Mailbag: The Great USPS Mess of 2024
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
We asked Axios Atlanta readers for your USPS horror stories and you answered.
🎄 Jane Z.: "It's not just packages that are the problem. I mailed Christmas cards — and they were postmarked — on December 10. They were delivered to various places just in time for Valentine's Day."
💰 Carrie B.: "I sent a large check for an IRA deposit in February to Schwab in Florida. It was gone so long I was afraid it got stolen. I spent multiple phone calls with the institution that cut the check and Schwab to make sure it had not been cashed."
😩 Libby F.: "We sent our tax preparation form and supporting federal documents to our CPA from Bogart to Atlanta via priority mail on Monday March 4th and it has not arrived. Tracking number says it's at the 'distribution center!'"
🛫 Penny M.: "I live in Palmetto. On Feb. 27, I sent my tax returns to my Atlanta accountant using 2-day priority delivery. The package has traveled from Palmetto to Jacksonville and back to the distribution center in Fairburn, where I guess it is now sitting.
- "The last text update I received from USPS was on March 9. It said, 'Moving through Network – in transit to next facility, arriving late.' I guess that last part is accurate!"
⏰ Susie C.: "I moved to Harris County from Ohio last summer. The USPS down here is almost always worse than in the north. I have now grown accustomed to adding a 7-day buffer for incoming and outgoing mail."
🗞️ Chris R.: "I haven't received my daily print copy of the Wall Street Journal for over 10 days despite the WSJ's efforts to fix the problem with the USPS. There's no indication of when, if ever, the delivery problem will be fixed."
😑 Anne M.: "For 22 years, my husband and I have lived at the same address in the 30345 ZIP code. We have epic problems with USPS.
- "While we have 'Informed delivery' and have filed complaints every time we have a problem, nothing is ever resolved and we rarely even get an answer."
📆 Susan T.: "I have had mail lost or late for the last 3 months. It has cost me $70 in late fees at my bank and a $40 late fee to American Express.
- I also had a 2024 calendar made for a Christmas gift that might get to my grandson to use next year! I'm afraid to mail anything!"
🔎 Robert A.: "I've had two checks that were mailed go missing in the last month – one disappeared, one was subsequently counterfeited."
- "Apparently the rate of such incidents has skyrocketed recently, and only rarely get reported to law enforcement let alone result in prosecution."
❤️ Matthew N.: "The U.S. Postal Service is amazing and I cannot bring myself to say anything bad about them."