Mail Man Blues

[dixie_belle]

Last week we got our "second" notice that we had a package waiting at the post office. Second?? Really?? I think not. First of all, we're retired, one of us is almost ALWAYS home. Second of all, I went outside seconds after the mail man passed and the note was in the box. I could still see the mail man driving down our road. He didn't even attempt to deliver the package. Really?? So does the post office no longer deliver packages? They just put a notice in the mail box and you gotta drive to the post office to pick it up? When did the rules change?

Ok, so I call the post office and ask why it wasn't delivered and why we didn't get a "first" notice. Turns out the mail man said he put a notice in the box......a week ago. So it sat at the post office for a week? And he didn't try again? And I'm gonna tell you that there was no "first" notice.

Then shortly after that we get someone else's mail. So who got ours, I wonder??? ***scratching head***

So now we are going on vacation, right? Leaving on Sunday. I go to the post office and get a vacation hold form. Fill it out, put the start hold date of next week and promptly never receive any more mail. Does no one read those things???? I finally realize what happened, sigh, and call the post office and ask if they will deliver until the end of this week (like the form said). Why bother to have a start/stop date on the form if no one is going to read it? It remains to be seen if I will ever get mail again.

Now I know we live in rural Kentucky. The literacy rate here is quite low. Economically it is a very depressed part of the country. But come on folks. How hard is it to deliver the fricken mail?????

OK, I've had my rant this morning. I'm good for the rest of the day.

Oh, and by-the-way.......we leave on Sunday.....Hurray!!! I get to see my grandbaby and go to Alaska. How good is that?

And now, I must mow pretty much for the next three days so I don't come home to a forest in my front yard.

 

[little lady]

Amen! I am glad I am not the only one experiencing Postal problems(and not just at home but through my work also). They wonder why they are in the hole...if you can't deliver a product then people will find other alternatives. Just sad.

EDIT TO ADD: This is not directed at our carrier...she is fantastic!

 

[chandab]

We have awesome mail service, usually; our post mistress is the best, our delivery person is ok. We sometimes get someone else's mail (I just pop it back in the box), which does have me wondering about where some of our mail goes (our neighbors aren't all very helpful). We have a bigger rural mail box, so most packages will fit in our box; someone usually calls if we have a package to big for our box, so we can meet the driver or let them know to leave it at the box. But, we also live very rural; the local post office is in a town of only about 30 people (next closest town is about 40 miles away and about 2000 people, which is where we'll end up for mail if they close our little rural office, I hope they never do).

 

[dixie_belle]

We are very rural. Our post office isn't anywhere near to our house so when they put that little note (a week late) in our box instead of even trying to deliver it, it becomes a real pain in the tush to go pick it up. And our driveway comes right up to our front door (almost). For goodness sake, drive up the drive and honk. We'll come out. You don't even have to get out of your car. I know for a fact he didn't try to deliver it because when I called the post office after finding the note in our mailbox, it was there. And I had literally just missed him. There is no way on earth he could have gotten from my house back to the post office with the package. So he didn't even have it in his possession. He just put the note saying "sorry we missed you". I'd like to be able to say this was the first time this happened, but sadly I cannot say that or I'd be lying. And I don't want to complain too loudly because I'd hate to think more of my mail would "go missing".

 

[bevann]

Sorry you are having such a problem.It must be your carrier.We are out of town and have a rural carrier who is awesome.She brings our mail to the back door it there is lots and it won't fit in the box.Packages are ALWAYS brought to the door and she will even put it in the house if I can't carry it.I can always tell if she is not on that day,much less quality service.I show my appreciation at Christmas(she loves my homemade chocolate candy so she gets it several times during the holidays) and other times of the year.I leave her little gifts in the box.She takes really good care of us so I take care of her.You are right-if you complain too much it can get worse.Had that happen with a paper carrier to the point where I stopped service.Can't do that with the mail.Hope it gets better.Maybe a little bribery could help.Muffin, cookies etc in the box to see if any progress is made.

 

[dixie_belle]

Good idea. When we get back I'll make some muffins or banana bread or something. Last summer I kept the mailman...er....mailwoman in tomatoes all season but we have a new mail carrier now. A guy. Not nearly so good.

 

[MyMiniGal]

We lived in the city limits, right in the middle of town, and had this problem, several years back, and I called them to complain and I was told the mail person doesn't have to deliver or pick up, if they don't want to??? Isn't that what we all pay for, when we pay for postage? I had a bill I was trying to mail out, that sat there for a week...ended up having to take it to the P.O. and I was doing daycare at the time, and had several children that I had to drag out, due to that.

 

[chandab]

We lived in the city limits, right in the middle of town, and had this problem, several years back, and I called them to complain and I was told the mail person doesn't have to deliver or pick up, if they don't want to???

OMG! That's ridiculous. If you are going to be a mail carrier, isn't your job to deliver and pick-up mail?

 

[Tab]

Always groan inwardly when packages are sent via postal service.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I have to jump in here! I think the United States has the best postal department in the world. I use the mail alot, and ours is the fastest, most economical there is. Things won't always be perfect; people are human.

Our neighborhood got its nose out of joint on Saturday as there was no delivery. When a neighbor called, the postmaster said there were only two packages for our rural area and not worth sending a carrier out! I don't know what is going on internally with each post office; perhaps the carrier's salary is part of his personal budget? Perhaps there needs to be better communication between the post office and the postal patrons. (One of those packages was probably mine--I was waiting for the new bit to try on my driving horse!)

By the way, the postal carrier is not OBLIGED to pick up our outgoing mail. That is a courtesy that was performed and has become a tradition.

 

[Jean_B]

Usually excellent service here - but when I lived in rural OK - we rarely got our mail and always had multiple other people's mail in our box. REALLY....we have that many different names living in one house?? SERIOUSLY?? So because I sometimes get pictures via snail mail for my customers' web pages, I resorted to taking out a PO Box.

My only gripe about our local carrier now is that she isn't the brightest bulb in the box...we live on a single-lane red dirt road with only one other family about a mile further down from us, so the carrier has to go past our place twice. We are out there with the farrier and that dumb jacka@@ honks the horn as she drives past, which of course caused the horse to blow up, and all you-know-what broke loose. It wasn't pretty.