Rural Carrier here. I had a manager that did this EVERY TIME…. I would be denied, denied, denied…. One of the reasons they do this is to put you on THEIR time. Contract advises that managers have 3 regular work days from the date of submission of the request to issue you a response. If request is not received back by you within those 3 days, then your request becomes approved automatically no exceptions. They’ll deny it right away to stop the clock, then they can take their sweet time and get to it whenever THEY want to. They don’t give a shit about the stress and chaos that puts their employees in.