Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1236 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

I think I put an unopened letter that was already delivered to me in a post office mailbox by mistake. What's going to happen to it? Will it come back to me, go to the sender or what? Thank you.

Asked by Miles over 11 years ago

I think it's likely to just come back to you a day or 2 later since it was unopened and didn't say "unknown" or "return to sender". I hope you get back your unopened piece of mail.

796 Votes

Can you recommend particular shoes and snow boots for letter carriers?

Asked by jc over 10 years ago

I don't have any specific recommendations with regards to brands to purchase fro regular shoes. The shoes that are purchased with the uniform allowance have to bear the SR/USA tag which I believe stands for Slip Resistant/United States of America. I just make sure that I have footwear that will keep my feet dry and warm in inclement weather. If it snows, I wear my regular workshoes but have high rubber slip resistant waterproof boots. The brand of those are Tingley Weather-Tuff Stretch high-top 10"boots, or the Weather-Tuff Stretch Rubber Overshoes (which is good for rain, but not more than a couple of inches of snow to walk through). Thank you for your question as good footwear is vital to making it through a workday comfortably.

795 Votes

What dose it mean when a postman comes to your door to ask if this person lives at this address but wont let you know who is asking ?

Asked by teresa beecham about 10 years ago

Teresa, I am not sure what that means. I do have two theories on what it might be. First, sometimes I have a piece of mail addressed to a house and I'm not familiar with that name receiving mail there and I want to make sure that I'm delivering the mail properly. In that case I will either knock on the door and ask if that name should receive mail there or (actually more often) I will just put a "?" next to the name that I'm inquiring about and deliver the letter. In that case whoever receives the letter can leave it out for me the next day if the name in question is not correct. The second theory, which may be the one in your case, is that a law firm, collection agency, or IRS, etc., or someone else wants to know if a certain name resides at your address. They will mail the PO a special form requesting that information and then we will fill out the form confirming that the name in question receives mail at that address or not. I've never actually went to someone's door to ask because I know if the name in question is valid or not. I don't know that we aren't allowed to divulge who is asking because I've never been in that situation. Anyhow, I would guess that it's optional whether or not you want to divulge that information to the postman or not. We can't force you to do that. Please be advised that these are just speculations on my part as to what it means when the mailman came to your door to ask if a person lives at your address. Thanks for writing.

794 Votes

Can a mailman place a stamp on a letter and mark a big "x" across the stamp and deliver the letter himself or have a Co - worker deliver the letter without it going through the USPS mail system?

Asked by Just asking over 9 years ago

I am sure this is done sometimes and possibly even without a stamp (which I think is very wrong to do). I sometimes see a card or letter being mailed from one customer on the route to another. I guess I could just cancel the stamp with a pen and deliver the letter directly, but I put the mail into the regular outgoing mail dispatch and have it run through the system. Delivery time is usually 2 days later. I have never heard either way if there is a proper procedure to be followed. If a co-worker gave me a letter to be delivered, I'd likely deliver it without it going through the mail processing system. It rarely comes up though.

794 Votes

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I have a garage door mail drop but the postal carrier always leaves mail hanging out of it. There are mail thieves in the area. I tried calling the PO to complain but they won't answer. What kind of note can I leave for the carrier that will help?

Asked by Cam over 11 years ago

You bring up a valid concern in my opinion. I'm sorry that you have had no luck calling your local PO. my suggestion would be to put a small note near the mail slot saying "please push all mail completely through garage door slot. Thank you." I hope that helps. You can also mention it to your letter carrier if you ever see them in person.

794 Votes

was the post office ever open on Sundays

Asked by Price about 11 years ago

I don't know the answer, but I would suspect that as a whole the answer is no. The retail window in some major cities at certain stations still do open on Sunday. The one that comes to mind is the Farley PO in midtown Manhattan which is open from 11A-7P on Sundays. Their retail window used to be open 24/7 until a few years ago.

793 Votes

I had an issue that I believe may have been a scam. I ordered something and the person says that the USPS used an international express form instead of USA and that the package is sitting in US customs waiting to be sent to "sender" not "addressee" ?

Asked by Tammy McClintock over 10 years ago

I don't understand the question. I don't know about the different forms which are required for shipments which come from other countries. Do you know if the item was coming from an international source? I don't know why the item in US Customs would be labeled as to be sent to sender. That wouldn't be good as you are the addressee and not the sender. If the sender is just giving you a bunch of excuses and not offering any refund, it could be a scam. I'm sorry that I have no knowledge about the ins and outs of US Customs and shipping of items.

793 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I think I put an unopened letter that was already delivered to me in a post office mailbox by mistake. What's going to happen to it? Will it come back to me, go to the sender or what? Thank you.

Can you recommend particular shoes and snow boots for letter carriers?

What dose it mean when a postman comes to your door to ask if this person lives at this address but wont let you know who is asking ?

Can a mailman place a stamp on a letter and mark a big "x" across the stamp and deliver the letter himself or have a Co - worker deliver the letter without it going through the USPS mail system?

Also on Jobstr...

I have a garage door mail drop but the postal carrier always leaves mail hanging out of it. There are mail thieves in the area. I tried calling the PO to complain but they won't answer. What kind of note can I leave for the carrier that will help?

was the post office ever open on Sundays

I had an issue that I believe may have been a scam. I ordered something and the person says that the USPS used an international express form instead of USA and that the package is sitting in US customs waiting to be sent to "sender" not "addressee" ?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

I think I put an unopened letter that was already delivered to me in a post office mailbox by mistake. What's going to happen to it? Will it come back to me, go to the sender or what? Thank you.

Can you recommend particular shoes and snow boots for letter carriers?

What dose it mean when a postman comes to your door to ask if this person lives at this address but wont let you know who is asking ?

Can a mailman place a stamp on a letter and mark a big "x" across the stamp and deliver the letter himself or have a Co - worker deliver the letter without it going through the USPS mail system?

Also on Jobstr...

I have a garage door mail drop but the postal carrier always leaves mail hanging out of it. There are mail thieves in the area. I tried calling the PO to complain but they won't answer. What kind of note can I leave for the carrier that will help?

was the post office ever open on Sundays

I had an issue that I believe may have been a scam. I ordered something and the person says that the USPS used an international express form instead of USA and that the package is sitting in US customs waiting to be sent to "sender" not "addressee" ?

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