You may remember the seven pieces of missing mail mentioned in my last post and how I had reported the situation to the manager of my post office.
As of today, that mail has never shown up at my door nor does the manager know where it might be. The investigation has gone beyond delivery points and that post office itself to the mail plant. I will hear something within a few days.
My friend in the UK is mailing a second letter to me this week. Fingers crossed that it actually arrives.
Meanwhile, I am busily packing valuables, papers, open foodstuffs and the cat so we can depart our abode next week while this building is tented for termites. This is one of those times I wish I did not live in in a State known for its variety of bugs and reptiles.
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...
💁
