r/usps_complaints

About 6 weeks ago I lost the key to my apartment’s mail box. The building management doesn’t have a spare and neither does our landlord. The building manager said we’d have to go to the post office to order a replacement.

So, a day later I go to the post office and ask about getting a spare key. The post office staff prints out some blank receipt paper and has me write my name, address, apartment number and phone number on it. Then he charges me $25 dollars for the replacement fee and says the post office will call me in 10-20 days.

6 weeks later and I still haven’t gotten a call. So, this past Monday I go back to the post office and ask about the key. The staff member at the desk says she’ll go and check. She goes into the back and pulls out a clipboard with a bunch of slips of receipt paper, presumably filled out the same way mine was, and says the key isn’t in yet. I ask when it will be and she shrugs.

Keep in mind, my dad passed away a few months ago and I’m in the process of selling his house. However, because he was a federal employee and OPM is apparently being run by 2 people at the moment, the process of collecting his unpaid wages, any deaths benefits and his tax forms has been one of the most tortuous and unnecessarily complicated tasks I have ever undertaken, and has only recently gotten to the point where they are sending out important mail regarding all of the above. However, they are sending mail with time or security sensitive information to his old house, as are his insurance companies, his old banks where the accounts have been closed and a variety of other entities who I’ve been working with to wrap up the probate process. Getting anybody to send mail to my address instead of his has been a stupidly impossible and inconsistent process as well.

All that said, there is a shit load of important mail going to his house. So, I tried to get his address changed to mine. The penultimate step in that process is filling out a secondary form USPS sends to the new address, that I would have to fill out and bring back to the post office. However, this secondary form expires after 20 days. Well guess what, my attempts to intercept the form (catch the mailman as he’s opening my mailbox and stuffing it) have led to me opening USPS’ letter with the second form and finding out it’s expired. I am on my 3rd attempt to change his address.

So, remember how I visited the post office this past Monday? After the staff member shuffled through the clipboard covered in receipt paper and told me my key wasn’t ready, I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to, so she got her manager. The manager told me she has no idea when my mail key will be ready, “it could be years” (HER WORDS NOT MINE), because there’s only THREE people in the city responsible for changing mailbox locks and replacing mailbox keys.

She then told me to stop my mail and just start picking it up at the post office. So I filled out the forms and did it. But guess what, the mailman hasn’t taken the weeks worth of mail stuck in my mailbox out and brought it back to the post office so I can collect it yet. The post office staff told me that they “don’t know when it’ll get brought back” or “if it will get brought back” and “they can’t say for sure”.

SO. Weeks worth of important mail that’s got banking info, tax forms, death benefit info, probate documents from the court and every other important thing is now TRAPPED in my fucking mailbox and there is ZERO guarantee that USPS is going to bring it back to the post office so I can collect it. Furthermore, I can’t fucking sell my dad’s house because I can’t change his fucking address. AND I MAY NOT BE BE ABLE TO USE MY MAILBOX FOR YEARS!!!!

How the fuck is any of this legal? How the fuck does something like this even happen??? Who can I talk to to fix it??? Am I basically completely fucked/ unable to do anything until USPS decides that my pain has quenched their sick sadistic thirst for suffering???

Edit: thank you to everyone that’s been helpful! From what I’m gathering, seems like this is more of a clerical error.

It’s a package we have to sign for. The first time she attempted to drop it off, my husband was home but didn’t answer the door. We got a notice saying we would need to pick a date and time for redelivery. I did exactly that and the mail lady did not attempt to drop off the package that day. I stayed home all day to ensure I was there. I check my mail every day and this morning I went to check it and there was another notice in my mailbox saying that she attempted delivery again… 3 days after my request and that I had to pick it up at usps now. I’m now feeling frustrated because she dropped the notice in my mailbox on 5/12, but said the attempt was on 5/11. I was home all day that day and I checked my cameras… no one ever came to my door. I just don’t know if there is anything I can do about this?

Hey guys today, I had a very bad altercation at a local post office while trying to obtain a new passport for my newborn daughter . Arrived there on time, but there was a long line I had checked in with a lady that was sitting behind some kind of desk/office ,but there was only one clerk working. By the time I got to the clerk, it was 15 minutes after my appointment. She told me that I had missed my appointment. I explained to her that I had checked in earlier, but because she was so busy I decided to wait in line respectfully. After that, she got very disrespectful and told me that I was a liar and asked me to leave or she will call the police . As you guys can imagine it was very embarrassing and very disrespectful and draining. I felt belittled and disrespected. I decided to not leave and I stepped a little bit to the side and asked to speak to a supervisor, the supervisor took about 10 minutes to come out and when he did come out, he was very respectful and listen to my side of the story and went and confirmed with the first lady that I had checked in with that I did actually check in and I did the right thing . He apologized and told me to wait just a little bit while he went over and spoke to the employee to tell her that she needs to serve me because I did not do anything wrong. However, she firmly refused and told her Supervisor no I will not serve him. He can wait till 4 PM to the other employee gets in and she can serve him. To cut it short I’m basically reaching out here to see what kind of action I can take in this situation. I have already filed a complaint to the USPS website however I don’t know if I will get much of a response or if they will escalate the situation.

I’ve messaged support in the app and sent an email with no response. The post office says I need to get in touch with triumph about proceeding. The package arrived with a clear razor cut across the back and tape placed over the cut. Box was still I the envelope but no card. USPS stamped the front of the envelope with “received unsealed”. I’m uncertain what my next steps need to be. Any advice would be appreciated. This happened somewhere between California and South Carolina, the package is insured and USPS acts like it’s my problem to deal with. If something is stolen in their possession.. how is that not covered by insurance and just delt with..

I ordered a PS Portal online it was supposed to arrive yesterday but it never arrived but it was marked as delivered in my mail at 6:43 PM and my mailbox is pretty damn small and there's no way a PS Portal will fit inside. Thing is, USPS never delivers that late in my area. I've received all my packages from USPS between 3 and 4 pm and as late as 5 pm. And I have a Ring Camera that faces the entrance of the apartment where they'll come in and throughout these years my Ring Camera ALWAYS detects and records if USPS is entering the apartment with my packages. How do I go from here?

Mine has been sitting at a local distribution center for over a week now. Just hoping to hear more feedback from people experiencing similar delays. Did you get it eventually or is it still out there?

Have 4 items either coming or going throughout the US, and none has tracked in the last 24 hours. Would feel that may be a system issue? Weird. UPDATE: One arrived yesterday, 2 more out for delivery today….But tracking still has been slow. GL all with your packages