The U.S. Postal Service may soon file a negotiated service agreement with the Postal Rate Commission, postal officials said yesterday at the ratemaking summit in Potomac, MD. USPS chief marketing officer Anita J. Bizzotto said the agency “is getting close to signing on with a company,” though she did not offer specifics.
Read MoreTABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Purpose Of This Report……………………………………………………………………………. 1
II. Deficiencies Identified In The Provision Of Particular Services………………………. 4
A. Priority Mail…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
1. Recent history of Commission’s treatment of Priority Mail …………………….. 4
2. Problems in the provision of Priority Mail service persist ………………………. 6
3. Limited mailing tests of First Class and Priority Mail demonstrate that
First Class provides service equal to, and often better than, that
obtained in Priority Mail ……………………………………………………………………. 9
4. The Postal Service persists in failing to give consumers the
tools and information necessary to compare Priority Mail with
First Class ……………………………………………………………………………………. 10
5. The Postal Service continues to give the public unrealistic
expectations about the service likely to be provided by Priority Mail……… 15
6. Advertisement of Priority Mail and information given by Postal and
Call Center personnel to the public on Priority Mail delivery times
must reflect the ability of the Postal Service to provide promised
service…………………………………………………………………………………………. 19
B. Certified Mail and Return Receipt ……………………………………………………….. 23
C. Insurance ………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
III. Major Areas Of Customer Dissatisfaction And OCA-Recommended
Remedies …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 35
A. Long Waits in Post Offices…………………………………………………………………. 35
B. Present Information to the Public to Improve Understanding
about Postal Services ……………………………………………………………………….. 39
C. The Two-line Address to IRS Service Centers Can Cause Looping …………. 41
IV. Consumer Perceptions Of Postal Service Performance………………………………. 43
A. Introduction and Summary…………………………………………………………………. 43
B. Customer Satisfaction and Equity ……………………………………………………….. 46
C. Surveys of Customer Perceptions Provide Information on the Risk
of Losing Business……………………………………………………………………………. 49
1. Associated Press Polling Report……………………………………………………… 49
2. American Customer Satisfaction Index…………………………………………….. 50
3. Consumer Federation of America Report, May 18, 2000…………………….. 53
D. The Postal Service Obtains High Ratings for Consumer
Satisfaction, but There are Indications of Potential Longer-Run
Problems…………………………………………………………………………………………. 55
E. Additional Sources of Information Were Provided by OCA Focus
Groups and Student Surveys ……………………………………………………………… 56
1. OCA conducted three focus groups…………………………………………………. 56
2. Survey information provided by marketing classes at University of
Southern California and Purdue………………………………………………………. 59
a. Survey procedures………………………………………………………………………… 60
b. Although the student-initiated surveys are not statistically
accurate, the surveys provide useful information………………………………..
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