ONLY ON ABC-7: Residents frustrated with service at Eastside post office
Frustration is mounting in East El Paso.
Viewers have told ABC-7 that they are tired of the daily long wait that greets them when they try to retrieve their mail at the Sandy Creek Post Office at 2100 George Dieter Drive.
ABC-7 stopped by the post office shortly after it opened at 9:30 a.m. and saw a line of more than a dozen people waiting to pick up packages, bills and letters.
“It’s like that every single day,” said one man as he walked past the ABC-7 crew into the building.
“It’s a very big inconvenience,” said Maria Mendez, one of the many forced to come to the post office because she doesn’t have a key to her mailbox.
“I just moved to a new place about a month ago,” Mendez said. “I changed the address like, three weeks before I moved so I could have the key to the mailbox. And it’s been over a month. They told me it would be up to seven weeks.”
The time spent in line varies per customer.
“I come here once or twice a week and sometimes I have to walk out because I don’t have the time to spend,” Mendez said.
“Normally, it takes you an hour and a half, depending on what the packages are,” Jose Martinez said.
“Anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour is usually how long I have to wait,” said Lonnie Graham. The mother gestured to her infant carrier. “I try to come only come once a week so I’m not waiting in line all the time, everyday, with little ones who are hungry or have to go to the bathroom.”
A post office manager asked ABC-7 to leave and declined to provide a reason for the delay, instead referring the crew to the USPS website to find the spokesperson.
Robert “Sam” Bolen, the regional USPS spokesman in San Marcos, Texas, said there are 14 post offices in El Paso city limits and one on Fort Bliss. Sandy Creek, the post office on George Dieter, delivers to approximately 164,606 customers spread over roughly 392 square miles, according to the USPS.
The postal service declined repeated requests to give an interview to ABC-7, But Bolen responded in an email that the USPS believes that the delay in getting keys to residents is due to a high turnover of residents using community mailboxes, or Centralized Box Units. Despite repeated attempts for additional comment, the USPS did not elaborate what has been done to address the long wait at the post office to retrieve mail, only saying action is being taken to reduce the time to get residents their CBU keys to 2 to 3 weeks.
The USPS also said it does not plan to build a new post office to service the growing east side any time soon. “Such decisions are at the discretion of the Postal Service, based on operational needs,” said Bolen, adding, “The U.S. Postal Service is a responsible employer that prudently matches its workforce to an evolving workload and adjusts staffing and resources continuously.”
The USPS does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses, according to the spokesman, who added that it relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Unfortunately, residents must continue to wait – an infuriating notion.
“It’s ridiculous the amount of time that you waste here,” said Mendez. “Like if we have nothing else to do.”
“Hey, I’m 68 years old,” Martinez said. “I’ve got getter things to do. Life is short.”
The postal service could not confirm if complaints have been filed, only saying it, “investigates all customer concerns and works closely with customers to resolve their issues.” The spokesman urges residents to file complaints so it can address any issues that arise.
