the us post office. uu. he has a tough job and, for the most part, he does it well. but you’re probably reading this because you tried to forward your mail and discovered that usps mail forwarding wasn’t working.
everyone makes mistakes, right? the real problem with the post office is that when they make mistakes, they don’t have a good system to correct them.
In my experience, when something goes wrong, especially if it’s their fault, many post offices will not do anything to help you fix it. They should have a clear system for getting help, but they don’t.
This article covers some possible solutions. they range from continuing to file complaints until you get somewhere to giving up and switching to a virtual mailbox service (we like the traveling mailbox).
I’m sorry to say, but the last option will be tempting when you get to the end here.
mail forwarding? what is that?
It started a few years ago when I moved from one zip code to another. I set up a forwarding request from the old zip code to the new zip code.
I then submitted the reshipment form to the carrier before the date I wanted the reshipment to begin, as I had been instructed to do. immediately, even before I moved, I stopped receiving emails.
everything was returned to senders, including important checks and bills. the carrier just shrugged when I brought it up and didn’t seem interested in helping.
calling the 1-800 number was not helpful. they just said i had to call my local post office and they gave me the local number.
calling the post office didn’t help either, because the supervisors were never available. I spent a lot of time driving to the post office and talking to a supervisor to get it fixed.
but it was as if the supervisor had never seen a resend order before. Before my very eyes, he explained what he had done “wrong” several times, only to realize that he had actually done everything right.
In the end, it seemed that the supervisor understood where to send my mail now. but he wasn’t convinced they would fix the problem. and it was already too late for many of the important emails that I had already missed.
so I spent a lot of time and energy calling everyone who sent me bills or checks on a regular basis. I had to give them my new address and warn them to expect returned mail.
luckily everyone took really good care of me, but it was still a month before I had all my late checks and bills in the new place, because it took so long for the mail to get back to sender.
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Meanwhile, some emails from my bank were returned, causing the bank to close my ATM card for fear of fraud. that was another long and inconvenient phone call for me.
does mail forwarding become mail reversal?
but that’s not the worst. I thought my mail forwarding issues were resolved until a few months later when I bought something on ebay.
I bought some old items that couldn’t be replaced. they never arrived.
After a few weeks, I emailed the sender and asked what address they were sent to. he replied with my new address and also gave me a tracking number.
I checked the tracking number on the USPS website: it said my package arrived on August 6 at my old address. His own tracking showed that he had been given to the wrong person.
do you understand? my new post office, for lack of a better term, forwarded it to my old one.
The package mysteriously disappeared forever. they swore the mailman had delivered it, so they assumed the new tenants of my old apartment had opened the mail and put it away.
I asked the post office to investigate how this happened. I was assured that I would receive a call within two days.
but of course I didn’t. I never heard anything again and never got even an apology.
Since then, I have spoken to several people who had reverse forwarding happen to them once their forwarding order expired. it appears that forwarding is no longer a function usps can handle.
vacation replacement? never heard of that
I also experience an interesting situation every year during winter break. my local mail carrier tends to take his vacation at that time, so guess who delivers packages on my route?
nobody. yes, seriously.
Packages just pile up at the post office until someone feels like delivering them, often long after Christmas. Now I ask people to send me things via fedex or ups when I have the option.
not that they’re much more reliable (I’ve had a lot of lousy experiences with ups in particular). but at least they have tracking numbers and an actual delivery schedule.
minor typo in address
then there was a more recent incident where I sent someone a package via priority mail. it was recovered (forcing me to pay to send it again) because, according to the usps, the address was not exactly correct.
According to the recipient, it was correct. but good, good. The USPS often has a slightly different idea of how to word our addresses.
but this package was going to the only business in a particular building. how confusing could it really have been?
By returning the mail instead of delivering it to the obvious address, the carrier sent it back and created more work for itself. I don’t know if that was the carrier’s choice or some strict policy of his local post office.
my solution: no more mail forwarding
The last few times I moved, this is what I did:
- I just didn’t even use mail forwarding. I notified everyone of my new address. and made sure they understood that I wouldn’t have forwarding, because that seems to lead to more lost mail. Result: no lost mail.
- I switched to paperless billing (and autopay) on as many accounts as I could. I’ve been using autopay and paperless billing for years , and consider them more reliable than postal mail.
You might be thinking: what if you did all of this, but also filled out a mail forwarding form, just to be safe? I don’t recommend this, for fear that the reverse forwarding issue (mentioned above) will occur again.
mail scanning service
I’ve also been testing scanning and forwarding mail as an option. These services will scan the labels on the mail and packages you receive and load them.
then you can choose whether you want them to (a) just shred it, (b) open it and scan the contents of the paper mail, or (b) have the mail/package forwarded to you.
This is especially great if you’re moving or traveling a lot and never want to have to update your address with anyone except your virtual mailbox service. They can even deposit checks for you, for an additional fee.
for outgoing mail…
For outgoing mail, I’ve found another post office near me to be much more reliable. the staff is also professional and courteous. using them for deliveries, I’ve had no problems sending things.
but I stick to the post office for my zip code when it comes to receiving mail or forwarding mail. and that post office is one of the least reliable I’ve ever dealt with.
then again with the need to scan and forward emails. if you have a poorly managed post office, it can be a lifesaver.
US postal inspector
When something goes wrong, you also have the option to launch an investigation. I started an investigation when those ebay items went missing.
They seemed interested at first, but then didn’t call me back when they were supposed to. I also couldn’t confirm that they called the post office when they said they would.
but if you want to try it, call 1-877-876-2455 and choose option 3 for mail theft. (Don’t choose option 1; you’ll be directed to call 1-800-ask-usps, which can’t start an investigation.)
what about a private mailbox?
People have written to me asking if it helps to have a private mailbox, a mailbox, a mailbox or something similar.
might help if you’re moving locally and don’t have to update the address at all. so this may work if you travel a lot and are worried about the usps getting confused by holiday mail stops.
but it won’t help if you’re moving long distances. You will continue to change your address and continue to rely on the USPS to deliver your mail. They can be confused with both an ups address and a home address.
conclusion
I recommend not using mail forwarding at all. I keep a careful list of everyone who sends me mail and I notify them of my new address when I move.
Another thing I’ve done is get most people to stop spamming me. learn how to stop spam yourself.
I’ve also shortened that list considerably over the years by opting for automatic payment and paperless billing. online is consistently more reliable than paper delivery, in my experience.