It was just a simple letter, mailed from Longview to an Ocean Park “addressee.” But the local postal service said it was incorrectly addressed and endorsed it with “returned to sender.”

Seems the sender had omitted one digit from the “addressee’s” post office box. So postal officials advised the “addressee,” one Jack Downer – prominent Ocean Park resident and former principal owner of Jack’s Country Store – that he was an “addressee, unknown.”

How could this be? Jack has lived here for 34 years and receives a daily average of seven to 10 pieces of mail – for years.

Everyone seems to know him. He wondered why the postal folks couldn’t just route the incorrectly addressed piece to his mailbox? Seemed like a simple problem to solve.

But wait – there’s more. Postal officials, like many other monopolistic, tax-supported “service” agencies who never really seem accountable for their behavior, gave Jack the usual run-around many of us experience with agencies who like to blame the customer.

Postal service employees probably have a 12-pound rulebook designed to (1) protect the “Postal Service” and (2) make it difficult to deliver the mail efficiently. My mail – once delivered during daylight hours – now mysteriously appears around 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. I need a flashlight to find it.

During two visits to the postal branch, Jack asked for a clear explanation of the re-routing of the letter – one that cost the “Postal Service” far more than the 74 cents paid by the addressor.

Why, he asked, would he be considered “unknown” in a community where almost everyone knew him? And why would the “Postal Service” (an oxymoron?) make it so difficult for Jack to receive his letter?

Like customer-driven businesses, aren’t government agencies also obligated to deliver on their promises? That’s what customer service is about. But like many of us, Jack got the run-around.

It happens all the time. Installation crews fail to show up when promised. Companies fail to return our calls. Requested repairs aren’t made. And, since it’s so very convenient for them, service providers blame the customer for their inefficiencies.

Like actor Strother Martin said in “Cool Hand Luke” – “What we have here is failure to communicate.” Only they’re not communicating with us.

If Domino’s Pizza hadn’t delivered on their 30-minute promise to deliver, would they still be in business? If Federal Express didn’t guarantee absolutely, positively next-day delivery, would they still prosper? If Disney didn’t deliver on their promise of family fun, would their parks still be open?

Business and nonprofit organizations exist to meet or exceed customer expectations. It’s that simple. And if they don’t, they should sink. Unfortun-ately, there are many Peninsula businesses and government agencies that seem to believe that their primary purpose is to protect their own jobs and make their customers or clients accountable for their mistakes. Wrong! Books about “marketing mistakes” are filled with examples of once-promising companies that promised, didn’t deliver, and died.

So what can we ordinary folks – wanting to believe that the government “serves” the people and that businesses really care about solving our problems – do about this situation?

First, we should complain – loudly. Don’t simply comply when businesses that “serve” us do us injustice. Make some noise. When we don’t “get what we pay for,” demand a remedy. The remedy should be an apology, an immediate, sincere effort to make things right, or some reasonable expectation on our part that they’ll do “the right thing.”

Second, don’t do business with them. Find an alternative, if possible. Or, if it’s the “Postal Service,” question their rulebook mentality.

Third, write letters (assuming they’ll be delivered properly) or e-mail messages, or try telephone calls (if you can navigate their ponderous menus). But do communicate.

Remind them that only the wearer knows how much the shoe pinches. Ask them if they’re serving themselves first or their customers. And ask them if putting form over function really pays off.

Rejecting the postal clerk’s response – “That’s how it is” – as a satisfactory answer, Jack Downer now recommends that the P.O. throw away all their rubber stamps.

By most measures, Jack Downer is a no-nonsense businessman who simply wanted a clear explanation of a postal glitch. Not a bruised-ego problem, it was just a request from someone who practices what he preaches – good customer service.

By the way, if you’re looking for Jack, don’t ask the Postal Service folks where he is. He’s invisible.

Observer correspondent Robert Brake, a marketing consultant, freelance writer and college teacher, can be reached at oobear@pacifier.com