APC represent an improvement in service?

Jeff Hirst

Comment On This

The stickers should be laying around next to the Automated Aggravation Center. If the USPS had the common sense of a donkey they would have installed a dispenser neaby, instead of laying rolls of the stickers around like so much trash. Next time ask the moron at the counter for extra stickers, which you can keep for the next trip to the machine.......assuming it will be functioning properly.