I don't normally get a lot of mail, mostly just the cable bill, a few random items, and some junk mail. i left my apartment on July 10th or so to stay at my parents for a week, which ended up being nearly a month because I had to watch the animals and so on (you don't care). I'd have probably had a full mailbox, but it wouldn't have been overstuffed.

That said, when I got back I had a yellow notice saying my apartment was vacant and requesting the names of everyone in the residence. I went to the PO asking where the fuck my mail was and they said just to fill it out. I did so and never got my past mail.

I then left a note asking for all of my mail so I could have the bills and whatnot (most are automated on a credit card anyways) for my records. It's been almost a week and still nothing. I plan on going down there again, but I have a feeling they've just tossed my mail away figuring I'd gone home for the summer.

Are they not legally responsible to hold mail for a certain period of time? I wasn't even gone a full month.

8/9/2006 11:00:08 AM

yeah the Post Office really sucks-- even their over the phone customer service is hell to deal with.

My roommate has lost a lot of mail trying to get them to forward it to her internship address out of state.

8/9/2006 11:13:46 AM

it just seems like a dick move to put a vacancy notice in the box when i was gone for 3.5 weeks. i guess i could have put a stoppage in, but, again, I dont get any mail really.

8/9/2006 11:21:10 AM

They wouldn't throw your mail away. They have to hold it for a certain amount of time (and it is a long time). Figure out which post office your mail comes from, and go there and ask for the mail they held in your name.

Next time, just ask for a stoppage. It is really easy. just leave a note in your mailbox with your signature and the dates you want your mail held.

8/9/2006 11:29:27 AM

Quote :

"They wouldn't throw your mail away."

It's somewhere, someone's got it laying in the back. Jus gotta track that shit down like dog.

8/9/2006 1:27:46 PM

if your mailbox fills up, they will take that mail and keep it for 10 days. They toss it after that. It happened to me once and I lost a package...sucked balls.

8/9/2006 1:34:45 PM

isnt it illegal to throw away someones mail?

8/9/2006 2:04:21 PM

that was my point, i thought they had to hold it at least a month. ive already asked twice, once at the PO, and once with a note to the carrier.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 2:08 PM. Reason : box def wasnt full, they just put a yellow note in EVERYONE's box. fucking lazy]

8/9/2006 2:08:00 PM

you are going to have to dig deeper. If someone did throw it away they wouldnt say they did and people who work with her/him are not going to point fingers. hopefully someone has it or the PO is stashing it somewhere.

8/9/2006 2:25:43 PM

10 days....


10 fucking days is how long you have to check it before they mark your box as vacant and return-to-sender everything you have.

8/9/2006 3:54:59 PM

it probably went back. and actually it's probably gone by now. if it starts backing up and it doesnt look like you're there and noone is pickin up the mail they would probably get rid of it. they dont have a clue if you're coming or going, especially if you're renting. the turnover rate is so bad there's no way they could keep up with who's living where unless they've been there for a long time. it was probably all sent back and sat there. it should be the 10 days and then it's gone.

8/9/2006 4:25:01 PM

All you had to do was put a fucking "hold" on your mail and there wouldn't be an issue. They have no fucking clue what you are doing except that their already busy job is being further taxed by you not collecting your mail for days upon end. You might think that your little bit is nothing to them but you forget that you aren't the only person they have to deal with... shit backs up in a hurry. Knowing that you wre going to be gone for a week is enough to warrant having a "hold" put on the service. THey provide the service but you chose not to use it...

Its your own damn fault.

8/9/2006 4:33:25 PM

Quote :

"All you had to do was put a fucking "hold" on your mail and there wouldn't be an issue. They have no fucking clue what you are doing except that their already busy job is being further taxed by you not collecting your mail for days upon end. You might think that your little bit is nothing to them but you forget that you aren't the only person they have to deal with... shit backs up in a hurry. Knowing that you wre going to be gone for a week is enough to warrant having a "hold" put on the service. THey provide the service but you chose not to use it... Its your own damn fault."

could have been put a little nicer, but yeah basically that sums it up.

8/9/2006 4:38:51 PM

the post office sucks because while it is actually a private contractor (as opposed to a government agency), it is a monopoly and there's nothing you can do about it unless you want to DHL/FedEx/UPS all of your mail and pay out the rear

8/9/2006 5:38:31 PM

my dad is a mail carrier.

he said that they have to wait 10 days and then they leave a note in the box. then after another 10 days the mail gets returned to the sender.

that is just for first class mail though. bulk mail generally just gets thrown out

8/9/2006 5:44:59 PM

Quote :

"the post office sucks because while it is actually a private contractor (as opposed to a government agency), it is a monopoly and there's nothing you can do about it unless you want to DHL/FedEx/UPS all of your mail and pay out the rear"

So there clearly are plenty of alternatives on the market and no stranglehold on the market. THe point is that no company could operate with such low prices and still provide the service, hence DHL/UPS/FedEx making you "pay out the rear"

8/9/2006 5:56:20 PM

Quote :

"So there clearly are plenty of alternatives on the market and no stranglehold on the market."

if the government requires me to have a mailbox (that i have to pay for out of pocket) WHICH NO OTHER COMPANY OR PRIVATE PARTY MAY USE UNDER PENALTY OF PROSECUTION, then i consider that a stranglehold...if DHL/FedEx/UPS were given access to your mailbox for pickup and delivery, i'm betting prices would come down significantly

have you ever used their online tracking? IT DOES NOT WORK...as in, nothing is EVER updated until the damn package is delivered...for the same price (if mailing a trackable letter), i can use FedEx or UPS and actually know where my package is...additionally, UPS gives discounts for delivery/pickup at business addresses that end up being cheaper than the post office's rates...i would happily let either FedEx or UPS do my private mail if it didn't require me to find a local office every time

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 6:08 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2006 6:04:47 PM

they didnt have to hold shit for me cuz my box could have easily held the entire contents of the few weeks i was gone.

in Raleigh and in Orlando both i've had similar cases to this and all i got was a "pick up your shit" when i got back. i understand the turnover rate and all but 10 days is not very long. (they didnt say 10 then 10, they said 10 period).

if it was overflowing i could understand, but i only get mail every few days as is. it should be 10 days AFTER your box is full if you ask me.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 6:10 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2006 6:07:58 PM

my dad is a mail carrier as well, hondaguy. think about keeping mail for everybody on that person's route for 10 days, and then 10 more, and then 10 more. do you think they're gonna keep up with that for everyone who's gone more than that amount of time? what msb2ncsu was saying was without communication from you, they dont know what you're doing. they're not mind readers. yes, some dont give a shit. my dad goes out of his way to try to make sure everyone gets their shit, even if it puts him out a bit. true, your box might have held it but if you're gone for that long and dont tell them, why would you keep trying to deliver stuff to someone who is presumed not there since the mail hasnt moved in that long of a time period? plus, junk mail was probably trashed as well, ads and shit pile up quick. all i'm saying is you cant blame them if you dont notify them. without some sort of notification they just go and what they see. if someone's not picking up mail for that long it would be presumed they are gone or dont want their mail. most places have the same carrier for most of the week. a simple note in the box probably would have sufficed.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 6:25 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2006 6:23:43 PM

Quote :

"Next time, just ask for a stoppage. It is really easy. just leave a note in your mailbox with your signature and the dates you want your mail held."

i dont think a note is very official-- and there is no record of it. i would recommend doing it online the proper way

https://dunsapp.usps.gov/HoldMail.jsp

learn to use this

even if you end up being away for longer than expected you can do it online so there is no problem

8/9/2006 6:28:12 PM

we always left a note and it worked

8/9/2006 6:36:18 PM

i left a note once at my raleigh apt. i got back and the mail was so stuffed into the box that i couldnt get it out.

i hadnt planned on being away for very long at all. at most id probably have had 4-5 things in my mailbox when i got back. it just caught up and i didnt think to do it online (part of my time away i had no internet access). i also had reason to beleive from my last 2 residences that it wouldnt be an issue.

that said, i understand where it is my fault, but 10 days is a rediculously short time to mark someones box as vacant, especially when all of the mail would fit inside.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 6:50 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2006 6:47:33 PM

it's a bitch to get a job with the PO with all the red tape and the rediculous hours they make you sign off for (not that other quals are hard)

That said, anyone willing to go through that kind of shit has probably hit rock bottom in the job-seeking world, and therefore will be an asshole no matter what - it wouldn't surprise me for you to never get your mail.

That said, good luck - maybe you'll find one of the nicer people there who happens to know where your mail is

8/9/2006 7:34:27 PM

Quote :

"my dad is a mail carrier as well, hondaguy. think about keeping mail for everybody on that person's route for 10 days, and then 10 more, and then 10 more"

i didn't say 10 + 10 + 10. and I'm not making it up. He was sitting in my living room and I asked him.

I also imagine it depends on the city and the carrier. Of course at someplace that has a lot of college students that come and go things are going to be differently than somewhere with a bunch of houses that are in a development.

Quote :

"if the government requires me to have a mailbox (that i have to pay for out of pocket) WHICH NO OTHER COMPANY OR PRIVATE PARTY MAY USE UNDER PENALTY OF PROSECUTION, then i consider that a stranglehold...if DHL/FedEx/UPS were given access to your mailbox for pickup and delivery, i'm betting prices would come down significantly"

since when does the government require you to have a mailbox? you may be required for fire purposes to display your house number at the road (depending on how far from the road you house is), but that can be done on a pole without a mailbox.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 7:38 PM. Reason : ]

8/9/2006 7:36:25 PM

they basically told me i wasnt getting them and i told them i thought it was a shitty system. probably nothing all that important in there anyways.

8/9/2006 7:36:58 PM

Quote :

"That said, anyone willing to go through that kind of shit has probably hit rock bottom in the job-seeking world, and therefore will be an asshole no matter what - it wouldn't surprise me for you to never get your mail."

TWW logic at its finest.

To the problem at hand, cryion go back to your first post and do what you said you were going to do

Quote :

"I plan on going down there again"

Standing there in person will accomplish a heck of a lot more a lot faster than a phone call, email, etc. Go during a non-busy time.

8/9/2006 8:00:35 PM

i did, they just basically gasped at my abscense for more than 10 days.

8/9/2006 8:47:08 PM

hondaguy my statement wasn't directed to you. just the first sentence. what i was saying was he said he was gone about a month. what i was trying to say was if they held mail for that long for everybody who didnt take their mail out of the box, that would be a waste of time and a hassle, then the majority would be trashed. It would be a hassle to help the occasional person who failed to notify the post office they'd be gone for a while. i was trying to justify the fact that 10 days is plenty of time with no notice from the person there, plus the extra 10 it sits at the post office.

Quote :

"I also imagine it depends on the city and the carrier. Of course at someplace that has a lot of college students that come and go things are going to be differently than somewhere with a bunch of houses that are in a development."

true. it would probably be different if you have a neighborhood of people who've lived in the same houses for many years and if you had apartments where people are moving in and out often.

Quote :

""That said, anyone willing to go through that kind of shit has probably hit rock bottom in the job-seeking world, and therefore will be an asshole no matter what - it wouldn't surprise me for you to never get your mail.""

Quote :

"TWW logic at its finest."

My thoughts exactly.

8/9/2006 8:52:49 PM

ill note that it is a god mandated duty to check my mail once a week or have it all sent back whence it came and/or trashed (in raleigh thats about how often id check).

id agree more with the college argument except it was a few random weeks in the middle of the summer, not the end of a semester (not even right after a summer semester). i bet their turnaround mid-semester is similarly low to a regular neighborhood.

again, they can have their policy vary place to place, but it still is a short ass time in my opinion considering that they are not the only post office around here.

i also find it funny that the office says "we didnt have anything to do with the vacancy notice" and the PO said they would probably find out from the office. if the reps dont even know simple policies i dont have much hope for the branch as a whole.

8/9/2006 9:53:22 PM

Quote :

"i also find it funny that the office says "we didnt have anything to do with the vacancy notice" and the PO said they would probably find out from the office. if the reps dont even know simple policies i dont have much hope for the branch as a whole."

sounds like somebody was just being lazy and talking out their ass.

8/9/2006 11:43:18 PM

id imagine they just wanted me to go away. id probably have done it to.

8/9/2006 11:50:36 PM

^ Sounds like you didn't obey the rules, you check your mail once a week when in raleigh wtf?

I mean they seriously have this easy system called hold mail if you leave for 3 days or more, and if you think about it they do us a damn good service, 39 cents to mail something across country.

People who leave for a long time without notice are fucked up, they give you 10 business days to check your mail and often more, if you leave town for more than that just fill out the simple form to hold your mail or leave them a simple note.

Would you leave your air on 65 while your gone for a month, or the doors unlocked, NO so why let your mail accumulate for a 10 days, or a month, just fill the form out or tell your driver.

8/10/2006 3:46:37 AM