How should we complain to the PO?

[Mike]

We are having continuing problems with delivery of our mail, and I'm looking for advice on how to get action to resolve it.

First, be aware that we are not on a regular carrier's route. Each day, the carrier supervisor assigns our block to a carrier who is delivering nearby. As a result, few of the carriers have learned the idiosyncrasies of delivering here. They continue to deliver mail to the unoccupied houses, completely unaware that there are forwarding orders in effect.

The latest issue is that one of the carriers seems to have a real chip on his shoulder. Upon opening the door to the mail slot, he throws it on the ground, instead of holding it in one hand while he inserts the mail, then replacing the door. (It's the original mail slot, installed when the house was built in 1929, so it's not hinged; rather, it's a cover with a weight that goes into the slot to stay closed.)

When Brent asked the carrier not to be so careless with the door, the carrier retorted that the Postal Service rules do not require him to replace it. He then told us that if we should either get a PO box or have the HOA install one of those curbside posts with a bunch of mailboxes on it.

A neighbor had received five or six pieces of mail that were addressed to other neighbors, so she took them to that same carrier and asked him to re-deliver to the correct houses. He turned up the volume on his iPod and ignored her.

When I had a conversation with the Carrier Supervisor a few months ago, she made it clear she really doesn't care about resolving any issues we have with the carriers in our complex. Similarly, when our mail wasn't getting forwarded after we first moved here, I'd sent letters to the Postmaster General, the PO's Office of Consumer Affairs, and the Postmasters of the old address and the new address. The Postmaster General's office never responded, nor did the individual local Postmasters. The Office of Consumer Affairs sent a reply stating the matter had been referred to the local post offices.

So... how would you recommend we deal with this situation?

[Dan in Saint Louis]

We are having continuing problems with delivery of our mail ... how would you recommend we deal with this situation?
I could get no relief from such problems until the manager of our local station was replaced. The new manager told me that her biggest problem was finding carriers who could read (I am inside the city limits of Saint Louis, bordering a couple of poor neighborhoods on one side and one wealthy one on the other).

Then she was replaced also so I escalated my requests to the community relations officer downtown. I took him scans of misdelivered mail and copies of emails I exchanged with similarly afflicted neighbors. He has gotten it pretty well cleaned up.

There are still problems on days when we have a substitute carrier, but I have seen a carrier trainer follow along the route and observe what the sub is doing.

I would suggest that your best bet is to have more persistence than the carriers. Eventually the local station manager will realize that it is less trouble to assign different carriers than to listen to you!

[Judy G. Russell]

So... how would you recommend we deal with this situation?Unless you can get enough people together to force political action (can a local representative, mayor, congresscritter etc. help?), you're dealing with an uncaring unthinking bureaucratic monolith, and would be better off getting a box in a local paid service...

[sidney]

So... how would you recommend we deal with this situation?

Whatever you do, don't go postal on them.

[MollyM/CA]

<So... how would you recommend we deal with this situation?

1. Get the neighbors involved -- try to get them to call and complain. Ease the way with a printout of the phone numbers etc. you've used maybe.

We have more or less the same problems from time to time -- rural carriers can get away with a lot -- and there seems to be some flash point after enough of the neighbors call in and complain.

We got some action once when something important was delivered to a neighbor who didn't hand-deliver to us but stuck it back on the mailbox so it made the rounds before someone brought it to us. Something that involved money -- bill? Check? I forget. We made some noise, and so I imagine did some of the other neighbors who were tired of delivering their neighbors' mail all the time.

Putting stuff in writing helps, especially if you put a lot of ccs on the letter (whether or not you actually cc them -- but see below)

1. Write a letter to the paper --got a chicken dinner paper, a local one that's half newspaper, half infomercial? Ours publishes anything and in a dull week writes about stuff like this too.

2. Try to get the neighbors to write a letter to the paper.

3. Document misdelivered mail -- snap a picture. Just in case it might come in handy (is this legal? Should be if it's your mail-- )

You might also try finding out who the superior is and going over heads on the chance of finding someone responsive.

(You might also find that your mail is rubbed in the mud or peed on or worse before being put in your box if the carrier gets called on the carpet but not transferred ...)

good luck--