Hey, US Postal Service: Perhaps I Should Try Fireworks...
Perhaps spelling out in fireworks in the sky, "Please deliver my mail...pretty please!"?
(Read my tweets from bottom to top. That top one with the picture link just goes to an "Error: 500" message that kept coming up when you click on the USPS complaint page.)
The note from the post office telling me to go there and get my parcel claims no one was home to receive the package.
But I was home the entire day Wednesday and Thursday, writing feet from the door, looking out the window for the postal carrier -- and going out to check probably six times on Thursday alone.
There was no knock either day. Not even a tiny tap. Aida, who seems to have bionic hearing, would have barked up an operatic little storm. No storm. Just the non-sound of Aida napping and gnawing her little alligator that looks kind of like Gregg.
And besides that -- see above -- there are TWO more permanent notes pasted on my mailbox saying that packages should be dropped over my fence (a six-foot fence with a locking gate). BOTH IGNORED!
The postal carrier apparently didn't want the hassle of, you know, actually delivering the mail.
This is the sign that was over my mailbox yesterday and then thumbtacked to the gate, smack-dab in the middle, today. It's actually neon pink, though it doesn't really look it from this photo.
And in case anyone's wondering, when the mail carrier knocks on the gate -- or the UPS or Fedex guy does -- I run out there like I'm on fire. I don't want to be rude or princessy by keeping them waiting at all.
Tomorrow, I'm taping the mailbox shut with the note so the carrier can't just drop the note in there and be on their way. Predictions on success rate?
And a thought: I wonder whether they're hiring people who don't speak, read, or write English -- or do those things very well.
I hate that! I have the same problem with one of the parcel services here. They don't knock, just leave a 'You weren't at Home' note. If I'm actually away from home, they come and don't leave anything saying they've been there. I have to keep going online and track to see if they've been to the house. It's maddening! If I have to send something I'd put a gun to my head before I'd use them, but sometimes Amazon vendors use them, and I have no control over it.
We have a house in the US and our neighbors check our mail box every so often because the guy delivers 4 homes' mail to my box...
crella at May 16, 2014 3:42 AM
It's so awful, especially considering that our former postman, this black guy with movie-star good looks and long braids, told me that if he won the lottery, he'd still keep delivering our mail.
The carriers we have now (there seem to be a rotating group) or at least one or two of them seem to do the bare minimum possible to keep their jobs.
I would say I get my neighbors' mail EVERY OTHER DAY. I get most of my mail at my mailbox place, which is why they probably don't get as much of mine. I did start getting packages delivered here. Silly me, thinking TWO prominent notes on my mailbox saying to drop all packages over the six-foot fence would be paid attention to.
The notes started getting ignored a few weeks ago. Wonder if we have a different carrier.
The post office is doing so well -- and they can't knock on my gate? Too much to ask of the carrier? I have to see if I have more thumbtacks today -- maybe I'll put out three signs, including the one I'll post so the mailbox can't be opened asking the carrier to knock.
Amy Alkon at May 16, 2014 4:13 AM
Basic literacy may be a problem. This is not a well-paid job, and they take who they get.
Being a mail carrier is also no picnic. I have a niece who is a mail carrier. Seeing as she's the responsible type, every time some other carrier has a problem, they ask her to take on another street or two. The amount of territory she covers has grown, but her pay hasn't changed.
If I understood her correctly, the post office also requires her to own and maintain her vehicle. It's one of those funny jeeps painted with the USPS logos - but she is apparently responsible for all maintenance, etc..
a_random_guy at May 16, 2014 4:49 AM
I've been known to literally chase after mail trucks with my stamped mail and caught them on time. Good sprinting practice.
Em Laz at May 16, 2014 5:11 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/05/16/hey_us_postal_s.html#comment-4636800">comment from a_random_guyThere's absolutely no reason you can't be extraordinary in any job, as business coachMark Sanborn notes about his mailman, Fred, the inspiration for his terrific little book, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/184413816X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=184413816X&linkCode=as2&tag=advicegoddess-20&linkId=FK6NNMA45TH4VFMT.
Here's Sanborn talking about it on my show.
Advice Goddess Radio: Mark Sanborn on how to improve your friendships, relationships, and work by thinking like an entrepreneur.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2012/12/17/advice-goddess-radio-amy-alkon
Amy Alkon at May 16, 2014 5:36 AM
I have had this happen many times. They pretend to have a package out for delivery, but in actuality it has never left the post office.
They will find any excuse to not attempt to deliver it.
This is why I no longer use them for much of anything other than sending stuff overseas to my P.O. box.
Isab at May 16, 2014 6:09 AM
If I understood her correctly, the post office also requires her to own and maintain her vehicle. It's one of those funny jeeps painted with the USPS logos - but she is apparently responsible for all maintenance, etc..
Posted by: a_random_guy at May 16, 2014 4:49 AM
She is a contract mail carrier, and not a post office employee.
Isab at May 16, 2014 6:11 AM
Our mail carrier doesn't deliver packages, we have a separate truck that comes around and does that. But Isabel is right, most times the package has never left the post office. I frequently get slips saying they couldn't deliver my package when I know I was home. I've even seen them leave the slip and there was clearly no package with them.
Fink-Nottle at May 16, 2014 6:29 AM
Just talked to some very good guy named Kelvin at the USPS -- after going through their ridiculous and frustrating phone tree. (I called an electronic voice some bad names several times.) He's notifying the postmaster at my post office, and according to him, my package will be redelivered today.
I'm still looking for bets on that! Your prediction of the odds on that? Gimme some numbers.
Amy Alkon at May 16, 2014 6:59 AM
Prediction: Easy, tampering with a mailbox is a federal crime. USPS SWAT team will arrive in Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, assault your home and place you under arrest. They may be backed up by Dept of Agriculture tactical team equipped with brand new .40 S&W submachine guns. They may or may not toss a flash bang through the front door first. You might want to stash Aida in a closet, since tactical teams are known to shoot threatening canines. You will be oddly discomfited staring at the wrong end of several 5.56 mm tactical carbines. Obama administration will release an illegal alien sex offender to make room for you. Dept of Justice will aggressively pursue you so that their white to black criminal prosecution ratio will look good.
Bill O Rights at May 16, 2014 8:15 AM
I started missing so much mail AT WORK that I actually called the post office and asked what the hell they were doing. I got the run-around about how it might be someone who was covering for someone else, but I said no, this had been going on way longer than anyone's vacation would reasonably last.
Funny, my mail started showing up regularly after that.
I swear there is a mail carrier in this town with a living room full of undelivered mail.
I try to get all our bills emailed when I can. The post office sucks and is completely unreliable.
Daghain at May 16, 2014 8:18 AM
I hate the USPS. I live in Orange County, CA - about as far from being out in a rural area as you can get on this planet. This is the record for the last 11 Priority Mail packages to be sent to my house. 3 Delivered on time, 4 that showed up eventually - in one case 1 1/2 months later, and 4 disappeared into the ether. Note all of these packages showed as being delivered in the tracking.
I also routinely get other peoples mail and packages, which I have started dropping off myself after I got the same incorrectly delivered item two days in a row.
I cringe every time Amazon mails me something via USPS. I've had zero problems with FedEx or UPS, and I wish I could specify either of those for Amazon Prime.
Jeff at May 16, 2014 9:15 AM
Back in 2010 when I was residing in nj, I was expecting my renewed passport in the mail. The mail carrier came and he buzzed the bell and I opened the door and asked him if he had any mail for me since he buzzed the bell and he said no.(I was in an apartment complex and there were 10 mailboxes near a common entrance for the 10 apartments). So I just assumed that he probably pressed the bell by mistake. And in the evening when I check the mailbox, there is a note saying that I have some mail which I have to pick up from the post office because I was not home when the mailman came there. WTF. The guy looked sort of hispanic. Not sure if those guys expect under the table money in mexico for doing this work and they were not doing it properly in usa because there is no system of bribing for everything in usa.
Redrajesh at May 16, 2014 9:53 AM
It took us over a year to make the post office understand that 20013 EAST Xxx Road is a long way from 20013 WEST Xxx Road, even though they are miles apart in different zip codes. We were receiving up to 100 return/undeliverables daily each time the business at the other end did a mass mailing, as well as their bills, legal documents and bank statements, junk mail etc.
First, phone calls. Then I visited my post office, then their post office with boxes full of misguided mail. They blamed the main post office in the region, so I visited that one, too. I contacted the business and asked them to work with me on the issue and got a smartass who didn't think it was in any way their problem. So I began to shred and compost every bit of their mail. I'm sure their lights got turned off, their packages returned and their legal affairs frayed eventually, because it all got abruptly fixed 7 months later.
We have been negotiating porch delivery for my disabled vet husband for almost 2 years. We've had the proper mailbox planted at the intersection of the chair-ramp and driveway so they don't have to leave the jeep, had the Doctor send forms twice, been told we are approved. We told the mailman it would be OK if he would only use the closer box when it snowed. While I was away in Feb, we got a notice in the crammed-fill road mailbox that they were going to quit delivering if we didn't pick up our mail. It was easier to convince the VA to send his controlled substances by UPS than to get the USPS to deliver where they are supposed to, and the VA is remarkably set in it's ways. I'd write my Congressman if I had one worth a shit.
bmused at May 16, 2014 10:51 AM
Damn, I didn't realize how lucky I am to have the Carrier I have. Maybe it's living in Ohio instead of CA or NY. We have always had great mail service.
The Carrier we have now will deliver mail from my previous address to me, even though the forwarding request expired a year ago. He also dedivers to my old address so when he sees my name on an item he keeps it until he does my portion of the route.
I didn't realize things were so bad elsewhere. Maybe USPS should take some of the monies spent making "happy efficient delivery" commercials and use it to screen and train Carriers.
Jay at May 16, 2014 1:18 PM
I didn't realize things were so bad elsewhere. Maybe USPS should take some of the monies spent making "happy efficient delivery" commercials and use it to screen and train Carriers.
Posted by: Jay at May 16, 2014 1:18 PM
Not enough opportunity for graft and corruption.
Barrack and Michelle's buddies are the ones getting paid to make those commercials, and build the Obamacare websites.
I have had some very good mail carriers. Right now, in my neighborhood, it seems like there is a lot of turmoil.
In their defense, the amount of junk mail that comes through has to be overwhelming the important stuff.
I don't recall my Mailman in the 60's having to carry around a hundred pounds of catalogs every day.
Isab at May 16, 2014 6:25 PM
What about the Sears & Roebuck catalogs?
Jim P. at May 16, 2014 7:31 PM
Ms Alkon: "I would say I get my neighbors' mail EVERY OTHER DAY."
Maybe you should look over your neighbor's fence to see if your packages are there.
Ken R at May 16, 2014 8:12 PM
What about the Sears & Roebuck catalogs?
Posted by: Jim P. at May 16, 2014 7:31 PM
Those came once a year, and it was one catalog. A lot of people in my town had post office boxes and picked up their mail.
This year, on the other hand, I throw out ten pounds of unsolicited catalogs, and junk mail every two weeks. The volume of sheer crap is a thousand times what our postmen in the 60's dealt with.
I had an interesting incident occur about 18 months ago where I started getting mail for a Marcus *(same last name as one of my family members who lives with me)
Marcus had apparently given my address to every bill collector in Texas as his new forwarding address.
I finally opened the tenth bill I received and started calling the firms in question telling them that they had been scammed. He didn't live here, and never had.
Isab at May 16, 2014 8:43 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/05/16/hey_us_postal_s.html#comment-4639883">comment from Ken RUm, they aren't. I don't have to "look over their fence." I can go out my side back door. We share a walkway. If they had my packages, they'd tell me. Right away. Furthermore, if the postal carriers are not leaving my packages for me, when I have two notes on my mailbox saying to drop them over my fence, they sure aren't leaving them for my neighbors, who live in the back house at a different address.
I don't know what it is about me that makes people suggest the absolute obvious as if it hasn't occurred to me...but perhaps I'm just cranky from the heat at the moment.
Amy Alkon at May 16, 2014 8:51 PM
You have two problems going on here Amy.
1. the mailman is given so much time a day to run his route. It's estimated so closely that anything that adds to his time spent will cause him to go over.
Running over on his allocated time too often will prevent the mailman from getting raises and being able to bid on the route of his choice.
If you are dealing with a carrier with less than a few years of service, this is your problem.
You have only one option here - to request a pickup online the day before if you've got a priority mail or overnight package.
I mail up to 60 items a week and always do the pickup request if I have more than one package because it adds to the carriers allocated route time. I also let her know in advance when I have large or heavy items, and when I will have quantities.
And 2. You don't have a relationship with your mailman. This probably isn't your fault because you don't seem to have a regular carrier. My regular carrier brings my dog treats and always pets her. In fact the dog looks forward to the mailman and will come get me when she hears the truck coming.
My regular carrier is very protective of her route. I had one sub refuse to take my packages even though I'd requested a pickup because he was "frustrated and running late." He wanted to come back later. I complained to the regular carrier the next day, and she gave me her boss's telephone number to call and complain. I never saw that sub again.
One thought or suggestion. My desk is beside a window, and the mailboxes for the fourplex are outside the window. I can hear the mailman opening the big box. When the dog sleeps late this is how I know to run the packages out.
Maybe a cheap wireless doorbell hooked up to your mailbox would prevent your mailman from sneaking off?
Terry at May 16, 2014 9:02 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/05/16/hey_us_postal_s.html#comment-4640117">comment from TerryTerry, thanks, but I almost never have packages to go out save for the odd book that is too heavy to put into the blue box because of moronic fears about terrorism. I rarely get mail at home besides packages, and it is not hard to drop a package over a fence. It simply takes READING two printed notes on my mailbox asking to do so.
Soft bigotry of low expectations.
Amy Alkon at May 16, 2014 10:26 PM
Amy, apologies if I'm stating the obvious but you do know that the blue box restrictions refer to *Stamped* mail over 13 ounces? Labels printed via Click-n-Ship aren't stamps, so your packages should be acceptable regardless of weight.
the other rob at May 17, 2014 5:07 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/05/16/hey_us_postal_s.html#comment-4642044">comment from the other robThanks, the other rob -- I had read that this was the case when I started buying postage online but then I had a package come back with the pre-paid computer printed postage for being over 13 oz. and put in a blue blox.
Amy Alkon at May 17, 2014 7:33 AM
I'm reading this and remembering how a few years ago, I was gushing something online about my mail carrier. Something (maybe here?) was going on and a thread of post-office employee negativity rose up and I felt bad for my guy being caught in the storm. So, I put his behavior up as a model of how some behave.
Fast forward a few years. In our area, we now have packages sometimes, but not always, coming on a separate USPS truck, so it's hard to tell if the mail is coming or not (I once saw three mail trucks pass in one day - and I live on a dead end). This isn't necessarily a problem though. The main problem is that about half the mail I send NEVER arrives at its destination. Ever.
Also, about the time the service started deteriorating, I started getting mail for prior occupants of this house. When you first move into a place, you get odds and ends of mail for the previous owner/tenant. That stopped for about three years and now I'm getting stuff again. After the 20th time, (a few years back) I put a note in our box that said the only last name for the house is Howell. It magically disappeared.
Shannon Howell at May 17, 2014 11:54 AM
"I don't know what it is about me that makes people suggest the absolute obvious as if it hasn't occurred to me..."
Forgive me for being so absolutely obvious. I ignorantly thought I was joining in the mockery of your semi-comatose mail carrier by making a witty remark implying that since he delivers some of your neighbors' mail to your house he probably also delivers some of your mail to who knows where (which, I know, is absolutely obvious too. Sorry)
I way overestimated my wittiness...
... Damn! I've said the absolute obvious as if it hasn't occurred to you again! What is it about you that makes people do that?
Ken R at May 17, 2014 3:32 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/05/16/hey_us_postal_s.html#comment-4643649">comment from Ken RSorry, Ken R. I was a little testy yesterday.
Amy Alkon at May 17, 2014 3:51 PM
Go see your postmaster.
Every one I've dealt with with such problems has been very interested.
Even sometimes they were able to fix it. But the local carriers also were aware that they'd need lots better excuses.
Unix-Jedi at May 18, 2014 11:58 AM
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