Why isn't "Riverdale Park" an “acceptable name” to USPS?

As some of you have seen on TownTalk, the fact that you can't find a zip code for "Riverdale Park MD" in the USPS system irks the hell out of me. Our former Ward 1 rep had taken some steps to meet with USPS officials on the subject -- not sure what, if anything, is happening with that now. My email query to usps.com last spring got a wholly unsatisfactory response (quoted below) -- so I dug up the address for the head honcho of USPS complaints and fired off this letter yesterday, with cc:s to our Congressman and my Ward One rep. -- Dwight

UPDATE: I just noticed that the State of Maryland's "Who are your representatives?" lookup site has adopted the non-recognition of "Riverdale Park" from USPS -- fantastic! --Dwight 12/3/07

Monday, July 9, 2007

Vice President and Consumer Advocate (Headquarters)
United States Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Washington DC 20260-2200

Subj: Why is the name of our incorporated town not an “acceptable name” to USPS?

Dear Sir/Ms:

I am a proud, new resident of Riverdale Park, Maryland. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the U.S. Postal Service does not recognize the existence of our town, despite the fact that it is an officially incorporated town in the State of Maryland, and is fully recognized as such by the U.S. Census Bureau and other agencies of federal and state government.

This was brought to my attention when a friend was trying to look up our zip code and called me to say “I can’t find your zip code at usps.com.”

If in fact you enter our address at http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp, this is what you are told:

We're sorry! We were unable to process your request.
The address was not found. Please check the address below.
You may want to utilize the Yellow Pages and/or White Pages below.

Similarly, if you do a zip code lookup at http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.jsp and type in our zip code, 20737, you get this:

Actual City name in 20737
RIVERDALE, MD

And if you enter “Riverdale Park” here http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp, again, you get:

We're sorry! We were unable to process your request.
Please complete the field(s) indicated below.

Unfortunately, this causes other problems for us as well, since many online shopping sites apparently follow the USPS system. So, when we type in “Riverdale Park” as the city for either billing or delivery purposes, the entry is rejected. (Other shopping sites are programmed differently, and manage somehow to recognize the name of our town).
A number of our neighboring towns are listed as “acceptable names.” Specifically, I found these incorporated towns recognized as "acceptable":

University Park (20782)
Berwyn Heights (20740)
Colmar Manor (20722)
Cottage City (20722)
North Brentwood (20722)
Glenarden (20706)
Landover Hills (20784)
New Carrollton (20784)
Cheverly (20784 and 20785)

But not Riverdale Park. Why should we be discriminated against in this way?

Back on March 30th of this year I wrote to usps.com to inquire about this slight and inconvenience. Here’s my message, and the email response that I received, which I found to be unresponsive.

[Incident: 070330-000634]

Customer (DWIGHT HOLMES) - 03/30/2007 08:19 AM
We live in the town of Riverdale Park, MD. The zip code is 20737. I understand that the USPS has reasons to consider a wider area than just the town as "Riverdale" and associates the zip code 20737 with the "Riverdale" designation. That's fine. But I don't understand why it should be that when one puts "Riverdale Park" into the zip code finder on the USPS website, that it rejects the request!

Response (Kimberly E) - 04/02/2007 11:26 AM
Dear DWIGHT HOLMES,

Thank you for contacting us about the ZIP Code 20737.

I do apologize, but the ZIP Code 20737 only has one city associated with it. The ZIP Code 20737 is associated to Riverdale, MD only. According to our system Riverdale Park does not have a distinctive ZIP Code. This occurs with suburbs and surrounding communities. The ZIP Code is for the purpose of routing to the appropriate city for sorting and distribution.

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.

Regards,

Kimberly E

The information in the email is factually wrong, since “Riverdale” is not actually a town; “Riverdale Park” is the incorporated town. But more importantly, it misses the point that is crucial if you think of this from a customer service perspective: The question is not whether our town should have a “distinctive zip code,” but rather why can’t “Riverdale Park” at least be included as an “acceptable name,” so that when someone does a lookup their request will be successfully processed rather than rejected?

Is there any legitimate reason why “Riverdale Park” cannot be included in the usps.com zip code system? And, if not, can you please tell me when the change will be implemented? Thank you.


Sincerely,



Dwight Holmes
Riverdale Park MD 20737

Cc: The Honorable Steny H. Hoyer, United States House of Representatives
Alice Ewen Walker, Ward One Representative, Town of Riverdale Park