<p>If your student needs to open a PO Box or pick up a package be aware that the lines are VERY long today. Just received a text from D saying she has been in line an hour and a half waiting to pick up a package! All her hours standing at band camp last week are coming in handy today I guess!</p>
<p>DS waited for 30 minutes yesterday afternoon only to be told that the PO was closing at 2:30 (hours posted showed it should have closed at 4:00). Hope that does not happen today.</p>
<p>This is confirming my thoughts that DD should just get her PO box by the Publix today. Seems there are just too many issues at the Ferg one.</p>
<p>It doesn’t help that the post office was not open at all for freshman move-in on Saturday! I thought they would be open for a couple of morning hours at least for freshmen to open boxes. My DD also reported that the lines are extremely long, so she hasn’t attempted this. Can’t send her first care package yet! :)</p>
<p>D just called and said they divided the line between those getting packages and those opening PO boxes. Had her package within 10 minutes!</p>
<p>I thought they would be open for a couple of morning hours at least for freshmen to open boxes.</p>
<p>I think the US Post Office runs the PO and determines the open times.</p>
<p>D has a UPS box. Today she picked up a textbook we had shipped to her. She told me she was very glad she had the UPS box because there were 2-hour lines at the PO. But she may be changing her tune when she has to go out of her way to get her mail on rainy days!</p>
<p>My son said the same thing. He was glad that he rented the po box during BB. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>I’m also glad we opened the PO box during Bama Bound.
I just want to clarify, anything going through USPS should be sent to their PO box.
Anything shipping UPS, Fed X or DHL goes through the Paty package center.<br>
Hopefully that’s right.</p>
<p>I dropped my son off on Thursday we visited the Paty pkg center 4 times picking up packages I sent, (we are from out of town), no lines ever and they help you to your car. My son also has a PO Box and stopped by yesterday and saw the 1 hour line, we will No Longer send packages to the PO box - only through Paty Center. Info - for Paty PKG Center - Student’s Name/Dorm Name/Room #, c/o Paty Hall, Package Delivery Center
210 McCorvey Dr.,Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 (also put cell # on package for them let you know your pakg has arrive) It is right next to Lakeside dinning hall.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that the long lines at the Ferg post office are related to the crush of students opening new boxes at the beginning of the school year, and won’t continue. I’m assuming that in a week or so it won’t be difficult to pick up a package. I know my D picked up a textbook at the Ferg post office last Friday and there were no lines, but that was before the weekend move-in. Can anyone who has experience in prior years let us know how things are once the initial rush is over?</p>
<p>Daughter waited 45 minutes to pick up a package only to be turned away at 4:00. She said the postal carrier was very inappropriate. She had gotten to within just a few students of the front of the line.</p>
<p>There was only one line at 3:00.</p>
<p>^^ This is just wrong. They should either stay open to accommodate everyone in the line, or if overtime is taboo, cut the line off and close the doors when they realize they won’t be able to get to everyone (or at least warn people in the line that they might not get to them).</p>
<p>Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor…government inability to budget???</p>
<p>So we fall back on private enterprise to get the job done.</p>
<p>Has anyone else heard rumors that the PO in the ferg is going to be closing sometime this year?</p>
<p>Sea-tide had confirmed it will close in May</p>
<p>The Post office is indeed closing in May. I have several emails from a high ranking UA official confirming this and detailing plans for the replacement service.</p>
<p>I recently waited in line for over 2 hours to pick up a book and was going to have to wait another 2 hours to pick up another package had the company shipping the package realized that UPS doesn’t deliver to post office boxes (street addressing for PO boxes exempt.)</p>
<p>As of now, the Ferg Post Office is receiving 4000 packages per day. The staff member who left for another position over the summer was not replaced and one of the other employees leaves at 2:00 pm. Including lunch breaks, there is usually only one person working from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.</p>
<p>When I was at the Post Office, I asked for the contact information of the Postmaster to file a complaint. He was surprised and embarrassed by the wait times as the wait time at his post office is around 5 minutes and by the time I left, the wait time at the Ferg Post Office was 2.5 hours. He promised to contact his supervisor in Birmingham and see who he could bring in to reduce wait times. Considering that the employee who normally leaves at 2:00 pm was working at 3:45 pm today when I walked by, something has changed.</p>
<p>The acting postmaster for Tuscaloosa is Roger Davis and he can be contacted at 205.553.8155 and his supervisor, the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa MPO, can be contacted at 205.344.6080. In addition, you can file a complaint online at the USPS website. I encourage everyone to file a complaint so USPS will either bring back a 3rd employee or otherwise increase staffing for the next few weeks to handle the overload.</p>
<p>The po boxes at ferg are accepting packages from all companies this year, not just usps. You cant send usps packages to paty though. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>Ah. Thanks, Sea Tide. One of my friends mentioned it but I had no idea if it was true. It’s going to be a huge inconvenience for a lot of people to not have a post office on campus.</p>
<p>Question: D has a post office box. I want to send her some goodies but per the vendor they won’t deliver to a PO Box. But it’s still being sent via USPS. I went to look at the Paty info and it says on the UA site: “Packages sent via the United States Postal Service (USPS) must be sent to the student’s post office box in the Ferguson Center. The Postal Service does not deliver to the Paty Package Center.”</p>
<p>So am I out of luck for using this particular vendor (it’s Cheryl’s BTW; I’ve sent stuff before to her PO Box, but for this particular item, they won’t let me :(</p>