Residents talk post office problems, defend carriers
On Wednesday, The News Leader published a story about a Staunton resident not receiving her mail. Later that day, we decided to ask readers to share their experiences and added the following inside the story:
Have you had issues in your area with postal delivery? Or, have you had a great experience with USPS you want to share? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at localnews@newsleader.com.
What we didn't expect was the number of responses we received. We want to write stories you care about and clearly this one struck a chord. Here's what we've learned so far.
People not receiving their mail is an ongoing issue
Rhonda Strickler: I am a Middlebrook/McKinley resident and there were days we as well did not receive our mail.
Robin Stover: The mail delivery in Staunton is a joke. I picked up my mail yesterday to find a cut off notice for today that was sent out on Jan 13th.
Robin Duncan: I'm the one that posted on Facebook about the mail. I did not get the correct mail yesterday. I actually received mail, months ago, that belonged to someone from Covington, Va., that was deceased. One thing I'd like to find out — where is the 14 days of my mail that I've not received? It's 6:15 p.m. and we just checked, and, no mail. Thank you for your article.
Bob Dunlap: I could tell you all kinds of things about the Post Office. I worked there 31 years and there are tons of horror stories. I am also a customer in Mt. Crawford that gets mail about twice a week. People complaining is a joke to the management.
Ann Barnett: Just read your article about the postal service and want to add my route (Walnut Hills Road- between Rt 11 and Rt 340) to the mix. After the MLK holiday, no mail was delivered for four days and the same lack of delivery has occurred multiple times. I even asked neighbors if they were receiving their mail because I thought mine was being stolen.
It's happening in multiple places
Alan Heffner: We have had the same problem with very late mail and/or no mail delivery in the recent past in the Mt. Solon area. It has now improved, but for several weeks we did not get our mail until late at night when it was very dark or we received no mail for several days.
Lindsey Shiflett: Me and my husband moved into my mom's house in Augusta County for a few months Sept. 2021 while we waited for our house to become available. I noticed I was getting less and less mail. We moved into our house in Broadway Jan 2022, still having the same issue with getting less mail.
Chanda McGuffin: This mail carrier issue has happened way longer than January. We are still waiting on a check from Staunton to Waynesboro from last summer. Also, Waynesboro Post Office stopped delivering to our business address the entire month of December. We had to file a formal complaint the first part of January. The next two days we received a stack of mail with about 10 pieces of mail in one day. There sat four different checks we had been waiting on throughout December. ... These checks are donations to help our non profit run. Thousands of dollars just not delivered to us. This hurts our children not the post office.
The first story: No carrier, no mail: Post Office blues hit the area
Residents support their carriers and think they are worked too hard
Have you had a great experience with your mail carrier that you want to share? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at localnews@newsleader.com.
Cindy Connors: I have had excellent service by the letter carriers on Skyline Ave. in Staunton. Despite short staffing, Covid, weather, I receive mail daily. Even when my regular carrier was absent for an extended period of months due to a major health injury, and my route had to be delivered by other carriers, sometimes after they had already carried another route, my service continued. Due to short staffing that began during Covid and has not improved, these carriers consistently work over ten hours per day, seven days a week. They deliver billions of pieces to more than 150 million addresses, six (sometimes seven) days a week. Their last mile of delivery network is key to the success of UPS and FedEx since the Post Office delivers millions of their packages. If it sounds like I am a supporter of the USPS, I am. I retired in 2015.
Rhonda Strickler: We have a very reliable mail carrier, but when he is off our mail does not get delivered.
We will continue to report on this topic. Emails were edited to reduce length.
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Reporter Monique Calello can be reached at mcalello@newsleader.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Residents talk post office problems, defend carriers
