SG
shivinder gill
Dec 23, 2025
My experience at Chowchilla Post office for a new Passport application for my 2 months old son. I live in Madera, CA and it takes me 20 mins or so to reach there. I went on 18th Dec 2025 to collect forms. And with all the documents, me, my wife and our little one reached there on 22nd, and the young lady told us that we need an appointment for new passport acceptance, which we realized our mistake, and set up an appointment for the next day for 11.45am.
Next day, as we were leaving the house, the infant started to cry, to take care of his needs, it took us some time, as we didn’t want him to be fussy at the post office appointment, so we were late 10 to 15 mins. We were feeling bad that we didn’t make it on time and apologized to the young person standing behind the counter. and were glad at the same time, as no one was there in the post office so we might get helped. We were surprised to hear the tone of the young tall person, saying that they don’t help with passport services between 12pm-1pm, which I understand, and again told him that due to infant issues we were only 10-15 mins late, but the manner of tone of the tall young man was so demeaning that we thought for a second what a big mistake we have done.
We were thinking, even if we were to be helped at 1145 am, it should have easily taken 30 to 40 mins with infant picture taking all, and which would have passed the 12pm deadline. And with nobody besides us in the post office, he just kept repeating they can’t help. As we were to drive back to Madera, I went back again just one more time to request them, as it’s not very easy travelling with infant and more importantly the store was not busy at all. The moment I entered I saw 4employees just chit chatting behind the counter area, and I asked one employee to see if they could help us, he also said the same thing and told me that I should have reached 30 mins early, which sounds great and I understand that. Thankfully, another older gentleman was there, must be a supervisor, I requested him too and asked him politely, that due to child issue we got 10 to 15 mins late, but he also said same thing, like the others were saying, looks like they must be really good at throwing policy book at clients or great team players, because, they knew my issue well before I talked them in detail, must have talked to each other, when I entered the store second time. Which is great, as team unity is important in a retail environment. Funny part is, when I was pleading with the supervisor, an older female customer came and overheard our conversation. Even she said, give him a break, as Christmas is around the corner, at that time, the supervisor said ok, wait for one hour then we will help you, especially if the other scheduled appointment doesn't show up. I realized they are in no mood to help me today, even when the store was empty most of the time. I left the store and scheduled an appointment for another day, unfortunately at the same place, as this is one nearest to me for passport services.
My issue is not that I wasn’t helped, or rule book was thrown at me, as I was polite at all times and left the store thinking, why everyone there was not in a mood to accommodate, starting with demeaning tone to making sure no one makes exception especially in regard to passport services even when they were not busy.
Being myself in a retail leadership role for the last 15 plus years, I felt there was something missing out there. To which I realize there is a leadership issue at this location, especially when I talked to supervisor, I could feel that he don’t want to do different what his staff have already said, or try to understand the situation, and take action on what is best for this store, which is providing a great customer experience. And now I also understand why that young gentleman spoke to us like this, why even the store was empty, they don’t want to help, because the culture in the store is like this.