Ours is pretty good, sorry for those having trouble. If having trouble with mail, wny not get a PO box? With Amazon, why not have your things routed to a locker? Both less convenient but presumably more certain.

" The immigrants are supposed to be filling the holes I thought "

We rely on people like you to be sure such people aren't hired.

arcy -- There are factions in the US that don't want immigrants to fill the many job openings here. Immigrants can't legally work without work permits, which are not forthcoming, thanks to these dogs-in-the-manger.

Our service has deteriorated ever since De Joy was appointed under the prior federal administration.

We've started waiting until morning to look for the prior day's mail. (Mailbox at the end of our driveway.) One new positive: electric trucks.

I would ADORE for anyone from anywhere to be hired for the post office to fast food to whatever. Who cares where they wer born as long as they fill a job. There is not ONE place in town that is not hiring, because there is no one to work.

Bring them all here. What is the quote on the statue of liberty, have we forotten it? All my ancestors are from somewher else.

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! "

I’m pretty happy with my current crop of postal carriers. They even bring large packages up to the door which is really appreciated.

I don't know what time my mail is delivered. I have a locking mail box and don't receive much more than junk mail. I check it once a week. I have informed delivery and if by chance there's something I need to know about, I'm alerted to it. I don't receive bills in the mail and pay everything online. Been doing this for years with zero issues.

Same for me. I probably don't get an important piece of mail a month, other than deliveries of stuff I've bought where the seller uses the USPS for the "last mile".

It unnerves my wife (who hasn't been able to leave old ways behind) when I ask her to simply put the few bills that come by mail into the paid bill file. "How do you know.....?". Oh, I know. Whether auto pay or the few payments I need to act on online, like Sephia, I get emails.

We have good postmen here! I have never heard that postmen had a reputation for being lazy.

I probably don't get an important piece of mail a month,

I agree, I also don't get very much important mail in my mailbox. However, Amazon will not let me specify that no packages are to be delivered USPS. Amazon itself though has cut way down on the USPS package deliveries in my area. I suspect that it might be the case that they monitor local areas for lost/mislaid deliveries and adjust carriers accordingly to decrease ordered items that need to be refunded because they did not arrive, and lessen customer aggravation.

Terrible here in NY. I joke informed delivery is nice, in that it shows me what I may never see. We have gone days with no delivery, and then when they do deign to deliver chances are high I will get someone else's mail instead of my own.

Due to the heinous service, I was inspired to switch over to email for everything possible. Routine bills are autopay. USPS can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned.

NY suburb. We are unfortunate to have a horrible carrier. She is so awful that the town shopkeepers protested.

I blame her specifically, not the service in general.

She is on her self phone and doesn't pay attention. We not only get neighbors mail, but mail from across town!

Thanks for the replies (thus far)......and to answer a few questions :

- We do have informed delivery and like it, we get everything listed each day (at night) except about once every 2 weeks we do get a piece of mail one day later which isn't a problem.

- Our 9-10pm deliveries aren't due to the regular carrier being on vacation nor being out sick. This late timing has been going on for 6 months and ranges from 7pm-10pm with a rare 5 pm delivery once a month.

- The reports of no mail for a week or two are from the next county over from us.

We do get our mail ok just very late, the main problem is that our neighborhood has all of the mailboxes on the street and if the mail isn't retrieved after dark (esp by the elderly) then it's vulnerable to theft overnight.

I gather yall cant read. The postal worker does not get to make decisions about when to deliver your mail. That is ENGLISH. I am done with this.

I don’t know what that’s 👆 all about.

We have great USPS service here in small town USA. No issues.

We have no issues, maybe get someone else's mail once a year. We are last on the route, and accept the fact that our mail comes late in the day. The subs chart a different route than our regular postman, and deliver to use earlier in the day. The regular guy uses the vehicle, and stops at each house and walks up the driveway. The (younger) subs generally park and walk a portion of the route, then move the vehicle to another place and go from there.

For a significant while it was terrible - misdelivered, never delivered, claimed to be delivered but not or not until 3-4 days later, mail found dropped in yards or on the street...we heard that our neighborhood was a "training route" but it seemed that the "training" part was AWOL!

However, for the past 3/4 of a year it has been much, much better - although the carriers do seem to change frequently. Lately my mail has been arriving between 8-8:30 pm, coinciding with a new carrier. We still get the occasional "delivered" notice when it hasn't been, but generally the package actually does get delivered within 2 days.

Below is a news link to our local mail delivery problem :

https://www.nbc12.com/2023/12/03/postal-town-hall-cancelled-after-usps-declines-participate/

Crazy routing? Amazon pkg. Ordered 11/27. Per USPS tracking:

11/28 Kyle TX

11/29 New Albany OH

11/30 Dallas TX

12/1 Phoenix AZ

12/3 Kyle TX

12/3 local PO (140 miles from Kyle) but expected delivery 12/6

12/4 6:28a delivered at my door, for all the morning road traffic to see. Must be a special carrier person, the regular route runs between 10a and 12p.

I just realized that we haven’t gotten our neighbors’ mail in several years. Our street numbers differ by one digit in the middle, and whether by machine or hand, the digits are similar enough that it is easy to mix them up. For whatever reason, things seem to have straightened out.

I live in a really old neighborhood. Small, but old. We have our own little post office and we all love our post mistress. If anything goes wrong, you just call her. She fixes it herself. The only issue we have is they close everyday for lunch. It's that small.

why not get a PO box

i don't think i should have to pay the cost of a PO box because this guy can't do his job.

something else that he does EVERY time he has a package that won't fit in the box and brings it to the house and i have told him repeatedly this isn't a good idea and to please JUST STOP...he BARKS at my dogs which gets them very riled up. he will literally stand at the gate and BARK in their faces. if my dogs didn't have good temperaments, this sort of thing could turn them very mean. they're already protective of their home turf, which they should be, but to stand there and tease them like he does is just plain STUPID. honestly, i don't know what part of "don't do that" he doesn't understand!! 😡

Nina,

https://www.usa.gov/postal-service-complaints

thanks, rob. i've been holding back filing a more formal complaint. i don't want to see this guy lose his job but by the same token, if he'd just be more careful when he sorts/delivers the mail and pay attention to my concerns about the dogs, i'd be happy. i know this time of year, mistakes happen, but this has been an ongoing fiasco with him. i'll give it till after the holidays and if things don't improve, i'll have to go that ^ route.

I again received two mail pieces today for the people with my house number but a street on the other side of town.

" i don't think i should have to pay the cost of a PO box because this guy can't do his job. "

What's your objective?

Sometimes the easiest solution to a problem is an approach that differs from a way you may prefer. If your objective Is to get the mail more timely and avoid incidents with your pets, getting a PO box will do that starting tomorrow.

@Elmer J Fudd i live 5+ miles from town. there may be 2, 3 or more days when i don't even leave the farm. a PO box would simply be too inconvenient for me and again, i'm not inclined to pay for something i should not need.

Ours used to be excellent. The last few months several check payments we mailed were never received. We talked to other business owners and residents and there seem to be a pattern. Despite an avalanche of complaints to the local post office, this went on for months. Finally the state and local authorities got the FBI involved. Long story short, someone in the post office was stealing the checks and selling them to a check washing operation. I suspected this was the case from the beginning so I put a watch on our accounts at the local bank.

Ours is fine with an occasional glitch since our neighborhood‘s streets all start with ”Oak Tree“ and end with Drive, Terrace, Circle, Court, Lane, Place, etc. Mail delivery time varies each day which isn’t a big deal for us. We also have informed delivery that’s been helpful.

Ours is pretty good once again. The post office here (rural area, small PO but very nice people inside) is using contract mail delivery carriers for the most part. We had a period of about 3 months when the former carriers retired and it took a while for thr USPS to find another contract carrier. The inside employees often had to work after their normal hours and go deliver mail. Sometimes we only got mail every other day. Like any other government entity I’m sure they had to go thru the usual contractual process. Now that we have new carriers, it is mostly back to normal.

The main issue is that they have one mail truck (a jeep) that delivers packages and another that delivers mail. Since Big A now packages in soft, flimsy envelopes for the most part, we often have several items stuffed into the mailbox instead of delivered to our door. Then some days the mail carrier has no room to put the mail, so we get no mail that day.

I had a friend who lived in the Hollywood Hills in a residential neighborhood between Bronson Canyon and Griffith Park, where the streets were all some kind of Oak. Spreading Oak, Green Oak, Holly Oak, Spring Oak, Canyon Oak, Wild Oak, Hill Oak, Verde Oak.

There's a stretch of the 56 freeway in North San Diego where consecutive offramps are for Carmel Creek Road, then comes Carmel Country Road, then Carmel Valley Rd. There are more Carmel this or thats when you get off at one of these offramps.

Insanity.

Nina,

One of the links in there is where you can find his boss. Give them a call. Somewhere in between the whole ball of wax and nothing?

Okay, I have changed my mind about my local delivery. My totally crazy across the street neighbor showed up at my door with a piece of my mail that was delived to her house —- in the middle of November! She opened it and it was a check for over $700. She dumps her mail by her front door and hardly ever looks at it. Heaven knows what else of mine she has. She is a complete screwball.

Now I signed up for Informed Delivery which I didnt know existed until I read about it here.

I also got my other neighbor’s package today.

Good grief.

" there may be 2, 3 or more days when i don't even leave the farm "

So you get important mail pieces you need on a same day basis and 4 possibilities to visit to a PO box each week isn't sufficient? I think you're interested in more than a solution.

I may have missed this, but did you already try telling/asking him nicely how you'd prefer he deliver your mail?

Mail carriers here do not go through people's mail when they deliver it, it's usually bundled & sorted by address, so I'm guessing those mistakes might be happening at the sorting level.

We sometimes get something for someone else in the neighborhood with a similar address. When that happens, if it's not junk mail, I put a sticky note on it that says 'wrong address' and put it back in my mailbox with the flag up.

One of the links in there is where you can find his boss. Give them a call. Somewhere in between the whole ball of wax and nothing?

if "boss" means the postmaster, yes. he went so far as to come out here and look at our set up which is 5 mailboxes, each with 4" numbers on the doors and both sides of each box indicating different addresses, and said there is no reason why he should get it screwed up so many times.

Mail carriers here do not go through people's mail when they deliver it, it's usually bundled & sorted by address, so I'm guessing those mistakes might be happening at the sorting level.

this is a very small, rural town. each carrier does his own sorting.

I think you're interested in more than a solution.

do tell, exactly what am i interested in other than getting MY mail that is addressed to ME instead of having it in the wrong box or even a box 5 miles down the road? 🙄

eta: I may have missed this, but did you already try telling/asking him nicely how you'd prefer he deliver your mail?

too many times to count.

" i have complained to the post master numerous times "

" do tell, exactly what am i interested in "

I don't know. You've tried several related things, repeatedly, and you haven't gotten the end result you want. There's a phrase about "why would you expect a different outcome from what happens consistently when repeating the same thing?" Try something else.

I'm trying to be helpful, not critical. Sometimes it's easier for others to see what one doesn't see of oneself.

I'm glad you tried the thing I suggested. I'm really sorry it didn't work.

Have had a PO Box for many years…had a mailbox but it blew open and mail flew everywhere..we have a lot of wind here…tightened the box then they complained it was too hard to open….so we went for the PO Box instead. It’s not too far away and everything is secure.

Update : The mailman set a new late record last night > arrived here at 10:30pm.

Our mail arrives anytime from noon to after we've gone to bed. Our long time old mailman retired maybe 10 years ago now and he was great.

We've been using Informed Delivery for four years now I think. Three times I was suppose to get first class letters according to our ID notice. Two were from my doctor with private medical information in them. One was a letter from the IRS which had my last four digits of my SS# and the amount of refund I was getting. These never came to our house. When I confronted our mail person she got really angry and started in on how many people they had to deliver mail to and how much mail there was. I told them I didn't give a damn, it was their job and if it their personal info "lost" they'd feel different. Then they blamed it on my neighbors for not doing the right thing and returning the mail to its rightful recipients. There is one neighbor next door who is a nasty piece of work and it still ticks me off they "might" have got my letters. I have since made it that my clinic cannot send me letters in the mail unless they are sent certified, sign on delivery.

Update : The mailman set a new late record last night > arrived here at 10:30pm.

Whatever the reason, I feel sorry for those who have to go to homes making deliveries after dark. Especially if they have to get out of their trucks with a package and go to the door.

What time does he start work if he's still delivering at 10:30pm? Just curious.

Lucillle I feel sorry for them too, it's just late mail - no lost mail. I'm guessing that they are short on staff but do not know if it's because they're having a hard time hiring more staff or if cutbacks have lead to the slowdown.

Blfenton, I don't know what time they start their daily route, but I doubt that it's one person who delivers for 12+ hours per day, hope not anyways.

Yes, that's a long night's work, since it's getting dark before 6 pm now. I hate working after dark, and I'm inside, not out and about. I can't recall ever getting USPS mail after 10 pm. Around here, our carriers are all finished by 5-6 pm. The only stuff that gets delivered after that would be special packages.

A package shipped to me on 11/28/2023 has been stuck at a USPS facility 60 miles away since 12/04/2023 per tracking. I opened a trouble ticket yesterday. Someone from the local PO called within 6 hrs. His words, "I've been sitting here looking at this, and I just can't even ... it hasn't been touched or scanned since arriving there on Dec 2. The main sorting facility for this area is overwhelmed and understaffed for Christmas shipping so they've put some of it out to the other facility. We can't talk to anyone if we try to call there. I think they'll try to get it done by next week but who knows. Please call me when you receive your package, or if you don't in a couple more weeks."

Not USPS but either UPS or Fed Ex dumped a pretty expensive Bluetti power station and solar panel at the end of my flipping driveway, sometime today. Near the road. I was backing up to get some Chinese food and that's when I noticed it. Glad there aren't too many thieves in my part of town, because it would've been so easy for someone to drive up, load them in their vehicle and drive off. They weren't even supposed to be here for another 5 to 8 days. No notification from Bluetti, nothing from the shipping company either. Glad it came so quickly but why would you leave it at the bottom of someone's driveway, right by the road?!

The above-referenced package, which is an 11"x12" plastic mailer envelope, not a box/carton, delivered today after (per tracking) bouncing repeatedly between several USPS handling facilities, and several erroneous/failed "expected" delivery date notices. 29 days transit time from ship-date. Pathetic USPS performance.

A financial company we deal with decided to send tokens of appreciation to it's customers. A small metal ornament. They took the many envelopes to their local post offices for weighing and attached the postage. When our 'gift' came it was NSF to the tune of $3.50. The financial company took the issue up with their post office and was told they could not explain the charge. After checking with other ornament recipients it was discovered we were the only customers who were charged the extra fee. I am pretty sure this was all on our local post office!! I often send my mother the hallmark three dimensional fold out cards with lights and music. The last one I attempted to send was returned to me for $5 MORE postage!! I had three forever stamps on it already--as I always do. Now I am feeling there is a person at our local post office who gets miffed when things need hand canceling and takes their aggression out by making up charges!! There is no way to email or even send a letter to the local post master but boy would I like to get to the bottom of this!!

any time i have a greeting card (or anything else) to mail that looks like it might take extra postage, i always take it to the post office to be weighed. sometimes, the envelope that comes with a card will indicate "extra postage required" which usually just means one more stamp but i don't take any chances.

The last one I attempted to send was returned to me for $5 MORE postage!!

now that is just ridiculous!!! did you take it to be weighed? the only way i can think it would be that much more would be if the dimensions of the envelope were exceptionally larger than normal.

"A financial company we deal with decided to send tokens of appreciation to it's customers. A small metal ornament."

If it's thicker than 1/4" then it's NOT First Class Mail.

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"The last one I attempted to send was returned to me for $5 MORE postage!!

now that is just ridiculous!!!"

Did it meet the First Class Mail size requirements?

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The Post Office* is clear what constitutes a First Class Mail Stamped Letter: Max. length 11-1/2", height 6-1/8" or thickness 1/4". If it is rigid or odd-shaped, it will still be classified as a First Class Mail Stamped Letter but the postage rate will be higher. A First-Class Mail Large Envelope -

USPS Produced Envelope is 15" x 11-5/8 and postage is higher. Other sizes will be a Package and postage will be at USPS Ground Advantage rates, minimum.

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The ACCUTECK All-in-1 Series W-8250-50bs A-Pt 50 Digital Shipping Postal Scale is $20.

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*https://postcalc.usps.com/