Evan!
Well-Known Member
Sorry, this might get kinda long, but I'm a bit pissed...
Here's the situation: we have a front stoop where the front door is located, and that's where the mailbox is. To get there from the driveway, you walk by the big front window (2 panes, one of which is storm glass). Our dog Xander, all of 45 lbs, tends to jump up on the window when someone comes by the house. We've had success stopping this by putting a "Scat Mat" in front of the window, which shocks him if he steps on it. But our scat mat broke recently, and we're waiting on PetSmart to get more in stock (should be tomorrow) to replace it.
In the meantime, last Wednesday, we get no mail. Not surprising: sometimes, when we have a substitute mailman and Xander jumps on the window, we'll get no mail---then the next day we'll get it delivered with a note about him jumping on the window. But it didn't come Thursday either. Or Friday. My calls to the local USPS delivery office yielded no answer or even a chance to leave a message. It just rang and rang. On Saturday, we were downstairs with Xander, so we know he wasn't jumping on the window. We watched the mailman drive by our house 3 times, but never even bothered to get out of his truck. Now I'm pissed.
On Monday, still no mail and still no answer from the delivery office---but this time, there's a "delivery suspended" notice stuck in the side door. On the back, the carrier has scrawled a note: "stopped delivery because dog jumpping [sp] on window. delivery will resume when mailbox is moved out towards the street. recommend putting it in the corner where the driveway meets the parking spaces". Well, first off, we can't put anything there because the muni water line runs through it. Second, I don't like to be told what I must do without any conversation. So we go down to the post office to pick up the held mail, and talk to the clerk about our situation. He seems very surprised that it was handled in such a matter, said that it should not be done like that, and also reveals that the delivery was suspended last WEDNESDAY. So, it took him 5 days to finally let us know? Now I was even more pissed. The clerk gave us the number of the guy's supervisor.
So yesterday morning, I moved our mailbox to the side of our house, so that the carrier doesn't have to go anywhere near the window. I tried calling the supervisor, left 2 messages, but nobody calls back.
Got home yesterday, no delivery. Again. I was livid. I wanted to hurt someone. We called the post office, no answer, no returned call. Again. So I calmed down, wrote a letter expressing my frustration at being treated unfairly, and requested that they resume delivery. I put it in a ziploc and nailed to the tree near the road with 'FOR USPS MAIL CARRIER" on it. I called his supervisor again this morning, and finally talked to a real person!! He said he'd get delivery resumed, but I'm leaving the letter on the tree.
My uncle is a regional USPS manager up in Mass who started out as a carrier many years ago, and I talked to him about this a few days ago. He said that this is not at all how this stuff should be handled by the postal service. There should be a dialog, but they can't just stop delivery without notification and demand that you put your mailbox on the street.
If my mail doesn't come today, I'm filing a formal complaint with the postmaster and am also going to have my unc give them a call. He is the boss of dozens of postmasters, so I think he'll be able to deal with it. I've been treated like sh*t, ignored, and had my mail held for days without notification---which caused time sensitive documents to reach me late. This is simply unacceptable treatment---and that carrier had better hope that he listens to his supervisor today and resumes delivery. I mean, I fully understand that some people are very afraid of dogs---and I am also afraid for Xander's safety---which is why I have ordered a new shock mat and have moved the mailbox. There's not a whole lot else I can do short of locking my dog in the closet all day. I'm just...pissed.
[/rant]
Here's the situation: we have a front stoop where the front door is located, and that's where the mailbox is. To get there from the driveway, you walk by the big front window (2 panes, one of which is storm glass). Our dog Xander, all of 45 lbs, tends to jump up on the window when someone comes by the house. We've had success stopping this by putting a "Scat Mat" in front of the window, which shocks him if he steps on it. But our scat mat broke recently, and we're waiting on PetSmart to get more in stock (should be tomorrow) to replace it.
In the meantime, last Wednesday, we get no mail. Not surprising: sometimes, when we have a substitute mailman and Xander jumps on the window, we'll get no mail---then the next day we'll get it delivered with a note about him jumping on the window. But it didn't come Thursday either. Or Friday. My calls to the local USPS delivery office yielded no answer or even a chance to leave a message. It just rang and rang. On Saturday, we were downstairs with Xander, so we know he wasn't jumping on the window. We watched the mailman drive by our house 3 times, but never even bothered to get out of his truck. Now I'm pissed.
On Monday, still no mail and still no answer from the delivery office---but this time, there's a "delivery suspended" notice stuck in the side door. On the back, the carrier has scrawled a note: "stopped delivery because dog jumpping [sp] on window. delivery will resume when mailbox is moved out towards the street. recommend putting it in the corner where the driveway meets the parking spaces". Well, first off, we can't put anything there because the muni water line runs through it. Second, I don't like to be told what I must do without any conversation. So we go down to the post office to pick up the held mail, and talk to the clerk about our situation. He seems very surprised that it was handled in such a matter, said that it should not be done like that, and also reveals that the delivery was suspended last WEDNESDAY. So, it took him 5 days to finally let us know? Now I was even more pissed. The clerk gave us the number of the guy's supervisor.
So yesterday morning, I moved our mailbox to the side of our house, so that the carrier doesn't have to go anywhere near the window. I tried calling the supervisor, left 2 messages, but nobody calls back.
Got home yesterday, no delivery. Again. I was livid. I wanted to hurt someone. We called the post office, no answer, no returned call. Again. So I calmed down, wrote a letter expressing my frustration at being treated unfairly, and requested that they resume delivery. I put it in a ziploc and nailed to the tree near the road with 'FOR USPS MAIL CARRIER" on it. I called his supervisor again this morning, and finally talked to a real person!! He said he'd get delivery resumed, but I'm leaving the letter on the tree.
My uncle is a regional USPS manager up in Mass who started out as a carrier many years ago, and I talked to him about this a few days ago. He said that this is not at all how this stuff should be handled by the postal service. There should be a dialog, but they can't just stop delivery without notification and demand that you put your mailbox on the street.
If my mail doesn't come today, I'm filing a formal complaint with the postmaster and am also going to have my unc give them a call. He is the boss of dozens of postmasters, so I think he'll be able to deal with it. I've been treated like sh*t, ignored, and had my mail held for days without notification---which caused time sensitive documents to reach me late. This is simply unacceptable treatment---and that carrier had better hope that he listens to his supervisor today and resumes delivery. I mean, I fully understand that some people are very afraid of dogs---and I am also afraid for Xander's safety---which is why I have ordered a new shock mat and have moved the mailbox. There's not a whole lot else I can do short of locking my dog in the closet all day. I'm just...pissed.
[/rant]