Author Topic: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.  (Read 4379 times)

Offline schelmischekitty

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ok, so we bought out house this past summer.  we got mail for a previous resident, who was renting the house before we bought it.  and it keeps coming.  and coming.  more and more mail, day after day.  i swear i'm getting like 2 to 3 letters a week now.  so, now they've started sending things certified (it's a college, i guess she owes them money??) and my mail person is an IDIOT.  the truck the woman was in was a POV and didnt even have a USPS sticker anywhere on it, so i didn't answer the door.  she opened the screen door to leave a "you've got mail sticky" and she  doesn't turn my door knob on my NEW screen door and just yanks it open.  yeah.  i'm mad, she bent the piece that keeps it shut, and pulled the screws out the door frame a little.  THANKS!  so, now i call the post office.  the guy is clueless.  has no idea what to do, and just takes down the name and address that it's supposed to go to, and says he'll have it sent back.  so i call the college now, and they tell me they don't know what to do.  so i get transfered to about 5 offices to finally be asked to just go online and send an e-mail to the right office.  OK.  sure, whatever.  how hard is it REALLY to just make a note "so and so doesn't live at this address anymore" and send it to the RIGHT office which is probably right down the hall?! 

so, thanks to my mail people and college workers who seem bound and determined not to know their job.
steffanie in atlanta

aiden (4), tristan (2), & maya (born sept. 17th)
axle-140ish-lb akita (4)
peanut-5lb, 11 months chihuahua
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Offline LibbyP

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2007, 02:55:18 pm »
We've lived in our home for 3 yrs now and we were getting (and still are) mail for the previous owners at first we wrote on it return to sender wrong address etc... now we just throw it out, if they haven't talked to you in 3years to know you've moved you don't need their mail bad enough sorry that's a big pet peeve of mine as well  >:(
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Offline schelmischekitty

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2007, 04:05:39 pm »
the mail doesn't bother me as much as the lack of "what to do" knowledge the post office and the college has.  the thing that REALLY irritates me though is that she just yanked the door open, when the stickers are still on it so i KNOW she knew it was new.  also, you can tell that you have to turn it b/c there's nothing to push, etc.  it just turns.  very irritating.
steffanie in atlanta

aiden (4), tristan (2), & maya (born sept. 17th)
axle-140ish-lb akita (4)
peanut-5lb, 11 months chihuahua
[img width= height= alt=Image Hosted by ImageShack.us]http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3339/alltogethernowme6.jpg[/img]

Offline shangrila

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2007, 06:26:37 pm »
I would deffinately make sure the post office pays for the damage.

We used to get tons of mail for a Matthew with my last name (who didn't exist) because somewhere along the line in high school someone somehow got "Matthew" out of "Heather" and so Matthew got tons of ads for colleges and scholarships. He still occasionally gets mail ;)
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Offline mtaig12

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2007, 06:46:12 pm »
Just wanted to share our experience with the Post Office. We moved into this house a few years ago. The folks that moved out put in a mail forwarding request-their last name was Green. After we'd lived here about six months or so, all of a sudden we stopped receiving all our mail. We'd get some stuff, but other stuff wouldn't show up (including bills, etc). I didn't realize it until one day when I got a late charge for not paying a bill the previous month, and realized I hadn't received the bill. (FYI, I called the company and explained I hadn't received the bill, which she replied "you're right, because it was returned to us marked return to sender, address changed." This was for a utility bill at the house we were living in! They removed the late charge.)

Anyway, I figured out what must be going on, went to the post office and explained what I thought they were doing. Apparently my house is on an "accessory route" which means there may be a different mail carrier each day (this explains why we sometimes got mail and sometimes didn't). The forward from the previous owners (The Greens) had expired, so their mail was being "returned to sender, address changed." However, our last name also begins with "Gr" but wasn't "Green". But whoever was looking at the mail would just look at the Gr without reading the whole name, and return the mail to the sender.

After talking with the post office, things went much better!

Good luck!
Tracy
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Alex and Ian - kids
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Offline specialkdanemom

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2007, 08:30:11 pm »
I just had to say something... I will be the first to admit that there are some bad carriers out there... and some really good ones too.   
I am a letter carrier in Oregon and I always try to do a great job for my customers, but I'm not perfect and I admit that I can make mistakes, even though I am trying to do my best.  I'm human, and as with any other person in "any" job, I can have a bad day, not feel well or have some very important things on my mind, such as... family, bills, pets, appointments, cancer w/ a parent, remodeling, car accidents, schedules, etc...     
This is the same in every job you come across (good workers and bad workers, etc.).  Unfortunetly, it's the "Bad" apples that everyone remembers! 
I am not making excuses for the lazy or bad carriers... there is no excuse for a problem to be ongoing or to have to continuously try to fix a problem... I just wanted to say that even the letter carriers with good work ethics that strive for perfection, are human and do make mistakes.  If my customers talk to me I can usually help or fix things, but if I don't know about a problem or  the customer waits 3- 4 months to mention a problem (yes, it does happen) I can't help or fix it.
I go out of my way to help my customers in any way I can... to make things easier for them.  Some of my customers don't have vehicles, are elderly or are in wheelchairs, etc. and I've worked with them to buy their stamps, send packages and other special arrangements. 
If a problem arises, the best thing is to talk to your "regular" carrier first.  If you can't talk to him/her, then leave a note.  If you don't have a "regular" carrier (and even if you do... "Regulars" have days off and vacations, so other people will work the route), you can tape a permanent note in your mailbox that states the last names that receive mail at your address... make it "BOLD" and add "ONLY"(underlined).  I do this for my customers who shared the same house number, but lived on different streets (I have even seen two families of "Petersons" who lived on different streets, but had the same house number).  Auxillery(Accessory) routes usually have the problem of no regular carrier, so there is a lack of consistancy and lots of delivery problems.
If the carrier can't help you, then speak to the supervisor and then the Postmaster... follow up with a letter if this has been an ongoing problem. 
"Communication" is the key and when someone isn't listening... make them listen, cuz we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. 

In regards to your broken screen door, definately(sp?) take action... take pictures, get your dated receipt from when you bought it(new? Right?) and write it down (include the date it happened and keep copies) and go in person to the station (as w/ anything, doing something like this face to face makes things work better and faster) and speak with the supervisor and /or postmaster.
Sorry about my ranting.

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Offline schelmischekitty

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2007, 09:19:10 pm »
i totally agree that people have bad days, and if she hadn't of yanked on the door a little and then pulled harder i'd have let it go for a blonde moment.  unfortunately, we are on an off route that we get a different carrier every day, and sometimes don't see the same one for several weeks (we live in the boondocks).  i think i'll do the sticker on my mail box tomorrow, that's a great idea and i had never thought of that, i hope the mail ppl don't think i'm rude though.  i sure wish you were our carrier!  on the door note, yes it's new, it still even has the stickers on it since we put our own hardware on it, maybe i should put an arrow going in a circle to let ppl know to turn the handle ha ha.  i JUST put it in, this month, we got it for a combined b-day gift from my mom, i think we put it in around the 10th or something like that.  thanks for all your advice, i'll definately go to the office and say something!
steffanie in atlanta

aiden (4), tristan (2), & maya (born sept. 17th)
axle-140ish-lb akita (4)
peanut-5lb, 11 months chihuahua
[img width= height= alt=Image Hosted by ImageShack.us]http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3339/alltogethernowme6.jpg[/img]

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: just a little gripe about my mail people and my NEW screen door, etc.
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2007, 09:36:00 pm »
Awww ,I'm sorry you had a bad experience  :-\

I just wanted to share my GREAT experience from a year and a half ago . Our mail lady always stopped to pet Moose and Allie thru the fence ( our mailbox hangs on the fence) , she'd always comment on how big allie was getting , etc . Well one day I was getting ready to go somewhere and let the dogs out real quick for a potty break before putting them in their kennels , and when I went outside they were gone ! They had pulled back a peice of our chain link and slinked underneath . Anyhow ,I was screaming for them and of course didn't see them anywhere , loaded the kids in the car and started driving around . I just happened to drive by a nearby park hoping they'd run there to swim in the creek and sure enough , there was my mail lady holding them both by their collars , she had seen them running around and chased them , even got in the water to catch them and was going to walk them back to my house !!! Thank God she had them or I don't know what would've happened to them . So I bought her a little doggie angel pin since she's Allie and Moose's guardian angel  ;D
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
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