The other evening, a few of my business friends were sitting around the dinner table with me and we were projecting well into the future as to what businesses and services would pass, and what would stay. As might be imagined, we disagreed on most things; for example, one of my friends said that tire stores would be around 50 years from now, while another friend thought that whatever a “car” looks like now would be replaced by vehicles that coasted along on air.
However, we all agreed on one service going away, maybe in as little as 20 years; the U.S. Postal Service. We were playing a game, of course. We have no inside information. We could see email and other forms of communications replacing regular mail; we could visualize drones and other types of devices replacing mail carriers; we were absolutely certain that the postage stamp would go the way of the Passenger Pigeon and the Wooly Mammoth.
We all agreed that the best days of the USPS were well behind them, and that the mail carriers would be learning new trades.
“The postal service is completely unreliable,” said a friend. “They need to go away.”
I have heard this criticism of the system many times before, and though I have known great letter carriers, it only takes one story about a guy named Oscar Lopez in The Bronx, N.Y. to think my friends might be right about the whole system.
Where’s my refund?
Kevin McCoy writing for USA Today (July 2, 2015), tells us about a mailman, Oscar Lopez, who stole more than $1 million in IRS refunds from unsuspecting people along his route. Mr. Lopez has been charged with conspiracy and theft of government funds.
According to the article:
“A seven-page criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court alleged Lopez obtained refund checks issued in the names of individuals who purportedly lived along his delivery route in ZIP code 10460…the scam allegedly relied on using Social Security numbers issued in Puerto Rico…most residents of the Caribbean island aren’t required to file federal tax returns as long as their income is earned there.”
Apparently Lopez had a group of friends who worked with him who appropriated the Social Security numbers because they by and large knew that since the numbers were not attached to income tax returns. After Lopez stole the refund checks, he turned them over to these co-conspirators:
“They helped deposit the checks in bank accounts and give Lopez a percentage of the money…in examples cited by the complaint, the IRS issued separate 2010 refunds of $7,306, $8,755 and $8,190 to individuals whose Social Security numbers had been issued in Puerto Rico. The employers linked to the refunds did not match information in IRS records.”
Lopez walked away with about $108,000 and in all, the scam collected close to $1 million. It is hard to muster any sympathy for Lopez. He stole refund money from those people along his route who probably needed it the most. He saw an opportunity and he capitalized on it. Ironically, he probably understood that mail deliveries are so – unreliable!
Last ditch efforts?
If the USPS is working on its last ditch efforts to save itself, my recommendation is that they start with their very face; the people who show up at your home or business. Are these folk’s simply human machines to deliver our mail and packages, or should they be something much, much more? Should they be consultants or advisors? Should they be trained to be salespeople for value-added postal services? Should they be certified in such a way so as to restore confidence?
Let me ask all of you a quick question. React fast; don’t over-think it. You have an important document to ship. OK, name the first carrier that comes to mind. If your answer is anything other than the USPS, why? There was a time when the first answer you might have given me was the USPS, so what changed?
I think what you will find is that for many people, there is a great fear that their document will be lost, stolen or destroyed.
Where does this fear come from? I believe it originates with a lack of confidence in the ethical behavior of USPS employees. Oscar Lopez is a prime example of the fears of many former USPS customers. Yes, I realize that he is only one of hundreds of thousands, but there have been other cases of ethical misconduct.
It is my contention that one excellent way in which to help restore public confidence in the USPS is to institute nationwide ethical standards backed by periodic training at least at the supervisory level.
There is no question the USPS is in trouble, but for me, there is no question that ethical training might prolong its life.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
