MailmanDave
17 Years Experience
Long Island, NY
Male, 43
I am a City Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service in NY. I've been a city letter carrier for over 17 years and it is the best job I've ever had. I mostly work 5 days per week (sometimes includes a Saturday) and often have the opportunity for overtime, which is usually voluntary. The route I deliver has about 350 homes and I walk to each of their doors to deliver the mail. Please keep in mind that I don't have authority to speak for the USPS, so all opinions are solely mine, not my employer.
Your postal carrier shouldn't be misdelivering the mail at all. We all make mistakes but it shouldn't be a regular occurrence as you imply happens with your neighbor's mail coming to you. I think it's nice of you to bring it to your neighbor but you certainly don't have to. It is not rude whatsoever to leave the mail in your mailbox so the carrier can see it and hopefully deliver it correctly. I know you may not feel comfortable leaving a note in your mailbox with the incorrectly delivered mail stating that this is a regular occurrence and please be more careful with your delivery, but this type of note would be entirely appropriate. I care so much about delivering properly that I appreciate it when a customer tells me about an errant delivery or leaves the letter in their mailbox to be re-delivered. I wish all of my co-workers felt the same way. Some do and some don't. Thanks for your question.
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I have just copied and pasted the answer I posted from a previous q with similar wording:
I don't know the answer to this. My guess is as long as it isn't being held in customs for further inspection, then it should clear in a couple of days. When I see items from overseas that is postmarked it seems that it took 7-10 days total from when it was mailed. I'm just going on observation here and don't have any inside knowledge on what the goal is to clear international packages for delivery.
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In most apartments, just like houses, mail is delivered 6 days week (every day except Sundays and Holidays). If there is outgoing mail, it should be taken at that same time. Many apartment cluster boxes have a slot for outgoing mail. If not, the mail should be deposited in a blue collection box which are at the Post Office or in the street in various locations. With regards to asking a mail lady to sell you stamps, you can ask but we aren't required to carry stamps as city letter carriers. I carry a few with that I purchase with my own money and will put them on envelopes if someone has short-paid the postage or if they need a stamp. Sometimes I'll ask them for the money, sometimes I won't. The whole scenario doesn't happen too often. I am a stickler for the proper postage being affixed to mail so I sometimes I won't accept a letter with insufficient postage and leave a note or write on the envelope that add'l postage is required.
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Phil, it sounds like you were using our EDDM Retail service which allows mailers to target an area of the town with a simplified (unaddressed) mailing which would go to each address on a route or group of routes. EDDM stands for Every Door Direct Mail. It has been very popular since it was introduced by the USPS several years ago. It is very bad that a postal carrier would deliver it to just one address though I have heard this complaint before. I don't know what your rights are re: a refund of the mailing costs. I'd contact your local postmaster or escalate to our consumer affairs department (which I think we have) to try and make sure it doesn't happen again. I don't believe you are eligible for any damage beyond the cost of the postage, but I could be wrong about this. Hearing a complaint like this doesn't surprise me as I get the impression that these mailings (EDDM) aren't treated as well as addressed mail but absolutely should be. We are paid to deliver the mail accordingly. I'm sorry that you had this bad experience with the USPS and hope you would give us another chance.
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I didn't realize you'd be doing such a large mailing. I believe that amt of postcards would qualify for a discount but sometimes it depends on the quantity of pieces for a certain area, how the mailing is prepared, and where you enter it into the system (some large mailings are cheaper to drop off at a mail plant vs. a local PO). The name for a bulk mailing discount is usually called presort standard and presort first class Mail. The standard doesn't get handled as quickly as first class mail which is why it's cheaper. I am sure the answer is quite a bit more complex than what I've told you. Some resources that I'd look for are the Direct Marketing Association or search for "USPS bulk mailing discounts" or "basics of bulk mailing USPS". If stamps or meters are not affixed to your postcards you can't just drop them in a mailbox. The mailing would need to be processed through the BMEU (business mail entry unit). You may also need to get a bulk mailing permit to use an indicia and get a discount. I don't know these details at all. You ask good questions but my area of knowledge has more to do with the job of a city letter carrier. That is why I'm not being any more specific. Anything I've typed here is what I've learned over the years by asking my associates similar questions that you have asked. None of this knowledge is necessary to be a letter carrier.
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I think I understand your question. You are asking if an item that is insured or signature confirmation can be signed for on a 3849 and left out by the customer for the item to be delivered without the customer present or do they have to sign for it at a PO. In the area where I deliver mail, it is sufficient for a signed 3849 to be an authorization to leave an item at the address even if nobody is present. For domestic registered mail, I'd advise against this because the items may contain very valuable items so I might be uncomfortable just leaving them without a recipient available. I rarely get domestic registered (red label) mail to deliver so I can't say for sure what I do in each situation. To me, domestic registered mail is the most secure service we offer and needs to be treated accordingly.
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It's a very good question with a pretty easy answer. In our office, besides the regular letter carriers who deliver the same route daily, we have a group of carrier technicians (aka floaters) who deliver the mail when a carrier has a day off during the week. As much as mail is delivered Mon-Sat most carriers are only obligated to work 5 of those days. To also help fill the gap when a carrier is sick or on vacation or out for any reason a CCA (city carrier assistant) can deliver the mail. If we are very short-staffed (common in the office where I work), we deliver our own routes and then take part of the vacant route and deliver that, usually for OT pay. That is usually :30-1:00 of additional delivery time but could be longer.
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