As one who lives in a nation with privatized postal services for the pat 30+ years... it's a trade off.
I've seen tremendous improvements in convenience. Now we have a post office in just about every corner drug store, ...but then again banking has evolved over the years as well. No more "bankers hours"
Used to be you could only go to one neighbourhood post office, and they were only open between 10am - 4pm.
Now, we have a post office on every other block, usually open within the hours of operation of its host location (most often between 7am - 9pm when located within a drug store or convenience store).
It's far more convenient than it used to be to retrieve parcels. People could simply pop in after work if parcels don't fit into compartment slots of super mailboxes. Not thrilled with the contract couriers they use to deliver oversized parcels that wont fit into a super mailbox though. Those SOBs never want to do their jobs. They often assume that since its during the day, no one will be home. They will often not even bother ringing the bell to deliver your pkg. Half the time, they'll be stepping out of their vehicle, and walking up your walkway simply to hang the door knocker ALREADY filled out, prior to even ringing your doorbell. The other half the time, they'll just leave the parcel at the neighbourhood post office, resulting in a regular letter carrier having to leave a notice in your mailbox to go retrieve your parcel at the post office.
They don't do that with me anymore, because I've caught them too many times approaching my door with a pre-filled door knocker, ...and by now, the local couriers know there's always someone here during the day.
