Passport process slowed because of understaffing, local business owner says

Carolyn Kempf, owner of Elite Travel Inc. travel agency in Cape Girardeau, could not figure out why, over the course of four to five days, the Cape Girardeau post office's phone line gave a busy signal every time she called. She thought the office may be busy, or a phone line was down.

After driving to the post office at 320 N. Frederick St. and speaking to a post office employee, Kempf learned the office is short-staffed, which is forcing employees to choose between serving customers who are at the office or answering the phone, she said.

The people who work at the Cape Girardeau post office are extremely hardworking, but also overworked, Kempf said. Unfortunately, it is affecting the services they offer. One of those services Kempf uses often is scheduling appointments to apply for a passport.

When customers come to Elite Travel to book a last-minute trip, Kempf said she and her employees hesitate to estimate the time it will take customers to receive their passports. A passport is not needed to book a trip with the travel agency, but it may cause inconvenience for customers, and Kempf recommends they drive to the post office to make an appointment to apply for a passport instead of attempting to do so by phone.

"It hurts my business if people are not able to do that," Kempf said of people wanting to receive their passports quickly.

The Cape Girardeau post office is switching its three phone lines to the Richard G. Wilson Processing and Distribution Facility in Cape Girardeau, 475 Kell Farm Drive, said U.S. Postal Service regional spokesman Richard Watkins.

Watkins said the post office is working with a local phone service provider to move the lines to the processing center where there is more staff who can to answer calls.

"We can't maintain that level of staffing to take calls," Watkins said.

Because the downtown Cape Girardeau post office is short-staffed, employees can't handle the people in line and answer phones at the same time -- they can only do so much, Kempf said. On the other hand, a business can't decline to answer its phones and can't decline to serve its clients, she said.

"It's just broken," Kempf said. "The system is broken. It doesn't work right."

Nationwide, the post office handles about 6 million passport applications a year, Watkins said. Appointments are required for people to apply for passports because the process takes time, and it is more convenient for customers to not have to wait in line longer than they expected, he said.

Kempf spoke with a supervisor and was given a number to call and to submit a complaint. She was told the problem should be fixed within seven to 10 days.

Watkins said most calls to local post offices are related to basic U.S. Postal Service information provided at usps.com or by calling 1-800-ASK-USPS.

Phone calls to the Cape Girardeau post office Friday afternoon were answered with a busy signal.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent addresses:

320 N. Frederick St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

475 Kell Farm Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

354 S. Silver Springs Road, Ste C, Cape Girardeau, Mo.