Problematic mail carrier; what would you do?...

[Holyoak]

My rental home has a door slot through the wall, so no mailbox to receive, or send mail...  The send part is really getting to be a PITA, and my carriers response to the situation is complete horseshit.  Prior to move in, I asked the LL how to handle outgoing mail, and she said "just leave it near the slot, and they will get it".  Well, I did that, and you guessed it, hit or miss pickup.  I caught up to my carrier who walks his route, and asked him what it would take, to have reliable pickup, especially on the many days I don't get mail.  He said leave the mail hanging out of the slot...

I said I would but basically it's like having a 6"x3" hole in the wall, letting out all of the heat/letting moist warm air and bugs come in, so how about if I use a clothespin to hang outgoing near the slot.  No problem he said, so I hoped for the best.  RIGHT!  Of course more missed mail, and to add to the BS he would not scan boxes I gave him, so I had no proof the USPS accepted them.  Enough was enough.

Next time I saw him I politely asked him for a minute of his time, and said I have had outgoing mail missed, other neighbors mail delivered a lot more than I think normal, and would you please scan the boxes I hand you pretty quickly, with the scanner on your belt.  First reply he gave to picking up the mail was a real doozy - "Mail pick-up is a privilege" (said implying not a right, in a tone of be thankful I do it at all).  My expression said it all, and voiced that expression with basically, "You gotta be effing kidding me."

Next up was about scanning the outgoing boxes, and he said begrudgingly that he would try to do it, but him scanning them was not a requirement...  Jesus Christos, WTF???  You know, the world is so crazy that he may be right according to USPS chapter and verse, just the same I've had enough.   I've had some surly letter carriers before, but this is way outta the realm of OK.  I know I can call the Postmaster and have a heart-to-heart, but wonder how much more BS A-hole is gonna exact with a dime dropped?  Yep, I'm frustrated by this piss-poor service, and if you have had similar, what got it fixed?  Thanks   

[SimpleCycle]

What would I do?  I would put my mail in a public mailbox or mail it from work and not give it another thought.  How often are you mailing outgoing mail?  I mail something once every month or two.

[AMandM]

We also have a mail slot. Outgoing mail is attached to the flap by a binder clip, which doesn't hold the flap far open.  On heating/cooling days we stuff a mitten inside to block drafts.

[solon]

Cliff Claven is alive and well.

[Boll weevil]

Cliff Claven is alive and well.

Sounds more like Newman.

[Cranky]

After many years of having a really stellar mail person, he retired and now we have a so-so replacement. Sigh.

If I have something that I really want picked up, I take it to the mailbox down the street - and I actually do mail quite a few things.

[iris lily]

After many years of having a really stellar mail person, he retired and now we have a so-so replacement. Sigh.

If I have something that I really want picked up, I take it to the mailbox down the street - and I actually do mail quite a few things.

Me too. Mr White retired 6 months ago after being our mail carrier for 30 years. But, we still take our outgoing mail to the public box down the block because mail hanging out of our box is too tempting for the thieves around here.

Package theft is rife.

[lizzzi]

I always take letters and parcels to the post office and mail them from there. Then I know they are on their way.

[Lady SA]

I have this same problem, however I don't have the slot. Just a grouping of mailboxes for the apartments and the mailman NEVER takes the outgoing mail, no matter how we try to arrange it or put post-it notes on it pleading him to take it. We spent about 3 months trying different ways to send outgoing mail from our apartment before just giving up.

Now, we just skip the whole frustrating scenario and I just bring mail to work and send from the mailroom on my floor. Its stupid that we had to resort to this, but it gets the job done just as well. Is that something that would work for you?

[PoutineLover]

Wow, first world problems much? Where I live, you either go to the community box to get your mail or the lobby of your building if you live in apartments. Very few people have home delivery anymore. When you want to send mail you do it yourself, either from the post office or a box for letters on the street. Is it really the postman's job to pick up outgoing mail? Seems unreasonable to expect them to do that as a favour to you. I guess if it is his job you can call his supervisor, but I bet they tell you to just mail stuff yourself.

[WalkaboutStache]

I'd read this:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/12/26/cure-yourself-of-tiny-details-exaggeration-syndrome/

[calimom]

What would I do?  I would put my mail in a public mailbox or mail it from work and not give it another thought.  How often are you mailing outgoing mail?  I mail something once every month or two.

Pretty much this.There are always solutions, especially for small problems.

[SpreadsheetMan]

I'd read this:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/12/26/cure-yourself-of-tiny-details-exaggeration-syndrome/

Classic Mr Money Mustache.

[Cgbg]

I have an address twin on the next street over. I’m used to getting her mail and she’s used to getting mine. For years we’d just drop each other’s mail in our respective boxes or stick it back in the box with a note for the carrier.

She finally got fed up last year - I think it was more about package delivery than mail delivery but she took her anger out on the postmaster. The postmaster assigned a different mail person to the route and made the route delivery earlier in the day so that errors could be fixed earlier (not sure how that’s supposed to work, but that’s apparently what they said.)

Anyway, I’m just throwing out there that the postmaster complaint route apparently can work. I haven’t seen her mail for months which is amazing. I also have amazon deliver to the local Whole Foods drop box so I don’t have to worry about getting my packages delivered to the wrong house. It’s on my way home from work so I don’t mind stopping there.

[Lmoot]

I have an outgoing mailbox, and still have always brought out going mail to a P.O. dropbox, or even to the post office itself. There’s way too much risk of it being dropped or lost in the shuffle, having the carrier pick it up. I thought this was pretty common, probably due to similar issues that you’re having.

[Shane]

@Holyoak , is it possible you could use UPS, Fedex or another private mail carrier instead of USPS? A private carrier might be more reliable, and I'm pretty sure they would be happy to do the things you're asking without any complaints...

[Cranky]

Wow, first world problems much? Where I live, you either go to the community box to get your mail or the lobby of your building if you live in apartments. Very few people have home delivery anymore. When you want to send mail you do it yourself, either from the post office or a box for letters on the street. Is it really the postman's job to pick up outgoing mail? Seems unreasonable to expect them to do that as a favour to you. I guess if it is his job you can call his supervisor, but I bet they tell you to just mail stuff yourself.

It *is* the job of the mail carrier to pick up outgoing mail - but only if you have incoming mail.

I'm lucky enough to still have delivery to my front porch, and I do put stuff out for pickup if I'm home around the time the mail comes. I live in a nice safe neighborhood, though.

[SnackDog]

Try to avoid paper and mail as much as possible. Use the internet!  Leave the 20th century behind!

We very rarely receive and basically never send anything in the post.  Those days are over!

[Cali]

I can’t believe nobody has mentioned good will. Next time mail person picks up the mail, thank them and hand over a $10 Starbucks gift card or put a little cooler next to your door with a couple cold bottles of water or gatorade in it from time to time during the summer. When you make people feel like they matter to you they go the extra mile.

And yes I realize this involves the scandalous use of money but I get free bottles of water at various events or free Starbucks gift cards from people from time to time and am happy to pass them along. Plus the cost/benefit of having consistent pickup seems to be very important to you. I just drop my outgoing mail off in our office mailbox and it all goes together. Done.

[Roadrunner53]

If you have a package to mail you can use Paypal to create a label. You can then go to USPS and arrange for a pick up by the post office. I think it has to be Priority Mail only.

We have a mailbox outside and put outgoing letters in the box and put up the red flag to alert the PO delivery guy to pick up the mail. If you live in an apartment building, just take your letters to the blue PO box or the post office. Or as some have said, take your letters to work and put them in the outgoing box.

If you are handicapped call your PO and talk to the Postmaster and explain your situation.

Cali also offered some good solutions too.

We lost our long time PO delivery guy a few years ago. We have gone thru several since. One guy was totally anal. This one winter we had one snow storm after another. My Hub would snow blow and shovel around the mailbox. But this one particular day, the town plow trucks had made a mess around the mail box and this JERKHEAD left a hand drawn diagram of how many feet in front and back of the box should be cleared. Needless to say, the Hub was furious! I went to the PO and talked to the Postmaster. He indicated the guy was a Jerk and this wasn't the first complaint he'd received. He did not last too long on our route. Thank goodness!

[frugaliknowit]

I MINIMIZE my use of the Post Office.

WHAT are you using them for?  Go paperless/digital (as in stop banks, insurance, etc. from mailing you crap...Go PDF and file digitally...)

The only things I mail are (mailbox only...I DON't use the pickup slot in my condo building...too spotty):

1.  Income tax returns once per year
2.  Greeting cards to my elderly mother who is computer illiterate

The only mail I receive regularly:

1.  Property Taxes twice per year (BTW, I don't mail in a check...I pay it at Chase Bank in person...).
2.  My employer's cell phone allowance check once per month.

I DO send and receive some packages...

[redbird]

I agree with others. You can minimize the amount of mail by trying to convert to digital as much as you can. Do online bill pay, sign up for online bank/credit card statements, etc.

If your local post office isn't too unreasonable of a distance from you for you to get to, you can also pre-pay for postage online for packages. It requires having a printer so you can print the postage out. Then you can just tape it to your package and take it to the post office. Since it is pre-paid, you should not have to wait in line. I never do. My post office almost always has lines and I just take my packages right up to the clerks. You can just say it's pre-paid and you're dropping it off. They don't mind. Some clerks prefer it even, since you're not making their line longer unnecessarily and making other customers annoyed by the wait.

This isn't specific to my current post office either. I've moved around a lot in my life and I've done this at many USPS offices.

[katsiki]

We had a problematic carrier a few years ago.  Our solution was to get a PO box.  After a number of years now, I can tell you I really like it.  I pick up mail a few times per week and deal with it when I want to (mostly junk).  This won't solve your outgoing problem really but you could avoid dealing with this person..

Someone mentioned contacting the postmaster.  That is worth a shot.  I did not have any luck that route myself.

Good luck!

[snogirl]

After many years of having a really stellar mail person, he retired and now we have a so-so replacement. Sigh.

If I have something that I really want picked up, I take it to the mailbox down the street - and I actually do mail quite a few things.

Me 3
Our postal person fell in icy winter YIKES broke ribs was out for weeks. It took two replacements to do her job and not very well. The were days in the neighborhood no one got mail. Things miss delivered. But hey as far as pick up I drop my outgoing at a corner drop box wishing it well along the road to happy destiny.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Shane]

Try to avoid paper and mail as much as possible. Use the internet!  Leave the 20th century behind!

We very rarely receive and basically never send anything in the post.  Those days are over!

Agreed. Can't even remember the last time I sent an actual physical letter or package through the USPS. I didn't realize people still did that regularly.

[SnackDog]

The two main things which sustain USPS are bills/invoices/statements (sent first class) and advertising (sent regular class). Correspondence and birthday cards have all but disappeared. All has gone online. USPS volume peaked in 2006 and has declined every year since. At some point it will disappear, but long before that home mail delivery service will not be sustainable (unless stamps go to $10 or drones get real cheap). 

[chasesfish]

The original poster describes the issue at our office - The mailperson has declared this a "dropoff" location only.  We have to mail stuff through a blue box

[Bill76]

We also have a terrible mail carrier. We have a relatively long driveway on a hill, so instead of delivering oversized packages to our front porch, he would just leave them on the ground next to our mailbox or crush the package so it would fit inside. He broke the flag off of our mailbox (it broke from the inside when he stuffed an oversized package into the box) and then wouldn't pick up our outgoing mail because the flag wasn't up.

So we replaced our mailbox with a heavy duty oversized model. So far, he's only managed to partially destroy the door on this one.

When we hold our mail while on vacation, it usually gets delivered anyway, sitting in the box for a week at a time while we're gone. If they do hold it, he usually refuses to deliver the accumulated mail without being reminded. If a package requires a signature, he doesn't bother coming down the hill to ring our doorbell; he just leaves a notice in the mailbox for us to pick it up at the post office the next day. One time, we got a note saying we had to come pick up our mail at the post office because we had "too much" for him to deliver (5-6 moderate sized packages).

We've filed dozens of complaints with the Postmaster and on the USPS website (complete with photographic evidence), but nothing changes. It's reached the point where I'm more amused by the absurdity of it instead of being frustrated.

Being a mail carrier is a hard job. I know more than one current and former mail carriers, and they're all amazed that our carrier is still employed after all the complaints. I guess gross incompetence and negligence is cool. Meanwhile, one of the former carriers I know got fired because she said she couldn't come in to work on her day off because her daughter was home from school with an illness.

[GuitarStv]

What? You get mail delivered to your door? AND they sometimes pick up outgoing mail too? Must be nice.

In my part of the world, mail is delivered to a giant, multi-household box down the street. I have to actually put on pants and walk to pick up my letters and packages. It's so awful. The route is uphill both ways!

This is pretty much what I was thinking.  I've lived my whole life without ever experiencing mail delivery to my door.  It just seems perfectly natural to walk my own stuff down to the mailbox (or post office for parcels) to send them.

[NextTime]

Pretty sure the mail carrier is not required to scan your outgoing packages. They will get scanned when they leave the facility.

Also, I would be surprised if the scanner they carry has a cellular connection.

[PoutineLover]

Wow, first world problems much? Where I live, you either go to the community box to get your mail or the lobby of your building if you live in apartments. Very few people have home delivery anymore. When you want to send mail you do it yourself, either from the post office or a box for letters on the street. Is it really the postman's job to pick up outgoing mail? Seems unreasonable to expect them to do that as a favour to you. I guess if it is his job you can call his supervisor, but I bet they tell you to just mail stuff yourself.

It *is* the job of the mail carrier to pick up outgoing mail - but only if you have incoming mail.

I'm lucky enough to still have delivery to my front porch, and I do put stuff out for pickup if I'm home around the time the mail comes. I live in a nice safe neighborhood, though.

I don't know why I bothered, but I did look up this service. It seems that you can request a pick up for certain types of packages, by online request. So is the OP doing that, or just expecting that the postal worker will know?
https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAPickupAction!input.action

[Sibley]

What would I do? I'd stop by the post office or mailbox when I needed to mail something. OP, you're overthinking this.

[Cranky]

Well, I can’t stop by the Post Office - it’s a long walk. And you can’t put packages into the big regular mailboxes anymore for security reasons. (That’s been years ago, too.)

So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the mail person to collect stuff, but you do have to follow the PO rules. If we didn’t have front door service in my neighborhood, I’d work it out, but since we do, I expect the mailman to do his job.

[marble_faun]

Huh. I've never had mail carriers pick up mail from my house.  In fact I had no idea that others did this... maybe it's more common in rural areas?

We just walk around the corner and drop it in a blue box.  It's no problem at all.

[Cranky]

I'm not in a rural area, but I do live in an older neighborhood. The mailman walks up and down the street delivering mail door to door, and picking up what you leave out.Then he drives back down the street and delivers packages, setting them neatly beside my front door. It's his job, and a rather nicely paying one - with benefits!

My old mailman used to see me walking in the neighborhood and would stop to let me know if I had something important, so it didn't sit there all day. I'm hoping that the new mailman improves over time.

I know that if I lived in a newer neighborhood, there would probably be a central mailbox, but I like my set up better.

[Cadman]

Some of these responses really puzzle me...it's this guy's job to pick up outgoing mail when making a delivery, and people are advocating the OP use their own time/resources/fuel to do what this guy is getting paid for?

Are there no eBay/Etsy sellers here? Does no one have an elderly aunt/uncle/grandparent that sends a birthday or Xmas card and might like a physical letter or note in return? Don't you ever have an outgoing parcel and can't make it to the PO by 5PM closing? Even in 2018 it can make more sense to drop a check in the mail (in the provided return envelope) for property tax/car tag renewal than to burn gas and take an hour out of the day to go over to the court house. Forget using the CC...3% fee.

I grew up in a 70's development with streetside boxes, but door to door is very common in the older parts of town. 

[katsiki]

Some of these responses really puzzle me...it's this guy's job to pick up outgoing mail when making a delivery, and people are advocating the OP use their own time/resources/fuel to do what this guy is getting paid for?

Agreed!  I had a terrible mailman but still agree it is the person's job.

[Roadrunner53]

We need to hear from a Mail person's perspective. Not just his/her desires, what is in the rule book!

[chickinyow]

What would I do?  I would put my mail in a public mailbox or mail it from work and not give it another thought.  How often are you mailing outgoing mail?  I mail something once every month or two.

This!

Also, OP you have now pissed the guy off and I would not be willing to risk my stuff getting "lost". Just find a mailbox when you are out and about. I've never mailed anything from home in my life.

[Lmoot]

Most grocery stores have outboxes, or other type of retail stores. I know it’s the person’s job, but why increase the risk unnecessarily of it getting lost? It’s not their primary task (distributing the mail is). Whereas the primary task of the outbox and outbox collectors, is to pick up mail. I’d want the best man for the job. I don’t want my stuff to travel all around town before finally making it back to the P.O. where it might not even go out that day.