It is obvious to anyone who has tried to pick up a package this semester that the way the mail center functions is unacceptable. For most of the afternoon there is a long line that snakes through the mail center, up the stairs, and back towards the Grille office. My personal experience with the mailroom has been less than satisfactory.
Last Wednesday, I joined the long line to pick up a package. After waiting in the 20 minute line (which is relatively short these days), I found that a single person was retrieving packages. I told him my name and how many packages I had (one) and then he disappeared. About ten minutes later he returned to tell me that he hadn’t found my package. Another ten minutes passed and he gave up. I wrote down my name and was told that the mail center would look for my package at a less busy time and let me know when it was found. Meanwhile, during this entirely fruitless 20 minute search, a massive line had built up behind me — a line that would evidently be served by only one person.
I finally got an email on Friday afternoon that my package had been found. I was not in a position to drop everything I was doing and head to the mailroom, and as it is entirely closed on the weekends, I had to wait until Monday to get my package. Then, I was treated to another 45 minute wait before receiving my package. In total, I spent an hour and a half just to get a single item from the mail center.
Now, while I appreciate the reader indulging in my detailed description of a personal complaint, that it not really the point of this piece, and if I were the only victim of this inefficiency it would be nothing worth discussing. The problem is that the mail center proves a massive time-suck for a large portion of the student body. Many of my friends have shared experiences similar to mine: long lines and missing packages. In fact, on the counter of the mail center one will often see a long list of the names of people whose packages could not be located. On Monday afternoon the list had more than 20 names. Additionally, anyone who has walked through McCullough will have seen the long line and (by definition of a line) the many people waiting in it.
I speak about this issue not out of total ignorance, and not merely to complain. This summer I worked as a package receiver for a Home Depot store, and part of my job was handling the “Buy Online, Ship to Store” packages. “BOSS,” as it is called, has a nearly identical mechanism to the mail center: a person gets an email when their package is in, they go to the store and form a queue at the customer service desk, and expect to promptly and accurately receive their package. No Home Depot customer would tolerate a 45 minute wait to pick up something she had ordered. When people have paid for a product, they expect an appropriate level of customer service. And shouldn’t we as customers paying about $60,000 for a bundle of services including mail expect and demand an appropriate level of customer service?
My proposed solution is threefold. My first proposal is to increase mail center staffing. I understand that increased staffing is only marginally valuable, because the number of employees that can be helping students is limited by the small size of the business window into the mail center. But, the mail center should be staffed enough so that people are always being helped at the full capacity that the space allows.
Once this has been maximized, my second proposal is to increase the hours of the mail center. There is no reason for it to close at 4 p.m., when many people do not even get out of class until 4:15. It’s also particularly inconvenient for the mail center to be closed all weekend. We should expect better.
Finally, I propose doing away with names. Names as a way of identifying a person’s package are bad because they are difficult to spell, some common names are shared between many people, and alphabetizing is a slow way to order and find things. Instead packages should be organized by box number, and that is how students should identify themselves at the business window. Box numbers are unique, easy to communicate, and easy to sort things by.
The college has abolished CPI+1 and continues to steeply raise tuition. Students ought to demand proportional improvements in services. The inefficiency of the mail center is a huge waste of time that is easily improved. The level of customer service just does not live up to the massive price tag.
Andrew Smith '17 is from Sammamish, Wash.
