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 Proposes Eliminating Saturday Mail • 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 ...

CHARLES of COLLIERS, WV February 2, 2010

I am so tired of entering the post office in a smoke filled haze. The postmaster smokes inside the building, or else he stands out at the back at the door and people have to wait for him to get done before he comes to wait on you. He even left a burning cigarette laying on the table by the window when he saw me pull up and he went into the back room to get the window so he can wait on me. Meanwhile this cigarette is still burning and entering my lungs! There is a law, is there not, that states "No smoking in federal buildings." I don't want to inhale his dirty smoke into my lungs!

JOANNE of SOUTHBOROUGH, MA February 2, 2010

I spoke with as well as e-mailed Joanne H. at consumer affairs about a lost book that I mailed. An empty envelope was delivered to the customer. It did have the original packing slip enclosed, but the book was missing. The envelope was torn open. I sent Joanne H. a picture of the ripped envelope, as well as a copy of the packing slip and a copy of the product price with shipping. I have not heard back from Joanne H. as of yet. Please respond to let me know if the e-mail was received and when I could get reimbursed for the lost mail.

The total is 26.94, including shipping. The envelope was sent media mail, and was not insured. However, I spend an average of 100.00 to 200.00 a month with the U.S. Post Office on all my mailings. I am a regular customer and would appreciate that I get compensated for my loss. Thank you for your time.

crystal of Brookln, NY January 30, 2010

A postal Carrier has been assaulted in the complex. The postal has put papers in the hallway stating for NYC housing to fix the lighting fixtures, Safety to enter the building. MY hallway has been in the same condition for many of years thus far and never has the mail person been assaulted. I call the Post Office to address the issue and I was inform that until housing make the necessary adjustments there will be no mail delivery or tenants to pick up their mail at the post office. All mail of the tenants will be return to sender.

I feel that this is unjust and unfair to the tenants who have nothing to do with the issue of what occurred to the carrier and I do understand that Safety of their worker's are first and foremost but what about the tenants who paid to have them a job in the first place without out our service there is the complaint for the postal office to address, instead lay-off would be on the table. I am awaiting my W-2's to file my taxes in order to pay taxes I owe to the government and this move of the Post Office would be putting me in a penalty faze at this present time. Tenants should have the option to pick up their mail until the matter is resolve between the two offices respectively.

Christine of Agoura Hills , CA January 28, 2010

This post office has not been able to locate an address for one of our customers. We have verified the address multiple ways ans for months they have been sending our mail back with a question mark. I tried to call them to find out why, but their phone number is wrong online and I called a nearby post office gave me the same wrong number.

Wendy of Syracuse, NY January 28, 2010

I used click & ship and got billed twice for the labels I printed, I signed on right away and sent usps an email about their over charge and asked that they reply right away so I didn't have to dispute the over charge with my bank. I got no reply so I went in and looked for a place to ask for refunds on labels printed and requested the refund.

I heard nothing for a week so I had to contact my bank to request the refund since you only have 30 days to dispute a charge. This service was awful they had my money and a response would have been nice, now today I finally receive a response but could be at least 2 billing cyckles before a refund this is outrageous and I will never click and ship again. Will no longer use this service until this problem with usps.com is resolved

RICHARD of KILLINGWORTH, CT January 27, 2010

I want to send the tracking # of the package I just mailed to my grandson, so he can track it. I cannot be sure which/what/where is the correct no.

Rosa of New York, NY January 27, 2010

Several times I and many others complained about the service that we receive at this particual post office. Since then they have commenced to conspiring against me, for example, I have a post office box and the staff never but slips in my box to pick up my mail. I have had items returned and so forth because of this conspiracy. I guess that I hav complained about their services so much that they are showing me that I am correct, by not providing me with professional services. I have asked to speak with the Manager several times and he stated "tell her I am on a conference call". You see, the staff is the reflection of his leadership.

Andrea of Rockford, IL January 23, 2010

For as long as we have a had a certain mailperson, our mail has come in the damn dark in winter, which doesn't bother me much when the weather is good. But she seems to make a special point of coming in the dark when the ground is slippery and dangerous. According to the post office the mail should be delivered by 5pm. She often delivers after 5pm and sometimes as late as 7pm!!

I filed 2 complaints, case #ca100722797 and #ca100750813. Both were met with derision and disrespect by the 61107 area code supervisor, who's every response to my statements was "I don't kow anything about that." "I don't know anything about that." "I don't know anything about that." "I don't know anything about that." "I don't know anything about that." If he had been standing in front of me I may have punched him in his smug face. I didn't get his name when I first spoke to him, so I called back using *68 and he said his name was Paul C -- I'm beginning to see why people hate the French. He was totally rude and disrespectul and there was no legitimate reason for it! Today, it is 6:03pm right now and the so called "mailperson" still hasn't delivered our mail, and due to the extreme ice skating rink like surface-- from my front door to the mail box -- and pitch darkness outside here in the midwest, I will not be risking my life to get it.

The post office complains that people are avoiding using their services and they seem genuinely puzzled as to the reason why. News flash: It's not because UPS or DHL or FedEx are better, but they are held accountable and postal employees are not. That is the difference!

Tim of Yonago, Tottori, WV January 21, 2010

I sent an EMS package from Japan to a valid address in Ranson, WV USA with two phone numbers written on the front for the person I was sending the package to. The package came back to Japan with a "Return to Sender" sticker over the address and a sticker on the back saying that ONE ATTEMPT was made to deliver the package. (There are THREE spaces for delivery information on that sticker but they only used one. This information can also be validated by EMS tracking) The house and business, a well-known mechanic shop, is within clear view of the post office. Also, I noticed that it took 6 days to reach the states where the usual EMS guarantee is three to four days. EMS tracking shows that the holdup was by USPS. This has happened two years in a row but I didn't complain the first time.

Kathleen of Coushatta, LA January 21, 2010

I went out of town on December 18, 2009. Before I left, I filed a "hold mail" card with my local post office. I was gone for 16 days, until Jan. 2, 2010, when I requested my held mail be delivered.

When I arrived home on Jan. 2, I found five items in my mailbox: the "hold mail" card, two pieces of junk mail, my water bill, and my mortgage payment notice. What I DID not find was 16 days' worth of accumulated mail, including my gas bill, my phone bill, and my car payment notification.

I have spoken to the USPS manager here twice. He's not helpful. He can't explain what happened to my mail; the carrier, he says, delivered the mail she found with my "hold mail" card.

Please! I receive more than four pieces of mail a week; for 16 days, I should have had more mail. And what happened to my bills?

I called the "Help" line at USPS Customer Service twice today, but "the system is down," which I think is their way of saying, "We don't really care if you have a problem; we don't want to hear about it." I posted an email complaint anyway, but hold out little hope that anyone will get back to me.

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