My ex-mother-in-law used to have a mailman who did the same thing. It was clear though, watching him walk, that he was drunk while he was running his mail route.

I'm sure sorry for the loss of the seeds as well as the money. Perhaps you can insist on UPS or Fedex in the future and by pass the crotchety mail lady.

MeMo

That is a problem. What if that had been a cheque in the mail?

Ianna

I thought for sure this was going to be about the post(wo)man walking through your garden beds. My front door has a little porch/stoop in front of it and I once saw the delivery guy walk into the actual foundation bed next to the porch and reach up to put the mail into the box by the door instead of just walking up the 3 steps to the door. UGH!

sarahrock,there is no excuse for that. I would have told them right there.
Ianna, you are right, what if it is a bill, that ends up not paid because I didnt get it, or as you said a check. But I guess unless you have insurance on everything, there is nothing to be done. But I am going to bring in the mail that is not mine and belongs to others ,to the PO, and let them see.
Tammy

Had the same problem once. We had this new guy that almost everyday he would put other peoples mail in our box and I would put it back in the box or after awhile stand and wait till he came back around and say wrong house again and hand it to him. Finally I had to complain and I was the only one either. Sorry for your loss of the seeds and money that would be frustrating.

Tammy, I would write a letter to the supervisor and state that when you went to speak to someone, the postal person intervened in the conversation. If you explain that you don't want to get anyone in trouble, you just want the situation rectified for the future, they should be understanding. We've had problems here too, sometimes but our current postal gal is wonderful!
What zinnia seeds where they? Maybe I can fulfill your order from my stash?!

Thanks so much for your generous offer girlgroupgirl, but that wont be necessary. They arent something I wont live without. But I really do appreciate it.
Tammy

So sorry. I wish everyone could have my Karen. She's the cat's meow. I hope she never retires.
Renee

I know what you mean Renee. I think thats part of the problem. My old one spoiled us. never a piece of lost mail.
Tammy

That is so frustrating!! If you know where she lives, maybe you should be on the lookout for your Zinnias growing in HER yard.
Our guy is nosey... the first time I got a package that had been tampered with, I didn't think much about it, thinking maybe it had just been damaged in shipping. Once, I ordered a book from Amazon that arrived with the tape on the box cut open just enough to get the book out, and the book was out of it's packaging. Weird.
Maybe it's time to check into getting a P.O. Box.

Last year sent DGD a pkg priority mail.She should have received it within 2 days.She lives 6 hours from me.When she didn't get the pkg by the 4th day we both started checking for it.At her po they first told her it never came in,even though it showed on line what time her po rec'd it.Then when they checked further,her mail lady says "oh i think i delivered it to the wrong address,and i don't know how i did that as you(my GD) gets more pkgs than anyone else on my route".She went to the persons apt where she knew she had delivered it,and they claimed she didn't deliver it to them.When she told them she knew they did,they wouldn't return it to her.

I had sent GD some clothes for the kids,some personal items for her and i had put 40.00 into and envelope for her.The PO threatened the other folks with with holding their mail,pressing charges against them etc,they wouldn't budge.So the PO finall gave my GD a reimbursement for the pkg,not what it was actually worth as they said i shouldn't have sent cash in the mail.(my bad)

Since then anytime i send pkgs i pay the extra and get signature confirmation.

Hope your seeds show up!!
Kathi

Come to think of it blueberryhills, we have also had envelopes etc opened or partially opened. I didnt think of it at first, then when we started getting everyone else's mail, I wondered if she had delivered it to the wrong address at first, now I am wondering if she has been peeking.

Kathi, I wonder why they didnt persue filing charges ,not enough proof?I think your right about larger packages. It just seems like such a waster for seeds costing a couple of dollars.But then again after shipping....I cant decide
Tammy

I've lived rural for many years, and been very fortunate - fingers crossed!! I did have problems with P------- one time. We did the travel for a business in the Maritimes, and often sent airline tickets to them. This was in the day before etickets, when airline tickets were like cash. We always required signatures, as these were not cheap tickets. One particular delivery went awry, and we could not track where it went. We sent new tickets to replace them, at our own cost (remember, cash-like), but they arrived too late, and the client bought their own tickets at the airport. They returned the 2nd set of tickets, but the 1st never turned up. Finally, cause I just can't let things like this go, I ended up talking to some at P up the food-chain, and he said, Oh, I bet that's the truck that caught fire!! Caught fire??!!!!! We got our money back, but we still lost the client. We changed companys after that.
Tammy, I'd be checking what kind of flowers are growing in the neighbours yard, and the PO ladys too!!

Nancy.

nancy, that is a good idea. My son did notice someone snopping in the mailbox this morning, and let him know he was there. The guy then said he was with the PO and there had been complaints so he was following up. No one els's box was checked however. We live at the top of a small hill, and its about a 250 ft walk downhill to box, but it can be seen from the house. So maybe they are looking it to it.
Tammy

This is one reason I don't mail order my prescriptions, too.
p I get other people's mail, so y9ou know it is hapening everywhere. One time I had a large box of genealogical info coming to me. It was worth thousands of dollars, done for free for me by a lady in Washington state, but I never got the package. To me it was priceless. The mail carrier said she didn't think it ever came - then she said that if it had been delivered to the wrong addie, she was sure that people would put it back out for her to pick up. No, they don't. My DH USED to be one of those that threw other people's mail in the trash. I would dig it out and put it out in the box and raise the flag so she knew these were no ours. Well, I finally got that lazy a** notion out of his head and he no longer does that, but how many others do that?
At any rate, the woman in Washington was ticked at me...me? She would not send it to me again, even if I paid her for all costs.

I think my story tops them all. I take quite a few gardening magazines. Suddenly I noticed I wasn't getting any. I knew the subscriptions weren't run out so I called the mags. They all said the PO had notified them I had moved with no forwarding address. That stinker of a mailman did it. He was mad when he lost his job.

My mean old postlady told me not to plant vines on my mailbox cause bees would nest in the vines and she was afraid she'd get stung. Jiminy, she's so bossy! Cheryl

I just hate that the USPS doesn't have any competition regarding mail. They are the only option for snail mail, and they have raised screwing up to an art. I could tell you some stories, and it just drives me crazy. Ridiculous. I would recommend putting your complaints in writing. I heard from one USPS employee that having it in writing is considered serious on the employee's record.

So discouraging. Regarding her peeking, I was having problems at one particular address (was only there for 6 months) with Netflix movies taking forever to be returned. Somebody else on our route was having the same problem. I moved within the same town, problem disappeared. Same PO, different mailman. I think my mailman may have been watching movies and then taping the envelope back.

You would think if they were caught it would be a felony for tampering with the mail. Sure takes some nerve. I didnt realize things were so bad all over.WOW
Tammy

Tammy, As the wife of a mailman of 25 years of service( and still delivering at age 63) I am so sorry you have had to put up with a dud. My DH and the other carries who entered service 20 or more years ago for the most part are very hard working and call the customers on their routes "my people" and do all they can to take good care of them. The problem is management. They haven't a clue as to how to manage the work force in a fair and effective manner. There is a mountain of possible ways management can write you up and 3 strikes and you can be out. She may be a suck up, a relative of upper management or has a whimp for a manager. Let's just hope she gets moved on, and off your route.