I Don't Think Lost Mail is Common, However...

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
I mailed a check with an additional 10 dollar co-pay I owed for a recent doctor visit. They don't appear to have received it. I had called and they said to wait a little longer but I just got an overdue notice. I'll go in and pay it tomorrow.

I'm in California, the payment went to Main. I just didn't want to stop at the office. Next time I will. I guess if it shows eventually, they will credit me.

I had a package I was expecting once, that I didn't get. No notice slip in my PO box or package box key. I asked at the counter, the woman went in the back and found it. So I don't know what happened with that or this.
 

Considering the volume of mail I believe lost mail is a small percentage. It seems to be a kind of Murphys Law scenario though, when you are expecting something important or sending out something time sensitive that's the mail that gets lost.

Locally there has been a rash of thefts from outdoor mail bins, even the ones in the pist office parking lot. For the last couple of years I take my mail inside the post office, I figure that's safer and one step closer to actually being delivered.
 
Yes, lost mail is rare. I don't think I've ever had that happen. Delayed mail for reasons unknown has happened to me.
 

Last month I received my electric bill. It was twice the amount it should have been! Then I looked closer, they never received my June payment. Yes it was either lost in the mail or the check was missing from the envelope. I didn't bother asking. I just paid both payments online and have to check my account every day to make sure no one is trying to withdraw cash. That's what would be suggested anyway.

I was sent a check for my birthday by a family friend. Someone had made an opening in the side of the envelope but the check was still there. I contacted the family friend to let them know. Guess whoever did it was looking for cash. Nothing is sacred anymore. Blah.
 
The check is in the mail isn't something that I've dealt with since online bill payment was an option. I like the electronic accounting & instant acknowledgment of payment made.

I don't remember when that as an option began for me but I do remember I was skeptical at the time. I'm no longer skeptical:)
 
Two years ago I sent a small package to my son, he was in Coloado and I'm in Ohio. Over the next FOUR months the package kept traveling back and forth between our states. It never made it to either of our houses even though the tracking would show it as out for delivery, then a few days later it would be traveling back the other direction. At one point when tracking said it was back at my local post office I went and said I want to pick it up, they wouldn't even go look for it, told me there would be no way to find it amongst all the other packages. Then it headed back toward Colorado,

By the time it did show up in Colorado it was ruined, crushed and retaped, even had a note taped on it saying package was exposed to a chemicle spill.
 
I'm in Calif.; ordered something online from a gal in Indiana; it didn't come and it didn't come and I was about ready to email her when she contacted me asking "How you still not received that?" When I said no, she said, "OKay I'll send another. I swear, everything I send to Calif. seems to disappear into a black hole!"

Welp, I posted about that on another site I'm on and a couple diff. members who either worked for the U.S. Post Office or had a sibling that did said that there is a post office in So. Calif. (I think Bellflower? Maybe Bellfountain?) that is literally known amongst all Postal employees as "The Black Hole" because so much mail goes in there but never comes out.
 
Remy said:
I mailed a check with an additional 10 dollar co-pay I owed for a recent doctor visit. They don't appear to have received it. I had called and they said to wait a little longer but I just got an overdue notice. I'll go in and pay it tomorrow.

I'm in California, the payment went to Main. I just didn't want to stop at the office. Next time I will. I guess if it shows eventually, they will credit me.

I had a package I was expecting once, that I didn't get. No notice slip in my PO box or package box key. I asked at the counter, the woman went in the back and found it. So I don't know what happened with that or this.
Click to expand...
In this rural area the Postal service has contract mail handlers delivering to "cluster boxes" located near the main highway and paved streets. There are frequent mis-deliveries where the mail is put in the wrong box. If I am expecting a package I try to have it delivered to my P.O. box, where there's less chance of delivery being screwed up.

Regarding outbound mail: More and more we're getting "late" notices about mailed bill payments, I don't think this is the Post office's doing, rather, I think it is the bill recipient's internal mail processing. That plus there's a hard push toward "auto pay", which we vehemently resist.
 
Mail service s✓©ks!!!
Postage goes up...delivery slows down.
Or...delivered incorrectly.👎
 
Nathan said:
I don't think this is the Post office's doing, rather, I think it is the bill recipient's internal mail processing. That plus there's a hard push toward "auto pay", which we vehemently resist.
Click to expand...
The companies do want us to use auto pay. If you don’t want that will you still go online and make an e-transfer payment. I find it easier, cheaper and faster than using the mail system.
 
One of the things they taught with auto pay is no need for late payments anymore. Haha
Sure the stamp cost is up 2000% since the 1950's. You may get 100 pieces of junk mail
delivered to you on time and exactly perfect. You also may get 1 piece of bill during that
time all rumpled up, half open, late etc.

You see your mail is not important. Only junk mail is.
The USPS is owned by Advertisers now. You are nothing but a mark to them. In the 50's
You got 4 personal letters and one bill you couldn't pay. No junk mail at all. Things are
wonderful now. Haha

Another important fact to know is in a couple of weeks or sooner
your mail box is stuffed with junk mail, the post man will no longer deliver your mail, he will stash it
in back of the Post Office.

You may never get it. You have to go in and demand it. They
believe you have done something wrong, not cleaning out your mail Box of junk mail.
Its all your fault you will be told. Haha ...

.I hope the USPS has to end soon and all will
be done Text wise. Haha Yeo I am a Mark for Bell Tone hearing devices. At least one ad
a week for the $500 to $800 miracle so I have to hear TV advertisements too.

The World Wide Web Is run and owned by Advertisements. You pay $100 a month
For it and the WEB gets Billions from the ADVERTISING. NASA most likely sells
Advertising seats on its missions. Soon Break something for a commercial will be obvious.
 
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I used to mail cards to my sister in Seattle and my mother in North Florida on the same day from Orlando. Sis would get hers in two days. Mom's would take a week.

The company that sent me the check for my late husband's life insurance payout sent it to the correct address and city, but the zip code was one number off, the zip code directly next to mine, like two miles away. When it hadn't been found two weeks later, they canceled the check and sent a new one.

41 DAYS LATER!!!, the old check shows up, looking like it had crossed several rough borders by the number of stickers it had on it.

I complained to the post office and their answer was, "Well, it had the wrong zip code....".
 
The PO is more of a mess than it ever was. I pay nearly all of my bills online. I recently found out that one I had to pay by mail has decided to accept CC payments by phone. I am doing that now and I'm glad they took a small step out of the past. I'm sure they had complaints and maybe lost business too.

There have been reports here (with photos) of residents finding cluster mail boxes open with mail removed from all the boxes and there is a persistent rumor that master keys have been stolen and the boxes not rekeyed every time this happens.

Nearly all the snail mail I receive is junk but there is still the occasional letter that I need to see. I may decide to rent a PO Box just in case.
 
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About a year ago, I received a piece of mail that was about a month late. It was something I was expecting, but I can't remember what it was. Anyway, the letter was mangled. It looked like it got caught in the gears of a sorting machine or something. There was a notice of apology stamped on the envelope from the Post Office. People bitch about the Post Office, but I think it's probably the most efficient agency of the government. Congress seems to want to get rid of the Post Office. I think they are affraid of having government agency that isn't totally dysfunctional. It makes them look even worse than they are.
 
I spent 30 years waiting on my customers checks. The USPS was most always to blame, yet when I sent checks by mail they always seemed to make it to the destination post haste. hmmmmm....... Yes the USPS is not infallible, but the success rate is very, very high.
 
I did a poll in our neighborhood (through NextDoor). I asked if they received someone else's mail.
Over 60% said 'yes', they did receive others mail.
After the work day its normal to see neighbors walking around the neighborhood bring people their mail.
Yep, happens alot, around here anyway.
 
Has anyone filed a complaint? I did 2 times had very good response both times.
I have had an issue that if i mail something cards for grandkids etc... gets to them in 2 days...... if they mail something back to me takes a week.
I got on post office website and asked......... "if they went back to carrier pigeons and flying west was too much headwind"...
I gave them heck ...
I got a call from a very nice post office postmaster and was told some relay was done in a nearby city and they have had issues since because people do not care.... same old can't find good people etc ....
I told her this is why they lost everything to electronic payments or email because they cannot seem to handle what has to be lower volume every day ....

I was walking down a trail came across a bunch of mail some opened some ads just thrown knew it was theft ... turned it in to BOTH post office and local police gave them my name was happy to show them where it was etc NO ONE called me back ....
theft from post office boxes/ recipients boxes and the various stories that have come out about post people not finishing their route or discarding mail....
 
C50 said:
Considering the volume of mail I believe lost mail is a small percentage. It seems to be a kind of Murphys Law scenario though, when you are expecting something important or sending out something time sensitive that's the mail that gets lost.

Locally there has been a rash of thefts from outdoor mail bins, even the ones in the pist office parking lot. For the last couple of years I take my mail inside the post office, I figure that's safer and one step closer to actually being delivered.
Click to expand...
Anything important, I mail inside the post office also. I pay my car insurance now on their website. That way if my credit card payment gets lost, the car is still covered by insurance, they have been paid. I don't want to sign up for every online payment and portal however.
 
Judycat said:
Last month I received my electric bill. It was twice the amount it should have been! Then I looked closer, they never received my June payment. Yes it was either lost in the mail or the check was missing from the envelope. I didn't bother asking. I just paid both payments online and have to check my account every day to make sure no one is trying to withdraw cash. That's what would be suggested anyway.

I was sent a check for my birthday by a family friend. Someone had made an opening in the side of the envelope but the check was still there. I contacted the family friend to let them know. Guess whoever did it was looking for cash. Nothing is sacred anymore. Blah.
Click to expand...
I've heard this about cards. Looking for money sent to a relative for a birthday or something. I'm glad they didn't take the check. That's still very invasive.
 
Jules said:
The companies do want us to use auto pay. If you don’t want that will you still go online and make an e-transfer payment. I find it easier, cheaper and faster than using the mail system.
Click to expand...
The cable company really pushed online payments awhile back. They said you could sign up for paper billing. I pay online with them. Also my Consumer Cellular is online automatic. I at least pay out less checks.

I signed up for online bill pay at my bank a number of years ago. But when I got on my stepfather's durable power of attorney, I also got on all his accounts at the bank. So when I signed in to pay my bills online, all his accounts were there. It bothered me. Some would say why but it did. And I stopped online bill pay then.
 
papa tiger said:
One of the things they taught with auto pay is no need for late payments anymore. Haha
Sure the stamp cost is up 2000% since the 1950's. You may get 100 pieces of junk mail
delivered to you on time and exactly perfect. You also may get 1 piece of bill during that
time all rumpled up, half open, late etc.

You see your mail is not important. Only junk mail is.
The USPS is owned by Advertisers now. You are nothing but a mark to them. In the 50's
You got 4 personal letters and one bill you couldn't pay. No junk mail at all. Things are
wonderful now. Haha

Another important fact to know is in a couple of weeks or sooner
your mail box is stuffed with junk mail, the post man will no longer deliver your mail, he will stash it
in back of the Post Office.

You may never get it. You have to go in and demand it. They
believe you have done something wrong, not cleaning out your mail Box of junk mail.
Its all your fault you will be told. Haha ...

.I hope the USPS has to end soon and all will
be done Text wise. Haha Yeo I am a Mark for Bell Tone hearing devices. At least one ad
a week for the $500 to $800 miracle so I have to hear TV advertisements too.

The World Wide Web Is run and owned by Advertisements. You pay $100 a month
For it and the WEB gets Billions from the ADVERTISING. NASA most likely sells
Advertising seats on its missions. Soon Break something for a commercial will be obvious.
Click to expand...
My stepfather was getting tons of junk mail. Because he was sending donation checks. I don't get any. If I do, I call and ask them to stop. I recently did that with AARP. I donate locally or to a cat shelter in Minnesota. They do not share information.
 
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