Hello, my name is Isaiah Thompson and I'm a reporter at the City Paper. I'm embarking on a series of experiments in "crowdsourcing" -- using the amazing powers of the internet to bring reader and reporter closer together to get more info, more ideas, and more done that matters.

That being said, Experiment #1 is pretty modest. I just keep noticing post office stamp machines that don't work, and I have this crazy hunch that maybe they break a lot. It's trivial, maybe - but aren't those our federal tax dollars at work?

Here's the question: does your local post office stamp machine work? If not, (or if so), drop a line or, better yet, reply here or on the post I put up on the City Paper website here.

You can email me here, so please drop a line about this or otherwise. I'm new in town; tell me what's on your mind -- what are your own ideas for issues that might warrant investigation?

Isaiah

There's a sound truck that ruins the silence every spring, all
spring long, around Schuykill River Park / Markward Playground.
I have no idea what the guy in the recording is saying, although
it has the cadence of an excited baseball announcer's narrative.

I'd like to know what this is, and of course I'd give anything to
get rid of it. I'll take this over a working stamp machine any day.

Thanks, Isaiah.

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Okay, Szekely -- why don't you tell me where it is and when it is, and I'll try to see what I can find. You can post it here, or feel free to email me at the Citypaper.

I don't know about "broken", but the first and only time I used a post office stamp machine I got 19 Susan B. Anthony dollars as change.

Now I get stamps at the grocery store...

I hope you're still around when spring comes. At that time, I will do my best to track it down.

Thank you.

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I frequent the post office on Germantown Ave in Mt. Airy (19119) and the stamp machine has not been operational on any of my trips. It's annoying to stand in line just to buy stamps (and the line is ALWAYS long), so I just end up going to the post office near my job in Montgomery county.

I'm almost embarrassed to mention this because of prior associations with the post office, but I heard something today about the postal service that I thought was interesting.
The post office seems to have lost it's direction. In the past they seemed to focus more on selling artwork on stamps than on delivering the mail. They've recently changed a little by allowing the purchase of postage on the Internet. But, one cannot place a package over 13 oz. in a mailbox anymore either.
The new main Post Office at 30th Street is no exception. Have you noticed there are five or six cameras to watch customers, but only two or three clerks to wait on customers! I would use the post office much more if it were convenient. I, for one, drop packages at Staples or Kinkos whenever I can just to avoid the long lines at all of the center city post offices.
The idea was- what if we turned the postal service over to private enterprise? If we can subcontract our military work, why can't we subcontract postal work?
There's nothing that would prevent a local bank or Kinkos or FEDEX from providing postal services. They could easily tie into the postal service computers to handle packages, certified mail, priority mail, sell stamps and other things. I doubt the postal service computers need any more security than the computers at a bank counter. I doubt there is anything more valuable held at a local post office than is held at the local branch of a bank or anything that has any more value than the inventory at a local Staples or a local bank.
Furthermore, it would be just as easy for a postal truck to pick up the packages and mail from one of these "satellite branches" as it would be to pick it up from the post office.
The results:
1. More convenient hours and locations for postal needs.
2. The post office could save rent, heat/air conditioning, and overhead costs by having another retail outlet set up a post office counter and receive a percentage of all proceeds.
3. Probably much faster service. The CSR's would not be civil servants, which would probably save costs.
4. More people would probably use the post office if it were more convenient.

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I don't know if you're still working on this but the stamp machine in 19125's post office on Frankford Avenue NEVER works.

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

Agree with everything you said. Will the Patriot Act allow
it?

When I need to send something important, I use UPS or
something similar. Once, I received something by certified
mail 8 weeks after it was sent. It was a notice that my wife's
car was going to be crushed. (Which it was. Long before we
got the notice). When I complained at the 30th street location,
the woman behind the counter said, of the certified mail
tags, "Sometimes these things fall off." Much unpleasantness
ensued.

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The one on Castor ave, 19140, across from Dunkin Donuts has been broken for years.
I believe the contract for fixing these machines is sublet out.

The long lines are not limited, most Post offices have this problem due to curtailment of the number of employees.

Personally, I prefer the PO over the private delivery services. They deliver packages anywhere in the US quicker than the private sector and they honor insurance claims.