It's back in line for post office users in the USA

Accustomed to bypassing the main U.S. Post Office’s long waiting line, Suzi McKeen was dumbfounded to learn that her reliable Automated Postal Center had disappeared.

“I had to stand 20 minutes in line to conduct business that would have taken me five minutes at the kiosk,” the Salisbury resident said. “Now I have to stand on my feet or sit in my car pumping pollution into the air while I wait for service.”

The U.S. Postal Service joined the “self-service” bandwagon a few years ago by installing thousands of free-standing kiosks known as APCs. Similar to an ATM, many are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to enable customers to weigh and mail letters and purchase stamps quickly.

The U.S. Post Office on Route 50 decided to remove their ACP because customers weren’t using the machine enough to meet the standard USD 400 a day income, said Freda Sauter, U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman for the Baltimore district.

“Customers prefer to use cash at the vending machines to buy stamps,” Sauter said.

The APC accepts credit and debit cards, and does everything short of face-to-face transactions, including dispensing stamps, weighing packages and calculating postage for express, priority and first class mail and parcel post items, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s Web site. The APC also provides mailing information, ZIP code lookup and delivery confirmation services.

“The supervisor said they weren’t getting a lot of complaints,” Sauter said. “Customers would bypass the APC and go right to the vending machine or use the drive-through.”

McKeen believes the problem stemmed from customers never being encouraged to use the kiosk. If customers are intimidated by the ACP, employees should assist them, she said.

“I never heard someone at the counter ask, ‘Did you know you could use that?,’ ” McKeen said. “If it wasn’t producing enough revenue, they should push that.”

Sauter said she is unaware of other post offices having a similar problem with ACP use. Nowadays, customers are apt to use the U.S. Postal Service Web Site to serve their packaging needs by printing out labels online or scheduling a free carrier pickup.

The ACP can return to the main post office if there is a demand, Sauter said.

But for now, McKeen will have to get used to waiting in line.

“Ironically, there is still a prominent sign over the desk suggesting that customers could get faster service by using the kiosk,” she said. “Perhaps they should take that down now.”