Friday, March 6, 2015

Post office rule change leads to mail non-delivery


From PIX11:

For almost four months, postal carriers have been passing by 97-05 103rd Ave., an apartment building in Ozone Park, Queens, without making any attempt to deliver the mail. The tenants have been forced to go to the local post office, 10 blocks away, to pick up their mail. Why?

Landlords Mike Tummolo and his son Mike Jr. say instead of the postman carrying keys to open the front doors of the apartment buildings on his route, as he used to, in November the Postal Service began requiring a box on the outside of the apartment buildings where the key to the front door could be kept. The Tummolos put the box in, but the Postal Service said it’s too far away from the door. The landlord says they were never told where the box had to be and it’s too cold to move it now.

“The cement doesn’t set well when it’s that cold”, said Mike, Jr., who sought to work out a middle ground with the post office to ensure delivery, and then move the box when the weather got better.

But the postal service said no, and has refused to deliver mail to the building ever since. The surveillance cameras show the carriers walking past the building, past the key keeper box, never stopping.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a new postal worker putting in my mail slot that it had to be a certain width so he or she could just dump my mail on the stoop. I' know when my mail is just dumped on the doorsteps it's that postal worker. Some people take advantage of being in an Union.

JQ said...

I don't know how being in a union is relevant to this story. It's that the postal workers on that route are uncooperative lazy jerks.

It's a damn shame that the only way to get a semblance of justice is to be on the news. What do everyone have smartphones for? Film everything.

Anonymous said...

There are mailbox and door slot "guidelines" on the USPS website, but it doesn't say that if your box or slot is not in compliance, they will not deliver to your house or just throw your mail on the stoop. It seems like some of their workers are just looking for a reason to not do their job.

I remember a story several years ago where someone complained that their letter carrier would walk across their lawn instead of using the path, and was told by the USPS that their workers are told to always use the most direct/shortest route possible, even if that means walking across peoples' lawns. Maybe they should experiment with using drones to just drop our mail...

Roger said...

This doesn't surprise me. Our mail service (Queens) is pretty bad. Our "regular" mail carrier has frequent substitutes, and we get our neighbors' mail all the time, and I have to assume the neighbors get our mail.

Anonymous said...

That lazy old dinosaur of the U.S. Postal Service will be history soon. Too many civil service lifers holding us up. Email and private carriers are the new age. Then we have to pay those pensioners for the lousy service they delivered by late or non delivery of our mail. At least then we won't have to worry about some Berkowitz (son of Sam) going "postal".

Anonymous said...

The Chinese have found a refuge in the postal system. A lot of them taking civil service exams to park their asses in a post office. Evidence has been found that the learn enough English to get through the exams and get by. But their limited knowledge hinders efficiency. A few cases have been uncovered where misunderstanding of addresses have led to late deliveries. In some cases mail was discarded.

Anonymous said...

That's funny, I had a lockbox installed at my building, when I installed a new intercom a few years ago, right under the intercom. Yet the post office/post man refuse to ensble it and to use it, instead they opt to carry the key instead!

Anonymous said...

Roger:
We have similar experience when the substitute delivers the mail. We've had magazines returned to sender with the note "not deliverable" and neighbors letters delivered to us.

Anonymous said...

Now that the USPS morons have been shamed, the mail will be delivered normally until spring when concrete can be poured. Hahahhah maybe but I would not bet my life on this.

Anonymous said...

http://wtnh.com/2015/02/25/mail-carrier-accused-of-throwing-away-mail-is-named/

Here's one about a PO worker chucking mail into the trash

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
The Chinese have found a refuge in the postal system. A lot of them taking civil service exams to park their asses in a post office. Evidence has been found that the learn enough English to get through the exams and get by. But their limited knowledge hinders efficiency. A few cases have been uncovered where misunderstanding of addresses have led to late deliveries. In some cases mail was discarded.
...................................................
AMEN!!!

Anonymous said...

It does seem odd that so many workers behind the glass partition at the post office share the same ethnicity.

Anyway, my apartment building has a very friendly and timely postman. He takes your packages when you need to send something, drops things at your door upon request and looks out the hallway window to make sure his double-parked truck isn't blocking anyone. I haven't asked him his name yet, but he's worth his pay.

Anonymous said...

Roger said...
"Our "regular" mail carrier has frequent substitutes, and we get our neighbors' mail all the time"
My mail as well and I live in the magnificent and superb neighborhood called North Flushing. We have terrible mail service, noise from LGA from 6AM-12PM, illegal conversions all over and the worse mail service delivered by substitute carriers.

Anonymous said...

re: the union aspect of any employment

How difficult is it to fire a worker who is consistently doing a poor job and refuses to change when that person is a union member versus "at will" employees?

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