First, this post is about government ineptitude so if you are tired of reading on the subject, go ahead and move on.
As most people know, the Post Office is a pretty sloppy crowd, especially regarding customer service. Mix this in with the wonders of getting a passport and I am sure you can tell where this thing is going. I decided sometime ago that I needed to get a passport. You can't even go to Canada these days without one. Not that I have anything on the horizon but why limit yourself if a sweet E-saver hits this spring or something, right? The fam has been known to hit the Caribbean too. Last time I wouldn't have been able to join them, even had I had the vacation time and been invited/known in advance.
Anyway, I requested an official copy of my birth certificate from the state of TN sometime ago and received it. Didn't want to run the risk of the Passport folks shooting down a faxed or photocopied version. Got it pretty quickly. Filled out all my info online on some interactive PDF type file and printed it off. Had check book in hand for the fees and was ready to go. Checked for the nearest location and even called to see if they were open, very busy (why back the journey if you're gonna wait an hour), etc. Well, it was Friday afternoon and they didn't answer. I was a little perturbed and my timing wasn't exactly smooth, but you know, I figured I would flow through the process in a hurry while the everyday morons were filling out paperwork or getting denied. The non-answering at 2:00 kinda bugged me but I decided to run over there. Walk in, see a few folks (less than 10) sitting around then went to sign the waiting list sheet. I see that it has been marked through. Officially post hours were 9 to 4. It was 3:30. At 2:10 the lady running the show had apparently marked through the remaining time slots for the day with a note saying "No more appts today." What kind of sloppy ass deal is this? I mean seriously, I know you are busy. I know it's Friday. Your website says you are open until 4. Don't freaking mark through the afternoon slots and make them suddenly ineligible. Sorry you are having a shitty day and lots of people are getting their passports today. Even the dude at Walgreen's knew why I walked into the store and directly to the photo booth at lunch. It was a busy day for that process apparently. He obliged with the digital, ran the prints in the computer and asked if I wanted to wait or come back in 10 min (which I did) and have my pictures waiting. What was so damn hard about that? Nothing and he had his money in no time. If you are gonna post working hours, fine, stick to it. If you are going to change or tweak these hours then do one of the following. Post an exclusion on your site if possible. Leave an outgoing message on your voicemail (which didn't exist) or answer the damn phone. A 25 sec phone conversation would have alleviated a pissed off customer, another person clogging her waiting room, albeit temporarily, and saved me 30 minutes of driving around. Sometime in the next couple mornings I am hitting the Uptown P.O. where they also do passports. Yeah, it's further from the office. It will probably be as busy or busier during that time of day, but I'm hoping they will at least handle the process properly. I would rather that branch get my money anyway.
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It also just recently occurred to me that I need to get my passport renewed. [Last weekend I realized that the cost of plane tickets to London wasn't entirely ridiculous and Rachel thought a trip to the UK would be smashing.] I had been avoiding renewing it since I didn't have any immediate travel plans and that I thought I would have to hang out at the Post Office to get it done. Fortunately, as I just found out because Rachel looked it up for me, I can renew by mail. I am pleased.
When I went to get my passport, there was one (1) person in front of me. The guy behind the counter looked like Cleveland from Family Guy except he talked slower. He wasn't slow. He just took his sweet ass time.
I left work at 10:40. I got back at 1:15. This was RMF. As usual, they were total bitches about it and blessed me out. Fair warning. These guys suck.
I got my passport about 5 years ago. I investigated and found out where the passport processing office or something like that was in my area. It was the big downtown Charleston office. So I waited until I was home over going to the giant post office in Columbia that I'd usually take over any office in Charleston, went in the middle of a workday, and was in and out in 30 minutes. Got my passport in 3 weeks (without any express charges).
Point being: some USPS offices are less incompetent for passports than others, and it might not be what you think....
Nobrainer, just remember how hideous the exchange rate is. However, London is awesome and let me know if you go and need any info...I spent half my 1L summer there.
I'm just glad I still have my passport up to date from the stint in mexico! I go intl in 2 weeks and would have hated to get the "rush" on it.
I ended up having a Trickey experience at the main downtown location a couple weeks ago and breezed through the process even with a bunch of folks in line that don't typically help this process. Went ahead and got the rush option just to get it in hand. Don't want to miss an E-saver. Should have it in the next week. I was "quoted" 4-6 weeks but was told they are usually getting back in 3-4 standard. We'll see but I'll take the round two experience any day of the week.
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