Have any of you ever had an entire stack of mail fail to reach your address? Perhaps, like a friend did recently, you have received a battered-by-machine letter or card in a plastic sleeve with apologies from the postal service. It happens, unfortunately, thanks to their automated systems.
However, six or seven pieces of mail for one date getting waylaid is unusual. Because I have a free service known as Informed Delivery, photos are taken of the mail scheduled for drop off at my address. Should something fail to turn up after a week, users of the service are urged to report the missing mail online.
My experience with this is that it accomplishes nothing. This mail including a letter from the United Kingdom, has been missing for just over one week. Today, I had the pleasure of speaking to three postal employees, two of whom gave me the wrong numbers for reaching my branch post office from which mail to my address is dispatched. Disgusted but determined, I called a nearby postal annex where I was given two more numbers, one of which got me to the correct branch and a professional manager to whom I quickly explained the situation.
She was polite and appeared to know what she was doing. Notes and contact information were taken and within the hour, a letter carrier appeared at my door saying he had been sent to check the mailbox for the empty unit in my building and found nothing for me there. Now, further steps will be taken and I should know something in a couple of days.
Whether the mail will actually be found, I have no idea. The volume of mail in this country is still tremendous and it amazes me that more does not go wrong. Problems are still worth reporting though I'll make it a point to mention the difficulties I had getting to the correct individual when I speak with her again. In the meantime, if you send and receive mail, locate the post office from which it is delivered, get the number for that location, learn the manager's name and keep it. It may come in handy.
Cheers...
💁
17 comments:
Informed Delivery sounds like an amazing service. I wonder whether there is something similar here.
At intervals we do have troubles with our mail, and it is frustrating just how many phone calls it takes to get on to someone who will either accept any responsibility, has any power, or sadly knows anything.
Good luck with your missing pieces.
You are absolutely right...will let you know the outcome. I'm sorry you've gone through this too...Hope you are having a good day.
How maddening! A bad postal experience I had in college: Every year my grandmother would send me a box of chocolates on Valentine's. Every year without fail. One year, I got a notice that I had a package in from my grandmother's zip code. When I went to pick it up, they denied all knowledge of the package! I was holding the pickup notice in my hand and still they claimed there was never any package for me. Those freakers ate my chocolates!
OMG! I am so sorry that happened to you! I may never see the letter from England either despite having a photo of it. My already subterranean view of humanity has further diminished.
I declined activating that service. I asked myself if I really wanted pictures of junk email delivered to my email address.
I actually send and receive mail that isn't junk. In the case of an international letter, it is nice to know it came and may be located.
Thanks for commenting on my blog - i have read Quiet and thought it was good counter to the dominant extro-culture. I wonder if a higher percentage of bloggers are introverts - wouldn't surprise me.
On subject of Mail, here in the UK we have big problem with junk mail, though its possible to limit it (for a while at least) with a preference service. you're right about knowing your 'postie' too - in my village in Wales everybody knows them and it makes such a difference.
I had no idea there was even such as thing as Informed Delivery. I most get junk mail these days, anyway. I hope your missing mail turns up!
That sounds like a good service - even if it does not work ideally. We get a lot of mail that is just plain misdelivered - we put it into the boxes of people who live locally, otherwise scribble the address out, and ask them to redeliver to the correct address, then put it in to the mailbox.
I've never heard of Informed Delivery. What a cool idea. (And clearly beneficial, at least in your case!) I hope you get to the bottom of what happened. Do your mailboxes have locks? Could someone have simply taken those letters?
You are right about knowing your postal carrier and unfortunately about the junk mail as well. Thanks for visiting!
Thanks.
That is the correct and polite thing to do. Unfortunately, people here who don't want to be bothered simply toss misdirected mail.
Al of the mailboxes have locks. The mail was not delivered to the right place and I may never see it except in a photograph.
That sounds like a great service. We don't have such a thing here, so if we don't get something there is no way to know. Of course, like anything else, the humans actually making it go have to know what they're doing and do it right. I hope your mail turns up. You never know.
Thanks. You are right about the human factor here.
We are fairly lucky here, very little post gets lost, but courier companies are a nightmare. Our postman does a great job, but when parcels arrive using couriers and not Royal mail, they often end up being delivered to the wrong house.
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