POSTAL GROUP SUBMITS A REPORT
by PETER GESELL, Chair of CPCAG
The Cambridge Postal Customer Advisory Group reports from time to time on matters that may be of interest to customers in the city. The group was established in 1991 to meet regularly with the Cambridge Postmaster to improve customer service and the overall relationship of the post office to Cambridge. The group may help resolve simple issues like individual mail deliveries or more complicated issues like working to recruit a work force that reflects the racial and ethnic make-up of the city.
Carriers in 02140, 01241 and 02142 will be provided post office vehicles instead of having to use their own vehicles on the job. Now packages will be delivered at the same time as your regular mail.
The main post office is scheduled to undergo substantial renovations while keeping to its historic landmark requirements. Facilities for personnel and customers will be improved or replaced with modern equipment.
The advisory group is pleased to have worked with the senior center and the post office to begin a Carrier Alert program to help interested elderly people living alone. (When mail is not picked up, designated persons will be notified.)
In addition to the day-to-day activities, the Cambridge Post Office has taken on several initiatives. Carriers organize locally under the auspices of the National Association of Letter Carriers as part of an annual national drive to collect food for the needy. This year's drive will be May 8. Look for further information in your mailbox.
Informational tours for school children have increased and been fun, especially when Santa joined the group.
New stamps are sometimes celebrated by small events: a postal clerk designed a special cancellation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Cambridge; organ and tissue donation to the New England Donor Bank was highlighted with a stamp event at City Hall; dancing and music in costume on the post office steps celebrated the Cinco de Mayo stamp; a presentation at the Fresh Pond School of Ballet marked the ballet stamp. Other events included: the House of Blues for the gospel series of stamps; a quiet celebration for care providers at the Cambridge Hospice, Chilton House for the hospice stamp; and unveiling the Malcolm X stamp at a storm-delayed celebration of Black History Month at City Hall.
Since Cambridge was designated as an independent post office with its own postmaster, we believe there have been substantial improvements in service. Clerks, carriers, drivers and managers have worked together to respond to professional goals and customer concerns. This past year has seen a 10 percent increase in the volume of mail delivered. From a total of 220 carriers, the average day sees 165 carriers delivering mail to 47,000 homes and businesses. Since carriers are obligated to follow a regular route, the mail usually is delivered at the same time each day. On days when the regular carrier is not on duty (the standard is regular carrier -- five days and regular utility coverage -- one day), substitutes are assigned or other carriers are asked to work overtime to deliver to that route. On those days, the mail is delivered, but not at the regular time. Chronic late delivery of mail should be reported (see below). Nationally, the post office runs regular tests conducted by outside firms to measure the accuracy and timeliness of mail delivery. By these and other measures, Cambridge looks pretty good, but one always seeks to do better. The postmaster offers to test new system ideas in Cambridge as a way of advancing service performance.
Complaints to our committee and to the Cambridge Post Office are now few, but we do hear sometimes about misdelivered mail. One misdelivered piece of mail leads one to worry about other possible misdeliveries. Errors sometimes start when a sender uses a wrong address or faulty bar code, but the carrier should catch these mistakes. A carrier may not know about a misdelivery because we customers often deliver the mail to the correct address ourselves. This good deed won't help solve the problem. During repetitive work, an inattentive moment can mean a mistake. Being unaware of an error often leads to more errors. Please inform the carrier of a misdelivery by marking the piece, crossing out the bar code and leaving it for the carrier to pick up the next day. Repeat mistakes of delivery should be brought to the attention of the supervisor for your zip code, the post office manager or the Postmaster, Marsha Cannon herself. Please be as specific as you can about dates so the post office personnel can analyze the problem accurately.
The post office has reduced the wait in line at the windows, but some days are better than others. The advisory group is working to improve the frustrating stamp vending machines and other lobby services. An ATM has been installed in the lobby at Central Square. Customers also should be aware that stamps can be purchased by telephone and delivered to your door at 1-800-782-6724 (1-800-STAMP 24). Stamps and other information also may be obtained on the Web at the USPS Web site. One can also order stamps by fax at 491-8318.
**Write to P.O. Box 390649, Cambridge, 02139-0649 or
**Send an email via the webpage at:
www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/~Consumer/postal.html.
**To reach supervisors or the post office manager, call 876-0620.
**The 02141 and 02142 supervisors are at 497-8073.
**To reach Postmaster Marsha Cannon, call 876-0620 or
**Write: Postmaster, Cambridge, 770 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 02139-9998.
Peter Gesell is chairman of the Cambridge Postal Advisory Group. The other members are Leroy Cragwell, John Gintell, Benjamin Horner, Tucker Malenfant, Walter Milne, Beto Pallares, and Paul Schlaver.
E-mail to: Consumers' Council