ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Mike Perry’s afternoon walks to his mailbox have ended in disappointment lately.
“I need to see my mail here, so I know what bills I have to pay,” said the Breckenridge Hills resident.
He’s been looking down his block on Dix Avenue hoping to see a mail truck. When he checks his mailbox lately, it’s been empty. Perry said even before the winter weather arrived, mail delivery has been “hit or miss” in recent weeks.
A U.S. Post Office spokesperson tells us the agency is aware of delivery problems in the Breckenridge Hills and Overland areas and is taking steps to address the issues. The recent winter storm resulted in transportation challenges getting mail dispatched to area post offices.
“My wife had noticed we hadn’t got our mail a few days in a row,” said Sycamore Hills resident Dominic Campanella.
He said his wife contacted the post office to see if there was a problem. She was told Covid related absences resulted in a worker shortage and her mail was available to be picked up at the post office.
Perry’s mail did arrive Monday. He hopes the U.S. Post Office will take steps to make sure disruptions are prevented in the future. He worries he will miss a bill notification.
“Hire more people if that’s the problem,” said Perry. “I don’t know what the problem is.”
The U.S. Post office shared the following information:
The Postal Service is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers and we apologize for any inconvenience that may have been experienced. Local management is aware of delivery issues in the Breckenridge Hills and Overland areas of Missouri and is taking steps to address the concerns. The recent winter storm resulted in transportation challenges in getting mail dispatched to Post Offices. We appreciate the patience of our customers and the efforts of employees during challenging times. We will continue flexing our available resources to match the workload and we are proud of the efforts of postal employees as they define essential public service every day.
When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on “Contact us” at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented and appropriate action taken to strengthen service. In addition, the official Twitter account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer’s concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.
Customers can also help us rebound from this winter storm. Customers receiving door delivery should make sure their sidewalks, steps and porches are clear. Customers receiving curbside delivery should remove snow piles left by snowplows to keep access to their mailboxes clear for letter carriers.
Delivery service may be delayed or curtailed whenever streets or walkways present hazardous conditions for letter carriers or when snow is plowed against mailboxes. The Postal Service curtails delivery only after careful consideration, and only as a last resort. Any curtailed mail is attempted the next delivery day.
