USPS

This location offers a great customer service experience. It’s close to Bethesda Row and has two self-​service machines in addition to the people who work there. I had a Christmas package to send to family and within three minutes, the self-​service machine helped me and I was on my way. Way to use technology to service your customers, USPS!

The mail lady at the claridgehouse apartments is soooo slow. A lot of times she’s in there just talking on the phone. She gets later and later. And slower and slower. She is Asian and short and had black hair. I don’t appreciate getting my mail at 6:30−7pm
That is just plain ridiculous!

Actually, the post office employees here are competent and friendly. The parking situation is AWFUL — no senior citizen could possibly hope to make it from the underground parking lot 2 blocks away to the actual PO. And the Passport guy Mike is a total jerk. Most of the time he does nothing while all the postal employees are working their behinds off. When I actually had a passport question for him he was arrogant and rude. I wish he could be canned but no doubt he’s a invincible.

No place to park !!! The older location that it has moved from had a parking for the post office .
If you have anything big to ship there is no place to park for free .
You may want to know that ahead of time !

They told me Westlake Post Office had walk-​in hours for passports on Thursdays when I called them for an appointment. I checked with Westlake and they do not.
I expect not to be lied to. Low bar. This post office did not pass that test.

Every time I come here, I feel like I’m being scammed. There’s three different kiosks with envelopes and packaging. Some are for this kind of mail, some are for that. Some are standard. Which is which? What is just plain, standard mail? I shouldn’t have to wait in line to ask that before filling out an envelope.
On to the counter… This is where they seem to have replaced postal employees with racketeers. The first mail option, or price quoted, is NEVER, the cheapest, standard mail, but it almost always feels like they’re trying to pass it off as such.
So on this trip, I’m trying to mail some paperwork, and because it weighs more than 13oz, it doesn’t qualify for standard mail. It can only be sent priority or some other super special ripoff level of shipping.
So I say, this envelope that that guy next to you told me was cheapest (price wise) seems a little bulky, if I switched it for a plain manilla envelope, maybe I’d qualify for regular shipping.
Without telling me the weight of my package, the lady reiterates that it’s a pretty light envelope, and the $ 5.70 cost is my cheapest option, trying to hurry me along and get me to pay — even though it’s not busy (one person waiting in line).
Under the $ 5.70, is a cost for «media mail» at $ 2 and some change. I say what about media mail? She says what’s in the envelope??? Seriously — like a trick question. I say papers. She says that doesn’t qualify. I say what qualifies? She says books and CD’s. I say, so if I said it was a book, it would cost $ 2? I mean seriously, it was like an Abbott and Costello routine…
So I say, well what’s the weight of my package? She says 13.5oz!!! So the whole conversation, while I’m getting a run around, I’m a half oz from a completely different categorization of mail! And yes, a different envelope would have made a difference.
I guess what bothers me is that this is more than one instance (happens in Rockville too). So this isn’t happenstance. These people are basically trained to take advantage of you. At the post office. How sad. Yay! Amerika.
Lessons? I guess I’ll stop trying to guess which envelopes and packages are cheapest/​apply to standard mail, and always buy my packaging elsewhere. Oh, and I’m pretty sure anything I bring in to ship will almost always be a book, or CD, or other such «media» item ;)

In a few trips to this location it was evident that the employees care about customer service and they try to move things along.
Yes, there is no parking and that kind of sucks. But it’s downtown Bethesda. I don’t remember USPS Offices in NYC having parking. All the whining in the paper about no parking is lost on me, especially considering that 80% of what people do at the post office is unnecessary.
There are lots of self ship machines – and the thing that drives me nuts is that almost all of YOU who are waiting in line could use these machines. Why folks insist on waiting instead of the simple automated process is beyond me.
And please just buy your stamps at the Safeway and stop waiting in line, delaying the guy who has to mail an international package.

301−941−2670
Only use this phone number if you want to schedule passport appointments. The number provided by the USPS is never answered. 301.941.2665.

This location moved from their historic location next to the Bethesda Metro. It seems that they may have sold the old building to move here. The old place used to have bums sleeping in the lobby at night which made the PO BOXes hard to get to sometimes and also scarier.
The new location is super clean and new with 24 hours access to the PO BOXes and the automated post office machine. The same people work from the old place transferred here so if you liked them (which I do) they are still here.
This is one of the passport locations which also offers photos, so its convenient. The major drawback is that parking lot is not adjacent to the building. However there are metered parking spots, if available, close by.

This post office is in a pretty good location, which also means that parking is a pain during rush hour. There is a small parking lot, but there are signs that state it’s for Verizon customers only. The street parking is limited. However, it is on Wisconsin Ave so if you’re nearby, it’s pretty convenient. I’ve only been on Saturdays… and the people who run this office on Saturday… well, they’re not unfriendly… they just don’t go out of their way to make sure you’re ok. In fact, when I’ve had questions about how to send out particular packages, the man (I always get him) just brushes me away and gets annoyed. He also is strange and is always asking me if I’m shipping things to China… I had a package for Hungary and he kept on trying to see if I meant Hungary in China. There is no hungary in China and no, please don’t just assume all my mail is going to China. While that part was annoying, it’s an okay place to send mail. It’s cheaper than the Fedex nearby and they’ll get your things out just fine. But if you’re looking for quality service, this maybe it’s the post office you want to go to, at least not on a Saturday.