Mail woes.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Although I have lived in the same place for nearly a year, and my name is most definitely on the mailbox, some of my mail is being returned to the sender as "attempted not known." I know it's not an addressing error, as this was a card sent by a family member, and something else sent by my office's hr department. Has anyone else run into the same problem? I live on Highland Ave, if that makes any kind of difference. I called the USPS and filed a complaint, but I have precious little faith that they will actually return my call. I'm really weirded out, because I am still getting mail (just not all of it.)

Comments

[derekp.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the USPS will track me down and stop all of my mail, but in my 5 years here I've found the service they ofter in Somerville to be nothing short of atrocious. I've had many items not delivered, mail stops not honored, mail forwarding not honored, etc.

It's hard to complain about the post office because they do hold a LOT of power. You gotta kill them with kindness, I think.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I second this. Somerville postal delivery is the worst of anywhere I've ever lived (and I lived in Montréal, where the postmen take public transportation). It's incredible. Apparently, "on the porch in one bundle" is good enough - the three tenants can sort the mail, right? Of course, they leave mail all over the porch without regard to weather.

Unless they decide that they must shove every piece of mail into your box to the point you need to rip things to get them out, that's how badly they jammed it all in there.

And that's assuming they get the right mail into the right box. I've gotten letters addressed to the same number, but a completely different street. Or vice-versa. And then when they're on a "put all the mail into the boxes" kick, they don't seem to grasp the concept that the apartment number on the box should match the apartment number on the envelope. I get mail for the other apartments all the time. Once, I got the first floor couples' Visa bill. It sat in my box for at least two weeks before I noticed it. Can you imagine? You would think that with identity theft running rampant they'd at least look at the address before randomly shoving it into a mailbox.

Because, you see, while I've lived in Somerville for 7 years, I've only been getting my mail delivered here for about a year and a half. I complained. Oh, how I complained. I was calling on a daily basis at one point, no exaggeration. It was always, "oh, there's a new driver," "oh, there's a substitute," "you know, I told the guy personally, I'm sure he's delivering it right," and my favourite, "well, we left a note for him, that's about all we can do."

Then I finally gave in and got a PO Box downtown at Fort Point Station (behind South Station), which I've had since mid-2001. And since then, I've never had a problem getting my mail. They're open 24-7, my mail is safe when I'm on vacation, and my mail actually ends up in my box. Not only that, but it's protected from wind, rain, snow...

For $52 a year, it's totally worth it to have my mail safe, dry and unwrinkled. Not to mention the benefits to my blood pressure.