Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

What does the carrier or post office do if my home-based business gets too much mail to fit in my cluster mailbox (on a regular basis)? I can potentially see getting two or three crates of mail daily.

Asked by James almost 12 years ago

I am not sure what your post office or letter carrier will do if you are unable to provide a large enough receptacle for your daily mail delivery. Since you live in a place with only cluster boxes, it seems you have no choice in the matter. If I were able to get to your actual unit or apt. door, I'd likely leave the mail by the door and maybe ring your doorbell. I don't know the procedure for where you live and from what I hear on this Q and A board and from other msg boards, the delivery procedure is far from uniform in multi-unit dwellings. One option is to rent a PO Box which come in different sizes, but that would require an extra cost and a trip to your Post Office on a regular basis. If you stop in to your local post office and present this question to a delivery supervisor, hopefully they can give you a better answer. Good luck with your home-based business.

1015 Votes

So I sent my Boyfriend a care package and I forgot to put his apartment number on the address. As I tracked it, it said it was delivered, yet he hasn't received it. I also didnt put a reture address on it. Where do you think it could be?

Asked by Tera about 12 years ago

Tera, I am sorry but I don't know where the package you sent your boyfriend is, though I think you knew that already. If a letter carrier can't figure out which apt. # a piece of mail should go to, they often will have it returned to sender though I realize you left off your address as well. The package was either delivered to the wrong apt number or sent to an office that handles undeliverable mail. I am not sure where that office is or what happens to items sent there.

1014 Votes

I live in a small ME town. For 13 years the postman would put any packages inside my front door. They called me a few months ago and said they can't do this anymore. I'm old so it's hard to go out in the snow/ice to get them. Is this a new policy?

Asked by Susan over 12 years ago

I don't know the policy for whether or not to leave a package inside the door or not. I will leave a parcel inside a mailbox if it fits. If it doesn't fit, then I will bring the package to the front door of the house or put it inside a vestibule. I will leave the item if nobody is home and a signature isn't required because I deliver mail in a very safe,suburban NY community. The suggestion that I have in your situation is to call your PO and speak with the delivery supervisor or postmaster to see if an exception can be made for your situation. I dont know what the result will be or what the official policy is.

1013 Votes

A relative thought it was a good idea to place gift bags for my kids in our mailbox with the flag up figuring it would signal to us that there was something in there. Well apparently the mailman took them! I was told the mailbox was USPS property!..?

Asked by Jennifer about 12 years ago

I don't know that the mailbox is technically USPS property. It should only be used for US Mail as far as I know. The mailman probably shouldn't have taken the gift bags if they weren't properly addressed and contatined sufficient postage. Having the flag up does generally signal that somebody has outgoing mail so we know to stop there even if there is no "incoming" mail to that address. I would look at any item that is in a customers mailbox and it is usually quite apparent if it is meant as outgoing mail or not. That being said, I would never recommend that anybody leave anything in a mailbox that isn't associated with US Mail or the USPS. I think in most cases the gift bags would have been left alone in the mailbox, but we have employees among us who aren't that sharp or mayne they were just trying to prove a point that non-mail items should be in the mailbox. I can't comment on why the gift bags disappeared. It is just speculation on my part.

1012 Votes

Also on Jobstr...

Personal Injury Lawyer

How do I get out of jury duty?

Fashion Model

How prevalent are eating disorders in modeling?

CPR Trainer

Are men better at CPR than women because they're generally stronger?

i think the usps gave my package to the r\wrong address

Asked by moshe ratner about 12 years ago

That is certainly possible. We do make errors. I don't know how to proceed from here, except if you think you know where it went to you could contact the USPS to see if they could contact the "wrong" recipient to get the package back though I don't know how likely that is. Good luck

1012 Votes

I have a vacation hold on my mail, but my carrier decides to take one piece out and give it to my neighbor with the request that she contact me as the carrier "thinks" the piece of mail might be "important." Is this against USPS rules?

Asked by Neeliec almost 12 years ago

I think it is wrong for a letter carrier to make any type of judgment whether or not a piece of mail is important or not. They shouldn't be involving a neighbor since the neighbor may or may not have any type of relationship with the customer and shouldn't be privy to any of the type or content of mail received by you. When a customer puts their mail on hold, I treat all mail the same way no matter if it looks like a check, biill, automobile advertisement, donation request, etc. It is definitely not our job to judge anything about the mail and I would suggest it is very much against the rules even though your carrier meant well. Thanks for writing.

1011 Votes

I wrote wrong street adress(I missed some letters) but zip code I wrote correctly. I will get my package or not?

Asked by Mikas about 12 years ago

Mikas, I think it is very likely you will receive your package as long as the clerks in your PO can figure out which street you meant to put in your address and that it isn't similarly named with another street in the same ZIP code. The ZIP code is definitely a very important piece of the address to get correct because that will result in at least getting the package to the right PO building and the staff there will hopefully (and likely) be able to figure out the intended address.

1010 Votes

Showing 400 - 406

Show All

821 More Answers by Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Last 7

55 56 57 58 59 60

...

Next 7 Answers

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What does the carrier or post office do if my home-based business gets too much mail to fit in my cluster mailbox (on a regular basis)? I can potentially see getting two or three crates of mail daily.

So I sent my Boyfriend a care package and I forgot to put his apartment number on the address. As I tracked it, it said it was delivered, yet he hasn't received it. I also didnt put a reture address on it. Where do you think it could be?

I live in a small ME town. For 13 years the postman would put any packages inside my front door. They called me a few months ago and said they can't do this anymore. I'm old so it's hard to go out in the snow/ice to get them. Is this a new policy?

A relative thought it was a good idea to place gift bags for my kids in our mailbox with the flag up figuring it would signal to us that there was something in there. Well apparently the mailman took them! I was told the mailbox was USPS property!..?

Also on Jobstr...

i think the usps gave my package to the r\wrong address

I have a vacation hold on my mail, but my carrier decides to take one piece out and give it to my neighbor with the request that she contact me as the carrier "thinks" the piece of mail might be "important." Is this against USPS rules?

I wrote wrong street adress(I missed some letters) but zip code I wrote correctly. I will get my package or not?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What does the carrier or post office do if my home-based business gets too much mail to fit in my cluster mailbox (on a regular basis)? I can potentially see getting two or three crates of mail daily.

So I sent my Boyfriend a care package and I forgot to put his apartment number on the address. As I tracked it, it said it was delivered, yet he hasn't received it. I also didnt put a reture address on it. Where do you think it could be?

I live in a small ME town. For 13 years the postman would put any packages inside my front door. They called me a few months ago and said they can't do this anymore. I'm old so it's hard to go out in the snow/ice to get them. Is this a new policy?

A relative thought it was a good idea to place gift bags for my kids in our mailbox with the flag up figuring it would signal to us that there was something in there. Well apparently the mailman took them! I was told the mailbox was USPS property!..?

Also on Jobstr...

i think the usps gave my package to the r\wrong address

I have a vacation hold on my mail, but my carrier decides to take one piece out and give it to my neighbor with the request that she contact me as the carrier "thinks" the piece of mail might be "important." Is this against USPS rules?

I wrote wrong street adress(I missed some letters) but zip code I wrote correctly. I will get my package or not?

Login

Forgot Your Password?

Register