[Bryanw92]

>>Working overtime in a private sector service industry is a must if you care to keep your customers. If I told one of my clients that their entitlement mentality was disturbing because they wait until the last minute I would soon find myself without clients.

My point was that although the poster knows that the deadline is fixed and the hours of the Post Office are clearly posted, he chooses to push the limits and go beyond. Then, he expects others to adapt to his schedule. If some welfare sow was on here saying that the USPS isn’t meeting her needs because they closed before she could get her welfare paperwork mailed, the response would be “tough sh!t, sister. Learn to show up on time.” Entitlement mentality is entitlement mentality. Why should the cost of my stamps increase because he can’t get his work done on time?

If a client needs me to do something extra because of events beyond their control, I accept that as a business expense. But, if the client is routinely late with needed documents and expects me to eat the extra costs, then we have a problem. If I charge a fixed fee, should I raise the fee for all customers because a minority of clients think they’re too important to respect a deadline?

Disclaimer: I do not work for the Post Office. Never have. Never will. If it wasn’t for Netflix, I wouldn’t even need a mailbox, so I don’t give a crap about them. I’m more concerned with the original article’s statements about nurses being welfare for unions.

[r-q-tek86]

I get your point and I agree that the poster should meet the known deadlines. But the larger point is that the USPS doesn't have to respond to customer needs because making that customer happy doesn't matter. In a competitive environment, an alternate mail carrier might offer later hours to attract the business of our poster. Without that competitive environment, USPS and any other government agency has no incentive.

As for raising prices, competitors might have sliding scale pricing for services that are in demand. Look at what FedEx has done with parcel delivery. People are willing to pay more for a service that the USPS didn't offer and now the USPS is trying to recapture that market by offering better service for parcel delivery.

USPS is just one example and perhaps not the best since there is some competition for that service. In other agencies where competition is forbidden or the government artificially lowers pricing by making up the shortfall with tax money, we see more egregious examples of lack of customer service.

For the record, I often tell my clients that there is fast, good and cheap... they can have any TWO, but not all three. That my clients have an entitlement mentality is beside the point. If I serve them better at a cost they are willing to pay, then I make money. If I take a stand on principle, I might lose those clients to someone willing to meet their needs. I, myself, end up in situations, sometimes of my own making, where I demand more from my consultants than I should. That they perform is why I am loyal to them and refuse to shop them based solely on price.