US Postal Service

Consumers have a lot of problems with USPS, as the complaints in this section attest.  What's perhaps most unfortunate about this is the hostility displayed by too many postal employees who could care less whether their efforts to serve taxpayers are successful.

USPS • Damaged Mail • Lost Mail • No Mail Delivery • Stolen Mail • Wrong Mail --- • Address Disputes • Change of Address • Dangerous Drivers • Hostility • Prescriptions Mishandled • Privacy Violations • Restricted Substances --- • Priority Mail • Express Mail • Military Mail --- News • Postal Service May Seek Service Cut • Movie Fans Suspect Foul Play at the Post Office

By the way, many consumers routinely leave their outgoing mail in the lobbies of apartment buildings. Not a good idea, as Christopher of Seattle now knows.

Then there's the question of whether the Postal Service is meeting the letter and spirit of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Oh, and some of those postal workers don't drive too well either.

A few of the more recent complaints ...

Peggy of Ardmore, PA September 25, 2009

I posted 13 large envelopes on 9/23/9 and put them into a mailbox after 2PM which is the pick up time. They were returned to me because the date they were picked up was 9/24/9. They expected me to re post them all at a cost of 10.14. I spoke to Tom who was in charge at the time at the post office and he said he will come and get the mail and I will not have to pay again. Warning to all out there! The USPS are trying to rip us off!

Kimberly of Lowell, MA September 24, 2009

I have been dealing with this situation for several months now nad I have had it. My postman has been crossing out my address on ALL my mail and writing in different addresses. Two weeks ago, he physically opened one of my letters to changes the address. A letter was mailed to me from Virginia Beach, VA on 9/16/09 and I did not recieve it until 9/23/09, I know it does not take that long to reach me from there. Today, I spoke to my food stamp worker and she stated she sent me a recertification on 8/26/09 that I also never received and it is now 9/23/09. I have called multiple post offices regarding this issue, with no resolution. I just spoke to a Supervisor named Wayne that works at the Father Morrissette Blvd. post office in Lowell, MA who hung up the phone on me and would not even give me his name. If something is not done about this by 9/27/09 I will be contacting a Lawyer, filing a lawsuit against the USPS and also seek to bring federal charges against the Post man who opened my mail, whisch is mail fraud.

A of El Paso, TX September 24, 2009

We moved from Tennessee to Texas 3 weeks ago. 2 1/2 weeks prior to our moving we turned in a "Change of Address" form. To be effective as of 9/9/09. On that date we were recieving mail at our old address. I called the Post Office in our area and after 30 minutes the postal employee finally found our change of address form. She said she would instruct the post lady that delivers our mail to NOT deliver it at our old address anymore.

After we arrived in Texas we were still not getting any mail with the exception of the Postal confirmation of our change of address, and this was 1 week ago.As of this date 9/23/09 we have not received ANY of our mail!! We called the Tennessee Post Office where we lived and we were told that we should be getting our mail in a couple of days.That was last week. My husband called again and they told him the same thing. Here it is now the 24th of Sept and NO MAIL. How is it that the Postal Service can not do their job with all the computerized technology????? Is it hard to teach the employees how to use it? I have no other explaination for this delay. I will be calling the Texas Post Office and hear their answer later on today. I predict the answer will be a non committal one. The postal service needs to hire more employees to take responsibility of this department since it is apparent that the ones now can't handle it.

Angela of Los Angeles, CA September 24, 2009

An atmosphere of evil. I thought any second this woman is going to pull out a weapon and shoot someone. She was terrorizing every customer she had.She berated a young asian man for not telling her about his account.She complained loudly and bitterly about having to avoid the transaction. Then she turned scarily sweet when she said, "Thank-you - Have a nice day..." The next guy had to write a few lines on a mailing label."Y ou can't do that at the counter, it's not LEGAL !" She ordered him to another area until he was done.He said I am done.She said next customer, and at that point I would not go to her.I gestured that I would go to the other man at another window.The young man was done and he put the small package in front of her. She accused him of throwing the package.She was extremely agitated and wouldn't stop telling him how rude he was. Then the scary sweet side came out: Thank - you, have a nice day. I would not go near her window the man behind me was trying to explain to his son that innapropriate behavior was going on and that was how NOT to conduct yourself. She then started to call out to me in line and berate me for not coming to her window."For SOME reason she won't step forward!" she said sarcasticaly.The other people in line were terrified. The man who served me wasn't that much different in his utter, unbridled contempt for the customers.When I stepped up to his window he said JUST A MINUTE! Then ordered me the the side to fill out a form and spent the rest of the transaction looking distantly out the window.

shenan of pasadena, TX September 21, 2009

i have a real problem with the pasadena post office on pasadena blvd. on wed.the 16, my neighbor knocked on my door and said the postman sprayed my dog 4 times for no reason. her and her husband were appalled that the mail man sprayed so many times. she said the dog never growled, barked, or came at him. the dog is an old jack russel. he was sleeping on the front porch when the new mail man approached, our usual mail man would bring him a snack. i understand he is supposed to be on a leash, he's an inside dog, but enjoys being outside with the family.

well, the post office is treating this as a dog incident, and they refuse to allow me to retrieve my mail. they will not deliver it, nor will they allow me to pick it up. both the head post master, nor the supervisor has told me no. they have not followed their own procedures by sending out animal control, and we're afraid they will take the dog. it's been four days. the other strange thing is, the incident happened on the 16, we didn't get our mail, the 17, we did but it was delivered by a different post man. on the 18, and 19, the postman came back so we didn't get the mail. on the 19, i went to the post office to speak with the supervisor, and again, she said i could not have my mail.

Linda of Chicago, IL September 17, 2009

I work for the University of Chicago Medical Center Development. CVS Caremark is my prescription service provider in accordance to my benefits plan. On September 5, 2009, I contacted CVS Caremark to request a mailorder prescription refill. I have Gastroesophegal Reflux Disease (GERD)and it is important that I have this medication. The authorized refill prescription order was faxed to CVS Caremark by my doctor's office, on August 26, 2009.

The order request was dispensed from Caremark's local dispensing facility in Mt. Prospect on August 28, 2009 to the Chicago Grand Crossing postal station on August 31, 2009. The electronic shipping information showed it was received and scanned in system on 09/02/09 at 7:22am. The tracking number is 0201 0196 7690 8770 3666. The shipment arrived 09/03/09 at 7:54am and delivered to customer 09/03/09 at 9:43am, but I never received the shipment me nor did I receive a slip notifying me there was a package for me for pickup. If there was a slip notice, I believe the standard effort of delivery is 3x's.

I inquired with the other tenants in the building and no one saw a small package on the floor. The mailcarrier tosses the mail through a mail slot and mail is frequently just scattered all over the floor. Often times, mail of unkown individuals located at different addresses is thrown in our with out mail. Is any quality checking going on at this Grand Crossing facility?

This is the third mishap I've experienced with a prescription shipment coming through the Grand Crossing post office. I have worked at a post office in the past, and a conscientious worker would be sure the mail is sorted correctly before mail is delivered on the mail routes. I initiated a call to the Grand Crossing post office on 09/05/09 at 8:30am and spoke with Ms. Frier who identified my mail carrier as #11. He works in the morning. She was going to check for the shipment across the street, but I never heard back from her. I called back on 09/07/09 and spoke with (Corey)? Thomas.

I was advised carrier #11 was not in at that time, and he promised me that he would walk across the street to check for package and call me back. Thomas did call me back and advised me there was no package for me and I should contact the carrier and provided me the best time to reach him. 09/14/09 at 9:30am, I contacted the Grand Crossing station again, a young lady answered the phone, placed me on hold. I held on for over 7 mins and no one ever returned to the phone(what a waste of time). This happened twice.

The customer service I've experienced from this facility is less than professional (with the exeption of Thomas who called me back, and Ms. Frier was pleasant in her voice, but she forgot all about me the customer on the phone). I called again on 9/16/09 at 8:20am for carrier #11 and finally spoke with him. He stated he was not on route on 9/3/09 there was a replacement. I provided him my direct work number, and he said he would check something out and get back to me. I did not receive a callback.

On 9/17/09 at approx. 8:15am in the neighbor Chatham Food grocery store on the corner, 4 doors from my building, I saw a postal worker who I recognized to be my mailman and asked him if he was carrier #11. He answered, "Yes." I identifed myself as Ms. Orr. He had a look of surprise especially since he did not bother to call me back. He said he had my work number and would call and provide information for me to file a formal complaint. I goggled the USPS complaint information and got this location.

As of the writing, 9/17/09 at 11:41am, I still have not received a callback from carrier #11. I've been Chatham since 1963 and have been doin business with that postal facility since it is close in proximity for a very long time. I recommend someone keep a close eye on the staff at that location because no one wants to be accountable for anything. Consumers get less that good customer service there, I hear it all the time, but it's in the area and all residents have if they don't have a car to go to another facility that is more cusomer oriented.

People may be rude and in a customer service position you may not always want to be bothered, but you are never to let it show. My mailman (Carrier #11) questioned the honesty of my neighbors in the building, which I told him that was a family building and there should not be any need, ever for anyone to steal anything, let alone mail, but someone is tampering with it somewhere. It is such an inconvenience to have to wait such a long time without my medication. It's very frustrating.

Can someone please help me with the complaint. I feel it would be advantageous for the facility to provide re-orientation to staff of how to provide good customer service because it definitely lacks seriousness. Someone to disguise themselves and go to the facility to see for themselves that there are issues at that post office location.

amber of white hall, AR September 17, 2009

I tracked and confirmed a certified mail letter, returned receipt that I purchased on Sept. 11, 2009, at White Hall, Arkansas. Online showed where it was accepted in White Hall. Today is the 17th of Sept. 2009. Still no confirmation. Ask for e-mail report on all action. No report yet. My local office know what was going on. They were very surprised at what I reported. This is the outragious thing that has happen.

Called the person that was suppose to get the letter. They informed me that the letter had been left in the mailbox and no one had signed for it. This person could have easily lied about not receiving it. Thank God she is a honest person. This was my house note. 550 cashier check. Most people think that a cashier check can't be cashed by someone else but that a lie. It happens every day.

Now I have no valid proof that this letter was delivered. Would like someone to get back to me on this. I need what I paid for in my hand. If the postal carrier could not get anyone he or she should left the slip. That was not done. I checked also. Why didnt Houston scan this letter once the receive it. This is very sorry sloppy work. It make the whole postal service look bad.

Waco of Cleveland, OH September 17, 2009

Waco has been sending it's payroll out every Wednesday via USPS Express Mail for over a year. We had put it in the blue drop box only to have unreliable pick up times and were instructed by USPS customer service that we should physically drop off the bin of items directly inside the post office before 4:00 to ensure prompt service. We have been doing that and up until a recent shipment, have not had issues.

Recently, I dropped it off at the State Road, Parma (44134) post office on our normal Wednesday - it was even earlier than usual (3:10). The issue is that it did not get processed until the NEXT DAY. The supervisor at the branch left me a voicemail almost a week after my initial inquiry stating that they don't show it being dropped off until 11:00 am on THURSDAY. I have left multiple messages for Vince to call me back to discuss and have had no response.

Our history clearly shows that we send this every Wednesday (it's payroll). I am concerned #1 that short of scanning them and loading them onto the plane myself, I have no recourse if my items aren't shipped. #2, there doesn't appear to be any customer service aspect of Express Mail. I emailed customer service and was told they are only a technical aspect of service and have no dealings with the actual branches. If I wanted to further the issue, I'd have to file this complaint.

150 on express mail that did not have the services fulfilled. Employees that had to wait for their paychecks. We now have to stand in line, wait for them to scan each item and get a receipt so that we have proof that we were there. Yesterday, that took an additional 25 minutes when we should be able to drop them in the Blue Pick Up containers to get the service we requested/paid for...and we do this EVERY WEEK.

Paul of Mendon, UT September 16, 2009

I continue to receive other people's mail, yet the P.O. Box is clearly addressed on the mail. This has been going on since our Post Master has been there. He likes to blame his other workers, yet I don't think they do ALL of his work. Surely he sorts some of the mail.

Donna of Ruth, CA September 16, 2009

After making the complaint, the Post Office contacted me and then TOLD them my name. Subsequently (just 20 minutes ago) while leaving the store after a purchase, I was acosted in the parking lot by Jason (the owner's son) and told once again that I could not come on the parking lot (walking or parking) to access the post office or my mail and that I could no longer use the store, bar (which I don't anyway) or gas station or restaurant.

THAT is what I get for complaining about being told I could not come in to get my mail. The nearest store, bar, restaurant and gas is 20 miles away. I don't have a car and neither do many of the people here in the trailer park across the street who get treated the same way. I WOULD LIKE a lawyer to contact me.

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