OK. Small rant. In past places I’ve lived when a package wouldn’t fit in mailbox, you got a slip to pick it up. My D lives in an apt building where boxes are in entry hall. Anyone can get into the entryway. There is then a locked door into the stairwell. PO left a package for D (or tracking shows delivery) while she was out of town. Not there when got home 4 days later. Was surprised they left it (assuming tracking is correct) where not secure. They did this at her old place but only residents could get to where boxes were.
So now what? She’s left a note to see if anyone saw it (only five other apartments off this stairwell - but again anyone can enter where mailboxes are). One person said things often get there on different dates. Not sure whether to just assume stolen or if possible carrier really didn’t leave it. She is going to PO tomorrow to check things out. Sigh she is having a bad/expensive run of luck
Does the landlord have a camera there? The last place I lived they had a camera on the mail boxes/ entry and we could see it on a closed circuit station on our tv.
I lived in a building with this problem. We complained to the building manager – there should be a secure place for packages to be left, even if the building doesn’t have a front desk. They were installing something called a “package wall” when I left, where the postal carrier could put bigger items. Or she and other residences could request that a door/lock be put on the area where the mailboxes are.
The building did have mailboxes with keys, and they had some slightly larger ones in the set of boxes – if you had a package, you would find a key to one of the bigger boxes in your mailbox.
But honestly… this is part of living in a cheaper apartment building. Package handling gets better (usually) as you go up in apartment price. It is an amenity…
We live in a private house, but any packages are just left on our doorstep and of course can be stolen (especially if gone 4 days) so I think that’s similar to an unlocked entry way. Many people complain on ‘Nextdoor’ that their packages are stolen daily. My brother lives across the street and has packages delivered daily and no one ever steals them.
You can ask the USPS to do a GPS check to verify it was really her place, really 123 Main St versus 123 South st by accident. Also, if it was sent priority there is usually some amount of insurance.
Won’t help this time, but this is why people get packages delivered to work or use Amazon Locker, etc. It could be a better option going forward. But yeah, it’s lousy to feel like you might not get your mail.
As the mother of a mail carrier, I want to say that I think this is a building problem and not necessarily a USPS problem. The carriers can only leave the packages where the building directs them to leave them. It is true as well that as you move up in amenities (e.g., to a doorman building), the likelihood of your packages being stolen lessens. It’s a USPS problem if the carrier never really delivered the package, as has sadly been known to happen. Side note - until my son went to work for USPS, I had no clue what a difficult job it actually is…
Agree with techmom99 that this is not a USPS problem. Also, tsickles makes a good point about putting a hold on her mail while away.
She should also file a missing package report with USPS. It’s a federal crime to steal a package. Again, this is not to suggest it’s a USPS problem, but that she should get it on the record that the package was probably stolen. I hope it wasn’t something of high value.
We had an order shipped to the house. I watch the tracking until it gets here. While I was away, package said delivered and a family member who was home said it was not. Waited a couple of days and called the company. They reshipped items (at no cost). Well, a month later our items came knocking on our door via our neighbor. Said…it was delivered to us by mistake! Really a month?? I have to say I know when our regular guy is on vacation!! We tell them that all of the time. Maybe a neighbor has it??
DS once had a college apartment with only a mail slot in the front door. Anything that didn’t fit through the opening was left on the doorstep, which was about two steps away from a busy sidewalk. Packages went missing all the time, because delivery drivers had no secure place to leave them.
He and his roommates eventually decided to rent a mailbox. The cost was nominal since it was shared by six people, and they never had to worry about package delivery again.
Next time she goes away, she can go online and place a “hold mail” for her name and address. Or, there’s probably an package/mailing store nearby where she can pick things up.
I was away recently and a legal document I had ordered months ago decided to arrive. I went online and set up a UPS account and had them deliver it to one of their affiliated package/mailing places. Phew… I live in a rainy climate and just one good rain can melt anything they leave by my door.
I had worse luck with Fed Ex when a package came unexpectedly. I heard that you could have them delivered to any Walgreens, but I never found a link for that once I had a tracking number and the company (curse you, Hayneedle!) had no way to choose that when I ordered. (and I called them!).
Another time Fed Ex delivered an envelope and clearly they just threw it over the fence, where it landed on the edge of my porch and got drenched in the rain. Twitter shame soon followed, lol.
My D’s building in Brooklyn always has a mess of packages in the lobby where the mailboxes are. She hasn’t complained about anything missing. I hope it stays that way. You do have to get buzzed in to get to the lobby and I’m sure that helps.
Unfortunately for the OP’s D, this is probably a case where she’ll have to do things differently next time, and that package is gone. If it was sent Priority Mail, everything is automatically insured for $50, but you have to provide receipts to get reimbursed.
My dd always has packages sent to work after having one stolen when she lived in Chicago. Now her problem is regular mail. She also has an entry way that isn’t secure and has a strange postman. He has been known to open up the door from the street and throws the mail into the vestibule. She complained but the post office told her that they were shorthanded. I never send her anything important to her apartment.
Having it delivered to work is fine when you don’t work for the federal govt - it’s not allowed to receive personal mail and everything is opened and logged by the mailroom.
I think it is easiest to get a mailbox at a local post office or at a neighborhood mail place. I had a friend who traveled a lot and always had a PO box, even in the 1980’s. Just too much trouble to stop and start mail for every 4-5 day trip.
I tracked a package this week and it said it was delivered at 6:43 last night to “an individual”. Um, no. Both my husband and I were home and it is nowhere to be found! I called the post office and asked for the GPS tracking and the woman said it is out for delivery today. We shall see.
I’ve had issues as well in the past. I do not work for, nor have I ever worked for the post office. However, they do have a relatively new online notification website that I’ve found helpful for keeping track of mail: informed delivery. I get an email any morning (usually) that mail should be arriving either at home or my PO Box. It’s not perfect, as sometimes it’s not there, or they “don’t have an image”. It only works for first class mai and packages (so I’ve been getting scans of a lot of political mail ?). Helpful when something doesn’t arrive. FYI. Again, not a plug, but a PSA.
@Onward The Chgo post office is very messed up and they don’t care as long as they get paid. Anyone can stop anyone’s mail just by telling the carrier to stop delivering to, point to any house. They also will fill a mailbox with other people’s mail and then stop the mail because the box is full. They also have issues matching the numbers on the box with the numbers on the mail.