Ordering books online is a task that’s all-too-familiar for some Saint Louis University students, and can be a vital part to scholastic success.

Drew Hillier, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, ordered a book online from a Chicago-based bookstore on Sept. 4; Hillier even paid the extra fee for express shipping. Unbeknownst to him, the package wouldn’t arrive for another month.

“According to [the bookstore], the book arrived in the mail on Sept. 8 in the morning,” Hillier said. “After two weeks, I still had not received an email from the mail room.”

It was then that Hillier made his inquiry with the Coordinator of the Busch Student Center, Cindy Bush. Bush has managed Student Mail Services since April 2005.

Bush said she personally searched every bin in the mail room after receiving Hillier’s inquiry and was unable to find the package.

“As soon as I get a complaint, I start asking questions,” Bush said. She states that tracking numbers supplied by mail carriers are the best way to find lost packages. “The more information we have from the beginning … [the] more [we have] to go on.”

Since she couldn’t locate Hillier’s package, Bush offered to replace his purchase and the book was reordered. There was no need to reimburse Hillier, since he located the package shortly after. It was in a place he would least expect.

“I got an email saying my package was in the [Student Government Association] office,” Hillier said.

After examining the mailing address more closely, Hillier realized that his last name was misspelled.

“The package was addressed to Drew Millier, but had my MSC number on it,” he said.

For that reason, the package was delivered to Andrew Miller, the internal vice president of SGA.

When asked how this could have happened, Bush explained that letters are processed by a student’s box number, while packages are sorted by last name. Though occasional problems do arise-about one or two a day according to Bush-the staff is “here to help and be responsive,” Chris Grabau, manager of the Busch Student Center, said.

“We really don’t have a lot of complaints in the scope of things,” Grabau said. The mailroom has 6,000 active mailboxes and has processed 11,377 packages since Aug. 16 [of 2009]. We process [everything from] letters to futons to tires to fridges.”

“I can honestly say that I’m only one person and the mailroom is not my only responsibility; but I give it a lot of time,” Bush said.

Though Hillier’s eventually received his package, he is still concerned with the issue of privacy. Hillier spent last semester abroad in France and while he was away, his mailbox was given access to a student.

“I appreciate the fact that [Bush’s] job is to facilitate our education, but we should be more concerned with our privacy,” Hillier said.

Though he has been reassured that measures are being taken to reassess mailroom policies, Hillier is not completely convinced.

“I’m questioning that the bureaucracy is not defending itself.”

Hillier is not alone. Other students have also had issues with the campus mail services, and are losing faith in the system. Senior Max Von Schlehenried faced problems when medical documents were sent to his campus address while he was out of town.

“They completely lost it,” Von Schlehenried said.

The mailroom reported that the package was returned to sender, but Von Schlehenried contacted every medical organization he was affiliated with and there was no record of any company receiving the documents.

Clayton Chmiel lost use of his computer during a summer class this past term because he did not receive a package.

“My power cord was in the [package],” Chmiel said. “Everything was labeled correctly and I’ve had other deliveries during the summer.” This led him to question why there was an issue.

Ye Yuan, an international student, has had issues with another student receiving his mail and is currently trying to locate some books he ordered online.

“I want them to pay more attention to names,” Yuan said.

Bush does not deny that there have been complaints from the student body and “once or twice a year there is a case that completely baffles [them],” but there have been improvements in the operation. Before Bush’s arrival, the mail room was in shambles due to improper management. The outside contractor that formerly ran the facility “didn’t handle the process the way it should have been,” Bush said and the operation was in desperate need of amendments.

Today the mail room uses various procedures to process both letters and packages, such as the email notifications sent out to students; however, this method comes with a lot of misconceptions.

“The day we get the package is when we send you an email,” Bush said. Nevertheless, this does not always correspond with the tracking programs used by outside sources.

Packages are initially sent to a central processing center ran by a St. Louis branch of the United States Postal Service. This primary delivery is what the tracking number refers to. Student Mail Services may not receive those packages for a few days, and until then, no notification will be sent out to students.

“The result is usually a misunderstanding of the process,” Bush said in response to the complaints of slow processing.

Bush does emphasize that a new system is being evaluated and she has hopes that early 2010 will usher in changes to the inner workings of the mailroom.

“It’ll be like having our own little post office,” Bush said, in reference to creating a more direct relationship with the USPS here on campus.

Every operation has its share of issues, concerns and hiccups, and the mailroom is not exempt from its fair share. However, Bush is confident in its services.

“We are going to be able to move on,” she said.