Pauline Scott's Portfolio

Wednesday, 12/9 was my birthday, so I decided I’d try to take a break from fighting the Goliath that is USPS. Unfortunately, it was the day the USPS started responding to me regarding my various emails I sent to the leadership. Apparently, I must have finally touched the right nerve- because the past two days have been full of higher ups calling me.  Tuesday, 12/8 at ~6:30 pm, I received a phone call from Wanda Prater, the Post Master and Randy Stine, District Manager. These people were on the top of my “fire them” list, not only because of these past few weeks, but the years of issues Schakowsky has noted many times. Their phone call consisted of clarifying the issues and what exactly they were doing about it- but specifically in regards to my case. Randy Stine was quiet for most of the phone call, so it was mostly Ms Prater explaining her resolutions to the issues. A rundown of what she said: Wanda Prater, Post Master 1. She was at the Rogers Park Post office for ~12 hours a day, try

  "It's been 35 days..." each day that goes by, this situation ages me a little more, and I feel as if I am fighting a fog with my fists. No one is responding, no one is reaching out to me or my neighbors about my mail. Let's review:  35 Days without regular mail delivery (I've received 5 piece of mail in the past month) 5 packages currently in purgatory 7 USPS Customer service cases since 11/15 (all "resolved!" on their end) 5 Daily phone calls for the past two weeks. No answer. No response.  This afternoon I was on the radio talking to Anna Davlantes on WGN 720 radio. Since the media has quieted down on the issue, the mail has slowed down again. Although the Roger's Park Post Office has claimed to hire 8-10 new carriers, quick train and deploy them, they will be ready, (I'm assuming) to start working just as the holiday mail surge happens. Then we are backed up by a month, not getting current, daily mail, and will be expecting holiday mail... w

  I have no snappy title for this blog. I'm beyond frustrated, angry, annoyed. I am exhausted by this mess that I did not create. I am exhausted that the United States Postal Service operates this way. There are plenty of issues at the top, middle and bottom. I understand that. Here's the problem: I DON'T CARE. If any other agency, business, organization operated this way for this long, and I don't just mean 34 for days- I'm talking YEARS as evidenced in the media on my News page . The 34 days ALONE would warrant some kind of intervention from management, I assume. I would also like to reiterate that this is not individual to me, but to many in my area.  This is what my mailbox looks like, I live on a huge street, I'm not in a rural area that doesn't have a regular mail person or service. I live in a VERY urban area with a median home value of 700k. Our property taxes were just raised again.  I don't want to write about this anymore, I don't want to

   Yesterday, I closed my laptop at 4pm, thinking "ok, that's enough of THAT! Time to enjoy my weekend and family." That was very wishful thinking. I woke up to a few emails today and a phone call. I was with my family, doing some curbside pickups for gifts and generally having a good time with my dudes. The first e-mail made me audibly shout, "You effing liars!" and the second just made me laugh.  E-mail #1 Sent: 12/4/20 at 5pm (I didn't read it until this morning) TL:DR- "Your issue has been resolved! Your mail has been delivered!"  YEAH... NO! It hasn't?! The Supervisor, Ms. Lucas was the supervisor I spoke to when I went to the post office a few days ago. She took down my address, and even if she is taking a personal interest in my "case," I haven't received any mail. So this email is an outright lie.  The other lie this particular post office has taken to is marking packages as "Delivery delayed, customer request post of

  Today marks 32 days without mail delivery at my home. I checked the mail twice yesterday, and once today at 12:45. Nothing. Not even mail from yesterday.  Today, as I do every day, I called the following phone numbers:  Roger's Park Post Office: 773-743-2650 (no answer) Jackie Cole, Station Manager: 773-943-9107 (phone rang for 4 minutes, eventually disconnected. No message service, no answer) Loretta Wilkinson, Customer Service Manager: 312-983-6107 (voicemail box full) Wanda Prater, Post Master: 312-983-8022 (no answer, VM box full) Consumer Affairs- 312-983-8030 (weird voicemail greeting message, left a message as I do everyday) No answer, didn't speak to anyone.  I also chose to brave the general USPS customer service line- 800-275-8777  I was on hold for an hour, and then I spoke to someone for 15 minutes. The outcome?  "Write a letter to Office of Consumer Advocate" Done. The gentleman on the phone did "escalate" my inquiry that I completed on their

  To Whom It May Concern:  I am hoping by now you are ALL aware of the issue at the Roger's Park Post Office located at 1723 W. Devon Ave. Chicago, IL 60660. Residents have not received mail for weeks now. The latest excuse is COVID- however- this particular post office has been mismanaged for YEARS. You can check for yourself. Right now I am watching a video of a Town Hall from February, 2020 PROMISING to fix the following issues:  NO MAIL FOR WEEKS MAIL DELIVERED TO THE WRONG ADDRESSES MAIL DELIVERY AFTER DARK NO ONE PICKING UP THE PHONE ANYWHERE None of these issues have been resolved, which John Clay, Senior Plant Manager himself "promised" would be fixed.  This particular office has had MULTIPLE issues for many years. Representative Jan Schakowsky has a large district here in Illinois, and she said herself during this Town Hall that this does not happen in other parts of her district. This tells me that the MANAGEMENT is to blame for the horrendous, dangerous, and im

  Just checked our mailbox at 9:30am, it's empty.       What a disappointment. As soon as I got my negative COVID result, I knew my first stop would be the Roger's Park Post Office at 1732 W. Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60660. How sad is that? I've been in quarantine for 3 weeks with my husband and 4 year old son. I am eight months pregnant, and my relief at being "free" was met with the dread of going to to the place that has created a monster- a mail hungry monster.  Here is the mail we had yesterday- technically, we are "receiving" mail- but this is all from the past week. Our People's Gas bill is there for December- but we never received our gas bill for November. Follow me here on Instagram! The line was not long when I entered the building at 1pm during my lunch break from WFH. I stood six feet apart from people as much as possible. There were about 4-5 people ahead of me, most looking for mail or to send/apply for important overseas documents. The

      Today marks DAY 30 WITHOUT MAIL.  I also received my negative COVID test result from Monday. I am very excited! My first thought was: " Now I can go to the post office and get my mail!" I then thought about that further and am not as excited as I was this morning before I put some thought into it.  It is currently 35° outside. The line for this particular hell mouth is out the door. I am 8 months pregnant and never comfortable. Due to my pregnancy, it is recommended by the CDC that I should: " Avoid activities where taking protective measures may be difficult and where social distancing can’t be maintained."  I will of course be wearing a mask, I'll keep my hands to myself and do my best not to get to worked up. This all seems a bit unnecessary given that I should be getting my mail delivered, so I may have to use my "Mom voice." I'll do my best to keep my cool. No promises.  Also fun fact- through my research I have discovered that in Illin

29 DAYS WITHOUT REGULAR MAIL SERVICE   Today’s date is 12/1/20. The last time we received USPS regular mail delivery was 11/3/20. “Regular mail delivery” to ourselves and our neighbors was sporadic at best before this month long dearth of mail. The best we had was 3-4 days a week of constant delivery. This month, however, the mail service has gone from annoying into inconvenience, And can now be considered downright perilous. In November, my family was quarantined due to having COVID, so I could not go to the Post Office. I am also in my 3rd trimester, and the CDC recommends avoiding public spaces like the Post Office. I know many are in a situation like myself- unable to go to the post office, and unable to get a hold of anyone over the phone or email. Over the past few weeks, every time I picked up the phone to call someone about this, filled out a "Contact Us!" form or sent an e-mail, I felt a desperate call to action.  A week after not receiving mail, I did what the USPS