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Over the last
several years, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the
ethical implications of the deceptive practices of the USPS retail
operation, as exemplified by the "Sales Script" and enforced by the
"Mystery Shopper" program. These unscrupulous tactics, dictated by
somewhere far up the chain of command (perhaps from the PMG himself),
amount to nothing short of theft, in addition to treating our
customers with contempt as it relates to their time and individual
needs. This was brought into clear focus recently by a transaction
with a young lady I have met at church, but whom I have never seen
previously at the Post Office.
Like many college
students, she had completed her courses for the term and had sold (via
eBay or similar) one of her used textbooks. According to the Sales
Script, I was to offer her Express Mail (which, priced around $35, was
almost surely inappropriate for such a transaction), and if/when she
declined that, to offer her Priority Mail. In this instance, Priority
Mail for that heavy textbook would have been in the range of $15 -
$20, still far more than was warranted by the situation. Still
according to the Sales Script, only when she specifically asked if
there was anything less expensive was I allowed to tell her about
Parcel Post, priced around $9 or $10. I have been explicitly
instructed NEVER under any circumstances to offer Media Mail
unless the customer specifically requests it, even if it seemed
obvious that this was the best option for the customer’s needs.
If what you are
saying or doing may harm the customer, it is unethical. Also, remember
that we owe it to our customers to place their needs over ours. For
example, Bob is two months behind in his car payment. His boss told
him that if he doesn't sell something tonight, he is fired.
He goes out on
an appointment. The customer has a broken softener that could be
repaired for $75.00. If Bob sells that client a new softener instead
of telling them it can be repaired, that would be unethical, as it
puts Bob's need ahead of the client's. It is a lie of omission not to
disclose the situation to the customer. It does harm to the client. No
one will ever know what Bob did if he unethically sells that softener,
but doing right when it hurts and when no one will know is the mark of
character.
In this instance,
despite the knowledge that it was a direct violation of the official
Postal policies that had been given to me, I told the young lady about
Media Mail (priced around $4), which she gladly chose to use. I could
not have done otherwise. But ALL of our customers deserve this
same honesty, not just the ones we might happen to know personally. It
is also unethical to show favoritism by telling some customers about
better prices while withholding that information from others. Many of
our customers are quite limited in their understanding of postal
polices and pricing; they are dependent on us to inform them of their
options. This is especially true of the elderly, young adults, and
those for whom English is a second language. It is just plain wrong
for us to take advantage of their ignorance; and we owe it to
ourselves to resist this dishonesty.
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